Advent 2010, Day 10: Wii are family

For Reverb 10 Day 3 we had to choose one moment for 2010. I chose the whole month of January. :D Yups, one looooooong moment. ;)

Today for "The Happy Book", which is this year´s choice for The Next Chapter book club, lead by Jamie Ridler:

What made you happy in 2010?

January: the log cabin in San Carlos de Bariloche

February: at home. Hubbie with Frida and our doggie guest Candela.

March: classes start on March the 1st.

April: I started walking with the intention of running.

May: our traditional Book Fair visit for our anniversary.

June: acrylic paints to join Connie´s workshop.

July: trip to Florida.

August: Ooooohhhhh, myyyyyy! Don´t they look grown up!

September: the Year 9 tribe. How I´ve missed these girls!

October: teh annual pic with the azaleas.

November: new car

December: a new Universe opens up with the Wii.

Every story can be found in my archives. There on the right hand side. --->

Reverb 10 prompt for today:

December 10 – Wisdom Wisdom. What was the wisest decision you made this year, and how did it play out? (Author: Susannah Conway)

We had been against having a games console for years. You know, kids ... computers ... school ...

As Mati had a brilliant report card, plus passed his Sprachdiplome in the top 5 (less than half the students who sat for this exam actually succeeded) and his results look promising for the PET exam ... we finally bought a Wii for the summer.

Now Wii are family. :D

December View for today

ETA: you recognize us, right? The blonde one (hubbie), the plump one (me), the tall one (son), the pretty one (daughter)

AEDM 2010: Day 26 Right size

Another version of yesterday´s layout. This time the original picture in its correct size (A4 for Home album)

Oh, I forgot! It´s Friday! Time for The Happy Book check in at The Next Chapter.

This week we are talking about food.

My favourite? ANything with home grown herbs, like our

flowery basil plant.

Pictures taken ten minutes ago from my kitchen window.

AEDM 2010: Day 12 Card

I am a scraps scrapper. I noticed the trend back in 2008. First a big 12x12 page, then a smaller one, then a card.

I used my

Prima papers for the Bonita layout and had some thin but long scraps.

I lifted Jennifer Buck´s design for a card:

This card will be given to Tati´s teacher tomorrow. She organized a coffee morning for kids and parents.

On other news: after the rain, we are having ice cream weather again. :) This is a new "model", it looks like a popular soda here called Fanta, which is orange flavour.

It is quite nice!! :D

AEDM 2010: Day 5

"When we are engaged in the creative process, we are engaged with higher forces. Mysterious forms and forces see entrance through us, and we had best cooperate".

Julia Cameron, The Sound of Paper: starting from scratch.

I´ve been reading this book since September 1st (explanation on the three piece kit I made for myself to complete this project is here). I´m writing one exercise a day Monday to Friday. Some are more difficult for me and may have me stucked for a couple of days. Whatever the resistance, I make myself finish each and every exercise before continuing to the next.

I must say the process is working and I find lots of nuggets worth keeping and sharing.

This time the higher forces didn´t make an entrance through me first but through Rhonda Palazzari . I just lifted what she had made and very gracefully provided the sketch for. Call me a copycat. Meow. :D

Papers are WRMemoryKeepers, rub on alpha is doodlebug (all mixed up, swimmingpool large), chipboard alpha is Thickers -both Marja´s gift- pretty buttons and some butterfly punchies I had been sent about ... let me think... yes, about six years ago.

Today is Friday and that means you might share what made you happy at the "The Happy Book" gathering at Jamie´s cyber bookclub "The Next Chapter". This week we will be talking about books and quotes. :) Go share the happy!

The Happy Book: comfort

Our assignement this week for The Happy Book (The Next Chapter Book Club, led by Jamie Ridler) was comfort.

The place where I´m most comfortable is behind the lens, capturing my favourite moments & people. *heart*

Examples? The Familienfest on Saturday October 16th. Big event at school.

A day by and for the families.

The indoors stage was used for rock bands. The playground was used for skaters, dancers (traditional German music/clothes, tango and modern)and singers (all three choirs, solo).

There was a handball championship (parents team beating high school teams Woooo Hooooo! Dan -right in the middle of the team- got a medal ).

BBQ (they sold out), pretzels, waffles and cakes stands.

Games.

Tombola and raffle. I won 5 out of 10 tickets!!! Mati helped Tati´s friends with the accounts when they were selling the tombola numbers. Yes, that´s why I bought so many, I knew all the kids and their brightest smiles were put to use when selling! :D

It was the Fest der Jugend (Youth party) this Sunday 24th. We had to be at the club at 9am for a 10am start. Mati is too old to participate in the sports events but he participated as group leader. Each category (boys/girls every two years) need two older kids to take them from one place to the other and generally making sure they behave.

Only five days

On October 4th my neighbour´s tree looked like this. In case you are wondering, the strong sunlight coming from the left hand side was on purpose. I´ve been playing with natural light on my photographs.

Pics taken from my kitchen´s door.

Five days later ...

A few steps away from the house, still under the balcony.

Matu and his kite, Adler.

Now, let´s change perspectives. Pics taken from the corner of my garden, sitting on the grass.

Tati riding Matu´s bike.

Frida running after Mati and Tati. :D

The Happy Book

This week was not that happy of a week.

My happiest memory of it will be book related. I finally finished the Concannon sisters trilogy by Nora Roberts.

If you´ve ever read any two trilogies by her (and there are quite a few), you´ll know they only change names, locations and historical setting but the story remains the same. The bold (usually tomboy type), the sweet and the wise. This trilogy was particularly watered down in characters and the last story is practically non existant.

But it is finished and I´m cool with that.

Jamie asked us to see ourselves in 5 years time.

I have no idea. None whatsoever.

A few days ago was my 5th blogaversary, so instead of going forward I went back.

I was running around like Mac on a sugar high, {Yes, 5 years ago my kids were into Foster Mansion and I used that analogy :D }, I was really running around, I was loud, I was reflecting about being a sahm (shoot, I´m still at the same point, not good *roll eyes*), I had a nephew (going to his 5th birthday party this weekend), Tati was about to loose a tooth (she lost one this week too), Matu took his First Comunnion (he looks sooooooo little on that picture), I was reading Tom Peters book (I still hyperventilate with it, another "still the same" point and the WOW project notebook that I show is still empty), I insisted on celebrating dad´s 70th birthday even if he was no longer with us, I had very long hair and unfullfilled promises to myself.

I somehow feel I´m at a better place than I was 5 years ago and still, after reading October´s archives, I see that I´m very much at the same point in a lot of things.

I´ll make a greater effort at crafting the best life I can live for the next 5. See you here in 2015. :)

Science fair at school

Year 5 B classroom. Parents attending a digestive system lecture by the kids.

When I arrived at Tati´s school, expecting to visit only her classroom, I was told that the whole school was participating of the science fair. That meant a whole huge amount of science!!!

Tati with her air experiment sign. Yes, it´s written in German as she goes to a bilingual school. :)

All the kids were very excited about "teaching". Just walk along the corridors and you´d be invited/convinced/begged to go see their classroom. :D

It´s good to remember what it was like at 10, all bubbly fun.

Saying Thanks

On Wednesday I told you about Marja sending me a scrapbooking care package.

Thanks to her very generous help I scrapped for the first time this year!

A page about my son learning to play golf at my in laws garden with his uncle´s clubs. All the white bits (both alphabets, brads, tabs) and ribbon are from that package. I am putting them all to use. :) Thank you again Marja!

Twice this week I was told to write Thank you letters.

Once by Jamie at "The Next Chapter" cyber book club as our assignement for this week.

Then by Julia Cameron on exercise # 8 from The Sound of Paper.

What you see in the second picture are the materials for my Thank You cards. Although the original list had to be 5 cards long, I couldn´t stop so it´s getting longer by the minute. :D

It´s a lovely exercise ´cause it reminds us of all the good that surrounds us.

The adventures of Chula

A week ago you met Chula, the monkey and read the sweet story of his name.

You didn´t? Then click here to find it.

Our Chula is a boy of many talents. He is interested in Chemistry and helped Mati out with his red cabbage experiment (part 2). In part 1 Mati had discovered the different acid and alcaline elements. On Saturday he worked on what happened when they mixed. Chula sat on the Chemistry box. :D
Chula is also a graceful host. Can you see him sitting among the sweet pastries and the sandwiches? My aunt Adriana and uncle Sergio came for tea.

He is also a chef and helped Tati make a cake.

Today he is going to school because the other moms to meet him. I forgot to take him (shame on me!) to a coffee meeting I had organized myself to introduce him locally. When I told the other moms about The Happy Book project they were all interested in it and begged me to bring Chula to the school doors on Friday, so they could all meet him. Picture tomorrow.

Meet Chula

When Tatiana was two years old, back in 2001, her favourite song was "My monkey likes lettuce".

A mi mono le gusta la lechuga.

Se la come con sal y con limón,

muy contento sentado en el balcón.

My monkey likes lettuce.

He eats it with salt and lemon,

happily sitting on the balcony.

As she could not speak properly yet "A mi mono le gusta la lechuga" was really shrieked "Mono uta chula", followed by a wide grin. Clever girl. :)

When Jamie gave us this week´s prompt for The Happy Book, I looked for a mascot that felt "right" for me. Not too big. Not too small. Something I could relate too.

This was the obvious winner:

Meet Chula, my companion this week.
His name is in honour of a happy sang "mono uta chula". That´s why he is sitting on a lemon. ;)

Old scrapbook page of Tati at 2 with her monkey and the song story.
He´s already been up to a couple of adventures. Pictures mosaic on Friday. :D

My own Art Journal

A few weeks ago I enroled in Connie´s Art Journal LOVE letters.

I wished to learn. I also wished to actully move from learning to DOING.

And then ... I did. :D

There are no small sketch noteboooks locally so I made my own. I bought some big paper, got it cut, covered the back cardstock with scrapbooking paper from both sides and added cute fluffy stickers. Of course all that took a couple of weeks. (Roll eyes at myself)

Today I had it binded at a local photocoping shop.

Voilá!
I also bought white Gesso, some adhesive that I´ve been told is like Mod Podge and acrylic Gel. No idea if it is what I was looking for but at least it has the name "gel".
I had more paper cut and binded. I chose landscape form for this one. I will be painting the covers ... some time. ;)
Things are moving and having taken the first step makes me happy.

She is home

Something to be over the moon happy about. ;) And her bag (the one with the ribbons, of course) was the first to be dowloaded. Cool.

Calling grandma with the news.

She hasn´t stopped talking since she got off the bus. Except when she laughs so much while telling an anecdote that she can´t continue. :D

All kinds of happy

Tati has been waiting for this day since Year 1!

On Year 5 the kids from the three Year 5 classes go to a farm school for a week. They have a barrack with bunker beds for boys on one side and one for girls on the other with the dining room and classrooms in the middle. Most of the classes are outside, as practical knowledge is the key of their stay.

Tati (in the middle) and a few friends with their class sign.
Kids gathered for head counting at the primary school. :D
My week:

Saturday 15th. L came for a playdate. When his dad and siblings came to pick her up, they phoned the mom and they all stayed for dinner. You think you have read that story here before?Well, yes. That´s happened more than once before. Lol!

Thursday 20th. My passport arrived! Plans are getting into shape. ;)
Friday 21st. Tati left for her study trip full of smiles.

Dragon update. If you look closely you can see some progress.
I´m experimenting a lot at the kitchen. Mostly with magazines recipies and adding my own touch according to my family tastes. :)