An update......

I know, I know.....It's been ages.....We are so sorry we have been so lazy (lets be honest, I'm the lazy one!) I'll tell you what stopped me from being so organised-LIFE!!!!! Things are bloody frantic here!!! Let's begin....

Jai started 4 year old kinder this year at Mooroolbark Early Childhood Education Centre (MECEC) and he just loves it! Yes, this means he starts school next year!!! OMG!!! He is already telling everyone what colour his uniform is etc!! He will hopefull be attending SPJ and most of his kinder frineds will be going there too, so he'll be in good company!!

Leithy is on the go more than ever and I'm in the process of trying to find him more activities!!! He does swimming lessons and has great fun, but he just needs more. When we do kinder duty, he just loves being there and participates in all the activities, as though he is 4 years old and part of the class! He is a funny little chap and talks so well for his age-sometimes too much (don't know where he gets that from!!) Bryce is in his last year at primary school and is off to Mt Lilydale Mercy College next year!!! He is playing football for Mt Evelyn and plays every Sunday morning. He is doing well and plays positions all over the ground! He just had his 12th birthday and most of the clothes he got had to be changed-he is getting so tall!!! He still loves school and he is doing incredibly well-his teachers are very happy with him!! Here he is holding a model of himself that Jai made at kinder for him!!!

Stuart is still working 6 days a week! He tries to get in a game of indoor cricket with his mates once a week too but it doesn't always happen! He has been promising himself (& me!) that he would be getting back on his bike too, but with winter now upon us, I can see that fading away!!! He is so good though-he obviously holds down the fort(& the kids!) when I'm at work and unlike me (!) , never complains! He organised a fantastic dinner for me and my friends for my birthday a few weeks ago at a beautiful Thai restaurant and it was just gorgeous!!! He spoils me rotten and I just love him to bits!!!


I've taken on a new job too! I'm now a swimming teacher down at Kings in Chirnside Park and I love it! While I don't have any permanent shifts yet (lots of fill ins though!) I'm keeping my shifts at the York too, so Im fairly busy. Like most mums, I do the kids/family stuff all day, then go off to work for anywhere between 4-8 hours at night!! Much to my disgust, I'm not playing any sport at the moment and feel awful for it! I simply don't have the time-though I could make it, it would just mean dragging the kids around all day and I don't think thats fair on them (or me having to put up with all the whinging!!!) I'm also doing a philosophy course on Thursday nights at Wyreena in Croydon and I just love it!!! It's so interesting and I am finding I'm starting to look at life, and my role in it, a little differently! On a Monday night I've been trying to get a regular meditation session in with my good friend Carla. Her daughter Kaeli goes to kinder with Jai and since meeting her, I have found a wonderful new friendship! The meditation has been fantastic and I find it a great way to unwind and relax!

So, life has been flat out and that's the reason you havn't heard from us!!! I hope to keep this blogspot up to date more often and will let you all know of new postings!! Until then, take care of yourselves and eachother.....xxxxx

Rye Jan13-20 2007

We have just spent a fantastic week down at Rye with our very good friends Wayne & Kim and Andre & Kylie and their kids Simon & Emily and Dillon & Ashley (aka Basha/Mr Harris)! About 3 months ago we booked a beautiful house which has 5 bedrooms (sleeps 15 people) and 4 living areas, a great deck area with 8 seater spa and plenty of things for the kids to do (playstations, dvd's, videos, table soccer..) While we were there we spent our days at various beaches, from Rye back beach battling the waves with boogie boards and our bodies, to building sandcastles at the front beach-Stu built the twin towers, an ode to his lovely wife (me!) and Kimmy and I built Poo Poo Palace with help from Jai!!

We went to Sorrento backbeach while the tide was out and explored the rock pools. Jai searched high and low for "sharks and crocodiles" but could only find lots of "fishy grapes" (that kelpy stuff!!) the boys, both big and small jumped from the cliffs whilst the women watched in both horror (at their take offs!) and sheer delight (at their safe landings!). Andre, Dillon, Simon and Bryce also went snorkeling.

While away, we ate very well as you can imagine!! Andre and Wayne cooked a gorgeous homemade spinach and ricotta ravioli with a creamy mushroom and prosciutto sauce-divine!! The kids had fun making their own fettuccine with bolognaise sauce. We visited the Rye Carnival where once again, the big boys showed the younger boys how it was done by braving many rides, including the Zipper! Jai and Leith had great fun on the elephant and swan rides, the big slide and Leiths favorite was of course, the kiddy dodgem cars! He loved them so much, Stu took him on the big dodgems-he smiled the whole time!! Bryce and Jai got airbrushed tattoos along with Emily, Basha and Kimmy. It was a great night!

It really was a great week away and everyone coped really well with 13 people and so many different personalities and habits!! We look forward to doing it again and hopefully it can become an annual holiday to look forward to! Thanks Wayne, Kim, Simon, Emily, Andre, Kylie, Dillon and Mr Harris for a holiday to remember!!

Splish Splash......

Here are the boys playing in their toddler pool that they got from my brother John and his partner Julie, for Christmas. They had a ball!

Clowning Around....

It started with Jai wanting to be a clown...Leith woke up and wanted a clown face too...Stuart got home from work and didn't get a choice-Jai took to him with a paint brush!!! I fixed him up a little as Jai got a bit carried away with the amount of paint he used!!! They had a ball playing 'circus', though Stuart actually started to frighten them when he played "Evil clown"!!! I think I'll leave taking them to the circus for a while....!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Well, it's come and gone for another year....!!! Yes, the crazy, crazy lead up of endless "oh my God, what do I get him/them/her?" shopping, ordering food 10 times larger than you actually need just so you can eat it for the next 2 weeks because God forbid the shops might actually be closed and we may all starve!!!!!! Ah yes, Christmas time!! And then there is that terribly confusing time in between Xmas and New Years where you don't actually know what day of the week it is-it's just the "week in between"......Well, I hope you all had a marvellous time over the festive period and that you are looking forward to a fabulous 2007 where you know within the first 2 days you will have broken your resolutions...(except for Kaz and Damien on their challenge!! Good Luck Guys, I'd rather be the eternal pessimist and know that Im talking B.S when I try to commit to anything!!!)

Our Xmas went like this.......

Saturday evening-don't feel so well

Sunday 3am-5.30am-visit toilet 8 times, get delirious from dehydration and think Santa really is coming to town...maybe that was just Stuart.....

Sunday all day-fell like S*#T run over twice, visit toilet another 8 times. Feel nervous at any hint of a "motion"!

Sunday night (xmas eve)-try to remain festive for kids and watch "the Grinch" (ok, a bit Bah Humbug but Jim Carey is just too funny..."it's not a skirt, it's a kilt, sicko..") Put out reindeer food, Santa food, oh God I'm going to be sick.....

Xmas Day-Feel ok....for an hour then that wave of nausea comes crashing down again...surely there can't be anymore?!?! I havn't eaten for 2 days.....!
Stuart does an amazing job of the turkey and roast vegies, things taste delicious, for 5 mins....!
Stuart's mum and dad (Wendy and Eric) and sister Sheena come for tea, leftovers, I sit and watch....Eric goes home and comes back with tablets Wendy took in Egypt for "Egypt belly" I guess you'd call it!!!! Take one and wake up feeling half normal!!

Boxing Day-Feel ok today, no longer nervous!! Spend a lovely day at Stuart's other sisters house (Tracy and Lukes). Eat a little more today and feel mostly good. Do competative Kris Kringle amongst the adults with very little competativeness....mmmmm, mental note to self-next year get nasty!!!

So here we are, 2 days before New Years. Stuart is back at work and life is normal again! Spending New Years working unfortunately but hopefully make it back early enough to join in the festivites with Waynie, Kimmy, Tony, Andre and Kylie and all the kids at our house.

Stuart, Bryce, Jai, Leith and Myself wish each and every one of you a magnificent entry into 2007!! May the year bring you all you ever dreamed for, enough fairy dust to highlight the smallest pleasures and the all the unconditional love and belly laughs that only your nearest and dearest can provide! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

XXXX

An Early Xmas Present...

On Thursday 22nd December Stuart and I got our Xmas present to eachother! For a while now we have been looking for a tattoo that we could both have that meant something to us. After much searching on the net, we settled on the Chinese symbols for "Eternal Love". This is Stuart's first tattoo and he decided to get it on the inside of his left bicep-so you can imagine the pain in such a sensitive area whilst the outline was being done!! The colouring in was a little more bearable he tells me! I got mine at the top of my neck and it was quite tolerable-in fact my children going crazy annoys me more!!! Anyway, we are both very happy with them and now Stuart is on the hunt for another one where he can get the boys names incorporated-I told him it was addictive!!!

Domestic training starts early in this house!!

Leith is very excited about his prospects of getting a job when he leaves home!

Raaaaaahhh............

Jai & Leith being dinosaurs! Leith wouldnt sit still for long enough to get a green face, so he just got the scales, but they both loved their bright green hair!