Hi everyone!

As you have probably noticed i haven't been here in a long time. Sorry for that. I'll try to fill you in as to why i have been away for so long. It's gonna take a while so i'll do it in a few different entries.

First of all, some of you may know that we had a small house fire on the 19th of May. This was nothing huge and we only lost pots and pans. That sort of stuff. But what you didn't know is this. We were robbed 4 nights later. Due to the smoke damage we couldn't stay in the house so we stayed with my mum. (That's anther long blog in itself!) I was there the day berofe with my insurance man assessing the damage. That night we were robbed and we found it the next day when we went back to grab a few things. I was shattered.

They took over $12,000 worth of stuff. But i didn't care cos they were just material possessions and i still have the most important things in my life, Jeff, Iesha and Julius. But it's a horrible feeling knowing that someone has been through all of your things. Including your unmentionables.

We were told the repairs would take 6 weeks. It actually took them until august for them to even start. 3 months. This time took its toll on us. We had to live like gypsies until we found the place we are in now. I will fill in more details in my next entry.

Anyway it has taken me all this time to get back on here. I've been missing you all. I hope i haven't missed too much.

I'll try my best to catch up with you all asap.

We convince ourselves that life will be better once we are married, have a baby, then another.

Then we get frustrated because our children are not old enough, and that all will be well when they are older.

Then we are frustrated because they reach adolescence and we must deal with them. Surely we'll be happier when they grow out of the teen years.

We tell ourselves our life will be better when our spouse gets his/her act together, when we have a nicer car, when we can take a vacation, when we finally retire.

The truth is there is no better time to be happy than right now. If not, then when? Your life will always be full of challenges. It is better to admit as much and decide to be happy in spite of it all.

For the longest time, it seemed that life was about to start. Real life.

But there was always some obstacle along the way, an ordeal to get through, some work to be finished, some time to be given, a bill to be paid. Then life would start.

I finally came to understand that those obstacles were life.

That point of view helped me see that there isn't any road to happiness.

Happiness IS the road.

So, enjoy every moment.

Stop waiting for school to end, for a return to school, to lose ten pounds, to gain ten pounds, for work to begin, to get married, for Friday evening, for Sunday morning, waiting for a new car, for your mortgage to be paid off, for spring, for summer, for fall, for winter, for the first or the fifteenth of the month, for your song to be played on the radio, to die, to be reborn....before deciding to be happy.

Happiness is a voyage, not a destination.

There is no better time to be happy than........ NOW!!!!

Live and enjoy the moment.

Author Unknown.

OMG!

Does anyone know how much a bladder of a 2 and a half year old can hold?

I don't know exactly but i just found out it can hold a lot. My beautiful Iesha was playing and was so ingrossed with what she was doing, that she totally forgot about the potty. I have never seen so much come out of her. There was a huge puddle on the floor. She was quit upset. I then got her to go sit on her potty, not thinking that there could possibly be anything left. Boy was i wrong. She still left a large amount in the potty. Surely the girl is empty now!

Luckily it happened on the lino and not on the carpet. My carpet would be soggy for ages if she had. Bring on the days of no accidents. Just when we think she has it, there it goes.

Hi everyone,

Well finally an end to a very long day. I have been up since 6am and had my induction day with woolworths. Anyone else done this? I have now done it twice. Most of it is common sense and very repetative. And lots of sitting. But that's over now and i shouldn't have to sit through it again.

I missed my kids a lot today. It was so different for me to be at work and not with my kids. Especially on a saturday. Your heart really does grow fonder when you are absent from those you love and care about the most.

Cherish your children everyday. I know i do.

Goodnight minti members,

I'm about to go to bed. Very early for me. I have a big drawn out day tomorrow. I have an 8 hour induction day at woolies. This is for my new job. I have sat through this before and it was so hard to try and stay awake. it starts at 8am so that means i gotta be up at 6 to leave by 7 to get to the place where they hold the induction. This will be the longest i've been away from my kidsin one sitting. I'm going to miss them so much tomorrow.

Hope all is well in your world.

Night.

ZZZZZzzzzzz.......

Hi all.

My interview on monday went extremely well. So well in fact that i got the job. As i have blogged earlier, it is for a console operator, service station work. Its great because i will mainly be working weekends so Jeff can take care of the kids. As happy as this news was in our family, the in-laws weren't to impressed. If you have read my blog in one of the groups you would know what i'm talkin about.

Hi all.

Julius had his 6 month check up on Monday. He won't be 6 months till the 15th but thats not far away. He is a healthy happy big boy. He weighs just over 8kg now and is about 70cm long. He's just so sute. He is starting to teeth and i can deffinately tell the difference between girls and boys. Iesha was cuddly and sooky when she was teething, Julius being a boy, gets mad and cranky. He gets really fired up. It's actually kinda cute.

Hi everyone,

First i would like to thank those who left such kind words of support to me when i was feeling really down.

Next, i would like to say that i have a 2nd interview on monday morning. YAY!!! I have applied for a job at a local service station. I worked in one before i had Iesha. Not sure completely of the hours but i do know that they work around me and my family commitments. I had my first interview last saturday. I felt so out of place. Is it a written law somewhere that you must wear black pants and a white top to an interview? It was a group interview of about 12 people and i was the only one wearing something different. Not just different but bright. I stuck out like dog ....... You get what i mean. Hopefully i get this job.

I got the call yesterday that i had a 2nd interview. My husband was happy too. He took Iesha out this morning to do the food shopping while i stayed at home with Julius. He was sleeping. Anyway, my husband came back and he had bought me a gorgeous butterfly necklace with mother of pearl in it. It looks stunning. He said that he had bought it to show how proud he was of me and so that i had something to wear to the interview as a good luck charm. Also something to remind me of how much i am truly appreciated in my family. I absolutly cried like a baby.  I was so touched by this gesture. My husband always knows how to make me feel better.

I'll let you all know how the interview goes. Fingers crossed!!!!!

Hi guys,

Feeling really low past few days. I having been searching for a job for about 3 months now and still haven't found anything that works around my hours. I feel like i'm letting my family down by not contributing finacialy to the family. Even though i take care of everything else in my household i still feel i'm not doing enough because i'm not working.

Then to add to my troubles my family aren't speaking to me. my eldest brother told me to get  (swear word that i dont use) and not to go there anymore. And that i should stay at home and look after my own kids. By the way he is 32 and still living with mum and dad. He doesn't pay any board or lift a finger around the house. The only responsibilities he has is his car and phone bills. He told me not to go to my mum's house. How rude! Anyway i told mum that i would not go there anymore if he is because i will not be spoken to in such a manner. And i dont want my kids subjected to that language. Seems like they have all taken his side and noone will speak to me.

He doesn't realise that i do look after my kids!! Noone else does!! Except husband of course. I have never stood up for myself when it comes to my eldest brother. I hope i did the right thing.

Hi all!

i can't believe it has been so long since i last blogged. So much has happened i barely know where to begin.

Ok, lets start with Iesha.

Since the new year has strated my little girl has grown up so much and has developed heaps of new things. If you remember we were getting constatnly hounded by the out-laws about her speech. Well, now she can sing all the words to twinkle, tiwnlke. Her vocab has exanded so much in the past few weeks. The funny thing about that is, she will openly talk infront of most people but when it comes to the out-laws, she barely says a word. Good judge of character i guess.   It just makes it harder for us to get them to drop the subject and trust us as parents. The next huge step Iesha has taken is that she only wears a nappy to bed now and if we go for long trips in the car. It took us a while to get her use to the idea but once she understood what we wanted her to do, something in her brain just snapped and she worked it out. So proud of my little girl. That's just the short version.

Now, Julius.

He is getting sooo big. He was already 7kgs at his 4 month check up! And he just keeps getting bigger. Today he is 5 months old and so handsome. He's gonna be a heart-breaker. He has been rolling over for about 3 weeks now and when he does he tries to get up on his knees. he doesn't like to lay down anymore, he loves to sit up and will pull himself halfway up holding onto our fingers. Strong little man.

This is a little of what has been goin on, i'll add more in stages.