Pierre de Ronsard Roses & Happy New Year!

After seeing all the beautiful roses in bloom in my dad's backyard I decided to get going on my backyard and order my roses...but today I picked up my Pierre de Ronsard climber as well as some white icebergs and ordered 3 huge weaping Pierre de Ronsard roses. I think they are the most romantic roses available by far and are beautiful! I can't wait to get them all in the backyard needless to say the climbers were planted in the garden right away as I was a little impatient and want to see them grow lol.

The year is coming to a close and a new one will begin before we know it so I would like to wish you and your families all the very best for the new year. We will be going to Albert Park Lake where our little family sits by the lake with our picnic and bring in the new year watching the fireworks. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

P.S. I would like to thank you all for your best wishes on Jake's little hospital trip and let you know he is doing much better today.

A Christmas To Remember & My Dad's Garden

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas with their family...WOW, what a Christmas to remember for us!!! Here was our day...

Our Christmas Tree.


Oh...and it looks like Santa has been here as all the milk is gone and the shortbreads have mostly been eaten!!!


Isnt it funny how children jump out of bed Christmas morning and not on a school morning? I wonder why??? Since Jake was born I have always taken photos of him upwrapping his presents under the tree...I love looking back at them. Jake recieved a trampoline this year from Santa which we ended up putting up on Boxing Day.


After all the unwrapping and singing carols we headed up to Riddles Creek where my Dad and Jenny live...such a pretty little town. We had lunch at a little restaurant called Buds...it is such a lovely place and has beautiful food. I love family time!!!


We had a yummy traditional lunch and even got a visit from Santa...how excited the children were!


A little present from Buds to take home with us complete with a little message and the family name. How sweet!


Then we headed off back to Dad and Jenny's house and spent the afternoon together. The kids seem to love it up there as there is so much land they just run mad...well my Jake does anyway! Photo below is Jenny, Dad, Lucinda & Jake.


I prommised for a while to take some photos of my Dad's garden which I just love so since I had my camera on me I decided it was time to do so. A very tall birdhouse on of their side garden out back.


The side garden with the front garage in the background.


Birdbath...


This is one of the little retreat areas...they seem to have so many different areas in their garden you can never get tired.


Some rosellas come to visit for the day...seems every day they have someone visiting...


And the rose garden I have spoke about with the BEAUTIFUL garden arche that I would LOVE in my backyard!!! Still working in that one, lol. The rose garden was planted last year so it is still very young but coming along nicely. No standards in here...just David Austin bushes and the ones that have been choosen are just unbelivable!!!


This is my favourite garden of the whole backyard!


Look at the roses...so frilly!!!


OOOH!!!!


These are my favourite!!! I am redoing my backyard and putting new roses in so I am hoping to get some of these in there somewhere.


Very soft and dainy!!!


Now, I said this was a Christmas to remember and it sure was...when we came home from my Dad's we had planed to have my mother and father in law over for dinner...well...they did come buy no dinner was served as Jake ended up tripping over Rocky and hitting his head on the concrete. We heard him scream and ran out to find him on the floor so my husband picked him up but Jake's eyes were rolling and he could not stand up on his own. We took him inside to lay him down and I thought I would ask him some questions to make sure everything was ok....well...he said Christmas day was yesterday and not today, could not remember what Santa gave him, could not even remember what we had done today!!! I wanted to cry as I was so scared to say the least!!! We took him straight to the hospital where Jake was scen straight away thank god. After checking him over they said there was no sever head damage but because he knocked himself very hard he had a concussion. OH MY GOSH!!! It was so hard to see my little boy saying things that I knew were totally wrong...it turned my stomach! We were able to take him home after a few hours but I had to watch him all night to make sure there was no change...lucky he is on the mend now...still a sore head but he is getting there.


We put the trampoline together on boxing day for him but he was not alowed to use it till a few days latter...my poor baby! :(


We ended up having our Christmas dinner on Boxing day with my in laws...we actually got to sit down and eat too...hows that? lol. I can not belive it is nearly 2008...how scary to think my little man will be in grade 2 next year...he is growing so fast!!!

On another note I would like to thank Barbara for featuring my mosaics during her mosaic festival...THANKYOU SO MUCH! Barbara's blog is so lovely and packed full of lots of interesting articals so do pop by. You can visit Barbara HERE.

Merry Christmas

I have been shopping my little heart out today...left home with Jake at 2pm and came home at 11pm! We bought more Christmas decorations...yes more!!! Anyway, I better be getting to bed as we have big day ahead of us.

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a happy and safe holiday with your families.

Scrooge Yourself

I have found yet another christmas site called Scrooge Yourself, same makers of Elf Yourself but a little more cheeky...I love these sites!

I hope you like it Dad xo

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT I HAVE DONE TO MY DAD THIS TIME!

Treasures, Traditions & A Special Thankyou

Well, December is flying and before we know it, it will be Christmas Day...how exciting! We spent the past Saturday night out looking at Christmas light yet again...well that is what we do on Saturdays night in December...a bit of a tradition now I suppose. We are having a big night out looking at Christmas lights this Saturday so I will be sure to take some photos.

Anyway, on another note...today I found these pretty teacups, I am going to get my hubby to hang them in the kitchen...well...hang three of them since I broke one tonight...grrr!!!

I also found these vintage light up candles with little santas and tinsel on the front of them...I only paid $1 for both of them and they were still in the original box!


A vintage Santa in his Sleigh and dont forget the reindeer. I bought this one at the market last time I attended. I remember having the same one in our home when I was a child so I had to get it. I find myself buying alot of items because of memories...I love thinking back to my childhood days while looking at these pieces!!!

My little set of nutcrackers that my husband bought for me this year...I think they are so cute and a great size for putting on the tree if you wanted too.


Jake was also lucky enought to get his own nutcracker but in a larger size...he loves it!


And this...I JUST LOVE!!! This is Santa's special key as we dont have a fireplace so this magical key helps Santa make his special delivery.


We always leave the key outside for Santa, a bucket of water for the reindeer and some carrots...inside we leave Santa some milk and cookies. How magical!!!

Oh...and yesterday I went to Flemington Market...look at the beautiful roses I bought!!! They were selling them off at the end of the day for $4 a bunch so I decided to get two bunches and put one in the kitchen and one on the table.

Oh boy was I a lucky one yesterday...I thought I was lucky with my roses but it did not stop there...my lovely friend Gail gave me a beautiful Christmas gift which was so very sweet of her. A basket full of so many wonderful things!!! Take a peak...


And look at the cute little vintage photo frame she added in there as a special suprise...even has a little photo of Jake at his concert which was so thoughtful!

Thankyou so much Gail, you are a wonderful friend and I do not know what I would do without you! I consider myself so blessed to call you a friend, thankyou for just being you!

Our Little Puddings

Every year Jake and I make our little puddings so we have them ready for our family and friends during the festive season...Jake is not a lover of the 'traditional puddings' as I am sure many other children would be the same, so we go for a different option while still getting the same look.

You will need- Arnott's Royals biscuits, mint leaves cut up into 4's, choc jaffas and melted white chocolate.


All you need to do it wait for the melted chocolate to cool to room temp and poor a little over the top of each biscuit, add a jaffa and two pieces of mint leaves to the sides.


Thats all! So very simple and the children love them since they do have marshmallows inside and not fruit! lol.

Enjoy your little puddings!

Thankyou Mary for kindly passing on a link to a yummy recipe for little reindeer cookies. You can view the recipe HERE.

Meet Rosie...

Today is the day Rosie finally came home!!!

Rosie is 8 weeks old, a purebred Jack Russel and very cute I must say...just like Rocky...I cant forget him can I?

Our friend bought little Rosie to school (her daughter goes to the same school as Jake does) so Jake could have his show and tell before I went home.

When I bought Rosie home Rocky was so happy once he noticed what I had in my hands...like a child on Christmas morning! They had a little play but she was a little scared after all she just left her family so its allot to take in. She had a little nap and then went back outside for another play...Poor Rosie...Rocky would not leave her alone...trying to jump on her but she has learnt well...she growls at him like a little gremlin and then chases him away!!!

I can not wait for the new adventures we will have in our backyard...hopefully not too much damage! lol.

My Christmas Star!

Yesterday was a huge day, Jake's school had a shifted school day where instead of starting their classes at 9am they started a 1pm...no school work...just a whole lot of Christmas activities that finished up at 5.30pm only to follow with lots more fun and surprises! All the families came together for a lovely picnic...well some bought fish and chips, mc donalds etc but I wanted the traditional picnic with the homemade salads (Jake's favourite pasta salad), a chicken platter, watermelon, and camember cheese with crackers.

Once we had our dinner the children got together in their year levels and sang Christmas Carols to us...I must say each and every year level done a fantastic job but my little man was defiantly the star of the show with his stand up performance that shocked me to bits!

Each year level told a part of the journey that lead to Christmas day rather than the Christmas songs like Jingle Bells and Santa songs...it was a nice way to finish of the year as sometimes people (especially children) forget the real meaning to Christmas.

How cute!!! Where do you think he gets his Christmas Cheer from??? Hmmm??? Jake started Guitar Lessons this year but I think we might have to start Singing Lessons as well since he enjoys it so much!


These two bottom photos are ones of Jake and his classroom friends...just some fun snap shots to remember. Love the smile on my little boys face!

To Jake's left is his best friend Bailey and too Bailey's left is Isabella who is Jake's little girl friend...how cute!

I do hope everyone is enjoying the festive season with all their friends and family...we sure are!!!

My Dad the Elf

I always thought my Dad was a little weird at Christmas time...hmmm??? I think this goes to show he really is! He is going to kill me because he actually reads my blog but this really is worth it! I laughed so much I cried when I saw the end result!!!

Dad, this is for all the times you played a joke on me...YOU HAVE BEEN ELFED!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRANSFORMATION

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Every year we head down to the city to meet up with Santa in Myer Melbourne and this year was no different. Jake gets so excited as you can see on his face in the below photo. He had planed out what he wanted to say to Santa and as soon as he saw him it was another story...he lost his tongue! lol. Lucky Santa got him going again...

Santa and Jake had a good old chat about a heap of things like soccer, school, Jake's friends etc, etc. It was so sweet and I sort of had a little tear in my eye remembering my childhood days vising Santa.


I was still lucky enough to capture the excitement and joy in my young little man face which I am so happy about. This is what makes Christmas magical!!!


After all our excitement we headed down to Bourke Street for some shopping...look at all the pretty stars hung above the tram lines out front of David Jones.

So we headed down to City Square to see the huge Mirabella Christmas Tree and post Jake's letter to Santa. Jake saw this beautiful horse and carriage and wanted to take the trip the easy way but we decided to take a walk instead.


Here is City Square just across the road.


We had to post off Jake's letter here because this is Santa's special mail box which gets delivered straight to him so he can send out a personal letter to each and every child. How cute!


What a proud little boy he is...


On its way to Santa now...


This is the huge Mirabella Tree which gets lighten up every night and is just beautiful. We will be coming back here soon in the evening so I will take some photos of it then for you all.


My little man asked me if he can I climb up the tree all the way to the top? Well...I dont think so! lol


While here I just could not resist taking a shot of this beautiful clock on the very top of a very old building, love it!

There is so much going on with us this Christmas and I would love to hear about what other people are enjoying while preparing for their special Christmas this year.

P.S. The puppies will me 8 weeks old next Friday so we have decided to bring our little one home then. How exciting...I think Rocky will be so happy to have a playmate!

Wonderful Cathy!

I woke up this morning to find an email sitting in my inbox from Cathy with an attachment as I had asked her about a Christmas background late yesterday evening. Well, I must say I am over the moon with my new candy cane background...Thankyou Cathy!

Cathy is simply unbelivable...a wonderful lady full of so much creative flair! I am so pleased I choose her for my graphic designer as I have never looked back since. Even now I often find myself wandering over to the Avalon Rose Design Website to see Cathy's newest designs which are all stunning to say the least. You can visit Cathy at her WEBSITE or her BLOG.

Pretty Snowflakes!

How pretty are snowflakes? I think we could easily get lost looking at them for hours and hours! I wish we had these down in Australia as I LOVE a white Christmas...my husband has told me one day so I will keep my fingers crossed and hope it comes soon.

I found this sweet little site called SnowDays where you can design your own little snowflakes, add personal messages which can be viewed as well as send them to your family and friends. Too cute! You can see my pretty snowflake HERE and design one for yourself to share with your family and friends.

I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas...

What a house this is!!! It reminds me so much of te houses they used in 'Home Alone' on that beautiful street in the USA. All it needs is snow and it would be perfect! This house is so my style...I would love something just like this...hmm...maybe I will get my Christmas wish lol.

So this was our first stop off with visiting all the Christmas Lights this year...I remembered it from last year and could not wait to get back this year...

How beautiful is it???


OOH...LOVE IT!!!


OOH LA LA!!!


I love this cherub fountain...that was even covered with pretty little lights!


I want to put up Christmas lights at the front of our home since hubby is an electrician and he has finally agreed to start fresh at it next year so I can not wait to get started and Jake is over the moon!

If anyone is in Melbourne and would like to visit this beautiful Christmas Home you can find it at Coniston Ave, Airport West.

On The First Day of Christmas...

Well, I can not belive yesterday was the first day of Christmas! Gee, how time has flown this year. So I thought it was time to show you all our tree...

We bought this tree when Jake was a little baby and have used it ever since...I originally wanted a big wide one but there was no way we could have found a spot for it in our home so we choose a slim tree.

We have slowly added to our decorations every year and have some very special pieces that I hold close to my heart...One little china santa was from my family tree when I was a little girl, every year when I come across this one I have so many beautiful memories come to me. We also add a Hallmark decoration to the tree every year with the year on it just for a keepsake, we started doing this when we got married so it is nice to backtrack the decoartions and all the memories with them. Another thing we have on our tree which is my all time favourite is our family name decorations. We have our names, my parents, Cane's parents, my brother and his family, my brother in law, and also my nanny's name on the tree as we like to remember her at this special time.


Our Chrimstas Tree would not be complete without our Christmas Train which goes right around the base of the tree with flashing lights. The little gingerbread house also has lights and music with santa coming out of the front glass doors....Jake loves to have both these pieces going!!!


TEDDIES....these teddies have the most beautiful memories with them...the one on the right plays music when you push his tummy...Cane bought this for Jake when I was pregnant with Jake as he was so excited he was going to be a father! When I look at this now I remember my new born baby in my arms and how proud cane was to start a family together. The teddy on the left was something we bought for Jake when he was about two years old as he just LOVED Santa so he used to take him EVERYWHERE and I mean EVERYWHERE...he even slept with him!!!


This Christmas Wreath hangs above the couche in the lounge and everytime you walk past it the lights go on, the train starts to move and it also plays Jingle Bells...I am sure I will get a headache from it before Christmas is here! lol.


Jake's Santa bag hangs at the front door...

As well as our Christmas Stockings...


And dont forget the candy canes...


Here is Mr and Mrs Clause that my Grandmother made me about 5 years ago. She painted them herself. Santa has a real candle sleave which has a little flicker globe inside and Mrs Clause holds her apron out so she can hold mini candy canes. I also have a handpainted Merry Christmas sign under my chandelier lamp that I just love...I think Gail is still selling prints so if you are interested visit Gail at http://www.gailmccormack.com/


And here is my mini bird tree that has lights built into the branches wich change colours all the time...


Our family always seem to get into Christmas in a big way every year so watch out for lots of Christmas spirit on this blog...I hope to add a post tomorrow on our Christmas Lights we visited last night which were soooooo beautiful! I will also add addresses for those of you who are in Melbourne incase you would like to visit them as well. Oh...and a good little recipe will be coming your way for you all to do with your children.