Day 3

Sea World

We were off to an early start (lucky as we were sent to the wrong bus stop) and when we finally did find the bus it was an easy trip to Sea World. I had fond memories of Sea World as a child and it had changed sooo much.....sadly on a HOT 28 degree day the water park was closed until Friday....grrrrrr. When we arrived we saw a family swimming and feeding the dolphins. I promise we will do that one day once the kids meet the 120cm height limit.

We found the Sesame Street rides and were happy to see 98cm was enough to get Max on with an adult. Max went on all the rides he could with Darren and loved going on 'Big Birds' bounce all by himself. He was very amused by this ride, he giggled and laughed and then tried to look serious but could not contain the giggles. He looked so casual and grown up. Max went on this ride about 4 times.

We then found the Viking Boat ride and I challenged Darren to take Max on, I was soooo sad the NO PREGNANT women sign was up AGAIN!!! Here they are enjoying the ride....Darren refused to look the moment they got to the DROP.

We then sat and enjoyed an ice cream while watching the Sesame Street show. It was so hot and after some walking and exploring Max decided to play in the Elmo "water sprays". He spent just under an hour running in and out and jumping and skipping in and out of the water. All day he insisted on going back.

The dolphin show was brilliant. This truly must be one of the most fantastic jobs on earth. We enjoyed front row seats too!

We went on the scenic cabin ride across the park, looked at all the sting rays and said our final goodbye to the 'water sprays'. Max bought an octopus from the shop and we headed to the RSL for some early dinner (same as yesterday as it was YUMMY).

I was tired but Max and I still went for a swim in the heated pool at the apartment for an hour. It was so relaxing. Max followed some older boys around and had a ball jumping in the water with them. He kept running after one of them calling "boy come and jump with me, come on boy come and swim". We went to bed before 10, knackered.

Day 2

Shopping and Swimming

Max came into our room and announced in a very surprised voice “Mum the sun is up here…can you see it???? I can see it, it’s ok”. I nodded and said good morning. Max said “it’s ok mum you can get up and look out the window mum and see the sun”.


It was bright at the early hour of 6:30 I tell you. I was blinded by the sun dazzling over the water. Looking down from the 26th floor you could see so much movement and action even at this early hour of the morning. I got up and prepared some breakfast…Daz kept sleeping.

We decided to spend the day relaxing and shopping. I spent some time looking at the map and all the attractions. Then at 10am we were on the bus to Pacific Fair. We hit the surf shops and I started Christmas shopping. Darren got a massage and an ice cream and a toy alien kept Max happy.

Max fell asleep in the stroller and when we got on the bus the cranky bus driver instructed us to get him out. I tell you carrying a 16kg sleeping child on a bus was not EASY for a pregnant ladies back. We got him back in the stroller and went and had lunch at the local RSL.....gotta love a yummy RSL lunch, fish and salad for me, T-Bone for Daz. Max ate some chips and nuggets when he finally woke up.

When we got back to the apartment we changed into our swimmers and explored the pool downstairs. It was gorgeous but still a little chilly with all the shade from the palm trees. Max went down the slide once and I had to hold his hand, when he hit the cold water it took his breath away so we warmed up in the massive indoor heated pool.

I forgot to mention the 'Haunted House Shop' we found it on our first night....as we walked back from dinner tonight Max requested to go there again. He was really scared of the monsters the first night but still insisted on going back. Here he is on the first night (I sadly lost over 25 photos of the holiday, Day 2 ....never delete while engaged in a conversation, I am lucky I never lost the whole holiday).

Our GOLD COAST HOLIDAY - Day 1

On a beautiful and very HOT Sydney weekend we flew out to the gorgeous Gold Coast. This trip was for our 10th wedding anniversary in October. A much needed break since our last holiday in Sept 07.

A delay was not what you want to hear about with a 3.5 year old in a busy airport. Max’s first time on a plane was an exciting experience and he did really well. I loved the fact that by the time I sat in my seat he had his seat belt on and was ready to go. Sadly the captain was not and Max chatted about the whole experience until take off. I loved the look on his face as the plane lifted off the ground. He was good the whole trip and took most things in his stride.

Our apartment was GORGEOUS...I tell you I was happy with what we got for such a great price. A massive apartment with everything y0u need. A massive indoor and outdoor pool with pirate ship and water slide. Great service, sensational views, one block from Surfer's fantastic shops and beach and a bus stop right outside our door.

We did a quick food shop, a look around and then back to the apartment to watch a DVD.

My poor boy started to cry just as bedtime approached as he wanted to go home. He was very tired and sad and he let out a few massive sobs with a plea to return home straight away. We played a game of memory and he did well to fall asleep in his massive room with little fuss once he started to understand we would go home in a few days.

Sept 7 - 13

Week 7 at school and the term is flying by!!!!Max had his Olympic Fun Day at Pre School. I had a great time taking a group through the course of "swimming" with goggles, cycling, shot putt, trampolining, gymnastics and an obstacle course. It was well organised and a successful fundraiser. It did not get off to a great start for Max who was tired from a rough nights sleep......when tired look out as Max is slowly learning how to deal with issues that arise. He had a bad morning.......I was totally embarrassed and confused.....HOW can a sweet but confident boy suddenly become a BRAT....a show off???? Was he having a bad week?? Anyway after a bad morning he turned the day around and enjoyed every activity with his friends. We had a really nice picnic BBQ and Max and his 2 friends Rhys and Andrew enjoyed their ice block and some laughs.



Max ended up at the doctors the next day with some pain and discomfort in his lower stomach. argghhhh a busy few days with baskets of washing and ironing, the need to pack for QLD and lots of housework.

We flew out of Sydney on a HOT Sunday ........yipppeeeeeee....gotta love long service leave!!!! GOLD COAST here we come!!!!!!!!

Aug 31 - Sept 6

This working week (a 5 day working week) ended with lots of LATE nights and lots of laughs and girly giggles. On Friday night I went to Anabel's jewellery party and then stayed up chatting with Tina and Karen....I crawled into bed at 1.30am.



I backed up for Saturday night and it was SENSATIONAL. On Thursday lots of us at work decided to go to Mounties to watch 2 of the teachers at our school perform in the girl group Mahogany. They were great and the LOOK on their faces when they came out to 23 of us in the front row was priceless. Part of their act saw Karen and Narelle up on stage.....I laughed so hard I could not get a good photo as I was shaking hysterically. I was called upon but I used pregnancy as MY EXCUSE!!!!! getting up on stage did make me feel sick next to the 4 Mahogany hotties. Maureen and Faye (with their 2 other sisters) rocked and they made us all proud to say we work with them. Another night where I got into bed after 1am again. When I got home Max and Darren had set up a camp out in the lounge room. They were sooo peaceful when I arrived home....I could not wake them!



Sunday was Father's day. We had a quiet start to the day. Max had lots of preschool gifts for Daz and we brought him Underbelly Season 2. We then went to my Dad's to say hello, poor Doreen was not very well and he was stressed and running around trying to get lots done. We helped him get to the shops and get a few things done. He is such a caring man. We kept on the move to Darren's mum's to say goodbye as she was off to Hawaii.......lucky woman!!!!!

I just wanted to have dinner and hit the sack .......but I couldn't.....wouldn't lol....It was time for the annual IDOL party.....were 12 girls had more giggles and the annual IDOL sweep was determined and the dares to match. My IDOL is Hayley and for once I might have a chance of top 5!!!!!! I got to bed at 12...yawn....some needed lesson prep for Monday and the need to tidy up parts of the house.

just because

I love this Russell and Max photo taken for August

and winter is OVER....Yippppeeeee I LOVE SPRING.

happy birthday to my mum tooxxxxxxx

I maybe a ........

I maybe a bitch ...but I am the PICK of the litter...

Yes this was my status from status shuffle on facebook and coincidentally I tell you it really summed up ME from Thursday night to Saturday morning......just things were not right and i flew off the handle or voiced my RIGHTEOUS opinion at everything said or done by anyone in 10m of me. I think it was set off by my hard working and over tired husband that came home with smelly feet again and GOD bless his smelly feet for all his hard work but I am SICK of being here sometimes and he is at work, there is only so much good conversation that Max can provide....we sooo need a holiday together.

the mood was also not helped by a high school boy calling me a S*$% on school grounds when I asked him to stop bullying the young children at my school and leave......but then I am not going to start raving about the kids on the wrong track or I could be here all night.

I have been taking minimal photos lately too.........WHY......well one reason is I am tired and we have been just been in routine with nothing much exciting happening in August ...then the other could be i have decided to catch up on 2 years of photos that need to be placed into slip in photo albums because even though I scrapbook I still have a need for the "normal" photo album. This is just what HALF of my scraproom looked like....

they were everywhere in little piles while I sorted and looked back to my trusty files to get everyone of over 1000 photos in order...i gave up and still have at least a year to go...sadly school work made me stop

AND this week I head back to FULL TIME work until DEC 16!!!!!! DUE date DEC 25.....gee i love my job don't I!!!!! lol just tooo much to do so I feel like "go back full time" earn the money and get paid for what I would be doing at home anyway, plus I need to save for 2010 and afford a new camera!!!!!! so the count down is on

10 working days to long service leave

then 10 working days to 2 weeks school holidays

then 79 working days until MAT leave

99 in total....better than 100

24- 30 August

WOW another non eventful week. I was tired and OFF. I went out and splurged on a new pram.
I took the school netball team away on Friday and it made me realise that no many of them have sporting talents and sadly they don't play on the weekend. On Saturday Max and I lazied around the house and I washed clothes and sorted 1000s of photos. We remembered the monthly Russell shot and ate yummy homemade pizza. The August winds came and seem to have gone....roll on Spring

17 - 23 August

A normal routine week with lots of coughing by me thrown in. A late Tuesday night due to a Mathletics meeting and parent teacher night. Darren helped out and took Max to swimming. Max was a tired and cranky boy that tested me all week. We went and saw Rebecca and Brooke in their netball final (a great win) and shared a nice lunch. Max ate the biggest Hot Dog, i sooo wish I had my camera. Ended the week with a relaxing Sunday at home.

Parenting...not for the faint hearted

BOYS WILL BE BOYS????

The week started with this gun LOVING child who has no guns at home going to a friends place and falling in love. No big dramas there really!!!! He got his fix but then the rest of the week was a tester. Hitting at preschool and family daycare refusing to go to sleep and carry on over eating dinner every night (I know is was not because of the guns, just a growing boy pushing his limits). I have come to the conclusion bed time needs to be earlier and a minimum of one hour naps might help curb the anger issues...??!!!! only time will tell.
I have wondered a lot this week what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong. Preschool say he is bright and very verbal but just wants his own way.......ummm sounding a bit like me there I think. We are working on dealing on what to do when things make him angry and it is not ok to hit........I ask you where is the manual on 3.5 year-old boys????? I need it!!!!!

Aug 10 - 16

The week ended with sensational weather. I am not getting my HOPES up that we are out of Winter yet, but I tell you there are only a few cold "get ups" left this year I think. Sunday was 26 degrees and beautiful.....made me realize Max has grown and his shorts from last year nearly don't fit and some shopping is needed. We spent the warm afternoon in the sunshine in Karen's street with the kids riding bikes and the adults eating nice cheese and dips and the for those of us who were not pregnant champagne or beer. It was still warm at 6pm. Max was in love with Declan and Phlynn's guns, he shot everything that moved and told the boys numerous times they were cool!!!!

The rest of the week was filled with routine. Max discovered SCUBA diving in the bath. I handed out $900 worth of pies at preschool and continued on with Max's bug quilt. I was thankful this week that the staff at my school are a GREAT bunch and I will miss BPS next year, seriously we have a NICE staff and that makes all the ups and down there worth it in the end.

However we got the sad news this week that Doreen (Dad's partner) has months left with her battle with cancer......I hope that she holds on as long as her body will cope. I feel for her and my dad. She is looking weaker and Max asked "are you sick?" When she said yes, he told her "I will send my dad over and he can fix you, he fixes everything". I wish this could be fixed my sweet boy. xxxxxxx

the quilt "bug"

well I have not scrapbooked since the 4th of July retreat. I miss it and I am busy keeping my journaling up to date for the day I pick it all back up again

I started this BUG quilt in the July holidays and I love it. It is for Max. It is not for his bed it is a quilt to have on the lounge for those cold winter afternoons and nights. I am hoping it will be finished soon!!!! Going off the temps predicted for tomorrow in Sydney (28 degrees) I am sure once this is finished it will be enjoyed next winter!!!! All I have to do is addd the black sashing to the rows, then join it all together, quilt and bind!!!!!! I Started collecting bug fabric years before Max was born as the second I saw the pattern I was in love with it. One day I hope to make a massive eye-spy quilt.

Aug 3 to 9

Week 2 at school and lots of planning and fractions with Stage 3 was an experience.

Max went back lessons with Debbie on a Tuesday, she was his first ever swimming teacher besides me and she is sooooo gentle and kind, I missed her touch. I love watching him do his laps and bop up and down in the deep end.

My mum is not well and had a mini stroke.

I continued with pie drive preparations and we raised $830. A nice night was had at the Preschool committee meeting too.

Max enjoyed himself at Alex's 5th birthday and I had a nice catch with Alison after and a little shop. I went home tired and sick and rest all Saturday night.

I felt miserable Sunday but still managed to clean after a sleep in. Sunday always flys by.

July 27 to Aug 2

Back to WORK and Max's weekly routine.

I tool 4 photos all week.

The weather is grand, warmish days I HOPE that means the end of winter is near.

I had my 19 week ultra sound and all is great.

I counted over $3000 worth of orders for Max's preschool pie drive. The double checking and counting drove me nuts.

I attended an interactive whiteboard inservice that was fantastic, I love the board in my room.

I planned ....fractions, time, mass, decimals......I love planning for Maths. Loving stage 3 too.

Max is obsessed with Ben 10...they eat weet-bix too!!!

He went up to a much harder class in swimming and now swims laps of the 10m pool....the 2 girls in his class are a head and half taller than him and they just looked at him when he walked over like "look at this little baby" but he kept up and I soooo wish the light was good enough to get a shot of him standing there next to 4-6 year old girls and swimming like a fish. just a few more weeks and the sum might be up to get me some nice natural light in the sky light.

A nice restful Sunday.........Darren cooked a snapper on the BBQ and Max refused to eat "the poor fish" he just sat and looked at it's head. Did not help he watched "Nemo" the night before.

Wedding Dance Hype !!!!

Have you seen the Wedding Dance that has had over 12 million hits in 10 days on You Tube???

This is what their divorce will look like

July 20 -26

The school holiday fun continued with a nice week at home.

m- A sleep in and a PJ day!!! Who does not love PJ days. We played some games, watched some TV and played cars. We stayed in them ALL DAY!!!! We enjoyed a "special milk" (strawberry smoothie) and a toasted sandwich together too.

t- A very warm July day meant we went out to the park. You enjoyed riding your bike as you were becoming better at learning how to use the brake. You still managed to have 2 falls. One you went flying over the top into the muddy grass as your wheel clipped the gutter and the second a boy crashed into you and knocked you backwards. I am happy that you own a helmet. You also loved playing on the swings and flying fox. We ate hot chips at home in front of the TV...we were so relaxed.

w- Another sleep in followed by PJs to midday. It was another warm day so i did lots of washing and cleaning and we went for another bike ride in the afternoon. You were funny as you were worried we lost your house as we went a long way from home. We also got the oven fixed.

t- A morning of doing nothing except dancing in front of the TV and building lego houses. I cleaned and ironed. A visit to Dr Fulcher and a shop at IKEA and scraploot.

f- A sleep in of course!!!! then to the shops for some toysale items for presents. We bought Toy Story snap and playing it was difficult as you wanted to KEEP all the cards with your fav characters on them. We were in bed by 9am

s- I panicked as nothing was done on my holiday list of things to do. I cleaned a bit more and then we played out the front with dad. A nice BBQ for dinner. I did school work to the early hours of the morning.

s- Alanah's 9th birthday. A fun afternoon playing with all the kids and eating yummy food.
Sadly the holidays are over and we face 10 more weeks of routine!!!!!!!!! minus the week we will be on the Gold Coast.

3.5 exactly today

Today was Alanah's birthday and I know it is the day I can start saying your age plus the half.
Going with usual tradition i took lots of photos of our day today.

You at 3.5

You are a little superhero in training. You love to pretend to save people. You love Spiderman and Ben 10!!!!

You have learnt to quickly follow up anything naughty you do with a "sorry i am sooo soooorrryyy"to try and redeem yourself. If I don't see you do it and then I ask you about it you say "don't be cranky mummy don't be cranky".

You like to play memory and are very good at it. Snap is hard work as we play with Toy Story cards and you just want to keep your favourites.

You love to use my camera and have taken some great shots.

You are a charmer with phrases such as "I was sooo worried about you". "I am sooo glad you are back". "You are my best friend".

You have been known to growl at people??!!!! Sometimes your mood is very hard to predict.

You carry your Roary bag packed with your favourite toys around with you. You still sleep with lots of toys in your bed and have a quick play and chat with them before you fall asleep each night.

I love how you are affectionate to toys. You picked up Woody and said "Hi Woody did you have a good sleep?" "Penny I love you sooo much you are my favourite puppy."

Your hair is getting darker.

You are always saying "We need to buy that one" if you see something you like. There is always something being ASKED for or added to the Santa list!!! You try very hard to negotiate.

Everyone says they love your laugh.

You are not tooo excited or talkative about the baby on the way. You want a scooter not a brother or a sister.

You are funny and exaggerate any story.

You long for Christmas. You will watch a Santa DVD and ask "when will it be Christmas time again".

You are 95cm tall and weigh 16kg.

Today was a cold July day so we lazed around the house until we needed to get ready for Alanah's birthday party. We took some Russell shots before we left and then it was party time. All the kids had a ball in the back of Uncle Mark's boat, the big kids were pretending to water ski and you were the driver and also loved pulling in the ropes. It was a great afternoon. You ate your sausage on a roll plus some of mine and then enjoyed a massive piece of chocolate cake. All you wanted to do was join in the big kids games and followed them all over the house. You were tired towards the end and easily frustrated. Tyler and you enjoyed a few testy NO I am boss moments". You crashed as soon as we got in the car but as I tried to put you in to bed you decided 15 minutes sleep was enough and insisted on catching up with some TV! tantrum city...brushing your teeth was messy and an anger out burst saw a cup of water thrown over the floor. Off to bed at 9.30.....I wonder how you will wake as the school holidays are OVER and it is back to routine this week!!!!!!!

my story teller

my little exaggerator. What comes out of your mouth sometimes makes me want to have a paper and pen handy constantly.
Today we were on top of the hill in our street on your bike and I said if you used the brake you could slowly go down the (smaller) hill. You suddenly jumped off and said
"No way, if I fall I will hit my head and blood will go on the ground.....then I will hurt my arms too and they will fall off and then I will cry and I wont be able to eat my dinner".

Speaking of dinner you eat most things and are rarely fussy but when it comes to dinner unless it is meat you don't eat it. I served lasagna tonight and when you saw it it screamed loudly and ran the other way.


love you Max you are one in a million.xxxxxx

July 13 - 19

Adding 2 more things to my LIST - photography homework and school work...wow with 4 days left i might never get through the first few going on the lazy day I have had today!!!!!

The holidays are HERE...YIPPPEEEEE

m- food shopping and a good house tidy. Max got his dream toy today for doing big arms at swimming and fantastic backstroke, so he spent the day with his beloved "Roary apart".

t-A PJ day and I cleaned the laundry from top to bottom. the dryer had left marks on the wall and DUST was THICK in places so a good scrub down left it NICE!!!! Karen and Mark came over with the kids after dinner and the kids played while we had dessert. Max was funny as he ran into the kitchen screaming "Guys guys...there is something wrong with Alananh" we all were ready to RUN to her aid when he finished with "she has stopped playing with me".

w- Shopping, medicare, clothes shopping, chores and lots of relaxing in front of the TV on a cold winters day.

t- a nice lunch with Alison, Narelle and the kids.

f- Karen's wedding, a great play and photography session in the park and a great night out at the wedding partying with the bonnyrigg crew. I was exhausted by the time I crawled into bed at 12.30.

s- a sleep in, picked up Max and I had a bad headache so we had a nap that lasted from 2-6pm!!!!! We Both stayed up to 1am!!!!

s- Watched Tayla play soccer, visited Gill, Bren and baby Cooper and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Mark and Karen's.

a page and a list

this is the ONE 12x12 I managed at the retreat...I will photograph the 8.5x11s soon.
Since I have been sleeping in and not getting much done these holidays I NEED to get a wriggle on as time is sadly slipping away.
Ten things I need to achieve after getting a few things done today, including booking our Gold Coast holiday and applying for long service leave.

organise DVD preschool fundraiser
pay all bills and start tax organisation
clean out the drawers downstairs
get as much as possible done on Max's quilt
sort and print photos
shop and find some new shoes for me
start cleaning out Max's old room
have some time out at the park and seeing friends
clean and iron the usual daily grind I have to keep on top off
buy and install a new oven