Paleokastritsa Beach

DSC03423
Originally uploaded by Karen Kool.

We drove to this village by car and took a small boat to see the caves.

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DSC03259
Originally uploaded by Karen Kool.

Corfu!

Hi!

Yes we're back from Greece.... It was hot and sunny and very relaxing!!! I will tell you more about it soon and also show you some pictures but first things first...

Five years ago exactly I was trying to survive contractions.... after 9 months of carrying my precious baby.... He is the one that made me a MOM! I remember so vividly at what time it all started, how hubby got home early from work by surprise (really, I hadn't called him to tell 'it started') and how we ended up in the hospital at 5.00 am in the morning.... Ever been in a car with serious contractions?? Hmmm... I remember I did NOT like it!!

But then at 8.04 am my little boy was there, June 28, 2002! It was a c-section in the end because he couldn't get out, turned his nose to my belly and that made it difficult to get out!

Tomorrow he will be FIVE! The first time he can give treats to his friends in school. Sure he did that in daycare and the teachers there always threw him a big party (thank you Petra) but now he realizes it's his birthday!!

One pair of grandparents will join the party tomorrow afternoon because they will leave for vacation the day after... all the other people are invited on Saturday. And then on Wednesday it will be his first Kids Party! He invited four friends (so cute, 3 boys but also 1 girl) to his party and we are going to be Pirates all afternoon (or at least I hope so... perhaps the kids have different thoughts about that).... Well his cake is in style... this picture will be on the cake:

All the elements I used on the photo are from the Pirates Kit by Royanna Fritschmann (Divine Digital). It's an older kit, not for sale any longer I think.

By the way, the photo was taken in Corfu last week! The kids loved the animation team, the girls Laura and Yonneke were amazing! 5 days a week, 4 hours a day they were playing games with them, doing crafts etc. This girls made it possible I read 5 books in 2 weeks! If you are Dutch and have little kids you should try Kidsworld!!

OK... more about Greece very very soon, I promise!!

We're away.... vacationing in Greece... we'll be back in two weeks!

Count down!

Yes, I am counting the nights until we leave for Greece, I look like a little kid! So it's exactly 4 nights away from today! It's one more day at work and then a Saturday filled with parties! My youngest has it's first kiddies' birthday party, his little friend Rosanne is turning four and she invited a couple of friends over, so cute! They have a group of 4 little friends (they boys are still 3, the girls are 4 years old, lol) and they are so great together in daycare! My boy doesn't like Tuesdays at daycare, when they are not there!

And then we have another party... it's Petra's 25th birthday!!! Those who read my blog all know her of course, also known as Milo82!! She's throwing a party and we are invited.... any suggestions for a great birthday gift??

So then it's Sunday and time to pack the suitcases to leave for this place....ooh I love to find photos of Corfu on the net!







Well I have to sort some more things out, hubbie has a job interview tomorrow so I have to print his resume now...

Love!!
Karen

The extension to our attic

Today is the day! At 7.00 am in the morning the workforce was here, they were going to create an extension to our attic today! I have put it in a little album for you! Didn't do much else except taking kids to and from school and taking Mauro to my friend because the kids wanted to play together... Good thing, this wasn't a day to have kids around the house.

Hope you had a good day too, tomorrow will be another day of construction as the interior still has to be finished off!

Karen

Hi all!!

So how are you?? I am doing ok.... I have antibiotics and it makes me dizzy! So I just do very little, try to organize ACDsee (but it shuts down all the time when I try to move stuff), yesterday I did some scrapping and now it's time for some blogging!

Oh and I did some shopping on the internet.... My boys both have crocs and they don't want anything else on their feet so I thought I'd better have them too! And because we're going to Greece in 2 weeks I ordered them online. I couldn't make a choice between flip flops or sandals so I got them both (Petra, don't be jealous.... I have the url for you, lol!).

I also did some layouts yesterday.... here they are:

I mad this layout for the CT of Ilona Havenaar, she sells at Divine Digital. I love the background, looks like fabric! The kit is called Nymphaea. The wordart is by me.

Now of to my Parisian scraps!

Credits can be found here

Credits can be found here

I wanted to tell for a long time that I am on the CT of Royanna Fritschmann, I was really excited when I heard the news but thought she was going to announce it. I think she has to many other things on her mind right now, or perhaps she has announced but I missed it! Of course she's at Divine Digital, but you already knew that, didn't you :) !!

Another long weekend coming up...Whitsunday, we all have Monday off too.... Tuesday I have to work but then Wednesday and Thursday I have to be home because the builders will put an extension to our attic on those days. I will show you photos next week!

Friday we have the annual 'company day out'.... At the end of the schoolyear we 'co-workers' go out for a day and it's always a suprise what will happen on that day. I tried to tease Ines, one of my colleagues to let me in on her little secret because she KNOWS... I got nothing more out of her except that all activities will be outdoors and we will have a BBQ afterwards! Let me show you what I did last year:

That was FUN!! I never learned how to drive such a thing, a real citygirl I guess! I was a bit scared at first but very proud I drove it!

Next time I will tell you about Greece.... we're heading there in two weeks and I just got the tickets today!! Woohoo!!!

Have a good day!!

Hi all!!

So I am back in the digiworld and alive and kicking... ok, maybe not so alive.... My youngest is not feeling really well so he's not giving me the nights I should have :0)... Oh well, that's what a mom's life is all about, isn't it... never enough sleep to get through the day!

My other boy fell flat on the pavement today, I am sorry I didn't take any pictures to scrap but I was busy taking care of his sour knee (ouch mommy, also my lip and my left hand, and ohh my right hand too)... Life is hard when you're almost FIVE!

I did manage to get some scrapping done today, I made two layouts:

Credits can be found: here

Credits can be found here

This last one is for Sara Amarie, I am on her Creative Team as a guest this month but most of this mont my computer was gone, so I wasn't able to do much for her. The kit I used for this one is Naturals Collection Kit: Pacific. I also used some of her Felty Flowers Tinies, all available at the Sweet Shoppe, her stuff is great so I would go and take a look... :)

I am trying to catch up on my CT duties now!

Well, all for now, I am going to get some sleep before someone wakes me up!

Hi!

So I wanted to surprise you after my absence... I have been dying to show you a little mothersday movie.... My little boy learned a song for this occassion in school. His dad is singing along with him!

I also did my first LO on my 'new' computer.... wel it's not new, only the harddisk is, and I put another one in for backup (this girl is getting smarter :))




Credits can be found here

Unfortunately this long long weekend (because it was Ascension day last Thursday) has now come to an end. I have to work again tomorrow... I will try to get the day off on Friday again but I don't know if that will really happen... I want some time to organize my computer!

And I need FONTS... I lost them all! Please, if you have any good free fonts, point me in the right direction!!

So now it's time for the movie!




Have a great week!

My PC is back!

Just a short message to you all to let you know that my computer is back! I picked it up on Friday afternoon... still had to wait for it then because they had to put the backup back on... I lost all of my fonts (never thought of that)... and old e-mails and e-mail addresses... but well.... I will get them back!

I did a scrap last night but it disappeared somewhere in my computer... when I find it you will be the first to know!

Hi, Still no new scraps, still no desktop computer :(... I called the repairshop yesterday and they were still trying to retrieve my documents but didn't know if they were succeeding or not ... Well, I just have to be patient I guess. I really miss the scrapping! Luckily Petra has set up a new little blog community and has gotten me into Kaboodle so I have plenty to do online. And I just got tickets for Symphonica in Rosso at the presale! First I told dh that I didn't want to go. We have been there last year because Marco Borsato did SIR... this year he put it in the hands of Paul de Leeuw, another Dutch artist. Very good but totally different! Marco and I go way back... although he probably won't remember ;), he's now a national popstar!
In 1990 or 1991 when I worked for a Dutch Touroperator, we organized a reunion for the travelers. As they were only young people (teens, early twenties) the organization hired a singer that had just won one of those TV contests that are really popular now (Idols, but then the early nineties version by Henny Huisman, lol).... Anyway, because I had been a rep I also had to do a small performance (the group of reps) so I shared the dressing room with.... Marco Borsato. Can you believe he now sings with the Andrea Bocelli's of this world! Lol... been there, done that!
Anyway, to surprise my dh I did buy tickets this morning.... It's Nov. 3rd so still 6 months away... I have to run now, have a work appointment in Amsterdam! Hope to see you all again soon!

I Kaboodle too!

Have you all read Petra's blog... she's kaboodling! And now I am too, look here at my wishlist:

cloggie68's Wish List by cloggie68

I also made a list of purchased items, I have not put everything in that I got at NSD weekend but I am getting there!

Still no desktop back yet.... I am going to call the computerdoctor tomorrow because I am a bit worried that they haven't given ME a call yet, I really would like to know how my dear PC is doing! Has it really lost all it's data or not?? It's giving me nightmares... but I am soooo happy and relieved that my scrapping stuff and photos are still here!!

Check out Petra's blog, don't forget, she also started a blog circle, she's full of great ideas!!

My computer died... and please vote!

My computer died... or probably my harddisk... On the night before national scrapbookday... when I was looking through all the sales whilst chatting with Petra... it suddenly gave up. I took it to the computer doctor yesterday so hopefully I will have it back somewhere at the end of this week. Until then I can do the shopping but not the scrapbooking. Oh well... I survived NSD, did you?

I entered a totally different contest with digiscrap stuff! Remember I am buzzing Redband Truly, the candies? I scrapped one LO with it and entered it for a creative contest. Can you please vote for me on the Redband Truly Website??
I need a lot of 10s of course :).

Well it's just a short message, I am not as comfortable on the laptop as on my own comfy pc... Hope you're having a great weekend!

Karen

Do you love the Hodge Podge challenge?

Hi,

Still no paperscrapping here, I just cannot find the time to sit and scrap at the table.... Probably this vacation I will not find time either because tomorrow is already Friday.... OMG... when I type this I cannot believe I have been off work all week, I feel like I haven't done anything... perhaps I should make a list of things I have done so I will feel better. Ok... made the list, you can find it at the bottom of this blogpost.... I forgot to put in the layouts but here they go. I did a couple but this is the one I like most, for the hodge podge challenge. It's no. 4 already, but only the 2nd I have entered a layout for. I had to redo one of my layouts so here it is:



Credits can be found here

This was the old layout:



Credits can be found here

It is really amazing to discover (and weird to) that I have developed sort of favorite style. Especially because I was looking up the date of the old layout and discovered I had made it exactly one year earlier (May 2nd, 2006)...

More Scrapnews, I stayed online quite late last night and then I received an e-mail from Nightwolf Designs. I had entered in a name-this-kit competition and there were going to be 5 random winners... and I WON! I downloaded this HUGE kit (over 300 mb) which will be available later this week.... Thank you so much!

Now on to my list!

Hi!!

I have the week off and today both kids are in daycare... I have time to clear out the attic (a MUST) and do my blog and scrap things ... still there are NOT enough hours in the day so let's start!

Thought I'd share two of my birthday pics with you.... one is of my youngest and his little friend Sam who are hungry for fries, lol! On the other picture where we are eating cake (not I am not on the pic, I was behind the camera) you can see... Petra! It was sweet of her to visit me on my birthday so I thought she deserved the picture. Can you figure out which one is her? Be sure to visit her blog too!!

Frames are from Melissa Bennetts new kit Snips n Snails available at Elemental Scraps and Plain Digital Wrapper.

Here's another movie of one of the toys my boys got on Queensday... you see how they keep their dad busy, lol!



My boy also got this Jake-suit (from the Tweenies)...



And then finally on to two of my layouts, I finished these today, also with Melissa Bennett's new kit Snips and Snails. Can you tell I really really like this kit??


The curled corners are by Karah Fredricks.



Off to some more sorting... I have sooo many babyclothes here, I could fill a store. I am sorting out what to give to friends or throw away... We are getting an extension to the attic at the end of this month so it all has to be empty here.... is it ever going to be ready??

Love,

Toys toys toys!

Although the day started off with excitement for our little ones because it is Queensday, suddenly it turned a bit sad because when we left the house we discovered that the passenger window of our car was smashed. Obviously someone thought they could find something of value in my car. I do have a TomTom (portable navigation system) but I NEVER leave it in the car... So all the broken glass was no fun for them (WHOEVER??) and NO fun for us!

But it was 7 am and I didn't think anyone could help us out at this early hour. And we were on our way to the flea market for some good buys! So we decided to leave it for another hour and take Andy's car to the village.

It was a lot colder than I had expected so the boys were cold but hung in there because of all the goodies... They got a new (well second hand of course...) skelter, a lot of new Disney books, videos (as everyone sells them for 15-50 cents only) and this Peter Pan Treehouse.... I have a few small movies....this is one:



After this we visited my mom on 'her' market. She sells antiques and brocante and was selling this in another village on another market (as every place has it's own market on Queensday).... We had planned for a BBQ today but we skipped it and cooked the meat in the kitchen... too windy.

Hopefully I will get back to scrapping tomorrow as I have the day to MYSELF...wow!

Happy birthday to me... and Queensday tomorrow!

This movie was taken exactly one year ago (April 29, 2006) on my birthday and I still think it is ever so funny! Last year it was also Queensday on my birthday because it is never celebrated on a Sunday. In the morning of Queensday we always visit the local flea market where children sell their toys (of course only the one they outgrew or never play with).... My boy found this drumming gear. He had been asking for this for a long time (although he was only 3 at the time) and now we found one for $4.... a bargain! He loved it so much... Today it's behind me in the attic and he barely plays the drums anymore. But yesterday, when he sneaked out of bed and I was here behind the computer... he came upstairs and played the drums! Like he knew it is going to be Queensday really soon....

So it's my birthday today!!! I turned 39... so still in my 30s! ;)

I wasn't going to celebrate it but because it was on a Sunday a lot of people dropped by anyway. Petra (aka Milo82) also dropped by and wrote a really sweet part on her blog about it.


At This is the life I read a really good explanation of Queensday so that is what we are going to do tomorrow!



Have a fun day tomorrow!!!

Leslie Feist video and my ScrapScreet prize!

Hi again!

Woohooo... yesterday when I came home after a rather confusing day there was a package for me from the States! I totally forgot about it! I am on the April cover of Scrapstreet Magazine... or better... my little boy is!

For this I won a prize too, as if being on the cover wasn't enough!! I chose a paper kit for a change and it came in the mail yesterday ... Here it is, it's actually 2 I think... I had a look at the website and I found out they are called the Main Street Disney Kit and the Bonus Kit:

Lucky me... I have 1,5 week off work because of the May Vacation here..!! Hopefully I will have some spare time - home alone, lol - to scrap.... either paper or digi!

I told you about Leslie Feist and thought it would be fun to share some more music to buzz her again! Here's one of her videos, the song is called 1234... let me know what you think!

So my vacation started today! Tomorrow I am going out with my oldest son, we are going to a large playground or small theme park called Oud Valkeveen. He loves a day 'alone' with me and so do I, fun to hang out together!

more buzzing.... sweets!

Hello friends!

This weekend was a busy one but it was also very relaxed... The kids were excited because it was daddy's birthday... of course they had made their crafts and I bought them each a small gift to give in the morning. I had bought him a dvd-recorder but it didn't arrive until later in the day as it was delivered at home...

Another package got to our place on Saturday, it was a buzz kit! I have posted before about Buzzer and I get to buzz sweets (or candies... I am not sure which word you prefer :) )... I thought one package would be send to us but it was a huge box..... Look here:

Can you tell my boy was happy with his sweets, lol! Of course he snagged a few but I have to save some for later this week so that he can take them to daycare... after all they have to be tested and it is for the word-of-mouth advertising... I can tell you... they are GOOD! Unfortunately not (yet?) available abroad so it's just us Dutch who can have these ;0)

I made this LO with Carrie Stephens new freebie Inflorescense. As I said, it's free so if you don't have it already, it's still there for you! I also used Framecluster no2, a freebie from Welli Designs and Time Life by Jessica Bolt. When I am writing this I see a huge freebie on her website and its absolutely gorgeous so it's worth visiting her blog!!!

Also worth visiting is the Ztampf shop. Today I purchased a few things from the Balinesian collection, I bought the papers, the wordart and these elements:

We visited Bali in 1999 so it's time to scrap those memories!

Back to our weekend, we visited our little friend Thomas, who celebrated his 4th birthday! And today was very laid back, we played with the boys... made puzzles and did computergames... they also played with our neighbour's grandchildren for a while. In the afternoon we cooked our meal on the barbecue and had dinner outside... It's only April!! The weather in April has been great, I am NOT complaining!

Have a nice day, or evening!!

Ever heard of Leslie Feist... or Buzzing?

A few weeks ago I first heard of Buzzer. It's a website where you can join the community and you will be selected to Buzz... So now you still don't know what I am talking about, huh? I guess buzzing is the hype in marketing right now! It is just word-of-mouth advertising. They send out a special product to a group of buzzers (it can be candies, it can be music, a book or a drink... anything) and they trust you with the product. If it's good you buzz it... you tell your friends put it on your blog or share it with your co workers (if it's the candies... well, ok then :). This way a product will be hyped by buzzers... or at least that's what the owners of this website hope will happen, lol...

I have been selected to buzz new candies (for the Dutch amongst you, it's RedBand) which will arrive by snail mail on Saturday. No digital candy, or I would have shared it right here with you :).... But I have also been selected to buzz some music. And I thought I'd share the music with you... let me know what you think!

She's Canadian... she's trying to become more famous in Europe. Her name is Leslie Feist! One of her songs is My Moon, My Man... I hope you can listen to the song by clicking it, and I hope you like it... let me know what you think! Have you heard of her before? Post a comment and let me know!

Funny: Sex and the City... who are you?

You Are Most Like Carrie!

You're quirky, flirty, and every guy's perfect first date. But can the guy in question live up to your romantic ideal? It's tough for you to find the right match - you're more than a little picky. Never fear... You've got a great group of friends and a great closet of clothes, no matter what! Romantic prediction: You'll fall for someone this year... Totally different from any guy you've dated.

Which Sex and the City Vixen Are You?

It's a small world!

Hi!

It's a small world is not just my son's favorite attraction in Disneyland Paris... but it's also very true! Today I realized I have totally neglected my Digiscrappen Hyves website!

I read some of the entries and realized we have some new members! One of them is Nikkie and I thought her scraps look familiar. Then I realized I have been on her blog before thru' Ellen's blog... you two were both scrapping about the Efteling! I linked both blogs in my 'blogs I read for inspiration' list.

What else is new here.... I think we have decided to a daytrip during the Spring Break in May. Mauro is off school and I am off work that week so there's enough time to go somewhere. Just for a day or so since we're off to Greece in June already! Yesterday the boys' saw the Movieworld Germany commercial on TV about the new 'Nickland'. I had a look at the website today and found out that kids pay the price of their age on Friday (and under 4 are free)... So we will only pay 4 euro for both kids... sounds like a good deal! I urged Andy to take a personal day on that specific Friday...lol!

I want to get one more LO done tonight so I better rush off now... almost 8.00 pm already! Ow and off to Ikeagoddess because I saw some awesome freebies I don't want to miss out on, have a good day!