Lucky Ashleigh!!

Even though Port lost today, Ashleigh had a win at the football. Nikki didn't want to go because we had a late night and she had heaps of homework to finish so Ashleigh came with me instead. We were hanging around the kids area before the game and there was someone with a microphone interviewing one of the injured players. Then he said they were going to give out some footballs. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time because Ashleigh was given a brand new leather Sherrin football signed by Nathan Krakour.

Steve reckons it's worth around $100, but I wouldn't pay that much for it!!!
She is very excited though and wants to take it to school tomorrow to make all the boys jealous - hahaha!!! Unfortunately the boys let us down again and got beaten by Fremantle.



I caught Jarryd playing with his sister's little pet shop toys the other night. He was funny because he didn't want his photo taken with girly toys. He is such a boy!!!




I've been a slack blogger again the last couple of weeks. Probably because I have nothing interesting to say. It's usually all about the kids and what they are doing so I feel like I'm kinda boring.

We went to a fantastic Christmas in July dinner last night with a friend I know through Nikki playing netball. We didn't know many people there but it was the kind of crowd that made you feel very welcome and interested in getting to know you. And the host and hostess, Karen and Gary thought of everything. There was so much food, it certainly felt like the feeling you get after lunch on Christmas day. Everyone took something and the table was all done up with lots of christmas decorations and the room was decorated with christmas lights. So a very impressive night.

I can't believe it's only 5 weeks until Steve and I go to Melbourne. I booked earlier this year when Jetstar were having a bring a friend sale. I only paid $80 for both airfares. We are dropping the kids off at Steve's parents so they will have a couple of days out of school. I have booked the first 2 weeks off in September and I am so hanging out for a holiday. I wish I could go back to working 4 days a week but I know we would go backwards again.

We did get a good amount back from our tax which paid off the credit card, paid school fees, 6 months worth of council rates and a little bit for Steve and I. He has bought some accessories for his bike and I am going to spend mine on a treadmill. Hopefully I will get a good second hand one for around $500. Surely there are heaps of treadmills out there that are hardly used!!

I have been extra good with my eating the last couple of weeks. I have been weighing every Monday and recording my weight but I'm not going to reveal anything except to say it is going down!! I'll post a monthy result at the end of each month.

Have a great week bloggers.

I Love Weekends - Why do they go sooooo quick??

This is what we have been doing all weekend!!!


Hanging out in our pyjamas and trackies. It has been so cold and if it wasn't for having to go and see my useless football team play last night and then having to pick Nikki up from a party today, I doubt I would have got dressed at all.

It was freezing cold last night. I had that many layers on I would have hated to have jumped on the scales. I thought about staying home in front of the heater watching Port play North Melbourne, but I am too loyal to my team. I mean they might just make us rugged up against the bitter cold fans, have something to cheer about for a change. But NO!! Of course not!! It would be different if you could see them putting in 100% because that's why they get paid the big dollars but no. Again we leave disappointed.

Sorry for the huge whinge but I have paid good money to see an AFL team perform this year!!!

I'm convinced they are playing for draft picks.

I have been doing a bit more gardening this weekend. Just planted a couple of plants from pots. I have a beautiful pink frangapani that was in a pot by the pool, so I transferred it into the ground by the spa. I need Steve to dig out a couple of dead tree ferns I have in 2 wine barrels and I am going to fill them up with strawberry plants.

I need to go to the nursery but I know I will spend too much money.

Nikki went to a sleepover party last night with very little sleep. When I picked her up the father of the girl who had the party said he threatened them for the last time at 3am. I am so not having any sleepover parties again.

Steve played golf today. Actually it was a perfect, sunny winters day today, just very cold. We've had a lot of rain this week which was very much needed. I think I suffer from winter depression. I have very little inclination to go anywhere!! I like pottering around the house and yard. I guess because we always have lots of people here in summer because of the pool, I find it so nice to hibernate in winter. I must be part bear!!!

Second week of school holidays coming up. Steve has a couple of days off again so he will take them to the pictures. I think Speed Racer or Get Smart this time. They saw Indiana Jones last week. I have a week off in early September. Steve and I are going to Melbourne for 4 days and the kids will be going to Stansbury with Steve's parents. It's not really that far away considering we are in the middle of July.

I am still waiting for Steve's group certificate so I can do our tax online. It will be interesting to see how much extra we get from Kevin Rudd like he promised us struggling working families. I just hope we have some over after we pay the school fees and credit card.

I am still waiting to get the decluttering bug like a few bloggers. I feel very sad that it hasn't hit yet!!!!

Have a great week.

Port Power Kids Day

I know this could be very boring to some people but to my Port Power mad daughter and myself it was very exciting!!

This afternoon the Port Power Club had a event for the junior members. Unfortunately because of the rain a few things had to be cancelled on the oval but the highlight of the day was getting to meet all the players and getting their autographs.



The players were great with the kids and Nikki got every autograph on her guernsey.
Some of the players were unreal with the kids and had a good chat to them. Nikki was too embarrased to have her photo taken with the players so this is the closest I got with her head in some of the photos - LOL. All the kids got pies and pasties and doughnuts (All very healthy) and flavoured milk to drink.

There would have been a footy clinic on the oval with the players but because of the rain that was cancelled. But overall it was a great afternoon.

A Very Relaxing Sunday

After a crazy day yesterday, I was looking forward to a much more relaxing day today and I got my wish. I organized to meet a friend at the kiosk at our local beach for coffee. It wasn't until I went outside this morning to put some washing on the line that I realized how cold and windy it was.

It was freezing!!!

Anyway I rugged the kids up and we went and met Karen and her daughter Krysten, one of Nikki's netball friends. So what is a kid to do on a cold, windy day when it's too cold to go on the beach or the playground....................

Play their nintendos of course!!





Not sure where blogger will put these photos but there is a photo of Ashleigh ice skating last week. She was so good. I couldn't believe it. She has never ice skated before but she roller bladed quite a lot so she has very good balance.

As soon as she got on the ice she was off. Doing laps while the other kids and even the big kids that were there, were falling down around her. Gosh some of those teenagers came down with a thud. The bigger they were, the harder they fell. By the end Ashleigh was doing twirls which I sort of caught on video. I might try and upload some video of her but because there were so many people there, it was hard to get a clear shot of her. Too many bodies in the way.

By the time she finished and took her skates off after 1-1/2 hours of skating without a break, she was in agony. Her feet were so sore and she was limping out. Lesson learnt, next time have a break and give feet a rest!!!




On the way home from our coffee date, we dropped into West Lakes, our local shopping centre because Nikki wanted to buy this book of dresses that you make. She had saved her pocket money and luckily Dymocks were having a 20% sale off of kids books. It's hard to see from the photo but you make little dresses from different sorts of patterned paper and decorate them and hang them on tiny hangers. Really cute and something to get the girls away from nintendos, computers and TV during the holidays.

I can't promise I will update much during the week. Back to work for me while these lazy children get to have holidays.

Have a great week bloggers.

A Busy Saturday

I did the soccer juggle this morning. Jarryd and Nikki both had matches around the same time at different venues so mum to the rescue. It was an early start to the day getting the kids ready and down to mums this morning. Nikki's team played a team that hasn't been beaten this year.
This team was full of african kids and man, can they run!! Anyway our team did a great job and scored 1 goal to their 5. But considering they had averaged 10 goals to nothing most games, I thought our kids did well.

This afternoon I decided to make a start on tackling our back yard. We are having a hard rubbish pick up on Wednesday and there is so much crap out the back, I've had enough. I filled a green bin with cuttings, weeds and leaves and made a pile of things that are going out with the rubbish. I have taken before photos so I will show you the after photos in a few weeks.

Then I went to K-Mart to put some toys on layby from the toy sales that are happening at the moment. They have layby until Xmas Eve and I have up until then to pay it off. I got everything I wanted for Jarryd and Ashleigh but I really struggled with Nikki this year. She will be 12 in October and has very much outgrown all the girly toys. Mind you she has never really been a girly girl.

So I think I will wait until just before Xmas and take her clothes shopping as our present to her this year. She is really into fashion so that should be fun.

So I'm pretty tired now. It's been a busy day.

End of Term 2

Jarryd put a bit too much bubble bath in the water and this is what I saw after I asked him to get in the bath!!


It's traditional with our family to have a Wendy's icecream cake for our family birthdays. As you can see I took the photo after Ashleigh blew out the candles. Derrrrrr!!!



Wow it's hard to believe that the kids have just finished term 2 at school. As at 2.15pm they were officially on school holidays. Yahoo!!!





I love the holidays. Even though I have to work, it is so good not to have the school routine for 2 whole weeks. I am so lucky that my mum has the kids most of the time during the holidays and because she only lives 15 minutes away, most mornings she comes down and picks the kids up. Steve has managed to get 2 days off in both weeks so it will be bliss on those days when I can get up for work and leave my family sleeping and just get myself ready, instead of getting 4 people ready to leave the house.



There are quite a few pictures on at the moment that the kids want to see so Steve can do that with them. I think Kung Fu Panda is at the top of the list, followed by Get Smart, Speed Racer and Indianna Jones. They will have to pick 2 because the finances won't stretch that far. We are lucky though, there is a cinema in our area that does all movies and all sessions for $7 a ticket.

Nothing much planed for this weekend. Nikki and Jarryd both have 11am soccer games tomorrow in different venues and because Steve is working, it's going to be a juggle of dropping off and picking up. Then nothing planned for the rest of the weekend.

My kids were given fishing rods each from by Melbourne friend Lee when she was over a few weeks ago and we haven't had the chance to get out and try them much yet so I think we will do that on Sunday.

I'll have to make sure I take the camera with me.

You may have noticed that I put a location feeder on my blog just out of interest to see if anyone is reading my blog. I have been very surprised to see that there are quite a few overseas people that click on my blog for whatever reason. Now if you are one of these people, overseas or Australian, please, please leave a comment. I love reading new blogs. I now know that people are reading but rarely commenting. Please just drop by and say hi and I will do the same on your blog. I have made so many fantastic blog friends both here and overseas. It really is a great community.


Have a great weekend bloggers.

Winter Sux!!

I hate Winter!!!

There is nothing good about winter. My kids are sick. I am miserable and I need a holiday!!!!

Sorry but that's how I feel.

I have decided to try and lift my mood by getting into the blog habbit. I love reading and commenting on blogs but as I have said before, I don't enjoy updating my blog. So am going to do little posts more often and make it more of a journal.

My weight has crept back up a bit in the last couple of months so I'm going to blog more about that too. And how I'm going to get it back under control.

Anyway, I'm off to the end of term night for Girl Guides with Ashleigh. They are going skating.

I've made some unreal blogger friends and it's amazing when an event happens, how excited I get. I've not met many bloggers but I feel like I know some of you like an old friend.

So I really want to send a huge congratulations to 2 bloggers who have just had babies.

Beckie and Lisa. May your new baby boys bring a lifetime of happiness to you both. Welcome to the real world and blogger world - Morrison and William.

Also to Chris H in NZ who is in hospital. You sure gave your family and us bloggers a scare. I hope you are feeling so much better now and I can't wait till you get home and can get back to blogging. I miss reading your stories every day but Stew has done an unreal job updating us.

I'll be back later to upload some photos.

Ashleigh's Party Photos

I love this photo of Ashleigh. We gave her the outfit for her birthday and her best friend gave her the scarfe. She looks very grown up.

Nikki's friend Madeline wanted to curl my hair and this is the result. Pretty good effort I thought. You would pay a fortune to get that done at the hairdresser.

Ashleigh and her best friend Olivia hamming it up for the camera.

Every birthday, we always take a nice group photo and then a silly group photo. Notice Nikki and her friend Madeline look the same in both!!

Nikki playing the chocolate game. The kids had so much fun with this game.

Happy Birthday Ashleigh

Just a quick post to say hi and that I haven't fallen off the face of blogland again!!

We've had a huge day. It was Ashleigh's 10th birthday and she had a makeover party. I really find it hard to believe that 10 years ago I was holding my 2nd baby daughter in hospital. Where did that time go???

I'm going to post some photos of her party tomorrow. I haven't downloaded them yet because it's 11pm and I have just stopped for the day.

The day started at 6.30am. Nikki had a 8am soccer game and we had to be there by 7.30am. How rude is that!! Steve had to work so mum had Jarryd and Ashleigh overnight. Too hard to get all 3 up and ready on such a freezing cold morning.

Then Jarryd had a 10am soccer game at a different venue. They both won their games so that was a great effort.

Then home to set up for Ashleigh's party. I really hadn't done much to prepare so we had to wrap the pass the parcel. Luckily we got some cheap lolly bags from Coles already made up for $1.50 each. How good is that. They weren't too bad either. As any of you know who have made up lolly bags for a party, it is so time consuming and expensive.

Ashleigh wanted a supermodel makeover party. She is really into makeup at the moment so got lots of makeup for her birthday. We took before and after photos. Nikki and her friend Madeline helped to do the makeovers. We curled and straightened hair, put hair mascara in hair and lots of makeup on faces. The girls looked unreal.

Then I had about an hour to clean up before we were off to Ashleigh's Girl Guides Bingo night.

So it's been a huge but fun day.

We have a family lunch at Fasta Pasta tomorrow so it sure is an action packed weekend.

I will definitely post some photos tomorrow. There is one of Ashleigh where I swear she looks 18. Very scary!!

Picture Post

How good are these photos?

I can't take the credit. My BFF, Lee,took them on Sunday at Largs beach.

We had a fantastic relaxing afternoon sipping coffee and waiting for the sun to set. Well worth the wait!!

I Hate the Cold!!!

These photos were taken at my birthday on April 25th. How cool is the chicken skewer my brother had. It was massive. I had a lovely day. We went out for lunch with my family and then back to mums for coffee and cake.

Bring back the hot weather anyday. I promise never to complain again - LOL!!

It has been freezing the last couple of days. Nikki played soccer this morning by the lake at West Lakes and the wind was blasting across the lake. It was icy. I guess I had better get used to it. Nikki and Jarryd are both playing soccer this year. Nikki's team have won both games and Jarryd's team have had 1 win and a draw today.

Steve is in Darwin at the moment. One of his best mates lives up there and that was his birthday present this year. I have no idea why I let him go up there without me when it is so bloody freezing down here. He rang when he got there yesterday and was happy to tell me it was 32 deg while I was all rugged up with the heaters going at work. I think it was about 12 deg. YUK!!! I am definitely a summer girl.

Nothing very exciting has been happening here. The days just keep flying past in a blur of work, kids school, kids sport and trying to catch up with friends in any spare time I have. I must confess I was looking forward to doing nothing this weekend with Steve away, but that's not going to happen. Soccer this morning and then I did manage to sit down this afternoon and watch Port get beaten by Hawthorn :( Tomorrow was going to be a pj day but I have to pick up Nikki from a sleepover party in the morning. Then Jarryd wants to see a friend of his who broke his arm very badly this week. And I have arranged to catch up with a friend for coffee in the afternoon. So there goes my weekend!!

So life is rolling along here as busy as ever. I have an appointment on Friday for a smear which I have been putting off. Naughty me. I must get them to check my iron levels as well because I haven't had that checked for about 6 months. Not looking forward to that appointment. Oh well, I know it has to be done.

If you can be bothered, please go to my daughter Ashleigh's blog and say hi. She is so much better at updating than me and I think she has done a great job of her blog.

http://ashleighkate.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hello, Is there anyone there???

Flowers from Steve for my birthday. A lovely surprise.

This is Nikki's latest pet. How gross are they. She has inherited 4 stick insects from school. When I said she could have them, I imagined them to be about 2" long like you find in the garden. I nearly had a heart attack when she brought them home!!!

I wouldn't blame you if you couldn't be bothered reading this blog. I really don't have the inclination to post most of the time. I really enjoy reading and commenting on other people's blogs but it's a chore to update my own. I have thought about stopping blogging altogether but I really don't want to stop completely. So for the moment, I will see how I go even posting monthly. Most people have google reader so please leave a comment if you are reading so I know there is someone out there.

So what's been happening???

Kids are just finishing school holidays. My mum has been a godsend as usual. They have been with her every day. She has taken them to the pictures, the park, the school playground across the road from her house and luckily with some help from my sister, they have survived the 2 weeks.

Football season has started again and Nikki and I have Port Power membership this year. They have had a shocking start but we are really enjoying going together just us. A couple of weeks ago, I was luck enough to get into a corporate box with some of the people from work. I had far too much to drink and was very sick when I got home. Bad me. Nikki was disgusted with me and told me she was never going to drink like me. I will remind her of that in a few years time - LOL!!

The weather has been unreal for the last couple of weeks. After our disgusting heatwave in March, April has been so good. Perfect low to mid 20's every day. The kids have been really lucky with the weather for the holidays. We have spent a lot of time outdoors on the weekends, making the most of it before winter starts.

My sister has been through a very rough patch again which has been just horrible for us all. Long story short, she has finally taken out a restraining order out on her ex partner after he kicked in her roller door and broke into 3 out of 4 locks to get to her in his drugged out state. His 4 year old son was screaming in fear and she had no option but to call the police. Something she hasn't done in nearly 20 years of physical and verbal abuse. Thank god she has finally got some support and help from domestic violence and the police. They are both getting counselling at last. It's been a very long and tough road for her and unfortunately I don't think she will ever be free of him.

It's my birthday tomorrow so we are all having a lovely family lunch together and on Saturday, 3 of my friends are taking me out for lunch at McLaren Vale which is south of Adelaide. It will be great to catch up with them.

I had a lovely surprise when I walked into work today. There on my desk was the hugest bunch of flowers from my darling husband sent for my birthday. It brightened my whole day.

Have a great long weekend everyone.

Easter 2008

Ashleigh has always had long hair and since Nikki had her's cut shorter about 12 months ago she has been pestering me to get hers cut shorter. It can't be too short because she does dancing. But it was definitely time to do something different. After a long, hot summer of swimming in the pool, her hair was definitely in need of a good cut.

So this is the result. It is now layered and I'm thrilled with the result. So is she!!


As you can see the kids did very well from the easter bunny. Apart from one big egg each and a couple of bunnies, he also left lots of little eggs to find in the garden. We went to Steve's mum and dad's for easter and they have a huge backyard so it was great to see the kids running around looking for easter eggs.

Jarryd got a huge lego set for christmas that his pa helped him to start at christmas time. We took it back with us and Steve helped Jarryd finish the submarine. It's funny how you never get time to do these things in normal day to day life.

Nikki and Ashleigh have a tradition every time we have a get together with Steve's side of the family. As soon as we got to Stansbury, the girls were getting everything out to do some baking. Ashleigh made the easter cake and the cup cakes and they both iced and decorated them.

We had a lovely, relaxing easter away. I managed to finish a book I started a few months ago. It was so good just doing nothing.

I put on 1.5 kgs over easter which is very bad. But I'm not worrying about it. It will come off again and I must say I am a bit sick of chocolate - LOL. I did cut back on the kids eggs this year, but they still get chocolate from grandparents. So I've been picking what is around the house.

My mum gave me a good tip. Last year she heard from a friend that you can freeze chocolate. So she got hers at the after easter 1/2 price sales and it was as good as if it was bought yesterday. So today I went to Coles and bought up all next years eggs. And spent $30 instead of $60. Mum has a big upright freezer so I have no problems with storage.

Nikki is at a sleepover party tonight and I have my nephew here for the night. My sister has a quiz night to go to and being a single mum it will be great for her to get out and have a night without Maddok.

Speaking of my sister. She was trying to put an ikea steel bunk bed together by herself last weekend and dropped it on her foot and has 2 broken toes and a very black foot. They haven't put it in plaster but she is hobbling around and won't be able to work for a while. She is too independent for her own good. I hope it has taught her to ask for help!!

Well I had better go and get tea ready for these hungry kids. Have a great week everyone.

Thank God - The Heatwave is Over!!!

Ok, Ok I know. It's been a whole month since I have updated. Thanks for the reminder Tania!! I promise not to make anymore promises about updating - LOL.

Mostly the lack of updates have been simply because I couldn't be bothered. Adelaide has had 15 days of over 35 deg temperatures and it has been so draining. All I can say is thank god for airconditioning and a pool. The computer is in a room that doesn't have airconditioning so I really haven't spent much time on it in the last 2.5 weeks. We have spent so much time in the pool. Even Steve who hardly ever goes in the pool, caved in and went in as the above photo shows. It was such a relief to have a cooler day today.

So what have I been up to in the last month?

Jarryd had his 7th birthday last Wednesday. While I was writing out the invitations, I saw the forecast for the week ahead. It was going to be 39 deg the day of his party so I thought GREAT - a pool party!! Too easy. The kids had a ball and I didn't have to amuse them at all. In fact I had to drag them out of the pool to get them to eat and sing Happy Birthday. It was the best party we've ever had.

I had 4 days in Melbourne without Steve and the kids. My best friend lives in Melbourne and I go over once or twice a year. We lived it up in a 5 star hotel in the city on the 1st night I was there and then went to see '27 Dresses' in Gold Class style at Hoyts at the casino. I never go to the pictures at home. My friend Lee has just got engaged to a wonderful man who has made her very happy after years of an unhappy marriage so it was great to see her so happy and content.

I caught up with Kate and her new baby Caspar. Unfortunately it was very rushed but it was unreal to see her and big brother Felix. And the rennovations they have done are unreal. The same day I caught up with another friend I met online - Penny. We had lunch together and then she dropped me at the airport. Again much too rushed but great to catch up. Thanks for making the time girls.

Unfortunately I must have caught a bug on the plane because the next day I was very sick with gastro. Luckily it was only a 24 hour thing.

I have slowly but surely continued on the downward path with my weight loss. I have now lost 5.6 kgs this year. So considering when I last updated on 18/2 I had only lost 2.1 kgs, the last month has been really good. The heat helped. I think I sweated it all out - LOL.

Ashleigh has started girl guides and she is loving it. Lots of fun activities including cooking, outdoor pictures, beach nights and fun and games. Next term they are going for a sleepover at the zoo which she is really looking forward to.

Tonight was the last netball game. Nikki has decided to have a break for a while. She wants to play school soccer instead over winter. Yahoo!! Can't say I am disappointed. I have coached her Tuesday night team for the past 3 seasons so I will be very glad to have Tuesday nights back.

We are having a bit of trouble with Nikki at school this year. She has gone from a 4/5 class with a wonderful teacher who mothered the kids into a 6/7 class with her 1st male teacher. I guess looking back her teacher of the last 2 years probably didn't do her any favours because she is really struggling this year. We have a parent/teacher inteview in the next couple of weeks so I have made a list of some things I want to discuss with him. These girls are all 11 and 12 and if they are like Nikki, they are extremely hormonal. She just doesn't seem to be coping very well which is most unlike her. We have never had a problem.

The kids are all looking forward to easter and I am sure looking forward to the 4 day break. We are going over to stay with Steve's parents. This year instead of giving easter eggs from us, I have bought the kids something little instead of chocolate. They all still believe in the Easter Bunny so there will still be chocolate. Just not as much this year!!

Nikki and I are off to the 1st AFL game of the season on Thursday night. We got Port Power memberships for christmas and they are playing Geelong in the 1st game. I just hope they do better than they did in the Grand Final!!

Have a fantastic easter everyone. I know I will.

Weeks 5 - 7

How did I miss 2 weeks?? Just slack I guess.

I have done a great job of maintaining for the last 2 weeks. No actually I lost .1!! Total is 2.1 kgs for the year. Not too good!! 2.1 kgs in 7 weeks. Lack of exercise is definitely to blame. I have no motivation to exercise. How do you motivate yourself to exercise. I can't afford a gym. We are overstretched now, so my only real option is to walk. So why don't I???

I am determined to post a loss next week.

Steve and I had a great weekend in Sydney. There were a few people I would have loved to have caught up with but because we were only there for about 30 hours, I really wanted to spend all that time with Steve. And we had fantastic quality time. We got in around 8.30am and I didn't think our room would be ready but it was. So we decided to go for a walk. It was very overcast and had been raining all week but it wasn't cold. I should have thought to pack umbrellas. We ended up buying a couple of cheapies because it started to bucket down. It was nice walking around in the light drizzle but it got a bit too heavy to walk around without umbrellas. We were staying by the Rocks area and circular quay so it was really nice to walk around those areas. There was a huge cruise ship in. I'll post a couple of photos next post. We got on the monorail and had lunch at Darling Harbour.

We got an unreal deal with the hotel. We got the room, seafood buffet for 2 on Saturday night and breakfast the next morning for $250. Very nice and something I intend to do more often.

It's heated up here again in Adelaide. I wish we could have some of the east coast rain. It's so dry here. I can't remember the last time we had a good downpour. Well we did when work flooded a few weeks ago but that was so isolated it only rained in one tiny part of Adelaide. Today was 39 with no airconditioning at work. Yahoo, it decided to pack it in last Friday and it was just horrible today. I couldn't wait to get out of the place. 36 again tomorrow and then maybe rain on Wednesday. Yer right!!!

Saturday night we went to a chinese banquet with the dragon dance show for chinese new year. It was a great night but of course I ate too much fried food. When the dragon came out, they started playing a very loud drum and Jarryd came and jumped on my lap saying 'the drums were hurting his tummy' He was so scared he barely look at the lion. He's still my baby.

Then yesterday, the kids and I caught up with fellow blogger Tania and her nearly 2 year old Lachlan. We went to a play cafe and the kids had a ball. It was nice to have a day away from the playstation and nintendos. It was great to catch up over a couple of coffees while the kids were entertained.

The Biggest Loser was very interesting last night. I know they all lost so much weight in the 1st week, but from experience you never do as well the 2nd week. They were all so disappointed with there 2-4 kgs losses. Hello, I would love a loss like that every week. And why don't they show what they eat instead on concentrating totally on the training???

It still gets me in though!!! I'm a reality junkie.

Have a great week. I promise not to leave it so long next time.

Week 4

Not such a good week. Seems to happen every 4 weeks. I can't control the sweet things. Nothing else will do. I put on 400g :(

Oh well, onward...............

Kids are back at school and things are back into routine. Funny though, the girls set their alarms for 6.30am on Tuesday and were up and dressed before I got up. By Friday, I was dragging them all out of bed again.

I love the photo of Nikki lying in her towel after a swim. She was so tired after a day in the pool. The girls did the paintings over the christmas break. They were given a picture to colour with real art paints and they turned out really well.

I have been looking in the paper and on ebay for a cheap lounge for the family room. Steve sits out there and watches TV in an old deck chair. I would love a leather lounge but it would have to be in either cream, green or beige to match the colours. There were heaps in yesterdays paper under $500, so we might have some to look at this weekend.

I went to the hairdresser this morning to have my hair streaked (foils). It was September last year when I had them done last so it was long overdue. I found out my hairdresser of 13 years has sold the salon and as she is pregnant with her 3rd child, she's going to be a stay at home mum with 3 under 3. I have had my hair cut by the other girls in the salon but I am never as happy with it.

I was then catching up with a fellow blogger Tania for lunch at the beach but she came down with gastro. I hope you are feeling better soon Tania.

I'm also thinking about another blogger Kate who could be having her 2nd baby any day. I'm very exited for you. I hope you have a wonderful birth experience.

Here's hoping for a good loss this week.

Have a great weekend.

Edit.. I've noticed that whenever I post photos, it doesn't show the breaks between the lines and when I don't post photos it's well spaced.

WHAT'S WITH THAT!!!!

Week 3

I had a great week. I lost 1.1 kgs taking the total to 2.6.

I have been making good choices and it has paid off. I still find my worst time is around 8pm. I'm sure it is habbit but I am always looking for sweet things to eat. I have been having the stick ice blocks which are only 1/2 point each and that seems to do the trick. Mind you some nights I have about 4!!!!

I'm looking forward to the Australia Day long weekend this weekend. We are catching up with friends for a bbq on Sunday. We have some friends coming over from Melbourne that I haven't seen in ages. I did a contiki tour of America 15+ years ago and met some unreal people. Tony is from Melbourne and we have kept in touch ever since. We have been to each other's weddings and our kids are months apart so it will be unreal to see them again. They got their family of 4 from Melbourne to Adelaide on the new Tiger Air for just over $100 return. How good is that.

Then the kids are back to school next week. I must say the holidays have flown but then again I have been at work while my mum has had the kids for most of the time. I'm looking forward to them going back to school but I'm not looking forward to everything starting again. This is definitely Nikki's last netball season for a while. She's been playing for 5 years and I have been coaching for 3 so it's time for a break. Ashleigh will still do dancing but I think Nikki wants to play soccer this year. So that will be both Nikki and Jarryd doing soccer this year.

We had a scary day on Friday. I was at work and around 2pm the heavens opened and down came the heaviest rain I have ever seen. I wish I had the camera. The road outside work was under water and it came into my boss's office. So there were 4 of us empying buckets and mopping up the water so it wouldn't spread. It went as quickly as it came but left a big mess. Our phone system was destroyed by lightning. Two people were on the phone at the time when the phones died so they were very lucky. It was amazing watching all the semi trailers going through the water. Incredibly it only hit our area. I live 20 mins away and we didn't get a drop.

I have booked a surprise for Steve on the 9th February weekend. We are going somewhere but I can't say where in case he reads this. I can't wait. It's going to be a wonderful, relaxing weekend away without the kids.

Have a great week everyone.

Week 2

Sorry, I am a bit late with my week 2 update. I lost 800g this week taking the total to 1.5 kgs. I'm consistent. I had hoped it would be a little more but I am happy with that loss.

This is a picture of our new buffet. The picture doesn't really do it justice but I am thrilled with it. We needed something to fill an empty spot in our family room. It looks smaller in the photo than it really is.

I can't believe there is just over a week left of school holidays. I am so lucky because my mum looks after the kids while I work. She has done a great job of entertaining them. They have been to the pictures a couple of times and my sister took them to the beach today. The girls have had sleep overs at friends so the time has gone very quickly.

We are off to Steve's parents again this weekend. It's Steve's dad's 70th birthday tomorrow and we are having a big family get together on Saturday night.

Work is still crazy. In my industry (the steel industry) most businesses have there big break at christmas so the first couple of weeks are usually fairly quiet. Not this year. We still have one of the sales guys off until Monday so it makes it a bit harder with one short. It sure makes the days fly by when you are so busy.

Ok, i'll be back next week to let you know how week 3 went.

Week 1

Just a quick post to say I lost 700g this week.

I'm good with that. Considering you know what is about to come!!

Back to work has been crazy. I have already done 2 1/2 hours overtime in 2 days.

Good luck to everyone who has or is weighing in for the 1st week's results.

Happy 2008

I just realised this is my 1st post for 2008. I'm getting slack with this blog.

I've been gardening. Just a small area by our pergola by the pool. I 'll show you the finished product soon. I just hope the palms will survive this scorching Adelaide weather.


This is Jarrryd's impression of a bee. We have lived in the pool this summer.

Thankfully today is much cooler. But not for long. It's supposed to be 41 again by Thursday.

I'm back to work tomorrow :( I have really enjoyed this break. I know it was only a couple of months ago we went to Qld but that was such a busy holiday with only a few days doing absolutely nothing. Well this holiday I am proud to say I have done very little.

The kids are going to be in for a huge shock tomorrow when I wake them up at 8am instead of 11am!!!

I have used the new year as another start date to get healthy. I just have to follow it through and keep going. I need to set some targets to get to throughout the year. I will do that today and post on Tuesday when I record on this blog my 1st weigh in result.

There are so many inspiring blogs around that I am enjoying reading. Sounds like there are a few of us in the same situation of putting weight on over christmas. I have to stop drinking. I turned into an alco during the holidays - LOL.

OK, it's cooler here so I'm going to make the most of the afternoon. Steve and I are off to our local beach cafe and playground. Kids get to play in the fresh air by the beach and I get a cappuchino. Win, Win.

Have a great week everyone.