Who Goes Marching In??!!

Miss Eight had a school challenge....prepare a talk for show and tell about a Catholic saint.

Hmmmmmm! Do you know how many saints are out there? Hundreds, according to a quick internet search!

So after we'd narrowed down a few contenders for show-and-tell topic, we started reading up on the lives of these saints.

We found that a common element in quite a few of them was that they were nuns. Now, despite the fact that my children attend Catholic schools, Miss Eight was still confused as to what the role of a nun actually involved (goes to show how many of them are around really!). So I filled her in with the basics......devote your life to God, pray a lot, work, no marriage!

"What?' gasped Miss Eight in her serious manner upon hearing this. "No marriage? Oh no! That means that I have no chance of becoming a saint!"

She's obviously thinking ahead and yes, I did laugh my head off over that one!

'Burb Girl Meets Big Buildings!

I admit it. I am a 'burb girl! I love living on the outskirts of the city where you still get to utilize all the great aspects of city living without driving in the manic traffic to work everyday and where koalas and like still like to come for a visit.

But it always takes my breath away to see this view! There is something quite majestic about big buildings especially when they are the backdrop to a happy family game of mini golf on a sunny blue Sunday afternoon!

Enjoy the view!

Ptttt-Ptttt-Ptttt-Pttttt

Actually, that is Putt-Putt (or mini golf) as spoken by people who are frustrated that they can't get that little ball into that stoopid little hole! Ok, that was me! But Miss Eight was determined that broken finger or not, she was doing it....and she did....totally outclassing me! But we won't talk about that!

The Superteen decided to take a couple of his friends to have a belated celebration of his birthday. I admit that I win slack mother of the year award and kept putting the whole birthday celebration thing off! Today, it caught up with me and after lots of mini golf, pizza and other junk food later, we are all feeling like we've had a party!

Yesterday I spent the day at work (anyone heard of an ICT Certicate??!! Don't ask! I am sick to death of doing mine!) while the Superteen went to Wet N Wild with a church youth group day! I was so wishing that I could be there after my 5th hour of looking at a computer screen!

Hope that you all had a great weekend!

Our Latest Spend Up!

When I slipped and grabbed the back of the dining chair, only to have it give way under me (they were always coming apart!) and consequently, almost impaled myself on the remaining chair back post, I rang Dear Husband at work and told him that we desperately needed a new dining setting....and fast!! Thankfully, the remaining post was not sharp so only left a nice bruise on my abdomen but it was enough to scare me!

So here is our new table. It arrived today and its usefulness is obviously two-fold as the table is larger than its predecessor, giving us all much more elbow room!

Now all I have to do is buy new big square tableclothes cause obviously, I don't have any!

A Work Visitor!!!

Lookie at who visited my work yesterday! Sorry about the fuzzy photo but I only had my mobile on hand to snap the pic! The little thing looked so cute sitting up there and sleeping all day. It did wake around 3pm (not suprisingly) to nibble on some eucalypt leaves!

Too bad, it was gone today!

Our Weekend Round-Up!

This weekend......

Dear Husband mowed the long long grass! This is the down-side of summer.....every weekend it needs to be mowed!


Miss Eight, still with bandaged and splinted finger/hand had a friend over to play and still managed to use the Wii remote and play the DS Lite. Thankfully, her pointer finger and thumb are not bandaged, giving her much more mobility than expected!

The Superteen played cricket on Saturday and was the team wicket keeper. He cracks me up when he plays cause he gets behind the stumps and cheers on the bowler and gives instructions to the fielders. Too bad he dropped a catch!
Today, he has gone to play golf with his grandad! Thank goodness for grandads who take Superteens out for the afternoon......we are happy cause there is peace and quiet, the Superteen is happy cause he's out playing sport and grandad is happy cause he has a golf partner! Share the love, I say!
And I have spent today vacuuming my house! Bler! But the floors look fabbo!
Last night, we also took the kids out to one of the worst Chinese restaurants I've ever been to. It used to be great but I think it has new owners. My Chicken and Corn soup and Seafood Chow Mein had the consistency of hair gel! Yuck! I know, I know, I should have sent it back but hey....I'm kinda shy in situations like that!

Dear Husband and I also managed to watch the first two episodes of (the UK version) of Life on Mars now that we've bought the dvd. Great show and a bit of a blast from the past with all of the 70s fashion etc.

Oh and we've ordered a new dining table and chairs but more on them when they arrive!

How was your weekend?????

And ok, I've cheated and used free photos for my blog today cause I just couldn't be bothered going off and photographing all those things! The cricket keeping gloves and wii pic are from Wikepedia.com....there, surely that satisfies the terms of use on that site!!!! Lol!

This.......

This is the hand that played on the trampoline with big brother.

This is the hand that ran into big brother while playing on the trampoline.

This is the hand that has a finger that swelled right up after playing on the trampoline with big brother.

This is the hand that spent Friday night at the Royal Children's Hospital Emergency Department after playing on the trampoline with big brother.

This is the hand that got x-rayed at the Royal Children's Hospital Emergency Department after playing on the trampoline with big brother.

This is the hand that has the finger that chipped a bone and tore tendons from the growth plate after playing on the trampoline with big brother.

This is the hand that is now in a splint for about three weeks after playing on the trampoline with big brother.

This is the hand that has an appointment with the orthopaedic specialists after playing on the trampoline with big brother.

This is the child (with the wild hair!) that owns the hand that chipped the bone and tore the tendon from the growth plate after playing on the trampoline with big brother.

Ouchies!!!!

A Scary Glimpse Into My Next 6 Years

Is this what I have to look forward to? I can see many aspects of my Superteen in this (minus the piercings, of course!). But if it's as accurate as people tell me then I'm in big trouble!

Saturday Mornings

Saturday mornings now mean no sleep in as the Superteen returns to club cricket.

It's not so bad when the games are held at fields that are just down the road.

It's not so good when it's pouring rain and no one is telling the boys to stop playing. Even the Australian team doesn't play in rain this heavy!

Never fear, fun was had by all. The Superteen opened the batting but sadly only got 2 runs. We have tried to convince him that he should get some batting coaching out of hours, but like all teenagers, he thinks he's super cool at everything! Lol! He'll learn! He did wicket keep though and did a great job! Even in the pouring rain!

Summer's Almost Here

You know that summer is almost here when:

* Nanna's Day Lillies come out in flower.
* The lawn needs mowing every week.
* Mangoes are for sale in the shops.
* You start wearing shorts again.
* Bbqs under the back pergola are a necessity to survive the week.
* You have to buy the kids a whole new wardrobe cause nothing fits them anymore.
* You start watching what you eat to prepare for future swim suit wearing.
* Evening thunderstorms start reappearing.
* Television starts to put the big shows on (before the summer hiatus!).
* You put the soft cotton sheets back on the bed.
* The windows stay open - just slightly - at night.
* Cricket returns to television (Yayyyyyy and congrats to Ricky Ponting for his long awaited century).
* Christmas decorations start appearing in the shops.
* You start thinking about holidays!
* You have days that are over 30 degrees!

Nine weeks till Summer holidays! Not that I'm counting!!!! ;)

Imagine It!

Just imagine it.....a typical Sunday night at our house.....we are all doing our usual routine....eating, dishes, chatting, etc etc. The television hums along in the background. No one is really paying too much attention to it....we seem to drown it out with our noise.

Suddenly, everyone stops. Everyone turns. Everyone watches and listens to one voice...on the television!

And so that was our evening last night when Wes Carr sang on Australian Idol.

Abba night was always going to be a bit of a worry....would it be just a karaoke mime night? It seemed that way for a while but Wes changed it around! Personally, I think that this guy has it all in the bag. In fact, he's leading by a 'country mile' right now! What a class act!

Anyone who can do this to Fernando and have our whole family stop in stunned silence deserves all of the accolades that he gets!

And if you don't believe me, click on the youtube link below (once again, don't forget to turn my imeem player off to the right of your screen first) or check out his myspace page. (Btw, I'm hoping that he does a Neil Finn song soon cause he just has the voice for it!).

So who was it who said, after the Olympics that I'd have to get heavily into Australian Idol? Gee thanks for the prophecy! Lol!

Today......

Today, my house is ringing with the sounds of the rugby league football grand final (heaven help me!) and the sounds of the males in my house hollering at the try-scoring players on the screen.

The Superteen had his cricket cap day today and is a little worried about the team he's in (or in his words, 'We are gonna get hammered this year!').

Miss Eight has been walking Ruby around in her new harness so that the poor dog can 'get used to it'!

I've been grocery shopping (Superteen says that he's going to cook ALL week! Consequently grocery bill was so large that you couldn't leap over it!)

And throughout it all, there is an underlying sadness as we all farewell another lot of holidays!

Tomorrow is the start of the new school term! That means that it's back to work for me and back to school for the kids! :( Not that I have done anything particularly exciting on these holidays, but having the opportunity to sleep in and to have no early-morning-we-are-running-late-get-out-of-the-house-fast stress has been magnificent! In fact, my days have been spent cooking, reading, watching tv, looking after kids and basically just relaxing! Do you like the jigsaw that we all did? This not-so-simple but inexpensive puzzle provided hours of family-friendly fun!

So roll on Summer! Counting down till Summer holidays now!

Cheap Chocolate Brownies! Yum!

I like to call these cheap chocolate brownies cause they are easy peasy to make and don't need any expensive ingredients. In fact, it doesn't even need chocolate (let's face it, who ever has any of that just sitting around in the cupboard??!!), only cocoa powder but is still absolutely delicious!

I scrounged this recipe from my mother who makes these superbly (too superbly - I'm thinking of hitting the salads hard this summer!). It really is made from ingredients that you find in your pantry and is just so easy to do.

Be warned though - they are definitely more-ish!!!! Yummmmmmm!

Combine 1 cup brown sugar (pressed into measuring cup), 1 cup self raising flour, 1/2 cup dessicated or shredded coconut and 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl. Stir in 125 grams melted butter and 1 beaten egg. Mix well. Press into greased lamington tray. Bake at 180 degrees (that's Celsius for all of you o/s people!) for 15 minutes. Cool. Cut. Sprinkle with sifted icing sugar. Enjoy!

Who's Been Playing With Mummy's Camera?

I wonder!

I've also found pictures of dog, toys and artwork! Do you think she's trying to tell me anything??

Legs Eleven!

Well, not quite eleven.....actually eight to be precise!!!

There's nothing nicer than curling up on the couch with child and dog! That's what makes holidays and families worth it!