Party time

Today we held a party for Jacob's 7th birthday. I couldn't help but be amazed at the sheer craziness of 7 year old boys. In their defence, they were all sugared-up, but still... A few boys were well behaved, while still being typical boys. A certain rogue element decided to up the ante and incite chaos amongst the others. Drinks were poured into the fountain, then cans thrown in as well. After I made them retrieve the cans, they were told there were no further drinks for the culprits. Jeez.

In spite, or perhaps because of, the above, Jacob declared it his best birthday party ever. And this is the main thing. My gorgeous boy had a wonderful day and came home feeling very special.

I finally got a pic of the "fence-in-progress". Not ideal lighting, but you get the idea. And you can see the sexy new letterbox. A friend came around today and as she was leaving she, jokingly, said she was going to put fingerprints all over it. Turns out you can't leave marks on it. Woo Hoo. Even better! The front of the house and the brick part of the fence will be rendered and painted soon. There will be horizontal timber slats between the brick piers.

Slowly but surely we are changing this manky house into the vision we have always had for it. Soon we will get to the inside and rip up carpets, polish floors, new kitchen, new bathroom etc etc. All comes down to time and the very important $$$$$$.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Thank God it's Friday

Phew, what an exhausting week. We've had our bricklayer here all week, with Steve working as brickie's labourer, and our front fence is taking place, as is another garden bed to the right front side of our property. We scored an absolute bargain on a new letterbox. It's not exactly the most honest we've ever been, but in our defence, we didn't realise anything was amiss until we left the shop. We chose a lovely stainless steel letterbox from amongst all the heritage coloured ones. We looked and saw that our nice shiny one was double the price of the others. We decided to hang the expense and get the one we wanted. As we drove home, Steve asked me to look at the receipt. Sure enough, the unenthusiastic 15 year-old serving us had charged us the price of the heritage coloured ones. Whoops. Bargain! So, our $230 letter box only cost us $115. I must go take some "work-in-progress" pics of the front of the house. We are also bricking up the foundations for our new front deck.

I put the trampoline together on Wednesday. It took me ALL day. I was so sore I could hardly move yesterday! Anyway, the kids love it. I am left wondering why we didn't do this earlier - thinking of all the peace I could have had. hehe Here's a pic of them in it, plus an extra kid (a friend of Lara's over for a play). And yes, that IS carpet on the ground. We aren't ready to put down turf yet, so the carpet is keeping the weeds at bay until we are ready!

Slack, slack, slack!

Goodness, I have been very slack and not posted here for quite a while. I tend to drop off the radar for days on end after I've done a stint of nights. Very naughty.

We've had a rather busy weekend, and I almost feel glad to be going to work this afternoon to catch a break! Friday was the Parent-Teacher interviews up at the school. Both kids got a glowing report, which was nice. Lara's day was very social: a friend over for a play in the morning, and then a different friend over for a play in the afternoon. We went down to the footy oval in the afternoon and flew Jacob's kite (a birthday present from his Nan). It was such fun! All of us were giggling and running with the kite. It almost felt like one of those Hallmark moments.

I've been busy creating cards again. Trying to get my head around some masculine cards in time for Father's Day (September). I pretty much suck at masculine cards... Here are a few non-Father's day cards I've been creating lately.

One of my good friends is just in the process of announcing her pregnancy (you know who you are!!). A huge congratulations to your little family!!

I'm tentatively planning a trip to Las Vegas in July 2008. My gorgeous American friends have decided it's time for another get-together. Our last one was in 2003 in California, so it's probably about time we did it again. My darling friend Kazzy is thinking about joining me, so if she can come too, it's going to be a very awesome holiday.

And other exciting news. Drum roll please... we are getting a new Ford Territory. OMG! Someone suggested that I had drugged Steve in order to gain permission for this foray into debt (my husband, God bless him, hates owing money on anything). Watch this space for pics of my newest toy. No word yet on how long it will take.

Time for one last card:

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Today my eldest boy turns 7! Wow, before I know it he'll be turning 17... We are planning a party for next weekend. He has asked for a party in the park so that they can play "footy". Boys are such delightfully simple creatures. LOL That's the kids' birthdays out of the way for another year. Starts all over again in February 2008 with both Oscar's and Lara's birthdays. I will have all three kids at school next year. I'm so excited I can hardly sit still. Oscar is mega-ready for school, being the oldest kid at his Kinder. I'll miss him, since we've had a lovely year with just the two of us at home, but I doubt if I'll be spending all my FREE time crying and pining. hehe

Oooh, gotta go. Meeting a friend for coffee. Have a great day.

Miserable Tuesday

Brrrrrrr! It's cold, wet and generally miserable here today. The sun has not peeked out once. We have abandoned all idea of any outdoor activities and have been slaves to the heater and winter woolies today.

I have been busy today, making cards, sorting business stuff. I've had a pretty lazy couple of weeks with the school holidays and heaps of work, so it really is time I sorted myself out.

Here are a couple of things I've been working on today:

MIA

Wow, time flies. I've been working heaps, and a few night duties thrown in there too, thus my absence. Not much has been happening around here. The school holidays are nearly over. Yay! Yes, I know I said I was looking forward to it, but the novelty of the sleep in has worn off, and I'd much rather have the kids back at school and out from under my feet. I swear, if I hear "Mum, there's nothing to do... " one more time...

As I await my massive tax return (should only be a couple of days away) I have been reflecting on purchases that have made (and continue to make) me so very happy. Here's my list, in no particular order:

1. Dyson vacuum.
2. My SLR camera.
3. My slow cooker
4. MM trimmer
5. cuttlebug.
6. Our massive chest freezer.


That's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure if I had the Ford Territory, it'd be at the top of my list. hehe Yes, I'm still lusting after it.

Impressive

Impressive is my organisational skills. I just put down a deposit on the kids' Christmas present! I thought about this for them last year, but ran out of time, so I got in early this year. They, like most kids, love the trampoline. I have thus far denied them the pleasure of having one, due to having seen countless injuries as a result of trampolines in my nursing career. Two years ago, while Steve and I had a holiday in Qld, we saw the Springfree Trampoline at a shopping centre. We thought it was a great idea, as it is very safe etc. Then, yesterday, Lara went to play at a friend's house after netball. When we went to pick her up, all 5 kids spent 30 minutes jumping on the trampoline. I wouldn't usually allow that many kids, but this one had a safety net. Still those hard, dangerous springs though... So tonight, after consulting Steve, I went online and took the plunge. Very expensive, but worth the peace of mind I think. This is it...

Stupid thing saved it as blue when I "right-clicked" it... whatever!

On Saturday I was in my PJ's until 10.40am. Woo Hoo! Today I had to change earlier due to AusKick (Jacob) - he kicked two goals today. Also impressive.

Made lamb shanks in the slow cooker yesterday. To. Die. For. This is the second time I've cooked them. I think they have replaced risotto as my new fave food. I cooked Lentil soup in it today. Haven't tasted it yet, but you can't go wrong with a good red lentil soup. Surely...

Lara starred in netball yesterday. She went an hour early and played most of the game with the Grade 4's (they were down a few players). Then her usual game with her fellow Grade 3's. She was a bit disappointed as she didn't get to play in goals (her fave, and probably the best position for her - last week she shot 10 goals!!!!), however I told her that she had to accept the change around in positions. She informed me that she'd played Wing Attack for nearly 2 whole games now! LOL She's getting to be such a "miss". Ages 11 through to 20 are going to be... interesting! After speaking to friends with girls in Year 7, I can say that I am very happy to only have one girl. And I think the fact that she only has brothers saves Lara from being a bit "bitchy" as some of her friends (who only have sisters) are prone to be. I only had a sister, and I remember I was a bit of a bitch at times. Surely not me, with the halo intact??????

Have made a few more cards, and actually scrapped on Friday and today!! However, my burst of creativeness does not stretch as far as scanning them, so you'll just have to take my word for it.