Christmas Pudding attempt....

One of our Christmas traditions is to start making a gingerbread house... The house gets finished some years and other years not (due to a variety of reasons, usually little people getting hungry and eating a wall or something). This year we have not even started a house and the children do not seem to have noticed.

What was requested, was a plum pudding. Adam usually receives a pudding made by his mother... but with no family around, he has missed out... Adam is aware that cooking is not one of my talents and suggested I not bother trying to cook my own. It was politely suggested I purchase a pudding from the CWA... In a bid to prove my domestic worth, tomorrow I will be cooking a rag Christmas pudding.

I have received the recipe from Maryanne, a prized family tradition. Last night I cut the fruit and have left it soaking... today I purchased the calico (really the only productive thing I did today)... tomorrow is the big day!!

I am a little late starting, I know of others who made their puddings in November... It is the thought that counts... I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out!!

Time Flies!!

Every once in a while I have a boost of energy that is directed wholly towards homemaking...

Yesterday I spent the day looking at photos that had been saved on CDs and not loaded on the computer... made me feel all mooshy inside about my little people... they are all growing up soooo fast and I want them to stop!! (now they are all in full time school)...

This morning I was still feeling all the love...and it transferred into housework (my love language is service)... so it is 8am.... I am up ready for the day (got up the same time as Adam to show my support), the floors are vacuumed, beds made, washing out and even cooked savoury scrolls for the kids lunch... organisation reigns...

... thing is... I am sure yesterday, my time would have been much better spent doing my uni work... and as far as this morning goes...I just realised the cleaner comes today!!!

... at least the kids are happy with the scrolls:)

Let me show you some pics of how adorable they used to be...

Last Snow for the Season.... (we hope)

How can it be sunny warm boating weather one weekend and snow the next?? Still spins me out how variable the weather is down here. We have been pretty busy and not had time to get to the snow this winter, so a couple of weeks ago when the mountain was topped with a healthy does of the white stuff, the kids and I grabbed the opportunity to go and play.

Mount Wellington is the closest spot for us to go, takes about twenty minutes to get there. If the road is iced over they close the road for safety but you can park part way up and do some of the walks.

We got there early in the morning (9am)... the road was closed... we hung around down below and played around a bit, had some fun. As we were about to get in the car and head home we noticed the road was open again... yeah!!!

Up the top we went, it was snowing while we were up there, yet looking back over Hobart we could see the sun shining... (beautiful)... Kids had a blast of a time... we were the only ones up there for about half an hour, as other car loads of people turned up and Wilson began to cry about his freezing cold fingers... we headed home.

Just in case you wondered about Angus not wearing a jumper... lets just say he has become accustomed to the weather!!

September Southport 2010

19 children
11 adults
5 fish (no rod required, just a good smile)
3 days (give or take)
2 dogs (just because)
1 black out (action man needed)
Thank you Sayers for the invite
Thank you everyone for the great company
Can we come again next year??

and another birthday....September

Happy Birthday Adam... everyone looks happy here... it was over a month between cakes:)

another birthday post

My turn for a birthday...
We had the happy birthday banner up from July to October this year... the birthdays just roll out one after another...
I was spoilt by my family and two dear friends.... Dinner and cake...
Love you guys!
xx

I love how everyone looks sooooo over it in this pic.... smile for the camera!!
The lovely Kirsten... we had a feast that night...

A surprise visit... with cake and love... 'Mum Greta and Britty are here to pick up some stuff'...

no title...

Today was feeling rather crappy...I had a winge to whoever would listen.... did some study... got ready for work... put on my stockings...

My mood immediately changed... I was happy... happy that I purchased quality stockings...my hose lightened my load today (in more ways than one)... I am now going to work, feeling... thankful :)

16 YEARS.... Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

This is the best pic... kinda crazy...



Ethan Rea Rocks because....
he had a dry sense of humour
he is kind to his little brother (most of the time)
he does not give up
he loves adventure
he plays piano
he has a cool bike
he loves hanging out with the family
he likes meat and three vege
he likes camping... fishing... surfing... riding... boating...
pretty much all that boy stuff
especially shooting...

most of all, we think he Rocks...
because...
he is ours!

Happy Birthday Ethan...
24 July 1994...
16 years ago... your father rocked up to the birthing suite with a stereo, tim tams, and eski with cold cokes and chocolate yogos...
The rest is history... and our diets have not changed much!!

We love you.
xxx

Somethings gotta give

So uni is back on... the work load this semester is what I imagined last semester to be like... FULL ON!! So even though it was anticipated I still feel like I am behind and it is only week two!!

Somethings have had to give around here...

the folding... any given time your socks, jocks or whatever can be found in the pile of laundry that is starting to take over my lower rumpus area...

the cooking... last night when I came home... Adam was going out... who has fed the kids??... the conversation went like this... 'but I thought you would'... 'you said you would call'... 'argh'... 'kids find something to eat in the fridge'...
I did tuck them into bed but I am still not sure if they had dinner!!

housework... well...some jobs just don't need doing until the mould is growing... and that is about the state of the dishes on the sink at times... (maybe an exaggeration... but an using my imaginative license here)...

The kids are feeling the stretch too... Nina wanted me to go on a school excursion with her on Friday... and I just can not do it... I felt bad... but it was either the excursion or taking her to basketball Friday and Soccer on Saturday... she choose the sports... I explained to her, that this was only for the next eighteen months...

Apparently she took that on board...

This morning.. Wilson was wanting me to reassemble some of his Lego star wars space ships that have had a few knocks... I told him I would when I got a chance. He thought about it and said 'When is that?... Will I still be five or six?'... Nina jumped in at that moment and said... 'No Wilson you will be seven!!'....

I think I know what we will be doing as a family on Sunday morning... LEGO!!!

Now I have to go.... Focus, Focus, Focus!!

Angus turns 14.... 11 July 2010

Angus turned 14 last Sunday.... we celebrated with

Dinner at the Casino Saturday night... buffet style




Big Breakfast Sunday morning with the Toselli family...



followed by Nerf Gun Fights down the hallway...





Birthday Cake Tradition...






Happy Birthday Angus!!!

Put some sugar on it...

I am a self confessed sugar addict... I am addicted to anything sweet... my addiction goes in stops and starts... this time it started about two years ago... it has been more of a problem in frequent weeks... and two days ago I decided to stop... cold turkey... hmmm.... as a result... my mood is a little dark... my head is a little cloudy... my eyes a little hazy... all I want to do is sleep!!

I did the grocery shop this afternoon... nothing sweet... I resisted the mint slices that were on sale for two bucks a pack... I did not go down the lolly isle... no biscuits, chips, softdrink... NOTHING BAD!!!

I just needed to tell someone about it...

Thanks for listening :)



Sugar, sugar..... ahhh... honey, honey... you are my candy girl and you got me wanting you....

Glen Huon Sleepover

Sunday I drove down to Glen Huon for a sleepover at the Watson homestead...
I had a relaxing, enjoyable time...

-Sitting around the fire listening to Vince and Brock sing Karaoke (Two types of music... country and western)

-Looking at the stars with Britty

-Cooking dinner with Greta

-Hiding grape fruit juice from Raelene

-Talking and walking with Britty

-4WDing with the girls... (had to get the manual out to see how I put it in 4WD...city slicker)

-Imaging the possibility of living in the country...

Thanks for your hospitality... I love you guys!!
x

Nina Nana and Noi Noi

This is how Nina has looked most of this week... pyjamas on all day sitting at the sewing machine. She finished a kids quilt class on Saturday and now there is no stopping her. All those fabrics I have been collecting are seeing the light of day... a quilt for Nina, a quilt for Nana and a quilt for Noi Noi.... she is such a kind, sweet, determined girl!!





The finished products will head to Queensland tomorrow to warm the knees of Nanas'... have fun in QLD!!! I have no children for the next two weeks... Anyone want to do lunch?? I'm free...

New Pyjamas and Random thoughts...

Winter is here and with the cold weather and Pyjama day at school... Nina, Wilson and I figured that was a good excuse for new Pj's.... We snuggled up last night for some pics...

It was so fun walking the kids to school this morning in their pyjamas, slippers and dressing gowns... better still was seeing all the teachers dressed in their night gear also.

When my big boys were little, I would dress them ready for bed, in the clothes they were going to wear the next day. I think they got their first pair of proper pyjamas when Nina was born. I figured my system was working well and by the time Nina was born, they could dress themselves... Nina and Wilson are 'spoilt' as Ethan and Angus suggest... I guess it does not take much when you consider new pyjamas a treat!

Makes me think about how differently I do things with my little kids... It has taken me four children, but I think I have reached my peak (exciting for me, but not necessarily a point of reference for anyone else)... I tell my big kids to enjoy the way I parent because it is not going to get any better from here on...

Ethan works at Dominos pizza in town, often his shifts are only two or three hours long and often I am late to pick him up... he said to me the other night when I was twenty minutes late...'I just don't get it, how can you just forget you have four kids? How can you not realise I am missing?!'...

I don't really forget.... and I always remember how cool my kids are to me.... sorry Ethan.
x


Totally different topic... but I just want to show you what I look at everyday... This view is good for the soul! Queenslander at heart... but come on, you have to love this place!

Kuala Lumpur and Germany 2010

Life does not always turn out the way you want it. I thought that I was going to spend my twenty somethings travelling the world and having one adventure after another.... well I have had one adventure after another, just with nappies and school lunches.
Last week I had the opportunity to go and hang out with a friend in Europe. She was born there and had not been back for many years, so the trip was one down memory lane for her. My trip however, started in Kuala Lumpur with my stopover....



I felt so excited to be adventuring alone in an unknown place... I thought about staying at some backpacker place in China town but then decided on something a little more comfortable. After the train, a walk to the monorail and getting off at the wrong stop, walking in the stinking hot humid weather to who knows where... I decided that maybe it was not all that exciting and was instantly glad for the five star accommodation that I had booked over the internet some weeks prior!!



The two days in KL were spent visiting some tourist spots and doing a little shopping.



I really love the Malaysian hospitality and food... oh my heck! The hotel was amazing and kinda made me not want to go out and do anything else.

Almost three days later I arrived in Frankfurt airport. I had a few hours to wait until my friends flight arrived, I checked out the shops (tried to buy a magazine with Malaysian ringot) and enjoyed the uniquness of the airport. Check out the smoking rooms....



The staff working there rode bikes to get around from one side of the place to another, there were designated smoking rooms for smokers. I sat and waited for Debbie and Jocelyn. The highlight was the man at customer service who was so obviously annoyed at having to provide any service and sitting next to an African American lady and her daughter and listen to the lingo they spoke together.

Well the different lingo was one of the funniest things on the trip, my individual Aussie talk could be considered a little offensive to my American buddies. I ensured my traveling companions that my terms were all meant in an endearing way but they still provided a few laughs on the trip.

We met up with Jocelyns super cool friend Jeanette and spent our first night with her family the Gills in Darmshdart.



The Gills have lived all over the world, Jeanette American and James Brittish, they are however, Aussies at heart, so I felt very welcome and can not wait for them to visit Tassie in a few years when they come back to live in Sydney.

The warm welcome was also wonderful at Debbies best friend Krisits' home on an army base somewhere.... (I don't remember where they lived).



Kristi and her mum Vicky where the highlight of the house, Vickys honesty about hot Italian men cracked me up and kept me laughing to myself about her humor for the whole trip. I would love to holiday with her!! Kristi has been friends with Debbie forever and it was so great of her to let me stay in her home. Vicky and Kristi also hosted a visit the best shoe shop in the town of Heidelberg... Josef Seibel.... I promptly purchased two pairs of shoes and to be honest would have spent more time there had my companions been shoesy kinda girls. Kristi admitted to me latter in the trip that she had gone back to purchase more shoes herself that day... some too small but she just had to have them... (I get that!).



The shoes pailed in comparsion to the beauty of the town, the Heidelberg castle, the cobbled streets the great food, amazing views everywhere you looked.

The day prior we took pics of one of the funnier places we visited right next to the Rhine river... the cement works in Mainze.



All roads lead here as we found out, taking the '9' did no good. Perhaps if someone else had been driving we would have ended up somewhere else, but the driver has the 'power'. That someplace else we were looking for was the City of Kolne.

The City of Kolne was a few hours north along the Rhine River. When we finally found where we should be going we took in the breathtaking views along the waters edge. A few pit stops along the way for pics, including this motorbike and this gorgeous German man who did not mind jumping in the pic.



The Cologne cathederal was amazing!!


This day was Jocelyn and Debs finest day for laughs, oh my heck! I was sure at the KL airport last night (on my way home) I could still hear them laughing. Such fun travel companions.

Another night at Kristis house and then south We arrived in Füssen, Ostallgäu, Bavaria late in the afternoon,



now equipped with a GPS we found some authentic looking accomodation with views out to the alpes.



It was unfortunate that the host of the B&B was a little less authentic her name was Suzanne and she was from Georgia... Jocelyn managed to find the kindred spirit in Suzanne (whom we fondly nicknamed Gretel) and the stay was wonderful. A breakfast of brioche, pastries, meat, cheese, jam from the black forest and cereal. Would have liked to stay another night.

Neuschwanstein castle. Horse and carriage to the top...








So many more pics.... but another day.... that is enough procrastination for one day...I have an essay to write!!