Dee Passed Peacefully 2:54am Wednesday 18th December
Sleep Sweet Sweetheart
Our lives are far Richer for having shared some of yours.

A TESTIMONIAL

Dee sincerely wishes that the love and community spirit that has shone so brightly over recent months, burns into an eternal flame that will become the smile on a billion faces....a smile that says "Thankyou for caring".
If you are motivated by this concept then talk to people, pool some resources, find someone in need and simply do something for them. Every single one of us can potentially make a difference.
Dee has been overwhelmed by the absolutely selfless generosity displayed by those mentioned below and many others. She would like to publically extend a heartfelt THANKYOU for the unconditional love and support displayed throughout her illness.
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All staff, parents and the extended community at Tyabb Primary School for their undying dedication and hard work injecting so much positive energy. Also for the countless offers and donations of their time and resource to Dee, Andrew and Family. Specific recognition and thanks go to:
Diane Dummett (Farewell and good luck) and Chris Mirabella for promoting the initial 'call for help' and for co-ordinating the enormous influx of offers.
Jenine Lindridge and helpers for sourcing of plants and materials for the garden makeover.
Bronny for her incredible catering efforts (baking off-site and cooking on-site) throughout the entire renovation weekend.
Kelly, Alex and Mel for their absolute willingness to help with anything during the reno.
Judy Bennett for arranging replacement of curtains at the house.
The Howell family for the kind donation of a Car Service.

Steve Hosking (our Angel) and his beautiful Family for their continuing and unwavering commitment to the philosophy of 'Pay It Forward' and for the everlasting friendship that has come about as a result.

Troy Poynton (Mulga Creations) for enabling Dee to realise a long-time dream, in transforming their kitchen from an eyesore into a light and functional space wher washing dishes and cooking will become a joy.(Flat-pack supplies donated by All Board Distribution). Also to Jack Boer, Craig Lilley and Glenn Young for organising and installing a brand new Chef gas cooker. (Thanks to Glenn and Mel for the evaporative cooler also).

Ross Dummett (with every wish for a happy recovery) for initiating the replacement of Dee and Andrew's carpet in it's entirety.
Carpet Layers Russell Wilkes, Noel Brian and Michael Round for donating their time so selflessly and producing such a spectacular result. (Underlay donated by Hastings Carpet Court).

Emily Read (Sparky), Jack Unmack, Max Webster, Mark Farell, Tom Frith, Jai Cahill, Matt Fuller, Bruce Barr and Tom Buck, all from Bluescope in Hastings for their amazing efforts and giving of their valuable time during the renovation of Dee and Andrew's home.

It is important to Dee and her Family that the following local Business's are recognised for their awesome contributions to this amazing group-effort:

Westernport Hotel, Kings Creek Hotel, Bakers Delight - Hastings, Canadian Bay Hotel, Westernport Marina, Jims Mowing, Vins Bins, Coolart Nsy - Somerville, Black-Dog Plants - Moorooduc, Bundameer Nsy - Moorooduc, Underwoods Nsy - Tyabb, Black Stump Nsy - Hastings, Westernport Sand and Soil and Pelican Park Recreation Centre and Pantry.

Thankyou also to Mum for her love and undying commitment as Dee's Carer and for preserving Dee's dignity under unbelievably difficult circumstances.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
May the spirit shown here strengthen to outlive each of us.

Thankyou to Dee, from all of us, for all that you are and for all that you stand for......
Simply for being YOU.

Palliative Care

The past week has actually seen me at Frankston Palliative Care. I have lost all strength in my body and can not even stand by myself, let alone walk, shift backwards in a seat or shower myself. This is seriously frustrating, because I actually feel quite alert but my body is incapable of doing the things that my head believes I can do. The plan has been for me to go home tomorrow night, and for Santa to deliver presents then. All the family are coming down to Hastings for a big Christmas celebration; Edwards', Wilsons and Lewthwaites - but because I can not lift myself into a standing position I really am not sure how this is going to work. Here I use a machine called a standing lifter to do everything from going to the toilet to getting in and out of bed, but at home that is not an option. I guess it's something we'll have to brainstorm and see if anyone comes up with any genius solutions to. I would really love to be there when the kids open their gifts, to be a part of one more more Christmas morning, right day or not. I am predominately pain free at the moment, but the lack of strength over-rides that.
The doctors have said I have anywhere up to 3 months to live, but if that is going to be spent as a complete paraplegic I am not sure I want 3 months. I have no desire to say goodbye to my beautiful children or to all the wonderful friends who are showering me with love, but this is so tough, and I really don't think I could handle three months of this. Praying that God either decides to restore my strength or allow me a peaceful departure after this weekend.
Omce again, thankyou to EVERYONE for their love and support; it has really lifted my spirits.

The Latest

Hi All,
It's Dees Dad-Mark again. Dee has asked me to bring you all up-to-date with where she is at right now.
As was indicated by her last entry, Dee lost her hair.
Mum did the deed, and Dad went out in sympathy.

After coming home again from Peter Mac on Wednesday, breaking a couple of ribs [simply by standing up - Go Figure] on Thursday, and spending Thursday night on oxygen in Frankston Hospital, we managed to get an outing in to the Circus on Friday evening.

We went straight to Olinda from the circus as this is where Dee, Dane and Lydia would spend the weekend with Mum/Grandma, while the house was being transformed.........
I would now like to share with you a very special weekend.
A large group of people from Lysarts in Hastings, as well as some friends and family members turned up to the house from Friday night [about 6pm] to Sunday afternoon [about 5.30pm].
Each of those that attended were so obviously there for one reason....to contribute selflessly and unconditionally, their time and skills to help Dee, Andrew and Family in some tangible way.
Well that they did!
Starting completely from scratch, they recarpeted the entire house, totally replaced the kitchen with brand new everything and spring-cleaned and tidied the entire house.
The result was simply amazing. I hope the photos do it some justice.

We will be thanking everyone individually and publically in the immediate future, but cannot pass up the opportunity to once again thank Steve [Team Leader] and Lysarts crew, Troy [All Things Kitchen], Ross and crew [All Things Carpet], Kelly [Community Contributions] and Bronny [enough GOOD food-baked at home and cooked on site-for a small Army].
After a challenging weekend with a fading pain-management regime, Dee was to be re-admitted into Peter Mac on Sunday.
Nothing, however was going to prevent her from stopping by Home on the way to inspect and acknowledge the amazing stuff that went on there in her absence.
Dee, Dane and Lydia even layed their own tiles in the kitchen to mark the completion of the work - very emotional!!
As hard as it is to follow up such a wonderful story with such shitty news...Dee has made it my duty to do so, as she is conscious of sharing everything with those who care about and support her so unconditionally.
Today Dee had another CT scan to monitor the growth of the Cancers.
Based on these results, a new plan has been formulated. From here on the efforts shift from fighting the Disease to controlling the Pain, and Dees comfort, for anywhere up to 3 months becomes Paramount.
This is a very difficult thing to accept and to realise as Family and I am sure it will sadden many,
but the important thing now, is to surround Dee with the Love and support that we all feel for her and to just be here for her for those times she might need us over the coming weeks.
I really hope that she will be home soon and be able to write the next installment herself.

My hair is fallin' out

Well, they said I wouldn't lose it... they lied. My hair is falling out in big chunks at the moment and it is really annoying. I'm not particularly worried about being bald; realistically it's no big deal, but as my hair thins it's just everywhere!

So with that in mind, I thought I'd post some pics from last weekend, among the last you'll see of me with my own hair for a while. Haven't decided yet if I'll be getting a wig or a bandana or anything; I guess we'll wait and see.

My energy levels are still insanely low - I had to have three units of blood transfused on Friday because of a low haemoglobin count, and my platelts are not behaving either, so I'm really hoping that this is all okay for Friday which is when my next round of chemo is scheduled for. I'll make sure someone let's you know if all that goes ahead. The next lot of tests, to see if this is working, are scheduled for three weeks after this round of chemo; basically, before we go again. Fingers crossed and prayers being sent that this round makes some big changes; this stuff has made me feel so crappy that it's GOT to have done something!

Love n hugs

Dee

First 'Dees Dad' Installment

Hi all, Mark here - Dee's Dad.

As mentioned in the last update, Dee has shown me how to do all this so here goes.

Dee's going through a 'can't be fagged' phase at the moment (quite understandably) and I thought it would be good to share a couple of highlights over the past few days.

As she mentioned, I tag-teamed with Mum (Lynne) on Sunday.

An opportunity arose for an outing so Dee, Dane, Lydia and I set off to the Fish and Chippery in Mornington, then on to the foreshore reserve to eat, play and just soak up the big outdoors.

After an Ice Cream from Mr.Whippy (can't believe he's still going-must be getting on a bit) we made the journey [crutches and all] down the ramp to 'Mothers Beach'.

After reaching the bottom Dee spotted some rocks 50 metres along the beach so away we went.

After finding a comfy seat on the rocks the kids stripped down for a wade/swim. It turned out to be a wonderful photo opportunity until the camera batteries gave up.

Good fortune, however came along in the form of a phone call from my parents (Dee's Ga and Grandpa).....'Where are you guys - we'de love to join you'. And so they did, less than 30 minutes later witha camera that worked and all.

Needless to say, by the time we got home Dee was out for the count, but was heard to mumble that it was all worth it, before falling asleep.

Other significant events worth noteing are a trip to the hills on Wednesday, and a wade in the local pool this morning.

Although Dee's energy levels have been particularly low of late, we have been blessed to have been able to share these special moments and look forward to all such opportunities ahead.

A quick update

I know a few people have been worried, so am just popping on to let you all know I am alive and well. I came home late last week and finished a course of radiotherapy to the brain which has really put me through the ringer, so am not up for much at all to be honest. I haven't been even answering the phone, simply for lack of energy, so apologies, but that's how it is at the moment.

Mum has been staying at my place 5 days a week to look after me, and Dad's here today, so I'm showing him how to update this so he can keep you all posted when I'm not able (or simply can not be fagged :) ) That's it from me for today - will be back online sometime soon no doubt.

Love n hugs
Dee

First day of Chemotherapy

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY - TODAY IS MY DAD'S 45TH BIRTHDAY!!! Happy Birthday to the most Amazing man I know; I love you so much Dad and really hope today is special for you... actually I want for every day to be special for you.
_________________________________________________

Apparently I am scheduled to start chemotherapy today. This will be done on the ward, so I don't have to go anywhere, but I have been hooked up to a drip all day waiting for them to start putting something through the line which isn't saline. I am either going to be a very patient person by the time this is all finished, or slowly rocking in a corner somewhere having gone completely insane! I'm a little cross at myself for not having a camera here today - I must make sure I get a pic of myself with all these lines in at some point; it seems to be the kind of pic everyone has to have, right? lol... will ask someone to bring a camera in soon. I have also discovered a littl espot on this computer that allows me to insert an SD card direct into the computer so I can start uploading pics.
I won't type much today - the action is quite uncomfortable when you have a needle into the top of your hand, but I wanted to report that all my blood counts are up, which is a VERY GOOD THING, so I have been approved to start chemo.
Basic stats on the chemo for those who are interested; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacarbazine I do apologise for using wikipedia as a source of information for you, but I did say basic stats, and it saves me typing out what little I know.
Will report back tomorrow with a progress report, but for now I am really quite drowsy, so I might have a little nap while I wait.

Loving you all, and really looking forward to getting home and sharing some time with all of the people who are supporting me. Definitely missing all you beautiful SS girls, but you will be proud to know that I have been spending time today getting all finances in order for dh so that he can continue living the SS way while I am in hospital or even at home unwell. The next plan is to get started on making some Christmas presents, so I have had some stuff brought in from home so that I can get to work on a bit of that. Hard becuase of limited energy levels, but little by little I'll get there - and now I know how to share pics, I'll show you all what I am creating.

Still in hospital

I must figure out some way of uploading pictures to this computer - have got to get someone to find the relevant cables and software so that I can do that. For now I am still at Peter Mac. I had another blood transfusion yesterday, two more units to try to bring up my blood levels, particularly the haemoglobins (Hbs) which had dropped below 80 again. For those who don't know the Hbs are the red blood cells, and they carry the oxygen around your body. They should be around 150 (I think) but my levels are not unsafe, just not ideal for someone who wants to start chemo. They can certainly drop a whole lot lower before it starts to be a problem, so yesterday's transfusion, as I understand it, was more of a preventative than a 'oh gosh we have to fix this' thing.
Had my radiotherapy planning session yesterday. I'll be having one dose directly to the left hip to help strengthen the bones and erradicate the cancer that is weakening them around that break. I'll also be having a dose to my L2, while we're down there ;) to help annihilate that growth, and certainly to prevent that from growing any bigger and becoming symptomatic. Then I have five intensive sessions of radiotherapy to my brain; a total of 20 grade radio. This is all set to start on Thursday, with sessions booked for Friday and Saturday, so that could POSSIBLY be finished by Tuesday. I have no idea if I'll be doing chemo before or after that, but because today is a public holiday in Victoria (Melbourne Cup Day) I would think chemo will start late next week. I was not happy about delaying chemo yet again, but if we're starting then I'm okay with that. I'll certainly be trying to find out what I can today.
Off to go check out the pretty horses for Cup Day, sending this with my love and thanks for all your support.
(Oh, and on a side note - THIS time I have a tote in here and have actually been scrappping. It's the first time I have brought supplies into the hospital because I haven't really had stuff packed in the past, but at least I get to play a little. I don't have to the photos I really want, but I an scrap with whatever if I must ;)

Cancer update, includes the story so far.

I really wanted to post on here with photos of all the amazing things that have been happening in my life over recent weeks. And I will do that the first opportunity that I get. Unfortunately, this is not that opportunity. I am once again stuck in hospital, feeling incredibly thankful for my laptop which is at least enabling me to update those of you who want to know with what is going on. I have decided that keeping my blog up to date is going to be the most effective way of letting people know where I am at, saving me from repeating the same information over and over again, and when I am not feeling up to updating, then I can ask my family to update here and know that the news will spread.
Okay - so why am I back in hospital? A not so quick catch up for those who don't really know the story so far. Throughout August/September I suffered with what was presumed to be sciatica. Pain radiated from my lower back right down my left leg and was quite debilitating. After weeks of seeing a physiotherapist to no avail and a trip to Frankston hospital which left me completely hepped up on morpheine and still in pain, my GP decided that closer investigation was neccessary. She sent me for a CT which revelead that the melanoma had metasticised to my lower back, although nothing she saw explained the pain, so into Peter Mac I went.
The end of September greeted me with the news that unfortunately the cancer has spread very aggressively through my body. I have metastacese in my spine at T11 (that's about mid back, and as it turns out was the onemost likely to be causing me all that pain), C4 and L2. There are also multiple spots throughout the bone in my pelvis and right up across my skull. Further to this there are tiny spots (under 5mm each) in my liver, spleen and lungs (actually I believe there to be about 20 spots in each lung).
So all in all, pretty crappy news. For metastic melanoma there are not many tricks in the bag. Straight away we got started on radiotherapy to the largest tumour - at T11. This was to get rid of the pain, so that I could get on with life. The next plan of attack was to begin chemotherapy, so that we could hopefully slow, stop or even reverse the spread of cancer throughout my body. Five days of radiotherapy, some healing time and then chemotherapy began on Monday 6th of October. By this stage I had been in hospital for around two weeks, so I was pleased to be allowed to go home on Tuesday. The plan was for me to come in once a week for chemo for three weeks, then to have a break for a month, then have chemo once a month for as long as it's working - or even better, until it kills all these tumours!
Friday the 10th I came back in for a follow up appointment with the radiotherapy team. Still in pain from the tumour (the effects of radiotherapy really kick in at about the 4 week mark as I understand it) I decided to lie down while I spoke to the specialist, rather than sit in pain. As I climbed up onto the examination bed, my left hip simply broke. The weakness in the bone caused by the cancer resulted in a pathological fracture, which I got sent over to St. Vincent's to have surgery for. After a week of stuffing around they finally decided to put a rod from my left hip right down to my knee. This is to strengthen that whole region, which has a couple of weak spots, so that I don't end up back there with a broken femur sometime down the track.
While I was healing from all this however, chemotherapy had to be put on hold. Even though the particular type of chemo that I am having is well received, it does stop the body from healing properly while you are on it - so I had to get to a certain point of health and strength before starting again. Very frustrating; I'm not a patient girl so this waiting game has been TOUGH! Weekly appointment back at Peter Mac for various things though have meant that I knew they were keeping an eye on me and as soon as I was able I'd be back on chemo. I was starting to feel a little better each day and even managed to sit my Maths exam on Tuesday, at the same time as gradually reducing the amount of pain relief and other medications that I am on. Wednesday afternoon however, I hit a wall. I had a sudden onset migraine, so took myself off to bed, with a top up of morph cos I was feeling so crappy, then came into Peter Mac on Thursday for a blood transfusion. The migraine was still there, but we hoped that with the extra blood things would start to improve and I could have chemotherapy on Friday as had been planned.
Friday morning and I could barely lift my head, but my ever patient mother dragged my miserable butt into the hospital to see the medical oncologist and get me started on chemo... and perhaps see if we could figure out why this migraine was so blasted persistent!
CT of my brain revealed - you guessed it - that the cancer is on the move again. Now here's where the details are still being worked out. You remember earlier I mentioned that there were spots on my skull? Now there are spots in the meningese (so sure I'm spelling all this wrong!) one of which is in the lower left and side of my skull - apparently that's quite close to one of the spots on my spine. An MRI will be done probably tomorrow, and I hope to get the chance to compare those images with the images from the last one. This will mean we can actually track what's going on, because at the moment, I'm really not sure. Being admitted to hospital on a Friday is tough too, because the people who are working on my case specifically are not here, so while I can ask general questions, the specific questions I have about my case have to wait until they return on Monday. Tuesday here is a public holiday, so that will invariably slow things up a bit too, but at least tomorrow I should have some answers.
By now if you've manageto get through ALL of that you're probably feeling completely confused and un-informed, but there it is. I will post information about radiotherapy and the exact type of chemo I am on as these things start, and I have so many blessings that have been bestowed on me that I want to share, so I will post these things as I get the energy. Hopefully by posting all my updates to one spot, everyone will be kept up to date. If you know someone who is wanting to know what's going on, please share this information, because I am really struggling to make sure the progress reports get to all those who want them.
I have been overwhelmed by the love and support that has come to not only myself, but to my family, and continue to be grateful for this. For those who I haven't already told, I AM FIGHTING! I have never been a quitter and I pray daily for the miracle that will set me free from this disease. With God, all things are possible and I ask you to join me in praying that the cancer is not in control of my body and that I live for many years to come; a testimony to God's amazing power. We have been told that the percentages are not in my favour, but percentages are just that - an AVERAGE of how people respond in this situation. I chose to be among the numbers of those who survive. I chose life - because it is GLORIOUS! I chose to be there as my children grow through the teen years and into adulthood. I chose to achieve my dreams and create new ones. I chose to grow old with my husband, a man I love as much now as the day I married him. I chose to stand before the world and bear witness to a God so great that he can heal anthing, and restore me to a health better than ever before, because I am now eating foods which are better for my body and being more aware of the things that bring health to me and my family. I chose to look at these delays, not as setbacks, but as time for my body to gather strength for the battle ahead. I chose to trust in God's plan; before I was born he knew the exact moment and circumstance of my joining Him in Heaven, and I pray that this is a long time into the future so that I have time to reach the potential I feel He has given to me.

I also chose to stop writing here and climb into bed; this has taken me a couple of sessions to write, so it's probably taken YOU a couple of sessions to read!
As always, sending this into cyberspace with my love to all those of you who care enough to stop by.

Well I'm sure you're all used to me not posting when I say I will... but I did WANT to post and show you what awesomeness I created for Education week.. but my camera was broke.. so tough luck.

This is a super quick post - I wanted to share with you all this wonderful amazing thing that my beautiful Cister (you'll always be my cister Kaz) posted for me on her blog.
http://karen-day.blogspot.com/2008/06/to-my-beautiful-friend-dee.html

Kaz is a total super star scrapper these days - has her own range of delectable embies, and graces the cover of this months Scrapbook Creations. But more than that - she is a totally genuine, sensitive and lovable woman who makes me laugh with her wicked sense of humour and makes me so glad that God has blessed me with her friendship. So I wanted to share with you all, just the kind of wonderfulness she is. Please pop over and check it out.. oh, and take the tissues!

Okay, I have a whole lotta cool stuff to post over the coming week; so I'm going to post this sucky stuff now.

I am starting radiation therapy in about three weeks. Basically, because I have a history of the cancer coming back after surgery the oncologists are going to try radiation as a form of killing off any cells in the region that they didn't get. I am praying this works, and really focusing hard on giving this worry to God, because it's really too big for me to deal with alone, and quite frankly I have never seen the point in worrying myself literally ill over something I can not change.
Post surgically I got a really nasty infection that saw me in and out of Peter Mac more times than I chose to count. I was still losing over 100mls of blood every day 3 weeks after surgery! I was tired and shaky and generally felt pretty crappy. My darling husband was awesomely supportive, and I really couldn't have managed without him; but I have to say, sitting around doing nothing for three weeks is not a good thing for me. I am SOOO appreciative of my renewed health right now; let me tell you.

I finally returned to Uni this week; and heavens have I got some catching up to do!!!! I started my first placement days at Red Hill Consolidated School; I still have a couple to go, but I AM LOVING IT!!! I really wish I could just get straight into the classroom, becuase as much as I enjoy Uni; I really feel like it's a big ol' waste of time. I have learned more this week working with the grade two's than I have since I started at Uni! And I am confident that I will learn more in my first week as a teacher than the rest of my education combined... oh well; I guess I'd do better to learn some stuff before they unleashed me on the poor unsuspecting children :)
Only twomore weeks until this semster is over - where did that go?

This week - starting tomorrow - is Education week. I have been totally inspired by this creative woman and have decided to make gifts for each of the 25 teachers at Dane's school. Stay tuned and I'll start posting pics tomorrow. Make sure you check out that blog link, and scroll on down, she has some AMAZING ideas.

Thanks everyone for you well wishes; I'm sorry I'm not updating more regularly, but I really have been feeling crappy. Love n hugs
Dee

Off for surgery tomorrow

One more night of not sleeping until I will have my very own bed in at Peter Maccallum cancer institute. I have no idea what is going to happen, but should be out early next week - apparently even as soon as Sunday night or Monday morning. My Daddy is coming down to babysit my darling children while I'm away, so they're going to have an AWESOME time, and I'll be back before you know it.
Love n hugs everyone - will log back on when I get home.

An Update

OKay, so I know I'm supposed to update this thing regularly and really I promise I will... one day. I suppose if you actually have enough interesting stuff going on in your life that someone would want to read about, your probably don't have too much time to say it, hey? That's certainly been my life of late.
For those of you who don't know; I was diagnosed with melanoma when Lydia was only a few weeks old. This has been a bit of an on-going saga since then, with treatment and surgery and all manner of stress attached to it. It continues to provide the greatest stress in my life, and I have just recently been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. If you don't know what this is, basically, the original cancer (melanoma - which is a type of skin cancer) has mestasticized into my lymph nodes. The way I understand it, mestasticized is a big long word which means moved into. So this means I now have cancer in my lymph nodes, and we have spent a great deal of time over recent weeks trying to find out how much I have and how far it has spread. Unfortunately there is no cure at this point for metastatic melanoma, other than cutting it out, so if it had spread through the lymph system this would be BAD BAD BAD news. Luckily for me, it doesn't appear to have spread. I have 7 tumours all localised underneath my right armpit, and will be heading on in for surgery as soon as my oncologist organises it. All up, it's not really such a big deal as we have made it, I have stuff in my body that needs to be removed, so the surgeons will cut it out. Fairly simple really. But heavens, the last few weeks have been anything but. It has been frightening and emotional and just plain awful. I haven't been able to think straight, sleep well, or go a whole day without bursting into tears. I am seriously partying now that I know what I am dealing with. That word - cancer - really does strike fear into your heart.

On another equally emotional note, it was with an incredibly heavy heart that I bid farewell to my beautiful friend Marian last month. Maz was an amazing woman, with strength, compassion, dignity and the most wicked sense of humour. She was a wonderful friend, and my life is so much poorer for having lost her. I guess you never really know how much you will miss someone until they are gone, but I will forever miss Marian, a great scrapping buddy, a strong shoulder to cry on, and the kind of person who would never judge you by how you looked, how well kept your home was or how much money you had. I think that so many people could learn so much about love from Maz, as she was so eager and willing to share her love with everyone around her.

So how's that for a completely miserable post? I bet you're all wishing I'd stayed away now, lol. Uni is keeping me incredibly busy - it's hard work!!! But I am loving it, and making some awesome friends. We actually start placement in a few weeks, so hopefully I'll be up to it, and well and truly post-surgery by then. I've also been getting a little more involved at church; I started the Alpha course, which is a great way to meet people of the same faith. Thanks goodness I don't sleep, I really don't have time :)

Anyone still reading?? I'm impressed. I have started my BOM - and will share at some point, but for now I think that's enough from me.

A new challenge.

As part of my stint as a Guest Design Team member over at CIS I have been given the opportunity to set a new ongoing challenge. Please check this out and give this one a shot. Basically I have uploaded a LO which you are to take inspiration from, then you upload the LO you created and someone else uses your LO as inspiration.. Clear as mud? lol Just check it out hehehehe

http://www.craftinginstyle.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3906

More VC layouts

I've been madly scapping the last couple of days in an attempt to get as many of the Nook virtual challenges done as I can. I am having so much fun with these!

Okay - the first LO is my grandparents; aren't they gorgeous? They've been married 50years now (actually 51 this year) and I pray that my marriage will be that strong in 50 years.

The challenge for LO#2 was simply to scrap silly photos. As the mother of two clowns I have plenty of these - so this one was easy!

LO #3 was for a #5 challenge - the idea being that if you used something you used 5 of it - 5 patterened papers, 5 buttons.

The last LO is my fave! This is Dane's school portrait; scrapped with the awesome BG Reces range - love this stuff.

Okay - that's my report for today :) If you're reading this you've probably got a fair bit to catch up on anyhow - I guess that's what I get for not posting regularly. ;)

Virtual Crop

MyScrapbookNook are hosting a VC this weekend and it is AMAZING!!!! They have the COOLEST prizes; international competitors are welcome, and there are over 30 challenges on the board, with prizes for at least 6 of them. They award point for each challenge completed and the person with the most point at the end of the crop wins Queen of the Crop; and a MONSTER prize pack. So, in my best Molly Meldrum voice; do yourself a favour and get yer butt OVER there... now!!! Oh and if you do; make sure you introduce yourself and post a least ten little comments somewhere, so I can score an extra 10 points for bringing a friend. hehehe
Now in the light of the VC - here are a few of the LO's I've done for it so far:
The first is possibly my fave at this point; the challenge was simple enough - use a transparency somewhere on your LO. I used the hambly 12 x 12 and cut it down. These pics were from our pre Christmas photo shoot. No matter what I did I could not get Lydia to look at the camera; but I love the pics I ended up with. Especially the one of Dane and Lydia together.

The second was for a hidden journalling challenge; pics from our QLD trip of Lydia having her hair cut by Andrew's cousin.

And finally - these quick little wall hangings were scrap-lifted from the very talented Sarah. I'll be hanging these off the shelf next to my computer - I think they're really sweet. Those pics are only 2 x 3 inches - guess that gives you an idea of how little these are

As always, thanks for stopping by - I'll have more to show in the next day or two.

My first EVER Design Team spot!!!!

OH I AM SOO SUPER EXCITED!! I have been offered a guest design team spot with the amazing team at Crafting In Style this month! This site is awesome - but then if you read this blog you already know how much I love the CISters, so it is a huge honour to be offered this spot. Ally has sent me a gorgeous pack to play with, the results of which I can't share yet, but will do as soon as she publishes - so watch this space. MAKE SURE you pop over this month to see all the awesomeness that the DT have planned - there are loads of challenges, a wonderful sketch (check that out at the stylish sketch blog here) and a great cybercrop planned for next weekend. Tell em I sent ya!

But wait there's more!

Good morning lovely people. Another few LO's to share. At the moment CIS is having a bit of an impromptu party while the Boss Girl is away for the long weekend. The DT girls have set a few challenges and it's all a bit of fun - so head on over. Lizzy has challenged us all to chose a sketch from the CIS Stylish Sketch Blog (check it out here) This particular challenge is a pretty good one for me - cos I've been using the sketch blog a WHOLE lot lately. There are loads of sketches on there, a bunch of CISters have contributed to the sketches and there are samples of every single one. Perfect inspiration spot for when the Mojo has left the building. (Gosh, I sound like an AD!)

PS2 is my entry to that challenge. It's based on one of the older sketches - called Creative Bliss - by Jolene. The Balinese show pics were really hard to scrap - scrapping night time photos is tough, cos you wanna use dark colours, but that invariably makes the whole page too dark. So I'm not real happy with this LO - but at least the pics are scrapped. If you've got ANY tips for scrapping night time pics, please share them :)

The techno babe LO is probably my current fave - simply cos I finally got around to scraplifting the very talented Karen Brierley. Karen regularly uses the negatives from her chipboard alphas, and they look ace. This is such a great way to get more outta your scrapping dollar - so that's got to be a good thing. The Last LO here is for the monthly dare also over at CIS. The challenge is to use a style of handstitching on yur LO that you've haven't put to paper before. I have been summarily un-daring in stitching on LO's, so for me I had the pick of pretty much ANY stitch.. and true to style I stayed boring and went with cross stitch ;)

Once again, thanks for stopping by!

So I know I said I'd post a couple of layouts each day; but my camera batteries died and I couldn't find my charger... so even though I wanted to share; I couldn't. However - the camera is now equipped with fresh batteries; so here they are.

These first three were my entries in CIS's January cybercrop. If you are at ALL scrap inclined, then get yourself over to crafting in style on February the 8th for their next CC! The challenges are fab, and the chatter is always a load of fun, and you have from Friday night until Monday lunch time to get the challenges done.

I'll post more over the coming days; didn't want to overload you all at once. Thanks for stopping by.

After some gentle prompting from Kate I realised that it's been over 3 weeks since my last post... WOW I SUCK! hehehe so I'm gonna be posting every day for the next few in an attempt to catch you all up on all that's been happening here.
School holidays are nearly over and I gotta say I am not COMPLETELY shattered. These holidays have been a little dull for Dane; we haven't been anywhere or done much that's real exciting because we've been trying to reign in the spending a little. Lydia's still not talking, and getting increasingly frustrated at her inability to communicate. This in turn is driving me bananas, so all in all not the most peaceful household. I've been making a real effort to provide some good ol' fashioned entertainment so we've been doing all sorts of things to fill in our days - painting with a cup of water on the fence, making dough people and painting them, lots of Lego... lol. This past weekend we all went (Andrew included) down to Cape Schanck for the day. we packed a picnic lunch and walked down the boardwalk and explored the rockpools and caves around the point. It was a GORGEOUS day and an awesome way to spend some family time together. Far better than sitting on our butts around the house; the kids had a ball and we all got a decent workout climbing up and down over 225 steps! Lydia even managed the climb up them on her own, which I thought was pretty impressive.
I've also been scrapping a bit over the last week or so; did the three challenges for the CIS CC, and am trying to keep up with the 14 layout in 14 days challenge set by Kaz at CIS too. So I will post some layouts here over the next few days.
On the Lydia front - we have an appointment to see a speech therapist on the 30th of Jan, so hopefully will soon have some answers, and maybe even a few strategies for helping her out. She starting at a new daycare centre this Thursday; and they seem pretty switched on and keen to do whatever it takes to help her a bit; hopefully it's only a few little things to give her a bit of a push-start.
Well that will do for today - will be sure and report back with some more tomorrow; and a few layouts to share.
Love n hugs
Dee