Happiness depends upon ourselves

Have you seen the quote of today (left bottom)? So appropriate for the LO I just (really just) finished. Look for the credits here. It has been a crazy week last week but let's say it all turned out well and it's time to turn the page. After I recovered from my burnout (I was close to a burnout the doctor said 5 months ago) I felt my job was taken... it was not really like that but that was my impression... So I chose to take another path and today I heard my choice was approved of by our CEO...pffff. Now I can look forward and I will only look back if it is to give me positive energy and to learn from the past... NOT for any other reason. Feels good, like fresh air... like spring...:) ... of course these 2 (!) serious job offers I got in the past week were adding to the joy....

So the quote one more time:

Quote of the DayHappiness depends upon ourselves.

Aristotle

And last but not least the blinkie Petra made for me

.

... Isn't she the sweetest??

Thank you!!!

On the blogtrain too?

Yes I am on the blogtrain.... I saw some of my friends hopped on too. Did you get here on the blogtrain?? I think it's a great idea!

A rose LO and this was my weekend...

Sherry Ferguson came up with a new kit last week on PlainDigitalWrapper . She now also sells at Digiscrapdivas. This kit is called A New Beginning and don't you just love these colors and flowers?!! I do! I did this LO last night... halfway through the weekend.
We only had one kid on Saturday, the other one didn't want to leave grandma's house, lol! He loves being there so we picked him up later in the afternoon. We took the other one on a trip to see a campsite in the east of Holland. We made plans to stay there during our summer holiday but when we got there (it must have been the rain) we weren't too excited... It is probably ok in the summer but we're still open for other options.

Last year in France was fantastic so it will be hard to top that ... On the other hand we don't like going to the same place twice, there's too much to see and do to stay somewhere twice... So we'll just keep looking!

Today we had a very quiet day... we sorted out toys, toys and more toys and even the boys were cooperative to put some things away (to sell on Queensday or to keep in the attic ;) ).
I sorted out Milans' clothes ... because he's growing to fast and there is no one else 'smaller' in this house to wear his 'old clothes' ... Not that he only wears his big brothers' left overs... that's probably why his closet was soooo full of stuff!

No more news for today... I might have go for another LO but I am not sure if I can find the inspiration!

Dreamer LO

My layout of today: credits Fun Loving by Amy Bleser, have had this one for a long time and used it on more than 1 occassion so it must be good :)

Tagged

Ok I have been tagged by Petra!! So now I have to think hard of my all time favorites?? Hmm... let's see, fortunately the past weeks have brought back memories so some people who recognize songs here... don't laugh (but happy birthday anyway ;-))!! It's a mixture of all kinds of memories... and not just what is in the charts or on the radio these days...

1. Patience - Guns N' Roses
2. Eternal Flame - The Bangles
3. Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. Endless Summer Nights - Richard Marx
4. You and me - Spargo
5. Africa - Toto
6. Come on Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners
7. OBK - Historia de Amor

Ok, I´m tagging just two people since I haven't been in touch with a lot of bloggers (and Petra.... can I tag you right back...lol). So it will have to be...Sherry and Anco... so if your read this, I hope you are ready!

Photos!!!

I just put a couple of the (350!) photos I made in Austria on a slideshow... Just look on the left bottom side and (hopefully) you will see them sliding by on your screen! Enjoy!

Sherry Ferguson is moving!

I am on Sherry Fergusons' creative team and she's moving her designs to 2 other sites (and no longer at Elemental Scraps)... She'll be moving to DigiscrapDivas and PlainDigitalWrapper ... and I love both sites so I think she made a great choice. I hope she'll be on her way designing so more great stuff!

Don't you love these?? It's a lazy Sunday morning here and all the boys (except for 1, who is watching Lilo and Stitch) have gone swimming... Time for me to brows SBB and I found these Bended Tags... Can't wait to use them...

This week I got mail from Camille Diaz, boohoo she's quitting designing... I am on her CT (or better was) and it's really a loss of a great talent but she has other priorities now in her life. I wish her all the best, she deserves it... Her stuff is on sale now so you better start checking her shop at 3scrapateers... 50% discount!!!

Today I had to scrap cakes (yes, diet days started again LOL)....Unfortunately I didn't have any photos of the wonderful cakes in Austria (I ate all the apfelstrudel!) so I had to dig in my photos of Paris... I remembered the last day we wandered through the streets of St. Germain and saw all these bakeries with long queues, on a Sundaymorning?? But when we looked through the windows we knew the reason why... Can't you tell? Ooh-la-la!!

Credits: kit The Gift from OScraps (various designers), font for the title: aka Frivolity.

Another LO I made today.... I also uploaded all our pictures to flickr so if you want to be invited to see all of our photos ... just let me know!

We're back from Austria

Yes, we're back! We had a fantastic vacation in Austria. With lots of (articificial) snow... but you really can have as much fun with snow from the snowmachine! We had 7 days (out of 7) with fabulous sunny weather. .. The apartment is one to put on your secret 'favorite places' list (not to share with anyone!)... more photos will be here soon!

Ok, we're off to the snow!! We'll be in sunny Austria from tomorrow and you can find us in this bottom appartment on the left... See you all next week!

Christmas Layouts

Just something to share with you today! Deanna, if you read this I am so happy my package arrived safe and sound at your place... Enjoy!!! Here's the Christmas Concert last Sunday ... and Milan posing with his hat... he can't put a proper smile on the camera but he's so cute when he smiles :)

Last post: my LO for today

Okay okay my last post for today, have to work tomorrow so cannot sit here forever!





Just wanted to show you my latest LO, made with the 3S Bobbies' Best Kit:

Sweet dreams everyone..sleep tight!

The Christmas Concert yesterday... Can you tell who is the small boy in the white shirt? Yes, he was in church with his music-for-toddlers class and had to perform, just like the older students. They did two songs about winter and christmas.

Added: quotes

Hi!

I just added the quote of the day... on the left bottom... LOVE to use quotes for my LOs ... so it's just for inspiration!

Countdown to Christmas

This is our tree... we chose a smaller size this year since we will not be enjoying the tree much around Christmas time. But still I am very happy with it... my favourite this year... The Christmasornaments with the Christmas lyrics on them! Here's one in more detail:

So I am jingling all the way, lol!

No really, I am feeling good (knowing I can escape from Christmas Stress this year and see some snow)...

If we don't speak to you in person we'd love to wish you all

a Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy

2007!!

40 cm sneeuw boven op de berg, verder he-le-maal niks. Nog 9 dagen en we vertrekken naar Oostenrijk, ben zo benieuwd hoe de vakantie gaat worden. Eerst leek het allemaal redelijk voorspelbaar. De hele dag in skipak, en lekker op het terrasje in het zonnetje. Winterbanden gehuurd tegen een behoorlijke prijs... allemaal nodig op wintersport. Maar zo als het er nu naar uitziet wordt het een wandel/spelletjes/autoritjes vakantie! Ik hoop nog steeds op een witte kerst hoor, desnoods op de top van de berg!

Wintersport: nog 3 weken en dan is het zover... maar nog geen sneeuw??

Hoe vind je onze Pietjes? Ze waren helemaal klaar voor Het Grote Feest van Sinterklaas in Ahoy! Ze vonden het geweldig... het is natuurlijk ook leuk om je Jetix helden (vooral de Pieten) in het echt te zien. En dan natuurlijk Sinterklaas...

Toevallig vandaag hoorden we dat we vrijkaartjes hebben gewonnen voor de Jamin Pietenparty... dus a.s. zondag gaan we het nog eens dunnetjes overdoen!

Oké dan ... 2 scraps nog ff showen... omdat ik vanavond zo in de scrapping-mood ben!

Many of the people who know us will perhaps not even recognize the boy on this LO... Oh perhaps by his name? Little boys are growing up and this one certainly did the past year.... 12 mored days until his 15th birthday!! His birthdaywish... This little toy (I wish I had one myself)... and he preferred it with a pink skin. ;)

Goed, na twee maandjes thuis omdat ik even 'door het ijs zakte' zoals de bedrijfsarts zei... ga ik het weer proberen. Werken! Ik heb er wel zin in om weer even wat meer te zijn dan alleen mama maar ik ga het wel rustig aan doen. Dit wil ik echt niet nog een keer! Hopelijk kan ik begin volgend jaar zeggen dat ik weer helemaal terug ben!

Om m'n laatste dagen te vullen ben ik vandaag weer aan het scrappen geslagen. Ik kon deze week steeds geen inspiratie vinden om te beginnen maar omdat zowel Camille als Sherry leuke kits hadden moest ik mijn CT-taken maar weer even gaan vervullen. Heerlijk...als er toch zoiets bestond als een betaalde baan om te scrappen!


Deze LO is gemaakt met de kit Walk in the Garden van Sherry Ferguson (Elemental Scraps)



Milan als leeuwtje, zo kwam hij laatst thuis van zijn laatste dagje Ieniemienies. In oktober was hij op woensdagen op de Ieniemienie groep omdat de administratie een foutje had gemaakt. Maar hij vond het er heerlijk... de oude groep van z'n grote broer. Gelukkig mocht hij vandaag zelfs een middagje bij de naschoolse opvang... nu voelt hij zich echt groot!

Marco bedankt! Marco bedankt! Wow, het was super afgelopen zondag en ik wilde hier toch een paar herinneringen kwijt... filmpje!

Herfstvakantie.... We zijn weer terug van vakantie... waar we geweest zijn?? In België! Net ver genoeg voor prachtig herfstweer, een mooie camping (en chalet)... de enige ADAC Superplatz van België. Dat zegt de kids alleen niks. Maar die willen gewoon terug naar Willie Brillie en Victor Vos! Ze hebben genoten! Ze waren druk in de vakantie hoor, het zwemparadijs, het speelparadijs, knutselen ('s ochtends), Die-da-doe-mee theater én minidisco (om half 8 's avonds), skelter huren, midgetgolfen, op het schip (en alle andere speeltuintjes) spelen... En dan zijn we óók nog een dagje naar Plopsa Indoor geweest... Een impressie... nou oké dan een paar (van de 325 fotootjes hieronder...):

We zijn ook naar Marco Borsato geweest, daarover later meer....

Hiep hiep hoera, Zara gaf gisteren haar eerste verjaardagsfeestje!! En ze loopt ook al twee weken!

Zara had her first birthdayparty yesterday. She's started to walk two weeks ago.... bright little girl!

Can't believe I haven't been working for 6 weeks... I feel like I haven't been on this world for a while. Last Friday the med told me it's normal that this process takes 6 to 13 (!!) weeks... so I am not there YET! But there are more days that I am feeling a bit better and perhaps we have now really escaped from the threatening burn-out! I sure hope I did!

The boys did keep me going, although it felt like sometimes it is a bit too much if one is beside my bed at 4.00 am and I don't fall asleep after that until 5.00 am... and then the other one wakes up at 5.30 am.... Oooohhh I hate kids that sleep until 8.00 in the morning ; )... Mine never do!!!!!

Don't you love this one??? Last fall when I visited Atlanta I had these fleeces on my shopping list. The boys wore them all fall, all spring and now after the summer they are wearing them AGAIN. Unfortunately we lost one the other day, it was left on the playground and gone....

Then I saw this one and had to have it.... I still can't understand why I can't order directly from the GAP website (when I can buy any book from Amazon.com ...). I asked friends in the States before to send me stuff from GAP and OshKosh but I didn't want to bother them again....

Lucky me I was going to go to England today ... but I couldn't go, the doctor advised me not to... so still no fleece. And there I found this exact fleece in a Dutch internet shop. It is directly imported from the US and of course more expensive but well... I just had to have it you know... my little boy will be so pleased!

Appeltaart met slagroom en pannenkoeken... het was afgelopen zondag heerlijk weer dus zijn we 's ochtends even naar het bos in Rhijnauwen gegaan... effe uitwaaien. Uiteindelijk zijn we natuurlijk langer op het terras blijven plakken. Maar het was in ieder geval een leuk uitje!

Ballorig today!!

We went to the indoor playground today. I promised because M. did so well the first week in school! They were really looking forward to a day in the playground so here are some pictures!

Is deze niet lief... tja zo kan het nog makkelijk als je 2,5 bent!

Ja en de week is zelfs al over de helft... Het is leuker dan bij de Ienies, maar die was ie intussen ook wel een beetje ontgroeid! Het is nog wel erg spannend voor hem, echt IEDERE dag naar school. Maar als je in de eerste drie dagen al 2x getrakteerd bent, tja ... dan is dat alleen maar VET COOL. Enneh Mauro wat doe je eigenlijk bij gym? Nou gewoon, een beetje sporten!

Mijn afgestudeerde peuter... afgelopen woensdag voor het laatst naar het kdv. Zelf was hij er wel blij mee, hij heeft het idee dat hij nooit meer iets hoeft! Hihi, hij weet natuurlijk niet dat er nog héél veel jaartjes school aan zitten te komen. Dat merkt hij vanaf maandag wel! De scrap is met de nieuwe August Megakit van Rakscraps.

Afgelopen zondag waren we heerlijk even naar het bos:

Mauro heeft er bramen geplukt. 's Avonds ging hij bij opa en oma slapen dus die kregen de bramen kado... Ze zien er op de foto lekkerder uit dan in het echt ... de bramenoogst was niet zo goed dit jaar. Eerst te heet en daarna te nat weer natuurlijk....

Na een rondje bos en hertjes zijn we naar de Pyramide van Austerlitz gegaan... tenminste de speeltuin.... Erg leuk!

Vandaag 2 nieuwe autostoeltjes gekocht voor M&M... en vanavond de straatbbq gehad... beetje verregend maar toch wel gezellig.

This is (well not actually this but sort of) what I see when I look out of the window... and also sort of expresses my mixed feelings... We have a whole weekend ahead of us and no obligations... love that. But it will also be the last time that the kids will spend their 'night with grandma'. Off course there will be many more sleep-overs but no official ones. 10 days from now Mauro will start school. I can't believe that my baby is already ready for school and it makes me emotional. The next time I bring him to daycare will be for his farewell-party.

This week I am an emotional instable mom... am I allowed to? Just this one week? I promise I will feel better next week... I hope... no I will, I promise! ;)

Got it got it !!! Yes... yesterday I walked into the Dixons store and there was my precious darling... my Sony Alpha! I had ordered it in another store but they didn't get their supply and now it was right there in front of me. It turned out it had been in this store for exactly 10 minutes before I walked in... can you believe this? It must be faith, and I couldn't resist.
Today I tried to take pictures at Myra's birthday and this one is from the 3 boys. Aren't they cute together... ?? The pictures are just soooooo beautiful!

August 1st and the new online edition of Scrapstreet Magazine is here... I have been published again...toot toot! Here is my Orange Friends layout in the category Friends and here you can find my dearest Duckie in the Orange section (although I am convinced it is more yellow ...). They also promised to publish the layout I made for the Digital Contest last month, I made the Tribute to Amsterdam. It's right at the bottom of the page! Wow, a triple publication!

Is Santa already on his way ... I have put this Sony Alpha on my wishlist! I was in the store today but it was already sold out and it has only just been released...