Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Weekend Catch up

Zac had his friend Jack stay over on the weekend. Both Friday and Saturday night. Jack is starting to feel at home here and is actually starting to talk.....a bit at least. It has only taken a few months. We must be really scarey. Friday night was the monthly Cyber Crop over at Diva's. Didn't do any scrapping on Friday night, to busy chatting. Early Saturday morning I went off to the back crackers (Chiropractor). I haven't been since leaving Cairns and my neck and shoulders have been causing me lots of trouble. Felt sooooo much better afterwards, still very stiff and sore but without the pressure. Back there again today. He said it's going to take a while to make a real difference. Chris and I then headed off to look around at plants. We bought another cherry tree and a bay leaf tree. Chris also ordered a truck full of soil for the veggie garden. Which kept him busy for the rest of the weekend. I did my challenges for the Cyber crop on Saturday afternoon. Saturday night we had another fire.....seems to be a regular Saturday night thing. The kids love toasting marshmallows. The moon was amazing, it had a huge ring around it. Sunday afternoon we went over to our neighbours behind us, for a BBQ. They are the ones who breed the race horses. The kids had a wonderful time feeding the horses. Jarred and Kloe also fed the chooks and collected the eggs. Jarred was so funny, he collected the eggs so they were his. We had to bring them home!!! We all enjoyed ourselves a bit too much and ended up coming home a bit to late. Jarred woke yesterday morning with a runny nose and watery eyes, the poor little darling. It was like someone turned the tap on, not even some medicine helped. He looked like he was crying all day. No Kindy for him. Hopefully he wakes up feeling better today. Chris has a shut down on at work again today. We got up at 4.50am, that's why I sitting here at 6am blogging!!!!! The kids are all still asleep. Our shed is suppose to be delivered today and there is a builder coming out to quote on replacing the floor this afternoon.

Wishing you all a great week.

Kloe's School Pic


Zac's School Pic


Friday, July 27, 2007

Miss M's School Photo


Back to Winter

After three glorious days of temps over 15 degrees a cool change moved through last night bring cool temps and rain. Today is back to Winter Weather. Top temp of 12 with rain.

Micaela had her first Cooking lesson yesterday. She was most impressed with herself. She made apricot slice. Just a mix together one and pop in the fridge to set. It had marshmallows, nuts, apricots, condensed milk and coconut in it. It was actually really nice (She gets to bring it home) She is so funny, anything practical like cooking, woodwork or sewing she has no patience for. She plans on earing lots of money and have someone do all of those things for her. She got her school photo's back yesterday, will have to upload later.

Zac has the most amazing teacher and is doing really well at school. His book work is now so neat and tidy and you can actually read it!!! He is the totally opposite of his sister and loves all the practical subjects. He is doing metal work this term.

Will give you an update on the other two another day.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Two warm sunny days

Yesterday we got to a top temp of 16 degrees. It was wonderful. The sun was shinning and it was warm. I got to turn the heater off and air the house. The washing actually dried on the line. Yes, yes I know, it's a bit sad when you have to celebrate 16 being warm, the sun out and washing drying. They said on the news last night that it was the first fine, warmer day in six weeks. Now that's something to celebrate!!!!! Yipee!!!! And today is suppose to be 17......Woo Hoo!!!! The bad news is the weather is suppose to turn yuk again tonight. Showers and cold weather back again. Will have to soak in the sun today and bottle some up!!! Kloe has a special sports expo on at the Indoor Leisure Centre today, she is really looking forward to it. Otherwise same old, same old.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Some more Pic's


This was the beautiful sunrise this morning

Look at the amazing seats Chris whipped up on Saturday afternoon using old fence posts. Pretty clever. Jarred and Kloe had fun walking along them in the afternoon and then we had a fire in the evening to try them out.


Need a tripod for night time shots. Love the fire in this photo.

The assessor came last week and took one look at the floor and said it will all have to be replaced. Which is good and bad. I'm please because the floor will all match but it is going to be a huge job. It looks like we will have to move out of the house while it is being done. The floor runs from one side of the house to the other, and all places inbetween. Thank goodness for insurance, it is going to cost a fortune!!!!

Look What I made.....


Yesterday afternoon I did a free online Class at Scrapbook Diva's making Faux Paper bag Albums. Thanks to the gorgeous Rach...it was lots of fun and this is the result.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Feeding the birds





The kids loved going and looking after Bruce's birds and chooks while he was away. They loved handfeeding the parrots. Jarred and Kloe loved feeding the chooks.

Drying the carpet



They lifted the carpet, cut the wet underlay out and put these big blowers under the carpet to dry it out. The pipes are filled with concrete to hold that section of carpet down and trap the air. It was very noise for a few days.

Some pictures of last weeks water damage


All the towels that were used to barricade the water


Jarred and Kloe's room


Micaela's room (The water had gone throught the bathroom into her room)

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Almost four seasons in one day

We have just returned from school. We have almost had four seasons in one day!!!! All except the heat. It is currently 3 degrees, has rained, hailed and even was sleeting. They had warnings on the radio about black ice on the roads. Probably nothing new for Victorians. But for us it is a big, new experience!!! The kids thought the hail around school was so cool!! They are saying if the temp continues to drop we may even see snow before the day is out. Now that would be COOL!!!!! We were expecting a top of 8 degrees today, it got to six about 11am and then started to drop. Tomorrow is suppose to be even colder.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Some of my latest pages








Sorry to bore some of you!!! Here are a few of my latest pages. Can you tell the boys are watching football???? I'm sitting in bed nice and snug and warm with my laptop. PLAYING!!

So it continues.........

Still waiting on someone to come and try and dry the carpets. They were suppose to come yesterday but couldn't make it. They are suppose to be coming tomorrow. From our discussion on the phone it looks like Jarred/Kloe's and Micaela's carpets may have to be replaced. The timber floor is getting worse by the hour. It has risen all down the hallway and into the kitchen/dining area. The insurance company have someone coming from Melbourne on Tuesday to have a look at it and see what can be done. On a brighter note the lovely air con man found two fan blades late Friday afternoon for us and came back about 6pm to put them on. So at least we have heating......but who knows for how long!!!!

Today we spent in the garden. Well attempting to make a garden. Chris was preparing the area for the veggie garden. We are going to have five beds. And I went for a long ride on the lawn mower. We actually have some grass and our yard is looking the best it has, since we have moved in. Put some more mulch on our total of 4 trees in the front yard. We don't even know if they have survived the drought, will have to wait until spring. Then I started laying bricks out to make a path from the turn around driveway to the house. Went to Bruce's to check the birds and fed them. Thank goodness all are still living. He comes home tomorrow. We got home and Chris was bring our birds inside and he says "uh-oh" "What now?" One of our birds was dead in the bottom of the cage. Jarred was in tears. Micaela is at her friends house tonight so doesn't know yet. There will be lots more tears to come.

Hopefully this will be the last of our bad luck!!!!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

What Else????????

Yesterday was not a good day at all. The Washing Machine hose blew off the machine and pumped 200 litres of water through the house. Luckily Kloe went into the hallway, slipping and hurting herself in the process, which wasn't so good, or it would have been 400 litres. There was water everywhere. It had run from the laundry into the toilet, bathroom, down the hall, into Jarred and Kloe's room and wet their carpet. I used every towel in the house trying to barricade the water while trying to sweep it out the door. After an hour of cleaning up, I thought I was finished and Micaela got up and says "Mum why is my carpet wet?" OMG her bedroom is at the other end of the house but next to the bathroom. The water had gone through into her room. To make matters worse it rained all day, so I had wet towels hanging everywhere to get them dry.

I thought today was going to be better.........no such luck. We came home at lunch time only to hear our ducted air con making loud, banging noises. I quickly ran and turned it off. It had frozen up and the fan must have hit it or got stuck. Both fans smashed through the unit. I went straight for the phone ringing the lovely man(NOT) who has not fixed it properly, only patched it up to make it work. He has given us all sorts of excuses....... Well he can't come until Tomorrow. I rang Chris and he said he would come home and have a look. He took one look and said......................he won't be able to fix that tomorrow. It looks like it will have to be a new one. Luckily it is still under warranty, but that doesn't stop us all from freezing in the process. Great just what we dont' need!!!

Then, Chris walked inside and said have a look at this.......The floor boards are lifting and warping. OMG OMG OMG...........the water!!!! I rang our insurance and they told me they would have someone call. So I waited until just after 4. The kids are looking after Farmer Bruce's birds and chooks while he is away so I had to take them down to his place as it was pouring with rain. The kids went round and fed the birds and then Micaela says "Ah Mum, I think one of the birds is dead" One of the big parrots. I had a look and yes the bird had got itself stuck in some wire inside the cage and had died. Poor Micaela was so upset, she takes her animal carer position very seriously. So we get back home and Chris arrives not long after. He rings Bruce to tell him the bad news. The bird was only worth $2000. How bad do we all feel??????

The insurance company rang and said they will be sending someone out tomorrow to dry the carpet and look at the floor boards.

TOMORROW IS FRIDAY THE 13TH, SO WHAT CHANCE DO YOU THINK WE HAVE OF THINGS IMPROVING???????

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POP

Happy Birthday to POP!!!! Hope you have a great day.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Time for a change

Well do you know how difficult it is to get four children in one place, at one time, to take a picture of them???? With all of them looking like they are enjoying the experience?????

We went to the park this afternoon and I took so many pictures I ran out of memory. But I only got a few that are worth using. Better than none!!! It was a lovely sunny day today. It was 11 degrees on the way to the park......and it was beautiful in the sun. I'm getting worried what it will feel like when it warms up.

Had a great weekend. We had people over for lunch on Saturday, which was really nice. Lots of cooking, but it all turned out really well. I made way too much food and we were still eating left overs tonight. Sunday we all went to the movies to see Shrek 3. It was a first!!! We have never all gone together...all six of us that is. We all enjoyed it.

We are into our second week of holidays already. Wow!! the time flies. It will be back to school before we know it.

Have a great week

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Happy Birthday Tom

Happy Birthday to our Wonderful Nephew and Cousin Tom. Hope you have a wonderful day!!! Hugs and Kisses.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Holidays are Here

Hooray for Holidays!!!

The kids were all in need of a break and a rest. (So was Mum, no more making packed lunches and no yelling at Kloe to get ready, for two whole weeks, )

The next week is suppose to be cold and wet!! So we won't be doing a lot of outdoor activities. Lots of craft, board games and cooking will be on the cards.

Sunday we went to Trevor and Katie's house (Guy Chris works with) for a BBQ lunch. They are renting a 50 acre farm about 20 minute drive from here. They have a calf, chooks and native koala's. The kids fed the calf, collected eggs from the chooks and then went in search of some koala's. They didn't have to go far, there was one in the tree at the end of the driveway. It was so cold outside you could actually see your breath (The kids say it's SMOKE!!) so we all had to go inside and eat (Thank goodness) They have a fireplace which was lovely. We all have put our order in........WE WANT ONE TOO!!! It was a nice afternoon and we plan on having everyone at our place this Saturday.

Chris had the day off yesterday, as he worked on Saturday. Chris and Zac errected a temporary fence on the side, in readiness for our shed. Some of the colourbond fence had to come down, as that is where the shed is going. They took some of the panels away and it looks so much better already. Why would you have 10 acres of land and have a closed in colourbond fence, sectioning off a small backyard??????? Makes you wonder. All the colourbond fence will come down as soon as the shed is built and then we will get new wire fencing. Micaela went into Town to hit the shops. This is becoming a regular thing!!!

Kloe's class had a Trash and Treasure stall last week at school, that's what all the cupcakes were for. I was lucky and got first pick at anything as I helped set up the stall and sell things. I got a brand new Video on Kakadu (it was still in plastic) for 20c. Yes 20c, bargin!!! Everyone watched it and all got very homesick!!! They all want to go back......all expect ME, that is. Gorgeous place to visit and see, but not live........very difficult.

Micaela is off to her friend Stacey's house today to go horse riding. She is so excited. Hopefully the rain will hold off, so she gets to go riding. I am off to the doctors this morning. Jarred has yucky eyes, conjunctivitis. No bulk billing here, so it is a very expensive trip to the doctors. I think we were spoilt in Jabiru. No appointments, you just walked in, saw the nurse, she handed over whatever you needed and you were on your way again. It cost nothing!!!! Ok, so there are some things I miss.

Have a great week!