Hello and welcome 2008! Already day 3 of this new year and I am loving it. I have had a brilliant holiday season so far, the kids have been great and I love having Jus home. Our routine is one of walks, swims, eating lunch, more swims, a lie down, more swimming, dinner and bed. Perfect.

Christmas was great. Girls woke up at about 8.15am to discover Santa had been and it was full on from then. We had a terrific lunch at Matt and Penny’s, the kids got a lot of wonderful presents and on the whole were well behaved. The cousins all play very happily together so the day was stress free and really delightful.

I worked everyday bar Christmas and it was quiet and cheerful in the Maternity Ward. 5 babies born on Chrissy Day itself, so I had a lot of testing to be done on Boxing Day. Went to work yesterday, and no babies born at all so I went shopping! Found a great dress, reduced from $60 to $14, and brill pair of shoes that were also heavily discounted. I was very pleased!

We seem to have endless parties and visitors, but I am enjoying it all so much. Having Justin on hand to assist means everything is just that bit more pleasant as I’m not running after everyone myself. Holly’s 7th birthday is next week and she has some friends coming over on Saturday for a Pool Party. Then Jus goes back to work on Monday, so we’ll find ourselves in a new routine again.

I’m not making new year resolutions, but I have some goals that Id like to achieve this year. Mostly I want to run a 10km race or two, so that is high on my list. We desperately need new wardrobes in our room so that is high up there too. Other things include, seeing friends more, visiting family (maybe a trip to Perth at the end of the year if that works in with Adas and Lin) and finishing some scrapbooking albums.

We had a NYE party here, lots of people in the pool and much laughter and eating of chocolate. I want all the bad foods out of the house so that I don’t eat them or I’ll never make it to the start of that 10km run! I’m also on a mission to do some decluttering, use it or lose it is my motto. A big trip to the tip might be happening next week.

Ok that is about it for this update. The girls are waking up one by one from their siesta so time to get out for the afternoon.

Happy New Year xxxx

Man it has been busy! But school and preschool finished yesterday so now the pace is a little less hectic in the mornings and afternoons. The girls are still in their pj’s playing ‘families’, Amy is back in bed and I have five to update this blog while sipping a coffee – yay.

Yesterday I did a super shopping effort. Arrived at the mall shortly after 9, got a spot in the front and the God’s were looking favourably upon me because I found everything I needed first up, and was out of there (after doing the food shopping as well) by 11.30am. I came home and put all the purchases into 3 piles to make sure that no one had more than the other. All looking good! Poor old Amy though – not much in her sack this year – but what could a 4th girl/1 yr old/baby possibly need? Just some cuddles I reckon!

I had to work this week and there were some sad stories coming out of the ward. 2 babies up for adoption, and one deaf baby diagnosed. I’m working 6 days from Saturday to Friday (not Christmas day) so I pray for no scary situations and deaf bubs.

Holly had a terrific school report. Straight B’s indicating a High acheivement in all categories. She has just loved her teacher this year, mind you not everyone has, and Mrs L wrote that Holly was an absolute treasure to have in the class and will miss her terribly. Holly had little tears running down her cheeks when I read that out to her. Hope next year is just as successful.

Preschool finished with a bang, and Meg was sad to say goodbye to her little friends who won’t be going to her school next year. The teacher did up a super folder with her art work and photos with bits about what they all did throughout the year. It came with a CD of 128 photos of her time in preschool. They really went to a big effort and it is much appreciated. Holly still looks back on her folder with fondness, it is such a great idea.

Justin is on holidays from this arvo, it will be great to have him home for a few weeks. The holiday ground rules have been set and the kids know that the front step is where they’ll end up if there is mischief. Holly already spent time out there yesterday! All I want for Christmas is peace!

We had an email from some friends who are in India for their Christmas, complete with photos of them on a camel. Holly said “Mum if we aren’t doing anything next Christmas, can we go to India and ride a camel too?”. Isn’t life simple for kids? Good philosophy!

Have a wonderful weekend leading up to Christmas, drive carefully and enjoy it.

Sorry Emma, I did promise a Movember photo, so here it is……..
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He trimmed it a little so it is not looking so ferocious, but my brother did ask him last night when his porm movie was coming out!
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This pic was no mean feat. It took me about 15 minutes to get them all sitting after numerous changes of outfit (Meg came down in her school uniform, Jess in her ballgown “Please go change into NORMAL clothes”) And in the end, I was hoarse and the batteries ran out on the camera. So one photo only!!
895
Holly and Meg mucking around!
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Amy doing her crunchy hand wave and saying “Ta ta”. Ahh bless.

We are busy over here. Christmas parties and school functions and 4 very tired children. A quick summary of what has been happening….

* Amy is walking full time. She can even run – but can’t control her pace so ends up ploughing into the end object. She is so proud of herself.
* Amy says “ta-ta’ and does a crunched up hand wave. So cute.
* School disco was a hit for 15 minutes and then the above mentioned 4 very tired children had to be taken home, or one very over-it-all mother would have run away and never come back.
* 2 Christmas parties with old work colleagues were great fun and I had quite a few laughs remembering old times.
* Justin still has Movember.
* Christmas shopping getting done bit by bit and important items posted interstate.
* Christmas carols tonight at the War Memorial.
* I am in training for a 10 km run on March 10th. Lost 1 kg this week but slept in 2 days and didn’t run (whoops!).
* been working a few days and got my ID pass and security swiper to be able to get into all those off limits places like NICU. Met the big boss who really wants to get me on a permanent basis and give me a great job in a new Audiology outpatient department (Oh yes please!!).
* thought my purse was stolen last week – cancelled all cards, got new drivers license, screamed and cursed all people who steal purses, then found it 3 days later in the tray under the pram!

That is about it in a nutshell. Probably more but can’t think straight – need coffee. Have a great weekend – we have our street party with over 30 neighbours attending. Should be a hoot.

xx

Amy is getting up from a sitting position and taking steps. She is getting balanced enough to stop and turn around even. Just a little but further each time. But she has developed a little tantrum display – if you take something away or put her down when she doesn’t want to be down, she’ll throw herself flat on the floor and bang her head on the ground. Quite a dramatic act!

Today I ran twice around my mountain track. I think this is the furthest I have ever run – about 6km, and it took around 30 minutes. My calf muscles are getting massive!

Swimming lessons are continuing with both Meg and Holly doing really well in classes and swimming further and more confidently each week. I wasn’t so sure Jess was catching onto the whole lessons thing, but at home in the pool, she is up and down to the deep end and paddling/kicking very efficiently. She has a bubble floatie thing on her back, but this is such a huge improvement to where she was last summer that I am overjoyed. They had a few swims over the weekend, but it wasn’t warm enough for me!

After all its time in the workshop, Bluey is back on deck and driving like a new car. Today the AC is getting fixed, and then that should be it for it’s trips to get repaired. My focus has now shifted from new car to new roof, as in the thunderstorm over the weekend, the playroom was filled with torrential waterfalls of water (thankfully it is a tiled floor). Jus cleaned out all the gutters, but the whole room needs a face lift and the roof in dire need of replacement. The bathroom in that room is hideous so a complete makeover is needed.

Even though it is December now, Justin is still sporting his MO-vemeber. I’ll take a piccy so you can see just how awful it is!! He is a cross between Chopper and Merv Hughes. I hope he doesn’t read this!!

Have a great week.

Lots has been happening here over the past week.

Firstly we had unexpected visitors staying for 2 nights, Justin’s cousin Emma and her baby boy Neo (7 months). Renovations at MIL’s meant that they couldn’t stay there, so our guest room was hastily dusted and refreshed. It was nice to have them here but it coincided with my first 2 days of real work, and a 7 month old in the house was like stepping back in time to memories of interrupted sleep. They left today at 4am to drive home to Vic, and I don’t think I got back to sleep after that. I’m kinda pooped today.

So anyway – work was great. I was at the hospital where I had all the girls, so it was very familiar and I felt verysettled in there. I just love walking around the ward, finding my babies and filling in their blue books and files. I was SO meant to be a nurse! Maybe in my next life. A friend of mine had her baby girl on Tuesday so I was able to see them and test her hearing as well. Fortunately she passed.

Amy has been walking a lot more but not all the time. She likes to walk when no-one can see her because if you ask her to do it, she drops straight away. She is not an ‘on-demand’ performer yet! I have enrolled Jess in a 3 yr old preschool program, which is designed to make the transition to real preschool very seamless. At the meeting last night Lisa and I got roped into committee positions – she as Secretary and I as the Enrollment Coordinator. Looks like another busy year ahead.

Meg had an excursion to the National Gallery today, she broke her glasses yesterday and has a multitude of scrapes and scratches on her legs from falling over and being knocked around by boofy sisters. Holly is all legs – getting so long and also nearing the end of her fuse for being at school. Holidays in about 3 weeks I think. Yay!

Our beloved tarago, Bluey, has been giving us a rough time of late. Sometimes it starts and sometimes it doesn’t. This week has been a shocker and I’ve been stranded a few times. A few other times it has come to life after being roll started down the street! I’m begging Jus every night for a newer version Tarago, but he is the anti-new-car bossy boots of the world. Maybe if I cry hard enough he’ll come around 🙂

Here are a few photos of the girls that I took just this week….
877 My beautiful Jess
880 My Baby Amy
883 My red Meg
886 Amy loving the Christmas tree (and loving standing up pulling the decorations off)

That is about it for this week. Christmas parties start soon, end of year concerts and gatherings. I love it all!

Have a great weekend.

Little fingers, little hands and lots of missing objects. I’m wondering how to make it clear that if it isn’t yours don’t take it.

Today Jus couldn’t find his shaving brush. The brush that is always in the bathroom and has been for his whole shaving life. We do the rounds of “Did you take it?” and Holly turns up with it.. She had taken it to school because at lunch time they play “Paleontologists” and she needed it to brush the dirt off the ‘fossils’. Obviously the spoons that she had pilfered from the kitchen drawer for digging were not sufficient anymore – the game had evolved!

It was fun! I tested a few teeny newborn babies, that part was easy. The hard part was learning the procedure for paperwork, learning where to find the patients (over 3 floors and in different wards) and the names of the thousands of people dashing about. But, that will come with time. I loved having to go and get the bubs, seeing them all new and fresh and bundled up so tight. I really felt like this is where I am supposed to be.

A few things that I’ll have to get used to are – restricted times for eating (no grazing all day like at home!); parking was a madhouse. After 2 hours you have to go and move your car. How bloody unproductive is that?
People dress up in Non-Mum-Housebound kind of clothes – must go shopping. Shoes too are strappy sandals and not mum-heavyduty-longwearing kind of shoes.

I’m gonna love it!!

On Wednesday night Rach and I are going to the Hyatt for a dinner with author Paulina Simons. She has written several books, like Tully, The Girl in Times Square and my favourite series about wartime Russia The Bronze Horseman, Bridge to Holly Cross and the Summer Garden.. Can’t wait to see her IRL. Hopefully she will sign some of my books – I have them all!

It is going to be another hot day here. We swam a lot of the weekend and Justin made pesto which always reminds me of our old house. It is funny how certain smells can take you to another place.

Have a great week and keep cool!

I am loving Facebook. Over the last few days I have found, and been found, by some very long lost friends. Girls from uni days that I thought I had lost forever. Isn’t the internet amazing!

Meg has a session at Kinder today. Just an hour to meet some new classmates, read a book with the teacher and be big. She can’t wait. Jess is terribly jealous and wants to go too. How will Jessie cope next year without Meg. How will I!!

Tomorrow is the big day for me. No butterflies in the tummy yet, but I’m sure that by this time tomorrow I’ll be a nervous wreck!

Enjoy the summersunshine.

Friday morning, bright and early, Rach and I hopped on the Sydney express and three hours later were at the hotel signing in for our 3 day scrapping extravaganza. The hotel was great – bar, restaurant and comfy beds, what more could we want? The actual scrapping started on Saturday, and we did a great class with a US teacher Stacey Julian and it was fast paced and absolutely fantastic. We made a 6inchx 6inch album and it was all about getting it done fast and not worrying about perfection or loads of embellishments. I loved it and plan to make a few more mini albums of events from years ago that I would never otherwise scrap – a great way to get them into albums with minimum effort – love it! My next class was with Nic Howard, a NZ teacher, and we made a chipboard album about ourselves and our confessions – you know those kind of weird quirky things that make you you. Eg one of mine was that I hate watching people brush their teeth. Makes me gag!

Next up we did a class that was about simple scrapbooking, and we did 2 layouts that were very classic and streamlined and not bogged down with heaps of content and extras. I really got a lot out of the whole day. On Sunday we caught the bus home and are now back into the routine, but I had the most relaxing and enjoyable weekend and it was just what I needed before I start work on Friday. OMG – Friday!!!!

Friday is an in-service at the hospital where I’ll meet the staff and sign the papers to get this all rolling. I’ll be on a 6 month contract to begin with and Leslie, my boss, is hoping to make me permanent after that. She is going on higher duties for 3 months and asked me to do her job which is just the screening bit at the Private hospital John James. I’m also filling in for staff who are on leave over Christmas, so that means weekends and boxing day even, but because the hours are 9-1pm and Justin will be home to mind the kids, it is ideal for me. No traffic either! I couldn’t be more excited.

So while I was away the girls grew. Talking to Holly on the phone was a big wake-up to me, cause she didn’t sound like a little kid anymore, she sounded like a growing up girl. It made my head spin. Amy is trying to walk. She took a few steps on her own to get from me to Jus, but she toppled over like she’s had a dozen schooners. She is certainly trying to stand up on her own, but not quite stable enough yet. Meg and Jess missed me a lot and were all over me which was nice. Nice to get cuddles instead of backchat!

My Dad’s Uncle John passed away on Friday. He was such a nice man and I have very fond memories of him. The funeral is tomorrow which Jus and I will both be going to.

Well, a million little things need my attention so better get that underway. I am so inspired by the weekend so want to get a few projects started too. Hope you have a good week.