a catch up and a new year....

Welcome to a brand new year and the first of what I hope to be many posts ;)

It's been months since I last posted anything on my poor neglected blog, but I guess real life well and truly got in the way of all things scrapping towards the end of last year.

That said... here is a little picture catch up of some of the things that occupied my time...

 Miss Isabelle turned 6 in November.  We decided to have a friends party and also a family party, which resulted in the two cakes and birthday which drew out to several days.  Suffice to say, Belle was pretty happy :) Her first cake was a Little Miss cake...

 and cake number two for the family celebration was a rainbow layered cake with meringue frosting... this one was a huge success and was actually quite easy to make.

 Master Josh turned 5 in December.

 and here is his cake.  This year I took the easy option for Joshua's cake, given that this is the third tractor cake in a row he has requested.  We have made a little red tractor cake, a green John Deer cake and this one here below.  I am hoping by the end of the year, he may have broadened his horizon's a little.... I don't like my chances, so we'll just have to wait and see.

 In a midst all of the madness of birthday's was Christmas.  Here is a happy snap of come of the pressie opening with family.  I was very proud that in amongst all of the chaos, there were three very grateful children who were thrilled with the gifts they received.

My first year of my Graduate Diploma in Autism has drawn to a close....

I am proud of myself beyond words, that I've not only completed my first year, but have done this while teaching 3 days a week and most importantly managing a family with 3 small cherubs and of course 1 big one :) I didn't really love University first time around, but at that stage it seemed like a natural progression...you finish high school and go onto Uni. This time around, I'm studying because I want to and I've loved every minute of it. I have learnt so much about Noah and the reasons why he does some things.  I have come to understand how difficult it must be for him to manage and cope in this crazy world of ours and am so grateful to be better able to help him learn and grow.

In the past week, we have returned from a family holiday to the beach.... here are some pics of the cherubs at play :)

Stef and I decided that with our children the ages they are... family holidays are more about them having fun and experiencing new and exciting things - than us have a rest and a relax :)  The holiday was lovely in that it was a change of scenery, but it also came with it's challenges for Noah with the change in routine and unfamiliar surroundings.  That said, we all had some really fun times and Belle and Josh absolutely loved the time away too.

So there you have it.... a little snap shot into my busy world of late.  There has been very little time for scrapping.... I think the last layout I scrapped was in November!  In all honesty, I do miss it.  I miss the time to myself and that happiness I feel when I get totally lost in creating.  As a result, I am making a resolve this year to make sure I find some time for me to do some of the things I love.

Over the past two years, I have decided upon my one little word for the year.

Last year my word was learn....hehe.. I think that was a pretty good one :)

This year, my one little word is..

Balance.

I am going to concentrate on finding a better balance in all things this year.  My life is really busy and is definitely a juggle and there were patches where I had to retreat within myself just to find the strength to keep everything going at once.  There were patches where I hardly managed the time to chat with friends or to catch up, let alone do things for myself.

I still have as many commitments this year, but I want to make sure I keep things in better perspective.

I am setting the goal to scrap at least I layout a month for myself... it doesn't seem like much, but for me it will be a terrific start.

I hope your start to the New Year has been a fantastic one and that the year ahead holds the most amazing experiences and moments for you all.

Take care.

xxx