February News From Us!

It's been quite a while since I gave an update on our family. And yes, I admit to being a slack poster! What can I say...life is busy!

The Superteen......has continued to work, eat, sleep and play. Notice that I didn't put 'study' in there! Grrrr! Don't get me started. He really is a fully fledged hormonal teen. He still has the girlfriend! Double grrrrr! But I am still biting my tongue over that one! He recently went on a week long, white water rafting camp to the Clarence River with school. Unfortunately, though it didn't last a week. He called us the day before he was due to return to say that he was on his way home. Why? Some kid upended his boat and all the tent poles are still sitting on the bottom of the Clarence River! That, along with the fact that the teacher in charge also capsized, cracked his boat and lost the entire camp's breakfast for the next day meant that he (the teacher) pulled up stumps (*sigh* cricket slang!) and headed home with our boys! Lol! I don't blame him!

Miss Ten......is continuing school, violin, choir and netball. Unfortunately, netball hasn't started the year well with a lot of issues regarding the team, training and management. Don't get me started! At present it is all still in discussion stage however we are hoping that we can work out a compromise. Apart from that her life revolves around friends, tv and pets and not necessarily in that order!

Dear Husband......is about to have a HUGE birthday! It is only going to be a small celebration between family but the place is booked, the cake is ordered and already my head is spinning in anticipation! (If only I could get him to mow the grass as efficiently!)

Me.......work, eat, sleep, run after kids, work, eat, sleep, run after kids....you get the picture! And yes, I am about to have a birthday, too...yay me! Did you realise that DH and I have birthdays that are close together? What does this mean?

Ruby and Jasper....have found an escape hatch. Not sure where it is but I've come home for the last 3 days to have them greet me in the front yard! Not happy!

Heat and the city...it's pouring here is Brisbane Town! After extremely hot, hot weather, it has begun to rain and already my water tank is overflowing.

The yard reno....The grass is fully laid on the back yard. Pity we don't know what to do with the top level and the gardens are being overrun by weeds.

And as for the trip....I'll keep you posted!


And the pic is of Ruby...who loves sitting on my lap when I'm on the computer and checking out what I'm doing. Excuse the messy desk though....that cleaning fairy must have been on strike on the day that this pic was taken!

Cricket 2010 - Australia Vs West Indies

We did our annual trek to the Gabba to see Australia play the West Indies in a one day international. The crowd was disappointing....I think that the extreme heat and the introduction and popularity of 20-20 cricket, not to mention the Valentine's Day date weren't helping! The game was a lot of fun though and yes, we won!

Ricky Ponting plays at the crease and goes on to make a century:

The early scoreboard:
Ponting again...it was soooooo hot there:
The wicket in action:
Drinks break:
West Indian batsmen:
Wicketkeeper and two slip fielders:
Mid pitch discussion between Ponting and the very yummy Mitchell Johnson:
MJ again...doin' what he does best!

A Sad Day For Brisbane

Many people in Brisbane and for that matter, Australia are still in mourning this week over the shocking death of 12 year old Elliot Fletcher at his school on Monday. I know that when I first heard the news, I stood in stunned disbelief. (For more info see here.)

For those of you who do not live in Brisbane, you need to know that the Shorncliffe/Sandgate area is one of the loveliest areas on the Brisbane northside and only about a 10 minute drive from my home. I have spoken of it here before. It sits alongside Moreton Bay and has managed to remain relatively unaffected by development up until recently. St Patricks College sits on the point and overlooks local houses, the foreshore parkland and bay beyond. As a family, we love to drive there, have fish and chips, go fishing, walking and cycling and investigate all of the interesting little shops in the nearby village. In fact, my wedding photos were taken on Shorncliffe pier. The words quiet, peaceful and family-oriented are all words that I would use to describe the area. Not an area that you would expect such a sad crime to happen in.

Watching the news over the last few days has been very disturbing. As a mother, my heart aches for both families involved in this incredibly sad tragedy. The thought of anyone losing their baby (and let's face it, they are still babies when you are their parent!) under any circumstances is heart-wrenching. As well, as the mother of a son who goes to another northside boys Catholic school, I have looked at images of boys in uniform mourning the loss of their classmate with looks of bewilderment on their faces and thought how incredibly close to home it feels. Every day my son goes off to school in those same little baggy grey shorts, long socks and similar grey shirt; every day I wave him off to the bus stop, effectively placing his safety in a system that we trust will protect our boys. Words cannot express the feeling of sadness I have now I realise how fragile that trust is.

I did not know any of the boys involved in this incident. I do know people who live in the area and I do know people whose sons go to that school. Like many, I have heard rumours but I think that we may never know the true story behind the events of last Monday.

What I do know is that there are two families in pain in Brisbane right now and my thoughts and prayers go out to both of them. May God hold all involved in the palm of His hand.

Fifteen Thousand!!!

That's the number of visitors that my blog has just clocked over on!!!

Thanks for visiting!

It's interesting to see what brings people to my blog! The most popular google searches that have brought people to my blog:

1) Osso Bucco Slow Cooker Recipe
2) Phone Delights (Please God, tell me that there isn't some rude connotation to this phrase!! I can't work out why it attracts people otherwise!!)
3) Fisher And Paykel Fault 49 (Boo Fisher and Paykel! This washing machine is one of our biggest regrets as far as purchases go. And judging by the number of people who have searched this term, we aren't the only ones!!!)
4) Mango Chicken Slow Cooker Recipe
5) No Fail Healthy Banana Cake

Yes, the recipes are popular. I'll have to find more to put up. And there are other terms that do come up frequently (present for dad, AFL footy for dummies and Cats the Musical have all had a few hits and I notice that the Gluten Free Chocolate Jaffa Cake recipe is starting to become very popular, too!

Holiday Update - February!

The bookings are almost complete!

We have decided to travel by plane from Paris to Venice.

Do you know of a good place in Venice to stay - preferably one with quad rooms?

Then we need to decide how we are getting from Venice to Rome, not forgetting a stop-over to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa in between. Ideas here from the experienced readers would be appreciated, too!

We have been fortunate enough to book our Rome accomodation. It was a bit hairy for a moment there when we thought we'd booked for the wrong week, but a rather expensive phone call late at night direct to Italy solved it all (amazing isn't it, how we eeeeexteeeend our vooooweeeeels when trying to communicate to someone who speaks broken English *blush*).

Sooooo...stay tuned! More info coming soon!

Holiday Fun

The holidays are now over :( and all the kids are back in school. I couldn't help but take a quick photo of our last holiday activity. Every post Christmas sale, I try to buy a 1000 piece jigsaw for us to piece together as a family. It's great fun and often involves the kids and me sitting down together and sorting and laughing our way through colours and shapes of haphazard pieces. This year's cat was relatively easy, completed finally by the Superteen whose competitive streak had him sitting in front of piles of jigsaw at all hours of the night and day in his determination for finality. Ah, it's the thing that memories are made from!