Alexander's Birthday

We're getting closer to 'now' - Alexander's birthday was at the beginning of this month - he has just turned 9!

Time for another "I can remember when he was a baby" photo.

Alexander at 6 hours old - my 1st photo of him.

For Alexander's birthday we had booked the bike centre too - as we had done for Olivia's birthday see here - but instead of friends for the bike centre we did a family time, as we had family visiting from the mainland and the house would have been kinda squishy.

At the bike centre

More fun at the bike centre

Alexander's cake

Even the grown-ups had fun at the Bike Centre!

So we had friends come around the next day and watch a movie (Monsters Vs Aliens) and they had fun eating pizza, popcorn, chips and chocolate!

Blowing out the candles

Eating cake after unwrapping presents!

The Burnie Show

Nearly 3 weeks ago was the Burnie Show - held on the Friday and Saturday.

We were invited up to display our cars - so we headed up and put our cars next to the very dusty trotting track - and ended up with very dirty cars.

All the cars

Mine and hubbys cars.

When I wandered away to have a look at the show (which took all of 20 minutes by the way) - hubby managed to grab the camera, and a passing guy dressed up as a lizard... This is the result....



They tried to get him IN the car - but his tail wouldn't fit. He will never be left again with the camera without supervision lol.

Our Melbourne Trip

So two weeks after the below birthday parties we took the kids and ventured to Melbourne for 4 nights.

We flew out on Friday morning - not too early!

Waiting for the plane at the airport.

I was very apprehensive about our accomodation. I booked it online because I could get a cheaper rate and have two bedrooms for 4 people, and then checked out the reviews.... bad idea....

But on arrival it couldn't have been better! OK, well it could have, but the rooms were fine - and was paint missing from parts of the wall really going to be the undoing of our holiday? I think not!

The view from our hotel room.

So on day 1 (Friday) after chucking our bags into the hotel room we set off for the Queen Victoria Market and wandered around looking at all these things we didn't want to buy. We then went down to the Spencer Street DFO - and that really hadn't gotten any better than last time we were there - nothing appealed to us. We also did a city circle tram ride - that takes an hour to do!

Lunching at the market.

Day 2 (Saturday) - we set off for the Zoo! An exciting tram ride for the kids. The kids had an absolute ball there (as did the grown-ups). The downside? My camera went flat only halfway round the zoo - darn new lithum batteries.

At the zoo

On our way back to town we stopped at the market again - Hubby wanted to buy some new shoes as the ones he brought with him were hurting his feet. And then we set off for the Museum and wandered around there - pity I had no camera, so no photos of Phar Lap - but I did get a postcard!

Day 3 (Sunday) - we decided to go to Chadstone shopping centre, so we caught the train out there. I remember it being wonderful.... it was wonderfully huge, easy to get lost... and we went shopping at K-mart... Yep, we went all the way to Melbourne to shop at K-mart.... We did buy some other things too, but buying mugs at the Reject Shop is not really a highlight.

On the train!

Day 4 (Monday) - we caught another train and headed to the Scienceworks Museum. Our local little museum has a small hands on science display - well this place is just amazing, and our little area would get lost in there! And they had a Star Wars exhibition too - so the kids had a ball looking at that too.


With Yoda! With Chewie!

Looking very small in a painted doorway... The whole background is painted actually.

Day 5 (Tuesday) - home day. We went back to the market for a last look and bought the things we hadn't done on the first two visits! And headed to the airport to sit around and wait.... After a delayed flight we made it home - exhausted.

View from airport window.

But not one complaint about the amount of walking, no tired legs, the kids did an amazing job!

Update - finally!!

I'm back - again!

Today to start a proper update - like I said I would do a month ago....

As it's been two months since I posted anything properly I thought I'd do one post a day for the next few days about what we've been up do - cause a few things have happened in the last two months - and to do them justice I can't cram them all into one post.

So we'll start with Olivia's 7th Birthday!

My baby turned 7!!!! It seems like yesterday I was waiting for her due date and holding my little girl!


We had a birthday party for friends at "The Bike Centre" - it's an old empty reservoir that they have painted inside and have put traffic light up and walk signs so the kids can take their bikes and ride around like mad things!

It's as cheap as to hire from the local council, and there is a BBQ and a sheltered area too if it does rain- not that the rain stops the kids.

At the bike centre

Olivia and friends with the cake

Olivia opening presents

Olivia playing with her 'boyfriend' Ryan
(Ryan thinks Olivia's his girlfriend anyway)

And then the next day we had a party at home for family. It was either 30 odd people at the bike centre for 2 hours and Olivia not getting to spend time with everyone, or 30 odd people in our house - which would be kinda squishy! Or the two birthdays - which works easier for my sanity!

The cake! They are meringue "grubs" on the top.

Opening presents.

More opening presents.

Back later on with more!

Flying Blog

So it's been a while since I've been around....

Things have been really hectic this last month - birthday's, car shows, finalising trip to Melbourne which starts TOMORROW!

But I will be back - and I will try to keep the blog more up to date!

Lots of photos to come from the last month too - when we get back next week!

Quick Dante Update

I've been flat out this week with parent-help twice, work and trying to find our house - I'm sure it's here under the mess somewhere!

So anyway here are a few photo's of Dante from last weekend - it was Mum's birthday, so we went out for lunch.

Apologies for the crappy quality of the second photo - little ones don't react well with the flash - and I didn't realise how dark it really was inside....

New Couch!!!

After saying last time that our new couch would arrive in 2-3 weeks.... Guess what?

It arrived the next day!!!

BUT....

Yes there is a but.... When we went to pick it up on Saturday morning - in the freezing winds. The guys from the furniture store started loading it on the trailer for us....

I looked at it, and it looked wrong. It was the right colour. But it was the wrong style of couch!

I ordered a modular couch - it comes in three pieces and curves around the corner... the picture of our couch is below

The one on our trailer was a Chaise - an 'L' shaped couch, which an ottoman at one end.... And that's NOT what I wanted....

The guys at the furniture store then had to find out where MY couch was! The couch they had given me had my name on it.... Someone had boo-boo'd somewhere!

They found a couch that matched my description, (but with someone elses name on it) in the warehouse. So I ended up with that one (after they made a bazillion phone-calls to find out where the mix up had happened).

So we brought home the couch - stuffed it in the kids playroom until we had time to deal with the unexpected (but very pleasant) arrival.

The wall we were patching is still not finished. But the couch is together and in place now.



Complete with a 'Feet Seat' - which was supposed to be part of hubby's birthday present, but he got that part early. But someone else has claimed it!

More Renovation Stuff

I mentioned before about our loungeroom reno - see here if you want to read or see dodgy paintbrush pictures.

So we've made a start - OK hubby and my Dad made a start and removed the fireplace and mantle piece and hubby then put a new piece of plaster board to cover the hole. And we've started patching it up!

I'm now at the point where it needs one last sand back (hopefully only one anyway) before I can undercoat and then paint. I'll need to pic a warmish day to paint.... but who knows when that will happen given that it's the middle of winter and we're in Tassie.... were it's very, very cold.

It should only be about 2-3 weeks before our new couch arrives - *happy dance* so I'd LIKE to get it finished before then.

So here are some pics of the before and after...

Before ^^ (Excuse hubby head in the photo)

After ^^ No more mantle piece or fireplace!

Feeling Crafty

With the blanket that I did for Olivia I ended up with a mile of leftover yarn - in various colours.

Alexander - in his own special way - managed to lose one of his gloves... Just one, not both.
So I decided with the leftover yarn to knit Alex a pair of gloves.


Then hubby sees the gloves and he decides that a fingerless pair for him would be good. So I've done half a pair for him.... The other half is coming :)


It's also coming up to some of my families birthday - so I dragged out the scrapbooking/card-making box and made some cards. I love making cards! I love going to my local craft shop and seeing what's new there - but I have to use some of the stuff I've already bought before I can do more ing there....making box and made some cards. I love making cards! I love going to my local craft shop and seeing what's new there - but I have to use some of the stuff I've already bought before I can do anymore shopping.


So lots of crafty stuff has been happening around here!

Our Kitty Cat Thinks.....

He's pregnant....

Yep, you read that right. HE thinks he's pregnant.

Timmy was getting very, very jumpy... He would jump up literally 2 feet in the air and do a backflip at any 'strange' noise - skulk around the house looking for 'something'. He nearly ripped the vets arms off when we took him to be vaccinated.

So the vet suggested giving him some synthetic hormones that 'mimic' pregnancy - thus making him more relaxed and less jumpy.

It's worked SO well for the last 4 1/2 months.... But then today I found a lump... Then I found another lump.... Our BOY cat has boobs!!!!

The vet thinks that because Timmy was given the hormone, and now the hormone is wearing off - his brain is now telling him to prepare for kittens.... The vet seems to think it's unusual side-effect - but we do have a very odd cat, so it fits him

So we've given him another round of the hormone treatment.... And will figure out what to do next time - because, like all good injections, they are expensive.


And the expense (along with having another cat already) means that this beautiful kitty that I found last week at the RSPCA when I went with the kids, shall remain at the RSPCA.... Sorry Furby :( I hope you find a nice home soon.

Is it Madness?

On Tuesday our son Alex came home with a notice - an excursion to the local RSPCA and to a local charity. They've been doing Civic and Citizenship at school.

So yesterday I ask if the teacher if he would like Parent Help for the day - sometimes an extra set of eyes when your out and about with kids can be helpful.....
And working in the Community Services sector had me interested in exactly what they will show the kids at the charity service.

I half expected the teacher to say 'No' - but he didn't. He said I was more than welcome to join in, explained what he was doing with them and said he would see me tomorrow.

So I'm going for a day out with 26 grade 3/4 students....

Wish me luck!

Now I've Stained!!

Yes it is something to be excited about. I've stained something - in a good way.

Our on-going kitchen reno took another step this morning.

I decided I was going to try my hand at staining our cupboards - the ones I've sanded back and hubby re-plyed the fronts of. During the course of our reno's I have plastered (well filled holes and cracks), painted, varnished, done enough sanding to create a saw mill pile... So staining is new and exciting.

The first section has come up beautifully if I do say so myself. I now have to wait 2 hours (or so) for them to dry and I'll put the handles back on them - until I varnish them. But I won't be varnishing until I've finished sanding back the rest (I have 4 more drawers that need stripping and sanding).



The stain is Jarrah - it matches in with the blackwood benchtops that we have so well! Can't wait for it all to be finished!!!

The one downside - must remember to wear gloves next time.... I have a few fingers that are a funny colour now.... :-)

More Pics

My fortnightly update of Dante.

He's such a cutie - sleeps lots, well he does when he's at Grandma and Grandad's! And lots of cuddles and kisses given by all.

I've been tagged - Happiness to me is....

Carly-Grace from Everyone Wants This tagged me.

I now have to tell you 6 things that make me happy - and then tag 6 others.

So narrowing down the enormous list to 6 is a bit of challenge!

1. My hubby and kids - of course they make me happy! The giggles from the kids, the love from hubby.... it's all happiness.

2. Our furbabies... Timmy and Bouncer. When they climb on my lap and snuggle in for a cuddle - it's nice to know your loved, even though they can't say it.

3. Reading. I can lose myself for hours in the magical world of Harry Potter or in the dark and and sometimes sinister world of Stephen Kings work. I love crime novels, some science fiction and one of my greatest loves is John Marsden's 'Tommorow' series.

4. Cooking - creating a lovely meal, something divine either sweet or savoury.

5. Creating. So a bit of an open field, but I like knitting, sewing, cross-stitching, scrapbooking, card making. And spending some 'me' time creating a project or completing a project, gives that sense of satifaction.

6. Being me. I'm not your run of the mill person. I enjoy some things that other people don't enjoy - data entry being one that I love. I also couldn't care less about things that as a woman I'm supposed to - like makeup and clothing.... (I make sure I look OK, but clothing labels and brands are meaningless to me).
I love who I am - and people love me - so that makes me happy!

Now to tag six people.....

Alyssa's Journey
Sparsely Kate
Just Us
BabyMac
What! There's No Instruction Manual
More Than Mum

And I'm Back....

I really hadn't gone that far away..... I usually only work 1 day a week - but last week ended up working 3 days - two different jobs.... and the week just vanished.

This week is a bit quieter. So I've been catching up on the neglected housework - and also spending a bit of time in the very neglected garden.

The amount of rain that we had on the weekend has made it a lot easier to pull the weeds out - but there are just so many of the darn things!

I also had to re-plant my cauliflower and broccoli plants - they were planted in the wheelbarrow as the vegie garden is an overgrown nightmare.... But the wheelbarrow ended up looking more like a swimming pool - and I don't think the plants were swimming really well. So now they're in the garden - it may not be the vegie garden, but at least they're in a garden.


Speaking of swimming - Alexander had two weeks of swimming lessons with the school. He's been in a pool since the age of about 3 months - but CAN NOT SWIM - that is a WHOLE other gripe that I won't bring up here.

I started teaching him last summer - and we made progress! But in the two weeks of 1 hour lessons a day Alexander can now swim 8 metres! I am so proud!! So more swimming will be on the cards for this summer (and hopefully someone else will try to teach him to swim too - not just to splash around).


Tax time is upon us again - and people are deciding what to spend their refunds on (if they are lucky enough to get a refund). This year I decided that part of my refund would be going on a new couch!!!

Hubby had one when I moved it - it was (and still is) rather brown and worn - it's supposed to be brown, but I think there is a lot of brown dirt there too. I brought two couches with me - but they didn't suit hubby has he is a lot taller than me - and they weren't comfortable for him - so they went to my brother.... and then to my parents..... and now I'm not sure where they are....

Then we took my brother in laws old leather lounge - which was worn and cracked in a few places, and the cats LOVED to scratch! Darn creatures have got 3 scratching posts but are never satisfied to scratch them!

So two 3 person couches, plus two arm chairs in our smallish lounge/dining room has been cramped.... And if the kids bring anything in, or the clothes airers are up there is no room to swing a cat (not literally people - I wouldn't swing my furbabies!).

So a new modular 5 seater couch has been ordered - and should arrive in 5 more weeks! Along with the new tv unit as we have to move furniture around to fit the new couch in! And get rid of both old lounge suits!

This is what our loungeroom looks like now (sorry about the dodgy paintbrush pic)


And this is what it will be like with the new couch! So much more space! We can pull the dining table away from the wall and from the bookcase - so hubby can sit properly instead of being squished!

Finished Projects

Just a couple of quick photos to show some completed projects! I'll be back later when I have some more time - just don't seem to have enough hours in the day at the moment.



Photo wall! Went ahead a purchased a few (lots) photo frames - and then set to with a hammer and nails! Lots of fun!!!!



My mothers birthday present (shut your eyes mum if you find my blog before your birthday!) Not as big a project as it was when I started it nearly 12 months ago - finshed in less than a week! Just have to get the hot water bottle to fill it now.... not that she needs a hot water bottle.... it's just a pretty decoration for the bedroom.