Readers roundup

This one is from Helen who will be setting the challenge for next week and joining our team from February.
Welcome to you, Helen.

TITLE - LOVE YOU SO MUCH

Journaling reads:- LOVE the hugs & kisses...
The camaraderie...
the family"jokes...
the animated movies...
the kids' "lingo"...

I can't say I've loved every minute of it & I'm sure you don't expect me to! It's been a great ride tho' & one that will never end (yay!) The fact that my own childhood was marred with sadness spurred me on to create my own fanbase in the form of YOU.

Okay, so at times you may not always be fans, but you know that I love you & always have your best interests at heart. Sometimes that means saying NO but I've decided that life is not a popularity contest & I am first & foremost your parent, then your friend.

don't love so much the early morning school run...
the loud music...
the sibling bickering...
having to share my camera!
repeating myself (repeatedly!)

Readers' roundup

Melissa sent this one in.

Products used:
BG Granola: Almond, Alpha Stickers, Hearty, Jute, Buttons, Elements Stickers
BG Ambrosia: Quince, Alpha Stickers
BG Boxer: Skinny Jeans
Prima flowers
Creative Memories Pen
Bazzill Basics In Stich’z Blue Floss

Journaling reads:
It has no frills; no paid vacations, no sick days. Sometimes, you wonder why you took this job in the first place…
but then, a hug, a loving smile, a well-timed “I love you, Mommy,” makes you remember that this is the sweetest job and you’d never give it up.

This lovely LO is from Lynette.

Feb: Wynand and Nadia's marriage

Feb: Bianca starts college

Feb: I go for spinal surgery

April: Visit to the Lionpark

May: Visit Ansie and Willie in Kidd's beach

June: Liza passes away

June: Kobus and Wynand goes on first hunting trip

June: Lukas is born

June: Willie's 50th birthday

August: Leane's first birthday

September: First whale watching trip

September: Bianca and Marc starts going out

December: Kobus goes flying

December: My brother Andre's 50th birthday

Tracy K's challenge 49

Title: The Good, The Bad, The Music

The Good: Everyday I get to dance and sing. I have groupies. I reach students on a mental, physical and emotional level. I get to make pretty bulletin boards and get to decorate the stage. I get to see students smile when they “get it”. I get to hear some of the sweetest sounds in the world.

The Bad: My colleagues and administrators don’t “get” the importance of music education. Their attitude and actions speak volumes. Antibacterial wipes and Germ-X are not the invincible warriors against little kid germs. Some days it’s just starting over. Again. The pay isn’t that great. Teaching beginning band every year is worse than some ancient torture device. If I have to hear “Hot Cross Buns” one more time I’m going to shove a conducting baton in my skull.

The Music: Everyday I change the lives of my students through the power of music. I empower them to make music. I encourage them to find the music within themselves. I enlighten them to the amazing music around them. Everyday I make connections with young people on mental, physical and emotional levels. Everyday I hear the music.

Mia's challenge 49.

Title: I am a Domestic Engineer a.k.a. Homemaker a.k.a. Stay-At-Home-Mom

Journaling:
Manages the resources of the household. May perform general housekeeping chores and personal services, or may assign them to other members of the household or even employ people outside the household to do these tasks.
Keeps the home clean and running smoothly. Cleaning tasks may include dusting, sweeping, making beds, washing and waxing floors, vacuuming, and a wide variety of other chores. Must make sure that clothing and household items are laundered, dry-cleaned, or mended when needed. Responsible for shopping for food, clothing, and other household needs.
Responsible for planning, cooking, and serving many of the meals for their households. May make arrangements to have others cook meals in the home or to buy meals from outside sources.
Tasks include maintaining the household budget. May take care of bills, banking, tax filing, and other financial matters. Often responsible for day-to-day expenses, and sometimes long-range financial planning for the households. With other household members, may make decisions about buying insurance, taking vacations, getting loans, and other important matters.
Have a great deal of responsibility for the care of children. If children are very young, must feed, dress, and bathe them. As the children grow, must be responsible for creating a happy, healthy environment that will foster positive emotional and physical development. Required to teach children good health and personal habits, and make sure that they have proper medical and dental care. May help them with their homework.
Required to drive household members to and from their daily activities.
Tasked to improve the appearance of their homes. May often decorate houses or apartments. may paint or paper walls and ceilings, apply floor coverings, or refinish furniture. Sometimes, may care for lawns and gardens.

Tracy G's challenge 49

Maid (“We can’t both look good, it’s either me or the house”) – This is my least favourite job of all! I have a maid, Phyllis, who comes in twice a week to mop, dust, iron and attend to the heavier cleaning – otherwise I pretty much keep the house clean and tidy on a daily basis. I don’t enjoy washing pots and I despise mopping and sweeping floors and cleaning bathrooms!! In fact, I pretty much don’t like the job of maid at all …

Family StoryTeller - This is my favourite job – I get to document our lives and to tell the stories that may be forgotten along the way. I keep the memories alive and I take the photographs. I put the pictures that make us smile on the walls. I remind my family of the good days on not so good days. I am leaving a legacy of love behind for my boys and for our future generations … what an awesome role I play in this Family …

Detective - I must be an undercover (so deep not even I know who I am) FBI Agent sent into middle-class South Africa to infiltrate the operation known as “TWO SOCKS GO INTO THE MACHINE BUT ONLY ONE COMES OUT”???? What???? I only wash what they put into the laundry basket – I’m just a housewife for goodness sake … call in the SWAT Team … Put out an APB on the missing socks … sigh … Why do my boys assume that I know where everything that goes missing lands up? I don’t wear their slops, use their Games Chargers and misplace their car keys, cellphones or T-Shirts – why am I the Finder of all that goes missing??? I’m tired of playing Detective – pleeeeease give this job to somebody else …

Cheerleader (“Little words of kindness, little acts of love”) – I am our official “let me make you feel better” Family Cheerleader. Whenever my boys are sad, sick, tired, stressed or just plain otherwise, I am the one who knows exactly what to say to make everything better. I am their biggest Champion – I attend every game and every function – I pick up the pieces when things go wrong and I cheer them on when all is well … I am proud of my boys and I love this job because they are my Cheerleaders too …

Chef (“I only have a kitchen because it came with the house”) – I enjoy cooking for a dinner party or special occasion – actually I think I enjoy the organising and decorating more than I do the cooking … tee hee – but I cannot bear everyday cooking. Not only is it a mission to decide WHAT to cook everyday but my boys are soooo fussy – no veggies and nothing that looks or tastes even remotely healthy! Perhaps it’s just the thought of all the cleaning up afterwards … sigh … please send me a chef – PRONTO!!!

Personal Shopper – I am not quite sure how I feel about this role in my family … Shopping for everyday stuff like food and cleaning materials and … well, stuff, is just plain boring and quite frankly a waste of my time but I do it because I love them. Of course, this is not to say that I do not enjoy retail therapy at all but only when I get to buy some seriously delicious item for my home or my scrapping stash … tee hee … or even an item of clothing that I know would look so good on one of my boys … all in all, a pretty cool job …

Nicole's challenge 49

Being a stay at home Mom sometimes requires some sacrifices. There are no days off or other benefits that come with a regular paycheque. But I will never miss a dance recital or not be here to welcome you home after school. I get "paid" in kisses and drawings and you can't put a price on that.

Liza's challenge 49.

Title: The Office

This is supposed to be a 9-6 job. But there are times that it goes beyond that. And if an event or a meeting falls on a Saturday, say goodbye to your weekend plans. Work, work, work! No thank you’s for a job well done, just keep on doing what you do best. I hate this routine to bits. But how can I let go of the fact that I also love this torture of a job. I love what I do, the learning I get and being around people I not just consider as officemates but friends. For now, I will stop complaining and just be happy that I have this job. (1-11-09)

Cabbie's challenge 49.

**image removed for publication**

journaling:
it was not in my vocabulary to be an SAHM ( stay at home mom).
i envy those whose career made them what they are now.
i studied for a long time to reach the profession i longed for...but destiny rules...and now, i am what i am -- a stay at home mom.
there are blessings which a profession won't give you and i believe being with your family 24/7 and enjoying the process each day would never be compared as having a profession which sometimes eat your time.
life is short...live up to the present...the future will come as it is...

Challenge 49

This challenge is brought to us by Ali...

"Describe what you have LOVED and also NOT so much loved about parenting, or, if you'd rather, tell us what you loved and also NOT so much loved about your job/career, work, or professional life?
Have fun thinking on this topic and remember to use examples if you can!
Thanks for accepting the challenge!" ~ Ali

Her journaling:

I have been a mommy for a long time now… for 15 years it has been my MAIN job. I can’t say I’ve loved EVERY moment… OH MY… but loved most of them! This got me thinking about what I’ve loved and maybe not-loved-so-much about my main job. ~Journaling: January 2009
I have loved~ laughing when one of you told me you wanted a “choking cherry jelly jam sandwich”… seeing amazing report cards… hearing that you are polite and thoughtful at school… seeing you light up when you see your friends… feeling proud that you can “see” both sides of a story… noticing your compassion developing…painting a bedroom purple… hearing a 15 year old laughing with an 8 year old… seeing you ride…seeing you buckle down and study…noticing that you love animals…making up words like “besaur” that have become part of our family’s culture…finding a meal that we all LOVE… scrapbooking with you… scrapbooking ABOUT you… reading to you… enjoying a campfire with you… hearing you speak another language… being able to speak BACK to you in the second language… partnering with your Daddy in all things related to you four… occasions when you had sleepovers here or elsewhere…seeing that you have such nice friends… being able to get your opinion on things… taking you all for drives in the Valley…being able to work my nursing shifts around you all… seeing you draw… seeing you create… making homemade “squishy” play-dough…taking you all to PEI in the “car house”… singing to you… seeing you play in the kiddie pool in the backyard… routines that work… watching Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang with you… having an evening Chiminea … no-school stormy days… goodnight kisses… talking about makeup… hearing you say “I wuf you…” rotating the toys… colouring with you… trips to the Zoo… feeling like a good Mom…
I haven’t loved~ whining (yours OR mine)…chore lists… feeling like a “broken record”… VERY messy rooms… stomach flu… seeing you sad… seeing you afraid…hearing a LOT of complaints about meals…receiving a diagnosis of ASD… fighting FOR you (but I’ll do it, never fear)… the 24/7 nature of parenting… always worrying… always trying to protect you even though I know I shouldn’t … too much video-game time… having to “police” TV show choices…dealing with out of control kids at a party at Roo’s (not our kids!)… reminding, reminding, reminding then nagging…setting a lot of limits… making lunches… unpacking lunches… wondering “why?”… the “grumpies”… 9 million stuffed toys…being away from you for even one night… watching the same movies over and over… seeing you cover your ears because noises hurt… putting away the laundry… seeing you and Oakley fall… waiting for CT scan results… arguments… shopping… watching the clock…stepping on Lego…picking up Lego… trying to trim your bangs… the mystery of the “changing” car-radio station… hearing “bad words”… the disappearing chocolate chips… the grocery bill… snowsuits and winter boots… lost mittens… lights left on… … messy back seats in the car… our PEI vacation with you being too “short…” … you saying “ But I didn’t hear you!” … yelling … forgetting details of a note I’ve jotted down to “journal about later…” …you crying when we passed by the Zoo sign…
feeling bad about time going by too fast…

Readers' Roundup

This review of 2008 is from Shayne.

Our 2008:- Pixie Cat joined our family

- Olivia started playschool & Jack & Jill

- Gemma Taylor born 15-03 - I assisted

- Iain visited for a couple of months

- Eileen passed away but our family was reunited again

- Daniella achieved 3rd place in Grade 4

- Dean built his 'dream' bike

- We had a wonderful family holiday in PE

This review is from Monique ~ who also kindly translated it for us all.
Journaling reads:(1st card)

1. Jan.: Mats turned 3 (in Dec.) and these are his Elmo treats for kindergarten;

2. Feb.: Mats gets a “big” bed!

3.: March: Manon takes care of the easter decorations;

4. April: Timothy’s school soccer team for the 4x4 games;

5. May: Our holiday in Scotland and Timothy’s 9th birthday;

6. June: Manon with her streetdance class during the performance “Colour” in the theatre in Rijswijk; EK: Oranje (Dutch soccer team) plays and everybody has the orange fever;

7. July: end-of-season barbecue with Timothy’s soccer team.

(2nd card)8. Aug.: Holiday in France: 1st week in a chalet in the Ardèche in Bourg-Argental and the 2nd week at camping Beau Rivage in Cardet with Paul and Michèle and kids;

9. September: The kids in the garden of “het Prinsenhof” in the centre of Delft;

10. Oct.: carving pumpkin masks for Halloween;

11. Nov.: Manon turns 12! Blowing out the candles is still fun!

12. Dec.: Xmas eve with presents under the Christmas tree. Mats turns 4!! Blowing out the candles from his yellow Diego marzipan cake!

This review from Rowee.
Review of 2008
1. April: We spent 1 month vacation in Singapore.
2. May: We moved to our new bigger house.
3. July: Rain was accelerated from Kinder 1 to Kinder 2.
4. August: My father turned 60 this year and Rain turned 5.
6. September: My sister-in-law gave birth to a twin.

This is Janis' resolution
Journaling:
Bed time, New Year’s eve. With a bare face and a camera on my hand, I bravely took this shot. Quite fitting, I should say, to a promise in the days to come….I resolve to be always true to myself – need not pretend, need not hold back… will dare to bare my soul in everything I do.

Thanks ladies for your contributions - you have done an awesome job and I am delighted that we have been able to inspire to this degree. Having people take part in the challenges just makes it all worth while.

Stefanie's review of 2008

I used Shabby Princess paper, ricrac, flowers and the font is Ck Ali's.
Will post the reader's roundup soon as I have permission to post the LO's here.

Mia's challenge 48.

Journaling: 1st visit to Enchanted Kingdom * Finally got our things from Manila * Mia started scrapping again * Nadine graduated from preschool * We went to Manila 3x * Nadine turned 7, Raya turned 5 and Alyssa turned 1 * Nadine and Raya started swimming lessons * Alyssa started to walk and talk * We got a Nikon D60 camera * We bought the farm! * We got Internet and Cable TV * Nadine and Raya were honor students * Mier started biking again

Nicole's challenge 48

This was easily the most fun we've had on New Year's Eve in years.
Jaime and I started planning our fondue party months in advance and it went off without a hitch.
The kids had a ball playing and watching movies while we ate and played Sequence.
We rang in the New Year and wrapped up the night at 1AM.
What a great way to end the year!

Tracy K's challenge 48

Title: New Year's "Resolutions" 2008

Resolution #1: I will learn to paint or at least pretend that I know how to
paint and do it anyway.
Resolution #2: I will stop referring to my mother as “the evil one”.
Resolution #3: I will not brag about my amazing sex life, lest it disappear.
Resolution #4: I will not be sad that I am not supermom, but will try to
find underwear that say so.

Resolution #5: I will blog more about real things
instead of lists of things that I think are funny.
Resolution #6: I will not roll my eyes EVERY time my husband asks me if I
want to watch a zombie movie.

Resolution #7: I will wear pantyhose at least twice…and not on my head as
makeshift reindeer antlers.
Resolution #8: I will exercise more. LOL. I don’t really mean that one.
Resolution #9: I will go to bed before midnight on school nights.
Resolution #10: I will not write checks with my mouth that my butt can’t
cash.
Resolution #11 I will learn what a “butt cashing check” is.
Resolution #12: I will vacuum. No, really.
Resolution #13: I will stop thinking about Krispy Kremes in a sinful manner.

Resolution #14: I will finally figure out a scam to make money online.
Resolution #15: I will stop referring to that evil old goat at church as “
satan personified”, because Satan would probably be a lot hotter.
Resolution #16: I will invite friends over for dinner and cook it myself
(mostly).
Resolution #17: I will take more pictures of objects, because someday when I
die and finally become famous people will probably want pictures of my
refrigerator magnets.
Resolution #18: I will go back to college. I know…which one? Barber or
clown?
Resolution #19: I will stop joining online dating sites and using the name
of my high school nemesis. I think she may be benefiting from it.
Resolution #20: I will stop making New Years Resolutions. I mean really,
does anyone even remember them by February?

Liza's challenge 48

Journaling:
New Year, new beginnings. That’s how we should celebrate the coming of a new year. And that’s exactly what we did. It started off with this goofy family photo we took. Let loose and go wacky! Then it’s off to welcome the New Year with a BANG! Fireworks everywhere, popping and crackling as we watched on. Having fun at the sound of midnight. Just the way it should be celebrated! It is definitely one of the best times of our life and one we can never forget.

Cabbie's challenge 48

2008 was a year to remember...* we had our kitchen renovated* i visited my mom's hometown after 17 years* my kids' birthday are celebrated happily with fun and gifts* I got my Nikon for my birthday* we visited a resort destination full of natural stuffs, the kids had fun swimming.* field trips were great bonding time.I thank God for a good year and may He continue to bless us all for the coming year.

Challenge 48

Dec 1999.
What a fun night. We partied away to music from the 40s to the 90’s.
Uncle Steve and I spent hours putting tracks together. The evening was organised by Friends First Church and we all had an absolute blast. And the ATM’s all still worked after midnight. I know ‘cos we checked.

This one is from Mel and the challenge is to journal Dec 1999 if you remember what happened then and if you have photos.
If you don't then how you celebrated this year or the resolutions you made will be great too.

For your information

We have a reader's roundup...

Firstly a digi stunner from Jessica with her journaling:

Another round of Family Photos. Sunday before Christmas 2008.Every Christmas is special. This one even more so because Johnny's back from Texas, this is Beth & Ben's first Christmas as a married couple and Andrew's first altogether.It snowed over a foot this weekend. We're definitely having a White Christmas this year!

Secondly a LO I don't have permission to post anyway so you have to visit Ally's blog here.

and the winner of the December prize is...
Shayne
So please email me your postal address so that I can pop your prize into the post.

Scrapnart feature:

I was approached by Angela Pruitt, the editor of Scrapnart mag, for journalingjunkie to be featured in her "webfinds" article for January/February.
Quite an honour so if you're interested in signing up for a free subscription go to http://www.scrapnart.com/.
Thanks, Angela.

Lastly the prize for January is a beautiful set of clear date stamps from gel-a-tins, sponsored by me.
I will post a pic as soon as my pc/internet/blogger allows.

Challenge 48 is to create a LO on the New Year...
You can do New Year's resolutions, or New Year's celebration or a review of 2008.
Your submissions must be in to me by the 14th of January (midnight GMT) as I will post the second challenge for the month and the reader's roundup on the 15th.

Lastly while I trust that you all had a stunning Festive season, I learnt that Beverly Todd passed away suddenly just before Christmas, she was a journalingjunkie dt member and we send her family condolences, if you remember her and want to leave the family a message you can do so on her blog.