OOOPS forgot the title so this will be it

OK Another update in point form and again lots of piccies

We finally got to see some of this during the week.

  Sunshine . Was so nice to air out the house a little.

I have a very talented paper boy (who drives so probably paper man!). This is how I found my paper on Friday morning. Keep in mind that our front door is about 10m from the road and he throws the paper from his car!!!!!

Was is need of some new jeans and found these at the local op shop. They were brand new and only $4. They fit perfectly. Last time I needed new jeans it took 2 days of serious shopping to find the right ones so to get some so easily and cheap, what a gem!!!!

Declan completed his first year of Auskick. We celebrated with a family carnival and presentation day. the children had a great time and Declan was very proud of his medal.  The clinic was just a joy to be part of and Declan go alot out of it, I think we will be back next year.

This was Matilda just 1 hour ago. She didnt even finish her lunch the poor little poppet.  She is now tucked up safely in bed continuing her sleep, half her luck!!

Our dog had an unexpected and expensive trip to the vets yesterday. He has some issues with his liver which is going to cost us a bit more money over the next week or two. He seems OK at the moment so fingers crossed we can make him better.

OK the thunder is rumbling around us so better go and turn the computer off, I get a little nervous about blowing things up…. oh and I have to go and watch the lightning hehehehe.

Helen xxxxx

Its going to be a long one……..

Because I have found my camera again Been a bit slack with it lately so made a real effort to capture our daily lives again. Not sure if I am still doing the photo a day challenge. The last few months have been a bit hit and miss, will see what I can salvage from the photos I have taken.

Here we go…..

Saturday night whilst I was at Paper2 starting this……..

(Finally finished it last night, There are 8 more photos from around our house hidden in this LO and its my new blog header)

Steve was at home doing this……

Its his new toy for his PS3, an early fathers day present.  I had too laugh when I got home at 1am.  Atleast he found a use for the ironing board. Note that he didnt even take the time to get out of his horribly, dirty work clothes

On Sunday we decided to blow some cobwebs off the beast. It was Super Chevy Sunday at Sandown, its tradition that we cruise on down. It was the first “event” that we took our car to.

Took time out on Tuesday to enjoy the lovely weather.  Matilda is not use to going outside to play and just loved it. I would have loved it more if she was walking and not crawling through the mud in our backyard

At one point I turned my back on her for 30 seconds and found her on the trampoline!!!! AAARGH!!!!!

Our garden is starting to come to life and get ready for spring (which is next week YIPPEE)

My poor old dog is not having a good day, he has an upset tummy and left me a little clue on Rileys bedroom floor He is really starting to show his age and every little thing sends me into a panic with him hope is OK.

Riley was having one of his silly moments today so out came the camera. He had just had a milo and managed to get most of it on his face. Nice to see him smile though, seems like it doesnt happen that often , moody little creature he is.

I have a new toy also. I love the weather, love watching it change,love weather extremes,  love watching a storm roll in and love to know what it is doing….picked up this little gadget on ebay . 

I can see the min and max temps for the day as well as indoor and outdoor. (Note my house is not usually on 21 degrees.  Trying to do my bit for the environment and our hip pocket and keep the heater on 18 during the day. We put it too close to the heater duct so it needs to be moved)

I think thats about it. 

Hope you all have an amazing week, take care.

Helen xxxxx

Here I am :-)

Despite how it looks I am still around…….have been having some computer issues, or should that be internet issues.  You see this “other woman” has moved in and keeps on hogging the modem (and the TV and my husband!) all the time.   She goes by the name PS3 and spends most evenings downloading new games and stuff meaning I have been heading to bed early to watch the Olympics ( not a bad thing really).

There has been alot of this during the week………

I have walked to school more in the rain over the past 2 weeks than I have for the rest of the year. I know the rain wont last much longer as we have a 1000lt water tank ready to hook up and once that is done BAM! no more rain, I assure you  

Declan had Book Week celebrations at school so we picked this easy peasy costume for him to wear.  Got to love that Pirate face.  He has also moved up a level with his readers, Yay for Declan

The head lice won the battle so after much protesting he lost his hair

As you can see from this picture though it does not look too bad.  Today was the last day of proper Auskick, boy was it muddy.  Next week we have a Family Carnival and presentation day so that should be fun.

and this is Matilda showing off her handy work.  I know I should not encourage her by taking a photo but got to think about the scrapping first    Declan thinks she drew Mr Messy, I think he is right.  She does love to draw, just wish she would use paper.  She has started stringing 3 words together, such as “there she is” etc. All good and well I know but WHEN WILL THIS GIRL WALK???????????????. She “CAN” walk across a room quite easily, just chooses not to do it on a regular basis, very frustrating.  My new prediction is she will walk on the first day of our holiday.

Off to Paper2 tonight,  need a break and some time out with the girls. 

Take care all

Helen xxxxx

As much as I love the rain….

a little sunshine would be nice

Helen xxxxx

***More Snow***

Like most of Melbourne it seems, I could not resist the forecast of snow on Mt Dandenong so Mum, Riley and myself headed up into the hills. It was so beautiful wandering around Olinda, stopping for lunch and popping into a few antique shops along the way.  Such a novelty and so different to see snow in a town and not just on top of a hill like the previous week at Donna Buang.

This was the main street in Olinda

 We then headed up to Sky High where Bella got us with snowballs too! (see Carolines blog).  By the time we made our way back down the mountain the snow was starting to disappear but it was lovely while it lasted. We are so lucky to have the opportunity to see such a beautiful landscape only 30 minutes from home.   

In other news, I have a new washing machine . My old one was having a few issues so decided it was time for an upgrade. I have made the transition from top loader to front loader.  It is taking a bit of getting use to though I am sure the 800-1000 litres of water I will be saving each week will more than make up for it   To be honest I have had 2 new washing machines this week as the first one was faulty. The store I purchased it from were fantastic and had a new one deilvered within 30 minutes of my phone call. Just one of those things I guess (or should I say I hope) So far my 2nd new one is working like a dream. 

As promised here is a picture of Riley without his training wheels. He is riding around so fast now and has already mastered how to do a “skid”…. typical. 

You know that spring is just around the corner when you get a view like this from your back window.

and this

Still struggling to accept that it is already August!. We will be singing “jingle bells” before we know it!

The Olympics are exciting to watch, caught some gymnastics last night which I do enjoy. Tilly and I have our special little Go Aussie Go song we sing whenever we are watching it. She thinks its a hoot!.  As for Collingwood…… well atleast we ended an awful awful week on a high

I will end with cute “just because” picture. Not the best quality pic but I do love it anyway.

I know this post is all over the place, but it will have to do.

Have a great week guys, stay roasty toasty

Helen xxxxx

AAAHHH…..

The weight has been lifted Steve and I decided a few months ago to take charge of our finances and step number 1 was the Credit Card. It was a big decision to get rid of our “safety net” but it had to be done and now its gone…… followed a feeling of pure relief.  No more spending money we dont have.  We never went “crazy” with it and the balance owing was not that much but the temptation was always there.

We have warmed up again from our trip to the snow, and I managed to finally get the “smell” out of my car (white vinegar was the trick).  Riley has had a HUGE week, he no longer has training wheels on his bike YAY. It was his decision to take them off. You should see him go now…… no fear at all. He spends most of the day riding round and round and round the table outside, on Monday he was out there at 8am! I do have some pics but they are still in the camera so will share next time

Declan still has the odd “head lice” hanging around. I am not totally convinced that the one I found last night was not picked up at school that day because he wasnt there the night before!!!!!

Matilda is doing the usual, crawling around hahaha, I know she will walk eventually.  She has started to count to 3 (in her own way) and tonight I caught her singing the tune to Two and a half men!. Why do kids love that intro so much?  Her hair is suddenly growing again and is start to get quite thick and develop some little curls at the end. It also seems to be getting lighter so no idea what colour she will end up having, maybe strawberry blonde?

Will leave it there for now, I was scrapping but just couldnt get into it so better go and pack up the huge mess that is currently on my kitchen table.

Take care

Helen xxxxx

When it’s this cold…..

you may as well make the most of it!. Steve and I took the children to Mt Donna Buang today to have a look at the snow.  As you can imagine it was freezing (but if it wasn’t there would be no snow right?).  We packed sooo much stuff and all wore about 6 layers each though honestly it still was not enough.  We had a lovely drive up there in the new car, it was it’s first big run and it performed like a champ. It’s new car smell has been replaced with a lovely new odour thanks to Matilda who we discovered (twice!) does not travel well on long trips IYKWIM!.

Once we arrived and spent the next 20 minutes adding more layers it was time to have some fun.  We did the usual….. snowball fights, building snowmen etc.   The boys did enjoy it though it didn’t take long for their hands to get cold and the tears to start (see centre photo above),  poor mites.   Matilda seemed to enjoy it the most out of the 3 and only complained when she was put in the stroller for the trip back down to the car.

There was not alot of snow but enough to keep us all entertained. Honestly we were only out there for about 1 hour and that was definately long enough. It was nice to get back to the warmth of the car, even if it did smell.

We took ownership of Matildas first toy stroller this week. My sister had “upgraded” the ones for her girls so we saved this one from the scrap heap (Until Christmas, who knows what Santa will bring!). As you can see Matilda has take to using it as a personal roaming seat. So cute.  My sewing skills are being put the test again as I keep having to make repairs for some reason????.  To be quiet honest Matilda is not the one playing with this most of the time, its Riley. It lives in his bedroom  and he likes to sit the baby next to him when he has breakfast or sleeps. Matilda is still more interested in the boys cars, go figure?.

This next photo was just too cute not to include Its a rare shot of her giving her buba a big cuddle, usually she is trying to poke her eyes out, charming I know.

Also, does anyone have this problem…. this is my bench on a Thursday afternoon.   5 mintues earlier it was spotless and then…… school bags, kinder bags, shopping, mail, its complete chaos!.

Thanks for stopping by

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Helen xxxxx