Sunday, June 06, 2010

I thought I was getting old .... now I know I am old!


Picture this ...... Friday night - quiet night in as usual? No .... my children are getting older - school disco? School what? You are five! Nine! "But Mum ... there will be a disco ball" - hold that thought ... FLASH BACK! "Disco ball?" - LOL! - oh well then!

So Mum the "night taxi" is now invented ... Katie 6-7pm ... Hugh 7:30-9:00! But firstly Katie is still unwell .... entering our third week now. My poor baby .... to the doctors or not?


Friday morning she awoke in a terrible state and the age old "well are you going to school or not?" discussion ensued - I had to go to work. See, my daughter LOVES school and throw in my strict rules of "if you don't go to school then don't think you are going out to the disco" into the equation and you have a girl desperate to go to school. She went, she survived (came home and fell asleep in my arms at 4pm!) and above you can see her recuperating on the couch on Saturday with our ageing puddy 'Monster'.
So back to Friday night. We line up to go into the disco ... Katie CLINGING to my leg. We get inside ... picture me ... dark room, roving lights, music I thought I would not recognise until they thankfully played some PINK, girls SQUEALING when a fave song came on, Katie and I wandering the dance floor in semi darkness searching for someone she might know, Katie finally detaching herself and holding some girls hand to go dance in a circle of girls, me standing to the side praying this hour would go fast, then the strobe lights start! SHEESH! I used to be grateful for these in my youth for you could actually scan the room for anyone worth looking at, this night those lights just plain hurt my eyes! LOL!
And dare I add at this point I was naieve, daggy enough to actually put in my pocket my latest Jane Austen book in the hope of finding a quiet 'well lit' corner to while away my hour. Dream on Helen! What was I thinking! Disco's were never really my thing obviously.
So rush home after 7pm to drop off one child, have Den rush me out a toasted sandwich and pick up child number two to take down. Thankfully for this child we find a buddy quickly and I was able to leave, " you can go now Mum".
So all up this night proved one thing ... I thought I was getting old .. now I know I AM old! But I am happy to add the Michael Jackson and Grease still make it to the mega mix. Maybe not THAT old just yet!
New topic: monkey bars!
It seems to be something that goes hand in hand with the first year of school. I clearly remember Hugh three years ago coming home with blistered hands in his efforts to master this skill (something I still cannot do to this day). So on my day off I ventured/ was dragged to school to witness Katie's attempts with a bit of worldly advice from big brother.


I love this photo below ... I made it my choice for P52 this week. Hard choice as I quite liked a couple I have included below as well.



The weather has got cold, frosty and foggy of a morning. We called our wonderful Grandma and put in an order for mittens. They arrived in the post this week - school colours and all.
Thank you Grandma! Love the "K" embroidered on them.



This photo belows just demonstrates why I love my 50mm lens SO much!




And this one too! The light and the focus on Grandma's letter to Katie. Love it!




Photo challenge this week ... Leah set the fantastic topic of books! I had fun trying to capture this great love I have of the written word .... especially my undying love and dedication to all things Austen!

LOVE this book below .....

And the swag of books I collected at the library last Wednesday ... yes it is indeed a truth universally acknowledged .....



Scrap pages this week - please click on all images for credits!
Kitty has the funnest kits .. this one just PERFECT for my monkey bar memories!




Fabulous new designer at Oscraps - Mary Pop ... got to love this kit!




Ange has left Two Little Pixels and joined MScraps! Here is a new kit from her:



Catscrap news ....






Take a look at this fab collab kit - Liz of Paislee Press and Shen from Creashens! What a dynamic duo and sensational kit!





Matrioshki Designs ... a fun page about homework:




and a wonderful kit called "Music of the Night" that just demanded a Phantom of the Opera page be scrapped!


Have a wonderful week everyone!

13 comments:

Jodie Redman said...

Sorry to hear that Katie is still not well, fingers crossed she starts to get better soon. Luckily only Ella wanted to go to the disco and she went with another girl from her class so I only had to collect her - Ethan had absolutely no interest whatsoever!! Ella asked for a disco party for this year's birthday (before we even knew about the school disco) so we've been planning that and managed to pick up two disco balls on sale in Lombards so that should be fun! I must admit had a little giggle when you said about finding a quiet corner to read!! I love Katie's new mittens - Grandma is such a clever lady! The way the weather is at the moment she'll definitely be needing them.
Stay warm and have a wonderful week!

Sue said...

Hey Helen, I've just giggled my way through your entire post [apart from the bit saying Katie's still unwell. Poor girl!] I have vague recollections of the dreaded school disco. Dreaded because I attended an all girls CONVENT school, so I'm sure you can imagine how much fun(!) they were, NOT!!! You do realise that you taxi duties won't end now until Hugh learns to drive!?!?! Eeeeekkkkk, now there's a scary thought! I always struggle to come to terms with the fact that it gets cold "down under" ... like a lot of Brits, I have the perception that it's always warm & sunny. LOL! Lovin' the fingerless mitten from Grandma, and in coordinating school colours too. Yeah! Seeing all your LO's makes me realise I've missed a couple in the gallery, so I must make amends & head over that way now. Hope you have a wonderful week ahead!!! Hugs, sue.falstaff

Nini said...

Hello my friend! Sorry Katie is still feeling under the weather - hopefully you'll stay away from whatever it is that is going around.

Disco balls, eh? Like Sue, I also attended and all girls' school but school disco nights were held at a boy's school near by! ... and I remember enjoying those back then..... Now, my son is 15 and has just started going out with friends who are 16 (or over) and driving! Yikes!! ... I would feel relaxed if I knew there were at the school but at their age that does not happen anymore!

This is my last year driving my son to and back from school. Soon he'll be 16 and would take the car! I'm enjoying every minute of it - it's time I get to talk to him and try to find out a bit of what's going on at school and stuff.
So.... my advice.... enjoy the "mom's taxi" days.... they do not last long....

Loving those gorgeous orange knitted mittens from grandma!!! ... and I can see why you love your 50mm. lens!!!

Take care and many (((hugs)))

Nini

MariaT said...

Hey old lady, sorry to hear Katie's still not well. I hate it when a bug just seems to linger around. I love that you brought a book to the dance hoping to find a spot to read! Those book photos are wonderful as are all the others as well.

Leiko said...

oh. my. gosh. school discos already?? oh my! i am yet to wander down that path with the big monkey, haha. i remember those days clearly though...and loved them so. we had a whole dance crew thing going on back in the day. glad to hear that the kids enjoyed themselves and that you SURVIVED the night!

As usual loving your photos and beauttiful layouts. Hope Katie gets well soon...the big monkey seems to hae picked up a bug of his own. Crossing my fingers that it doesn't spread through the house. Eek!
Have a great week, friend!

xoxo

margote05 said...

But not you are not the day before(watch) Helen! My children often say to me that I am Has Been lately! Needs to believe that at the moment, one am not any more;)
I like both photos taken with your 50mm! Especially that with mitts! It is magnificent! And as usual, your pages are absolutely fabulous! Big very favorite for that made with ange's kit!!!!
Good week to you and I hope that Katie will fast get better!

Heather Landry said...

I'm sorry that Katie isn't well! Jordan hasn't been well either lately. She's been having tummy issues off and on. She's the opposite of Katie. She'd rather stay home with me anyday. Luckily for her it's Summer vacation now. I loved your monkey bar photos. They are just adorable!

A Look Into Nana;s World said...

HAHAHA!!! I hate to tell ya...You are getting "older"..OOOPS!!! It's totally unreal how things come back around and shock the crap out of us!!! CUTE STORY!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE THE GLOVES...TELL GRANDMA I WANT A PAIR WITH A BIG N on them!!!

and seriously Helen....WHO NEES LR WHEN YOU CAN TAKE PICS LIKE THIS!! NOW I AM JEALOUS!! I want a 50mm!!!

again, I hope the kiddos get well right away...three weeks is long enough!!

((HUGS)) Linda

Lenore said...

You had me laughing through this post.....if you're old, then I'm ancient!! Your journaling reminded me of our trip to James' school, this last school year, to go to the "Mother-Son" dance.....too much fun dancing with my son and watching him loving every minute! Amazing times!!

Sure hoping that both Katie and Hugh will feel 100% very soon! It's no fun to be sick....for them or their parents!!

Nancy said...

you're kicking but with that 50mm, don't you just love it! that picture of katie and hugh, i see such a big change in katie, she looks so much older in that shot. beautiful as always!

Leah said...

Well I just have to say, the day that they stop adding Michael Jackson to the playlist will be the day people have officially lost their minds... LOL!!

Love your photos this week. Somehow I am not surprised to see Jane in the pile :)

Hope everybody feels better soon!

P.S. How did I miss the cat? Never seen a photo before?

Life in Colors said...

Hahaha, a real disco party ??!!! Wow, I would love to see how they got dressed, lol. Love the school uniforms, because they're orange, hehe.

Jane F. Smith said...

Oh Helen...I loved reading your post on the Disco night!! how fun!! well, you aren't old...old things just keep coming back you know? GOSH what lovely photos...I really, really think I need a lense like that!!! The mittens...I also need, maybe Grandma will knit another pair? LOL!!! Have a good one!!

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