Ok so here I am to write why I love Minti - hmm, can I fit it all in? LOL

Minti has been a godsend to me, it's the only site I make sure I get to everyday if possible. After working full-time and then stopping to have a baby I didn't know what to do with myself - well I had plenty to do of course, but minti has been my rock! The people I have met on here are amazing and I have made some fantastic friends that I will never live without again. The advice that comes flooding in when I need it is unbelievable, and every person that answers really cares! The best thing though, besides meeting all of you, is that wonderful feeling I get when I can help someone else!

I can jump on here if I'm feeling down or alone (which can happen living out here in the middle of nowhere & not seeing anyone very often), blog about it or just read my friends blogs & I always feel better afterwards, nothing makes my day more complete! HAHA! And why wouldn't you love a site that you can brag about your kids on all day long and not get shot down for it!

That's why I love minti xxoo

Wow, we had an awesome weekend! It started Friday morning when we left for Adelaide - as most of you know my step-brother, Glen, was getting married Sunday night. We stopped off in Murray Bridge on the way to visit our friends Stacey (Staceycrid), Dan & their son Jordan. We sat and chatted for a while while the kids played then went to Macca's for lunch. The boys had a ball playing on the playground there & we chatted some more until Dan had to go hom & get ready for work. We then kept going to St Agnes in Adelaide to stay with my uncle, Luke, & his girlfriend, Disa, Friday & Saturday night. When we got there Luke was putting a roast in the webber for tea so we sat outside & caught up for a while as Disa was still at work. They had just gotten home from 11 days in Phuket the weekend before so he filled us in on the big trip. I had to duck to the Plaza as I had forgotten the boys toilet seat & they don't like sitting on the toilet without it, so I left the boys with James & Luke & went shopping by myself! Wow, I can't remember the last time I went shopping by myself, LOL! So I had a quick look around Big W & a lingerie shop - then decided I should wait & see what size my boobs will be after I finish feeding before I buy new bras HAHA. I was gone 45 mins maximum & they boys were having fun with Luke so they didn't even notice. Disa got home around 4.30 and we chatted about the trip, looked at the photos then ate tea - it was delicious. I got Disa to book us a table at Green Ginger in Golden Grove for Saturday night as they took mum, Mick, me and the kids there before Christmas & it's delicious so I wanted to take James. Oscar decided once we got to Luke's that he was going to walk all the time so it was great fun for Luke as he is Oscar's godfather & was very proud! He has been able to walk for a while now but would sit down if he saw anyone watching him, HAHA!

Saturday morning we all had breakfast & got ready & went to Tea Tree Plaza as James needed new runners for football training & I wanted to find a new skirt for the wedding as I changed my mind & didn't want to wear the dress I had taken. We had a 4th birthday/Australia day celebration to go to at 1pm with Luke & Disa so we didn't want to be there long. We got James a great pair of runners from Amart All Sports for $100 down from $260! Then we went and got a big pizza to share to tide us over until the party. When we'd finished eating James, Luke & Jack went home to grab some chairs things & left us to find me something to wear. We met them back at the house when I had found a skirt for the wedding (got it for $14.99 down from $70) and also a top just for general wearing (also $14.99 down from $50).

The birthday/Australia Day party was good, they had a kiddie pool set up as it was very hot, so Jack jumped in and had a swim. I had a pie floater for the first time ever (for those who don't know it's a traditional Aussie snack which consists of a bowl of pea soup with a meat pie in the middle of it with tomato sauce over it) and it was actually quite nice! Disa and I took the kids home for a sleep at about 4.30 & left the guys there to socialise a bit longer, they got home about 6.15 so they relaxed for 20 mins then we went out for tea. The restaurant (Green Ginger) is owned by a friend of Luke & Disa so we got a very warm welcome (and a nice discount, lol) & James loved the food so much he's been telling everyone they have to go there! It's funny because James can be funny about different foods & it's Asian Fusion.

Sunday morning Luke had a fishing charte to go to early for a buck's party so we said goodbye Saturday night. We got up & had breakfast, packed the car, said goodbye to Disa & made our way over to Brighton. The wedding was to be at Kingston House which is right above Brighton Caravan Park where everyone was staying. It was sensational there, right on the beach & up at Kingston House there was a fantastic view over the ocean. We stopped in at Kingston house where everyone was setting up for the wedding & then went down to our cabin to try and get Oscar to sleep as Jack had to go to rehearsal at 1pm. We had some lunch (left overs from the night before - yum!) & I took Jack back up for the rehearsal leaving Oscar with James. Turned out Glen couldn't make it back until at least 3 so Charlotte just showed Jack & Justin (the other page boy, my step-cousin's son) what they needed to do & I took Jack down to the cabin for a sleep. Oscar had only just gone to sleep before we got back & Jack fell asleep pretty quickly. When they woke up we went for a walk on the beach & Jack & I walked in the water. It was the first time I had been to the beach since before I had Jack & the kids had never been & they absolutely loved it!

Jack, Oscar and James enjoying the beach:

We went back & caught up with some of the family for a while then got ready for the wedding. Charlotte had bought theses gorgouse long sleeved t-shirst for the 4 boys to wear before the ceremony - they have "HELLO SUNSHINE" written on the front. I put those on them & we went up to the wedding. The other 2 boys weren't in their sunshine shirts so just before the ceremony I put the boys linen shirts on ready for the ceremony. Teh ceremony was wonderful & everyone looked fantastic! Jack did a wonderful job handing Michael (Glen's best man) the little blue Dragon Fly with Charlotte's ring on it, unfortunately Justin had woken up grumpy from his afternoon nap & his dad had to carry him over to Michael with Glen's ring. Jack gave Glen a wave after he gave Michael the ring & everyone was gooing & gaaing how cute & clever he was! LOL! After the ceremony we had drinks & finger food on the lawn while everyone took photos as they didn't get a professional photographer. Then we all went and sat at our tables ready for tea. Oscar was quite grumpy through the whole ceremony & after as it didn't start until 7pm so it was a bit late for the kids. The food was fantastic & eventually Oscar went to sleep in his pram & Jack went to sleep on my lap at about 10.30. We left the wedding at about midnight & aparently a lot of them partied on down at the beach after 2 (when the venue had to be closed) until 4am!

Jack in his "Hello Sunshine shirt" before the ceremony:

Oscar and James before the ceremony:

Justin & Jack ready for the ceremony:

Glen & Charlotte right before the ceremony:

The happily married couple:

Sorry guys, no pics of me - I forgot the camera so these are taken with my mobile phone camera. We are getting photos sent so when they come I will post one. Hope everyone had a great weekend! xxoo

Ok, just got this one of Oscar and I - not much of me in it but a little:

I was tagged by 4 people before I got around to doing this - LOL - but Amerlinwinga got me first!

Here are the rules for this tag.

1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Are you ready? I know you just can't wait to know 6 random  things about me.

1. I am a qualified level III Pharmacy Assistant & also qualified in natural medicine & aromatherapy which I have always been interested in
2. My husband, James, is almost a year younger than me - we are the same age for 19 days each year.
3. I am hoping to get an around-the-world plane ticket for September & go to England to visit my stepbrother & his soon-to-be wife (getting married Sunday), then visit Jo (shhmumstheword) and her family, then go to France to my brother's wife's family for their "after wedding party", visit a friend of mine in France, then off to Montreal to see Jess (Jessgore) and her family for a while before coming home. Unfortunately I will be doing this by myself as James won't travel overseas & he would prefer I didn't take the boys - I am trying to work out if I can leave the boys for this long, LOL!
4. I have a very complicated family - lots of  'step' relatives, and lots of relatives on my dad's side - it can be very confusing for everyone!
5. I love animals and have 5 dogs - 3 of them are Jack Russells & we breed them - 8 chickens, 2 roosters & 1 goose. I also believe no child should grow up without a dog & my boys have one Jack Russell each which they got as babies - Jack was 15 days old & from her (Nipper) first litter of pups Oscar got a female (Wiggle) when he was 4 months old.
6. I am madly in love with my husband, even after almost 9 years together - almost 4 years married - and can't imagine my life without him.

I am tagging shhmumstheword  Jessgore  luckyone  hermy  Prue  Staceycrid

Hi all! Well today Oscar seems to be a lot better, his temps have stopped and he is generally a lot happier. I feel so guilty now that I had to take him for blood tests as it must have just been viral to go away in a few days, I wish I hadn't had to put him through that experience!

Now we are still set to leave tomorrow morning, but James is disappointed as my uncle rang last night to say he can't go riding as his bike has a crack in the petrol tank from the heat. Must have been expanding in the heat & cracked itself. James thinks he's just making excuses & that he should have known it would happen, which really upset me because I know that a lot of my family can be like that but Luke isn't. Luke is my mum's youngest brother & is 4 months younger than me, we grew up like twins and have always been very close. It hurts that James keeps saying that it always happens & he should have known, I have tried to speak to him about it but he just keeps telling me about all the times my family have made promises to me only to break them. I can see his point but why can't he see mine? Also my mum told me that Luke has stitches in his head as he has been getting skin cancers removed (he has been going bald since he was 20 so he shaves his head). Luke hadn't told me this & it worries me some, mum said he rang a lot of the family the other night crying (drunk) that he already has scars & they are giving him more. He never told me any of this & I think he just doesn't want me to worry as he knows my dad has cancer.

Luke was badly burnt when we were 19, he used to live here with his brother (my uncle) and work nearby, after football training one Thursday he and some mates had a bonfire & one of the guts threw petrol on the fire & it landed on Luke too giving him 3rd degree burns to 25% of his body. Luckily one of the guys had enough sense (and less booze than the rest) to put him in a bath of ice water & call the ambulance & my uncle & aunty. Luke was rushed to hospital (1/2 hour away) and they actually had to slice his forearm open to relieve the pressure so he could be flown to Adelaide. He was in the burns unit in Adelaide for 6 weeks before he flew to Mount Gambier to go home. He has scars from his finger tips on the right arm right up and across his chest & torso, also on his thighs as that's where they took the skin grafts from. He had to wear a special suit for 2 years afterwards. So this is why he is worried about more scars!

Anyway I'm sure James will get over it! Too bad if he doesn't - he said "it's a waste of time going Friday now - I could have worked!" & I told him an extra day off with his family isn't so bad is it! I'm sure once we get there James will be fine, I just wish he didn't jump to conclusions & I'm sure Luke will show him the crack in the tank when we get there & he'll feel like and idiot! At least I hope so anyway, HAHA!

Well this will be my last blog until we come home from Adelaide. I'm really looking forward to us all going away together & the big wedding. Stay tuned Tuesday for some photos! Have a great weekend! xxoo

Well today hasn't been the best of days. Poor little Oscar started getting temperatures yesterday afternoon & has been really sooky and tired. I took his temp at about 5.30pm yesterday & it was 39.6. I gave him some Dymadon (paracetamol) and an hor later his temp was still 38.5 so I gave him Nurofen (ibuprofen) which brought it down. He didn't eat any of his tea but did eat a handfull of frozen grapes - he is addicted to grapes & as he's teething I freeze them & he loves it, Jack and I also munch on them too. I put him to bed at 8.30 as usual & James and Jack were out at football training, James wasn't training as his heel has been sore so he took Jack in for a look so he could tell them why he wasn't training this week. They got home around 9 & Jack sat with us until about 9.20 & we put him to bed, Oscar woke up just before we took Jack in! So Oscar got up & sooked and cried and couldn't seem to get comfortable or happy & I couldn't give him any more Nurofen or Dymadon as it wasn't time. I ended up standing up with him laying in my arms swinging him from side to side - that didn't last too long as you can imagine as he is 8.5kg now & 78cm tall! He reached out for James so James took him & he crawled into James' lap, face down on James tummy & kneeling on the couch - it didn't look comfortable but it must have been because he went to sleep like that. After about 20 minutes I picked him & put him in his cot.

At 4.45am Oscar woke & I went in to get him up as he usually gets up for a bfeed most nights anyway. He was burning hot! I took his temp & it was 41 degrees celcius! I gave him a dose of Nurofen & grabbed a tepid face washer & sponged him until he cooled off a bit. Tried to give him a bfeed but he didn't want it, didn't want water either, so I put him in bed with us with just a sheet on & he wouldn't settle. Up I got with him into the loungeroom so James could try and get some sleep before he got up for work & I put a movie & sat with him. He grizzled for a while then saw his water bottle & grabbed it & drank - what a relief! He played a little then jumped up on me and went to sleep. After a little while I put him in his cot & came back to finish watching my movie as I knew James would be up soon & Jack not far behind.

Jumped on here quickly after James left & when the doctor'ssurgery opened I rang & got an appointment for Oscar at 10.15. The doctor checked him out & said his throat was slightly red but nothing serious & he thinks it may just be viral but wanted to do a blood test to be sure as his temps are so high. I asked if it was realy necessary & he said it was so off we went. We got there & the lady checked to see if she could find a vein & I told her if he takes after me (which he does in most ways) then she would have trouble. She put an Emla (numbing) patch on each arm & told us to come back in an hour so we went & got some more Nurofen & had lunch. I wasn't looking forward to the blood test at all! We went back & the lady called us in to have the test done & I let Jack stay in the waiting room playing with the toys & we left the door open.  Oscar screamed and cried & I ended up crying as it was awful as it took a while to get the vein. The 2 ladies doing it couldn't believe how much blood the doctor wanted them to take from him & said 2 vials would have to do as they wouldn't take anymore.

James was worried sick the whole time & even came home during his lunch break to turn the air conditioner on for when we got home! So sweet! Oscar is ok now, still a bit sooky but he's dosed up on Nurofen for now so we will see what he's like later. The doctor said some of the test results will be back tomorrow & the others Friday & he will ring if there is anything wrong or he needs antibiotics. Problem here: my stepbrother, Glen, is getting married to Charlotte on Sunday night in Brighton, Adelaide. Jack is in the wedding along with my step cousin's son Justin who is 2 days younger than Jack. Oscar and my stepbro's fiance's nephew, Elliot (he is the same age as Oscar & coming all the way from France) are not actually in the wedding but are wearing the same linen shirts as the older boys but different pants and shoes which Charlotte was getting for them either from London (where she lives) or France (she is French). James' boss gave him from Friday to Monday off so we were leaving Friday morning, stopping in to visit friends in Murray Bridge for lunch & then going to my uncle's house to stay Friday & Saturday night so he and James can go motorbike riding in the Adelaide Hills Saturday. Sunday morning we are going across to Brighton to the cabins that everyone is staying in & spending the day with everyone before the wedding & then the wedding is that night. Monday morning there is a big breakfast happening & we were going to make our way home sometime Monday afternoon.

So, what do we do now? If Oscar is ok do we still leave Friday morning or do we wait to see if we hear from the doctor Friday & leave Saturday? Of course Oscar's health comes first, and the doctor did say he is thinking it is just viral, he also said if he isn't better by Friday to come back & if he gets worse go straight in. He is happy enough & plays happily until his temp starts to go back up.

I hope everyone else is having a better day than me! xxoo

Hi everyone! Well, finally I can blog! I have spent the last 3 days on here trying to work out how to fix it so I can blog - must have been due to the upgrades & obviously overnight they have fixed something - YAY!

It has been really wet here the last few days - well it hasn't rained since yesterday morning but it rained Friday morning & most of the day & wow did it pour down at times! I had to go into town to pick up tea from the pub Friday night & when I got home it was absolutely pouring! It is about 50 metres from the shed where we park the cars to the house & by the time I got to the back door I was dripping wet!

This is what it looked like around the shed & tanks:

Anyway, I was so eager to blog because my baby, who is now 12 months & 8 days old, is toilet training himslef! Some you know he has been pooing in the toilet since 6 months as he refused to do it in his nappy & screamed until you sat him on the toilet, well now he is peeing in the toilet too! He woke up dry last Sunday morning & I thought "oh, this is odd, he had plenty to drink yesterday & before bed", so I took him out and sat him on the toilet & he peed instantly! I was amazed! I sat him on the toilet every now and then for a few days but nothing else, then Friday morning he woke up dry again. I took him to the toilet, sat him on the seat & he peed again! I have been taking him out every hour or so since & 70% of the time he pees, and he knows what is going on because just before he pees he looks down and gives his willy a little poke, HAHA! He's such a clever little man! I guess Jack was wanting to pee like dad at 16 months so Oscar is just a little ahead of that. Wow wouldn't it be nice if he was toilet trained by 18 months! I am not going to push it but as I said to James when he said he was a bit young for that "if he wants to do it I'm not going to say no!". So now I am going to buy some more Peapods or something (any suggestions?) for him to wear during the day as his cloth nappies are a bit hard if he's going to learn to do it himself eventually. I do have washable training pants that Jack used while he was training but they are a bit big in the legs for Oscar right now & the 2 pairs of Peapods I have are nice and easy to get on and off.

This is Oscar walking toward me the other day:

And Jack playing his plush Wiggles guitar:

Hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend!

xxoo

Sorry it took a few days - the pics wouldn't upload!

Oscar with his first pressie - he was happy with his 5 dvds!

Jack helping Oscar check out his dvds


The cake - not fantastic but it turned out ok


Oscar & his cake


Oscar with cake everywhere! LOL


Jack playing with some of Oscar's presents


Oscar & Josh playing with Jack's Wiggles guitar the next day


Oscar on the swing on Sunday - his Grandpa (James' dad) was pushing him


There you have it. He didn't get a lot of toys - thank goodness - they were all in the pic with Jack. He got some clothes - the top in the last pic is one thing he got - and some money. He has a couple more things coming also.

Hope everyone has a great week! xxoo

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Ours was great - just how I like it, people everywhere & cooking LOL! Oscar had soooo much fun! I woke up Saturday morning upset as my baby was almost one & I don't want him to grow up! Here's how it went:

James' dad & brother were here when the kids & I got back from Horsham Friday afternoon. I got all the groceries unpacked while they played with the boys & then jumped on here to pay the Hilux rego & had a quick blog to relax myself. I then got making the birthday cake & making salads & hamburgers for the bbq tea. James got home around 5 & we got some sausages & beef schnitzels out of the freezer. James' mate & his wife & 2 sons got here around 7 & we all sat down for tea. The 4 boys had a great time playing in the sandpit after tea & all needed a nice big bath afterwards! My 2 boys were in bed at 9.30 but the other 2 didn't got to bed until 11 & 11.30 - I was quite shocked as my kids never ever stay up that late but these kids do it every night! Honestly I love our friends and I love their kids but they have no dicipline what so ever & the oldest is the naughtiest most disobedient kid I have ever met. I did know this before they came but I guess I have never had to deal with it for 2 whole days! They both eat and drink whatever they want whenever they want & sleep when THEY want to. My kids go to bed at 8.30 every night - a little later Fridays usually - and they eat good food and drink water or milk 98% of the time. It's amazing how different children are when they drink & eat junk all day long!

Saturday morning I woke up & got upset as my baby was almost 1! James told me not to be silly & there was nothing to do to stop it but I just all of a sudden realised that my baby was going to grow up & need me less and less. I think it's harder for me as we aren't having any more kids & Oscar has always been a mummy's boy but has gotten closer to James lately & needed me less. He is also having cups of milk morning & afternoon & only feeding off me night & first thing in the morning. Oscar woke about 4 minutes before he turned one (which was at 8.19am Victorian time) & James went and got him & bought him into me. We giggled and played for a while then got up. Jack slept until about 8.30am which is very unusual, but he had had a big day the day before. We gave Oscar his pressies (5 dvds) when Jack came out & they both had a ball pulling them out of the big bag! Jack wanted to watch all of them all at once but Oscar just wanted to look at the covers & play, although he did seem very happy with them!

Everyone else got up & had breakfast & the kids played, and played, and played LOL! As the day went on people arrived & I decorated the cake while my friend Prue made up the lolly bags for the kids for me. Then I chopped the chicken wings into wingettes & drummettes & marinated them in my own honey, soy, garlic marinade. Then I made the pigs in blankets (mini frankfurts wrapped in puff pastry - there you go Bel, just in case others don't know what they are, hehe), and I finally went and had a shower & got dressed for the party. I had all the food cooked & out on the table for the party at 6 & I was looking at it thinking there wasn't enough, what was missing - I had the biscuits, dips, cheese, kabana, party pies & sausage rolls & chips out - I had forgotten to cook the chicken! DUH! So I quickly put the chicken in the oven to cook. Luckily nobody seemed to get stuck into the food straight away & some of the guests turned up late - like 1 1/4 hours late! Everyone tucked into the food & all the hot food was gone withing 1/2 hour of the chicken going out. We waited 10 minutes then I bought the cake out as Oscar was getting tired as he'd only had 1 hours sleep for the day. Everyone loved the cake & Oscar stuck his hand in it before I even got the candle lit! Jack blew the candle out for him (well after I relit it twice as the breeze blew it out first) & I moved the cake closer to Oscar so he could grab a handful & he just grabbed the chocolate nose off & munched on that. I grabbed the knife & helped Oscar make the first cut & then handed out pieces for whoever wanted some - and actually we have quite a bit left so does anyone want a taste? LOL

After Oscar made a huge mess of himself & had cake all over his face I took him off for a bath and feed & off to bed - this was around 8.30. Everyone that wasn't staying had left by about 9.30 so we all settled inside & watched some tv, putting Jack to bed about 9.30 again. The next moring I woke around 7.30 and thought I'd turn the tv on cause I figured the kids would wake up any time. Oscar woke up about 8.15 again and Jack didn't get up until nearly 10am! He has never slept that late in his life! We had to keep checking on him to makes sure he was ok, haha. I cooked bacon and eggs for everyone for breakie & then we all just sat around and talked outside for a while then back inside as it got a little cool for us. The kids had fun playing with Oscar's new toys for a while after a "get yourself left overs" lunch & then our friends left around 1.30pm. We just sat around the rest of the day watching movies and relaxing. Oscar went and had his afternoon nap after lunch & around 2 Jack & I went and layed down to watch some tv in my room & fell asleep. I woke up to James changing Oscar's nappy & peeking around the door to see if I was awake, LOL! I was sooo tired & started to feel a little sick so we just had eggs for tea.

This morning Rod and Mark headed off home around 10.15 & the kids, Oscar's pup & I headed into Naracoorte for the dog & Oscar to both get their needles. We dropped the dog at the vets & took Oscar to the doc. Our doctor couldn't believe how big he's gotten & how curly Jack's hair is! I had a chat with him about Oscar and I eating fish & seafood as I had allergic reactions while I was pregnant with Oscar & haven't eaten it since - very hard for me as I love most fish & seafood. He agreed with me that it was best for us both to try it now that Oscar is 12 months old & said not to give Oscar deep sea fish just yet, just to give him fish fingers or something like that and see how he goes. We had lunch with a friend and her daughter, dropped in to say hi to some friends at my old work & went to the supermarket to grab some bread and bananas & I decided to get some oven bake fish to try tonight - here's hoping neither of us have a reaction! I miss fish soooo much & I'm dying for a feed of oysters and prawns!

Sorry there is no pics here - I tried uploading them but it didn't seem to want to work, hopefully I will get some up tomorrow for you all.

xxoo

Ok, I shouldn't be on here - I have soooo much to do! I to turn the net on to pay the ute rego & thought bugger it I need 10 minutes break! LOL!

I went to Horsham to day and did the grocery shopping for the next 2 weeks & for Oscar's party, it was flat out as I also had to get Jack some new shoes as his feet grow too fast & some dog food & stuff to keep the flies off their ears & James some goggles for his motorbike riding as well as party plates, lolly bags, etc. I got home just over an hour ago & James dad & brother were here - I had seen them in Horsham on their way. I unpacked all the shopping & then realised I hadn't paid the ute rego - naughty me! Perfect excuse to get on here though, haha. I have to make the birthday cake today & a few salads for the bbq tonight as James' mate, his wife & their 2 kids are on their way from Bendigo to stay the weekend too. Tomorrow I have to chop up the chicken wings & a marinate them, decorate the cake, make pigs in blankets & cook all this & the party pies & sausage rolls as well as feed everyone breakfast & lunch! I did get hotdogs & rolls for tomorrow's lunch though - nice and easy.

James rang after he got to work this morning & just before the kids & I left for Horsham to ask if I had checked the bank. I said no, why & he said "oh, there is a little extra in there", I said "why?" & he told me his boss gave everyone a harvest bonus based on how long they have been there! I couldn't believe it, it's the first time in the 5 1/2 years we've been here, and I know he used to give bonuses but stopped the year we came. I was expecting maybe $500-$1000 - well I was very wrong and very nicely surprised! I won't tell you exactly how much but I will say it was a fair bit more than what I expected!

Oh well, I guess I had better get off here & get making salads & the birthday cake. I will put some photos of everything on here Monday for you all to see. Luv ya xxoo

Hello there everyone! I hope you all had a nice relaxing weekend - unlike us! LOL

James was finally home for a weekend - YAY - and the boys loved it! Anyway, as it's Oscar's birthday this Saturday & I have organised a huge party (yet again, lol) and there are going to be a lot of people staying here - 8 adults & 2 kids and ourselves - James said we had better get into rearranging the house & doing a spring clean. We got stuck into the toy room first as I had been saying for ages that I wanted to get my big bookcase & all my books out of there & put the boys smaller bookcase in there with their books. I got all my books out of the bookcase (wow I have a lot of books, haha) and we moved it the bookcase into the hallway where we have heaps of dead space. I then unpacked the boys bookcase & moved that into the playroom (they have quite a few books too!). It freed up a whole corner for the boys to put there toys in so it was great! That was enough for us on Saturday & we spent the rest of the day playing with the kids & took them swimming in the afternoon.

Sunday we got stuck into our bedroom, I cleaned out the old shoes that don't get worn, put my shoes in the clear shoe boxes I bought a couple of months ago, and vacuumed out the bottom of the built in. James cleaned up all his clothes & got rid of stuff that is buggered or not worn & put them all in drawers (he has been pilling clean clothes on the floor while he's been busy & I don't put them away as then he says he can't find them), and now he has them all away I will know where he wants things when I do the washing, HAHA! Then we moved the tall boy that has the tv & dvd player on it across one corner, shifted the dressing table across & put my cross trainer in the other corner so I can use it in there with the a/c on & the kids won't go in and play with it!

When all that was done we got stuck into the kitchen & cleared out all the drawers so we actually had some room for things! I washed down all the cupboards and then we sat down for a while and had lunch. After about an hour or so rest we got to the filing cabinet - which was in the playroom too - and I cleared everything off the top of it as I had been slack for the holidays & hadn't filed anything, LOL! We moved the filing cabinet out into the hallway into some more dead space & we were done! Finally! Well, actually then I decided that the playroom walls looked bare & pinched some pics from the boys room to put in there - which meant of course that I had to wash the walls down so I could put some of those removable hooks up, and we all know you can't just wash one little bit of a wall as it looks terrible!

It was a very busy weekend but it was well worth it to see the end result!

Now I have to get organised for everyone coming this weekend & organise all the party food, decorations, etc. I can't believe my baby is turning one in 4 days! Oh I can't believe how fast they grow up! I am off to Horsham Friday (120km from here) to do the shopping for all the food etc for the weekend, it's certainly going to be fun doing it by myself with boys. Then I have to race home and get organised for James' dad & brother as they are coming sometime Friday and James' mate & his family may be coming Friday too. James' brother, Mark, broke his femur nearly 2 weeks ago, a clean snap right through, when he fell off his motorbike jumping a jump & had metal rod put right down the middle of the bone from his hip to his knee so I need to make sure he has somewhere comfortable to sit and sleep at all times!

BBQ Friday night to make it a little easier on me to organise everything. OMG why do I get myself into these situations? I can't just organise a little party, it's always got to be huge! Oh well, I do love cooking and feeding people so I will be in my element when I get started! LOL

Can anyone tell me why it is that people don't think the need to RSVP to invitations anymore? I think it's damn rude! Now I have to ring half the people I invited today & ask them if they are coming so I know how many people I have to feed! GRRR

I discovered that Jack has 3 more teeth just broken through - only one to go now! I feel terrible that I hadn't notice as I brush his teeth every morning & he had been chewing his hands & everything else madly, but they are only just through anyway. We are also very excited as Jack can now swim on his own - with a vest on of course! And Oscar now has 5 teeth through, he's saying lots more words & walking holding just one of my hands. He took 3 steps from me to James the other night & has been walking between the furniture without holding anything for a while now. I was sort of hoping he would be walking a little more for his birthday so he could show off but I also don't want him to take off too quick as then I have to chase 2! HAHA

Here's a few pics me and the boys in the pool - yes you are in for a surprise today as you get to see some pics of me! LOL

me and the boys in the pool


Oscar and I swimming

Hope you all have a great week!

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve & that 2008 has started off well for you.

James actually got New Years Day off & finished early (around 5.15pm) on New Years Eve! We went to mum's (an hour and a quater away) for the night. We got to mum's at about 7.15pm & had a bbq tea. The kids were so excited to be there, they love going to nan & pa's & Jack usually wants to stay. We sat up watching old Beatles movies & I couldn't keep my eyes open so by 10.45 I was in bed, LOL. Everyone else was in bed by 11.40 so none of us saw the New Year in! LMAO

The next morning mum cooked us bacon & eggs for breakfast & we went to my Aunty Megan's to say hello. The men all went out to mum & Mick's farm to look at their new tractor as it won't start & we stayed and chatted with Megan & decided we were all going out to Nan & Pa's for lunch so we went back to mum's & cooked a quiche,a roast chicken & a vanilla slice to take out. Nan & Pa had a full house for lunch & we all had a ball - especially the kids!

We took off home around 3.30pm & the kids slept most of the way home. Jack woke up about 15km from home & said "I want to go for a swim in Johnie's pool!". Johnie is my uncle John, they live across the paddock from us & have an in-ground pool that has a roof over it. I rang John when we got home & we went over for a swim - even James got in (actually it was his idea to go in the first place before we left Nan & Pa's) and he doesn't swim unless it's really hot or we are going to a decent length pool as he likes to swim laps if we go swimming. We all had a great time swimming - Oscar in the blow up car & floating & we got Jack dog paddling with a vest on from James to me and back! He's so clever & we can't believe that he can swim without us holding onto him.

I'm preparing for Oscar's birthday now as it's only 9 days away & if everyone turns up there will be about 30 people here! Arg - oh well, I do organise these big parties for all occasions! It will be great though & Jack had a big 1st birthday so it's only fair Oscar does too. Oh, we finally decided what to get him too - he loves to dance and sing so we got him 5 dvd's, Elmo's world - Food, Water and exercise, Raggs - Move you Tails, Winnie the Pooh - ABC's & 123's, Barney - Now I know my ABCs & 100 Favourite Toddler Tunes and Rhymes.
 
Well that's about it for now, I'm sure I'll have more to tell as the birthday gets closer and things get hectic!