Technology is a wonderful thing!

I am so sorry for the huge gap in posting! My iPad could not link into my Dad's wireless so I was without easy Internet access for a fortnight! Yes I did feel like someone had cut off my right arm.

We are having a great time in New Zealand even if Scarlett and I got to experience some pretty intense earthquakes on the 23rd of December. We are off on a road trip today heading south... List of great photo opportunities I hope.

We had a lively Christmas. Scarlett was thoroughly spoilt and even with a combined luggage allowance of seventy kgs I still think we will be paying excess baggage!

No photos to add yet as I am posting from the iPad. Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and I will try and post from the lovely husband's laptop this week with some photos of our trip.

The relief of Christmas Shopping being complete!

I am really pleased that we have got all our presents purchased for family back home in plenty of time. I am going to take some with me and Tet will bring the rest when he arrives on Christmas Eve. I would like to say they are all wrapped and ready but that is a bit too organised. We will hopefully get that done tonight without the helpful  nearly two year old.

I have taken a picture of the finished printers tray Tet and I made for  my Dad for his present. I used an Elle's Studio kit but in the end we barely used the supplies included and relied more on the photos to tell the story. Scarlett is my Dad's only grandchild and they have a really close and special relationship. I am really pleased to have created something that will remind them of this time together. Tet was my right hand measure and cut man. He is way better at getting a straight line from my trimmer than I am. I think I might have to take lessons!

We have been doing some last minute catching up before we go away. We all had dinner with one of the twins (Scarlett's best buddies in the whole world) and their Mum, Lisa. We have hardly seen Lisa as she has recently started her residency to complete her medical training to become a paediatrician. 80 hour weeks and weekly 30 hour shifts which always involve no sleep and often no meal breaks make catching up hard. It was great to eat some sushi and catch up. Lisa is working Christmas so it will be a new experience for her little family having Mummy away on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Please excuse the less than great photo but even at very high ISO these two are just in constant motion! They really do love each other!

I am feeling a little guilty as we got our first Christmas Card today and we have not sent any this year ... I think we got three last year though so I figure it might not be worth the effort - or the stress of going to the post office at this time of year!

I had better get moving and finish packing Scarlett's suitcase and start packing my own - I only get whatever is left of the weight allowance once all her gear is packed. At this rate I will be buying a lot of clothes on holiday!

Happy Friday!

The countdown is well and truly on

It is only four more sleeps until Scarlett and I head back home to New Zealand for the first time in 18 months. I have only just realised how many things I have to get done between now and Saturday afternoon. It is a little bit daunting to be honest.

We made a real effort to do some fun things as a family over the weekend. Saturday's visit to Little India was a great success and one of the malls along the road had a great outdoor playground. Scarlett had a wonderful time scaling the climbing wall and wooshing down the slide. On Sunday we split up - Tet and Scarlett did the grocery shopping while I had a pedicure. I think I got the better deal! In the afternoon we headed down to one of the local malls as they had a live Sesame Street performance. Scarlett loves Ernie with a passion and she really enjoyed watching the characters dancing on stage. We had hoped to have a trip on the Singapore Flyer which has all been decorated for Christmas but sadly Scarlett had reached the end of her tether and we headed home.

I have got a bit behind with completing pages of my December Daily and I have realised they do not photograph well at all. This is in no small part due to my using silver pen! I have plenty of ideas for each day but no photos printed! I am off to the mall this afternoon to get some photo paper and we will attempt to print some photos on our Pixma at home. I will let you know how that goes.

I have finally taken a photograph of the layout I completed last week. I am really happy with how it turned out. I used an idea from Shimelle's PPP again - combining spots and stripes although I think it is clear which way my heart lies. 

I am hoping to complete three days of entries in my DD today and to make my Dad's printer's tray from Elle's Studio. The sad thing is my photos are all landscape and it is designed for more portrait so most of the cute notes and labels will not fit! Hopefully I will work out a way to make something good.

And still it rains

I know it is the monsoon in Singapore at present. I love the cooler temperatures - 28 as opposed to 34 is a very pleasant improvement. I do not even mind the rain but please let the all day rain stop!

I know I should not grumble. Today was lovely until about three. Currently the lightning and thunder are arriving at the same time and it is happening out both sides of the apartment. I do believe we are in the middle of a storm! Foolishly I left taking photos of my DD and my most recent layout until after we got home from Christmas shopping. The light is nowhere near good enough so I guess I am going to try again tomorrow.

Last night we hit Orchard Road to make some inroads into our Christmas shopping. We managed to buy Scarlett a couple more presents and her best buddies in the whole world had their presents sorted too. We oohed and ahhed at all the lights and monster Christmas trees and had a delicious dinner. We totally wore Scarlett out and she was carried home sleeping in Tet's arms for the first time in a long time.

After gym today we headed to Little India as my sister has specifically asked for some Indian bangles for Christmas. We found those after a lot of hot walking! Good when someone is really specific about what they would like though. We also bought Scarlett's Christmas day dress. I just love it!

Scarlett has slept on both car journeys to and from Little India so Tet is sitting in the car with her till she wakes up. He is playing Angry Birds so they are both happy. Our daughter has never transferred well from the car so we always are prepared with Ipad or magazines for these inevitable breaks. It has given me a chance to blog and to complete Day 2 of my DD. I am very grateful!

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful weekend. My last full one in Singapore before we head home to NZ. I am getting really excited!

First of the month

I am not sure if it is just me but December seems to have come around awfully quick this year. I have to admit I find this time of year a little disconcerting when we live away from our families. Either I constantly feel like I am missing something by being away or I am super excited to be heading home.

This year is a heading home year (we get home leave every two years) and we are starting to get very excited. It is going to be a little strange to leave tropical Singapore for quake damaged Christchurch. At least it is Summer though so the weather should be ok.

The Christmas lights here have been fabulous. The theme is blue and silver and they really do look magical. It is times like this that I am so grateful to live in the central city so we can easily walk to see them rather than having to brave the traffic.

 December first brings the start of the December Daily. I spent a wonderful two hours in Starbucks yesterday while Scarlett went to her weekly playgroup. I packed a SC crop bag full of Christmas stickers, chipboards and thickers and sat with my toffee nut frap and worked on my foundation pages. I got up to the 20th which is great as I am only going to Christmas day before swapping to my holiday minibook. I did get some odd looks but it was wonderful with carols playing in the background... I actually felt really in the festive spirit.

To be honest, I have no clue what I will record from today. Our playdate friends are under the weather so we will not be going there. I might just pop down to the shops and take some photos of the decorations to get things started. I had hoped Scarlett might be happier having her photo taken with Father Christmas this year but sadly when we offered her the chance she clung like a limpet. I will try again when we return home but I think the big man in red is just a wee bit frightening for her. As you can see from the Christmas party last year tears were the order of the day!

I thought I might start the monthly task of goal setting on my blog. It always helps to be a little accountable for our actions (or lack there of). This month I would like to:

• have all our presents bought and wrapped by the end of this weekend
• survive the flight home with Scarlett without either of us being permanently traumatised
• keep up with my December Daily and not feel pressure to have the amazing products that I am already seeing online
• have a proper family holiday between Christmas and New Year where we can introduce Scarlett to some of our favourite places in New Zealand  - namely the MacKenzie Basin, in the central South Island
• make a good start on a holiday album using the Amy Tangerine mini book
• not feel guilty about indulging in the wonderful food and wine while I am home - January is a new start
• create some new Christmas traditions for our family as Scarlett will actually enjoy and start to understand what all the fuss is about this year

Just one or two then! Hopefully I can achieve most of them!

Have you got any goals for December? I would love to hear them.

Here is a photo of Lake Ohau where we hope to spend some time this month from Alangrinberg.com. Can you see why I am getting excited?