Time sure flies by so quickly and before you know it, you turn around and another month or 2 has passed you by before I had time to be back blogging again on Minti lol.  Have been busy with my inlaws over from NZ for 6 weeks, lots of fun had by all, espcially the kids, was wonderful to have an extra pair of hands willingly help around the house, ohhhh what a great motherinlaw   Loads of tears when she departed, fingers crossed she is comint back for Xmas woohoo.  Hosted a very good friends baby shower, hopefully she will be joining Minti and enjoying it as much as everyone else does, she is due this Saturday and is as big as a house, having all the wonderful aches & pains, lack of sleep that pregnancy brings.  Boy I am glad I have had my last child lol  Hubby is going through a "do you want to have another baby phase" hmmmm which I answer to "NO" quite happy with my outgoing, noisy bunch of 9!  Jesse is busy with year 11 exams, he had been busy getting extra tutoring after school aswell, just to help him.  Life can be so scary when you are a teenager!!  My daughter Autumn turned 13 yesterday woohoo welcome to being a teenager, with it has come some mood swings ohhhh no lol and a sense of her being so much more grown up.  Well have a busy weekend ahead I am off to West Sydney for another baby shower on Saturdy arvo followed by  50th birthday party, and then my nephew is coming to stay for a few days, ahhhh will need to put my feet up and relax after it all...... can't see that happening!! Take care everyone, stay blessed and keep on Mintiiiiiing

Wow I can't believe how quickly the months have flown by and finally I am back to Minti.  Thankyou to everyone who emailed and kept popping in on my page. Lots has been happening to my large family, firstly we had a stressful 7 weeks leading up to April as our owner decided to sell our house and wanted it vacated, so I looked high and low at lots of houses, but as time got closer we couldn' find one, so with 1 week to go, my brotherinlaw suggested we make the big move to the Blue Mountains NSW as his friend had a place we could stay in until we decided what we would do.  Hubby was away working for 2 weeks, so the elder 3 kids and I did all the packing, amazing how much stuff you accumlate in a house after 6 years lol, I ended up saying ok we really have to throw unneccessary things away!!  On Friday 11 April, our movers arrived loaded up our possessions into a huge truck and away it went for the 2 hour journey to our new home.  We followed behind a few hours later, after cleaning the house till it shone lol.  We stayed in our new place for 4 weeks, it was rather small and cosy but we enjoyed it, much better than being homeless thats for sure.  I ended up finding a large family home for us to rent up in the Mountains, we made the decision to stay here as it is so much more affordable than Sydney, also the people are so friendly, the life style so laid back and everyone has time for each other.  What a fabulous place to bring up the kids.  So our new advenutre in life has begun.  The little 6 love it here, the little 3 at school enjoy it so much, and my 3 elder ones, took a while to settle in but now they have made new friends, joined the local rugby league team, they are happy and even better to report is that they are enjoying their new school.  So there it is in a nutshell, now I have time to be back on Minti so I look forward to catching up with everyone.  Have a fabulous weekend and stay blessed  :-)

Wow I can't believe that in 2 weeks the kids will be back at school, where did time go, its over before it even started!!  It has been a busy couple of weeks for us, I had my nephew up from Cessnock, he spent a week with us, I think it was rather an eye opener for him being around 9 kids all the time.  Jesse enjoyed having someone his age here, they spent alot of the time at the beach, movies and the mall!! probably looking at the girls more than the shops (lol).  My Uncle departed for NZ on the 7th, the kids miss him, lucky I took him to the airport and went with him inside the terminal, as he would have gotten lost.  He does pretty well for a sprightly 75 year old, I hope I am as adventurous as him at that age   We had a lovely farewell lunch for him on the Sunday, with my brother and his family, my cousin Dan & his family, another Uncle and some friends who were over from NZ, all in all our house was chocka block.  A great time had by all.  At the moment I have been working on my latest hobby which is my family tree, I have started my site, on a heritage, site and I must say it is awesome, putting in all the info I have collected over time, and so far I have had 4 emails, all from different people around the world, and guess what we are all related!! how awesome.  They are helping me fill in more information, on relatives, I never knew existed.  It is time consuming, but very very worthwhile, I would encourage anyone to do it, it is amazing!!  It has always been one of my goals to do our family tree and as I see it growing, it amazes me.  My kids are like Mum you are a bit of a nerd (lol) this coming from the 2 teenagers, I know when the get older, they will appreciate it!!

Miss T, turned 4 on the 7th of this month aswell, we had a lovely, noisy party for her at home, then went up the park and played all day, having cartwheel races, handstand competions, obstacle course and running races, loads of fun was had by all.  We met a lovely little boy there, who couldn't get over the fact that there was 9 kids in our family, he was an only child, anyway he enjoyed joining in all our games, and we have made a playdate to see him again at the park (weather permitting).  Well hope everyone is having an awesome time during the school holidays, heres to an awesome 2008 on Mint

Wow I can't believe how quick last year flew by!!  I didn't even have time to blog on Minti (lol), thanx everyone who popped in on my page while I was away being overloaded with Xmas shopping, cooking and entertaining!!  It is great appreciated.  We had a very noisy Xmas Day, full of lots of laughter, loads of ripped to shreds wrapping paper and yummy food, I was definitely glad to get the cooking all over and done with.  The kids had a great day, and I am glad to say I did not blow my budget on presents, our theme this year was family gifts, that we could share, the older kids I let chose something for themselves on ebay, which is so much more affordable.  I love ebay, it makes shopping so much more easier!!  Have had my Uncle over for a few days from NZ and it is great seeing him interact with the kids he is still so full of life for 75, we are having a family lunch on Sunday which will see 3 generations sit down and catch up, am so looking forward to it, we will also be discussing our Family Reunion, (my Dads side) which I am going to organise for October this year, how awesome, I am rather excited, lots of my first & second cousins have never met each other, which to me is weird as I have met all of them!!  The kids are having a great start to the holidays, they have been sleeping in, watching dvds, playing outside and generally just having fun, certainly never a quiet moment at our place, only when it is bed time.  I hope everyone has had an awesome Xmas and a great start to 2008, here is hoping it is a year full of blessings for all on Minti   Well have an awesome week, I am off to replenish the food cupboards tomorrow, hope everyone has an awesome first week in 2008 - Peace & luv