New school year

Wow - my baby is heading into High School. I have no idea how that happened so quickly. She only just started Kindergarten - I'm sure that was only a year or two ago! Both kids had nerves kicking in the last few days. Kyle is nervous about the changes that come with year 9 and Tasha with starting a new school. She has heard all the regular horror stories about high school so was getting more and more concerned as the days got closer.
This morning she was up at 5:30. Dressed and ready to go by 6:30! At 8 o'clock we left home, dropped Kyle off at school and then headed down to Harry Sawkins Park for a quick photo shoot with her friends Kaysha and Maddy before heading in convoy to school so they could walk in to school together.

Australia Day

Australia Day this year was a quiet one! We had been planning on catching up with the Baldwin's over Christmas and time kept slipping by so it was lovely to spend time with them on Australia Day with a bbq lunch. Tasha made us a chocolate cake and decorated it - we had fruit, choc mousse pavlova and just had a lovely time. Oh and the girls got into the zinc! Very Aussie!

More school holiday fun

Wow the school holidays are over. In December when the kids went on hols it seemed like such a long period but boy has it flown. We have crammed lots into this break - movies, days out etc
We have spent quite a bit of time dining "al fresco" at our outdoor table and have watched the frangipani tree flower - this plant is a very special one for me as it was given to me as a tiny cutting about 5cm high made just for me as Jack had heard I loved frangipanis. We have watched this little fella grow up - he is getting so big. Tasha has taught him to sit and to fetch..... we just need to work on stopping him jumping up. He provides us with heaps of entertainment and has so much energy. He loves water, loves chasing his tail and is very cheeky.

We had this guys birthday - and celebrated with a day out

We started at Minnamurra rainforest - where Tasha was devastated to find out that there was no mobile phone reception. she didn't realise that such places existed ~L~

We had a great time walking through the rainforest and exploring .

From there we went on to Carrington Falls which were just amazing. They were flowing really well. I was amazed at the people who were walking right up to the edge of the falls - one guy was standing in the water leaning over the edge of the cliff. Madness!

In a previous post I had a comparison pic of Kyle taken at Barrington Falls. Now it's Tasha's turn. Wow my girl seems so grown up.

From there we headed down to the water at Shellharbour and spent some time just sitting in the sun and relaxing.

Before heading to Hogs Breath for dinner! We had a lovely waitress and when she heard it was Tony's birthday she brought his dessert out with a sparkler in it! Tasha was very excited to see a chocolate fondue platter on the menu for dessert! Happy Birthday Tony.

The day after Tony's birthday we met up with the Layland family - Heidi was my support/partner in crime through our difficult teenage years. Not only did Heidi and I share our thoughts, our dreams, our angsts etc we also shared our families! When she had a fight with her parents she turned up at our place and when I thought my parents were being unreasonable (yeah okay that was quite often) I ended up at the Layland's and even called Jenny and Andrew my other Mum and Dad. It was great to see Heidi and meet her fiance Scott. Oh and to catch up with "little" Adam - Heidi's son who is now 17 and over 6 foot!

We spent some time in the garden transplanting some lilli pilli trees from Mum's garden to ours.

What a great holiday - in between working we got to spend time together - in the sun and prepare for 2011 and all it has in store.

Girls Night

Saturday night was a wonderful night. I had wondered how I would cope after spending the day walking in the sun but I was soooooo looking forward to a special night out.
Jane and I went out to Red Raven for dinner and dessert..... yes I twisted her arm and FORCED her to eat dessert..... and of course it would have been rude to make her eat it on her own! Hehehe. Oh and there is the fact that Red Raven make the most ammmmmaaazzzzzing desserts. Then we walked down to Bottlerocket for Cocktails (for me) and Mocktails (for Jane who was driving).
It was a great night - we chatted, we vented, we laughed, we mused over some of life's difficult questions and generally just had a great time. I am so glad I was able to do this and it has been such a great benefit to me. Thank you so much Jane!

Family fun

Firstly...... an updated family photo On Saturday we headed out to Fitzroy Falls after hearing from Davina how well they were flowing. We had a great time exploring the bush and seeing the falls from many different vantage points along the way. The tracks around there have changed so much and are well worth the trip. Unfortunately for those old enough to remember Fitzroy Falls from back when we were kids you can only walk along the rim on either side - you can not go down to the base of the falls any more.

Then from there we headed out to Belmore Falls for another little bush walk and falls lookout. Belmore Falls are beautiful and I love the double drop.

Last time we went to Belmore Falls was about 2 1/2 - 3 years ago. Wow my boy has grown up heaps since then! He has changed from a boy to a young man and I am very proud of the man he is growing up into.
What a great day out. All you need is some petrol money and some planning for a picnic lunch (ours was more spontaneous so we ended up at Robertson Pie Shop!) and you have a great day with fun, fitness and a lot of great family memories.

Next on the plans is a day trip to Minnamurra Falls and Carrington Falls.........

Another holiday update

We finally got to catch up with my brother - we haven't actually seen him since we met up in Cowra in August for Uncle Les' funeral. He was unable to make it down for Mum's birthday and Christmas. He has recently moved to Sydney so hopefully he will be able to make it down more often to see Mum.
We had lunch together at The Grange. Mum has not been doing very well lately and the day before Mark arrived I really wasn't sure if she could cope but thanks to those wonderful staff at Palliative Care and their magic medication we made it through - she had a rough couple of pain filleddays afterwards to recover but was very glad to be able to laugh and smile with the family. We have had our other daughter with us a lot these holidays and it is lovely to see how well she fits in with us all. The other thing we have seen a lot of lately is salads. The kids love helping making the salad and they always come out with an interesting design and cut in different shapes and sizes each time. We have shared lots of laughs, lots of fun and (unfortunately due to the girls watching Prank shows on TV) lots of practical jokes. No, Tegan has not actually hurt her arm but she went home from here one day with ehr arm bandaged and some extreme story about the girls having a wrestling incident on the top bunk...... luckily her parents realised 1) I wouldn't allow that and 2) she was laughing too much to be in pain!

The other thing to provide us with laughs these holidays is this little chap! Buddy has grown so much and has that puppy cheekiness that keeps us on our toes. He loves running off with laundry.... he seems to have a fondness for Tasha's clothes....He loves running around the backyard chasing blades of grass.... he chases his tail and then walks around sideways because he doesn't want to let it go.

He loves cuddles and being around people...... He growls when you walk into the room but also wags his tail madly at the same time.... Tasha has already taught him to sit and he is ALMOST house trained

He will run laps of the yard if the kids are out there and just loves water.... he splashes in his water bowl, stands under any running water he can find and even joined me in the shower one day (much to my shock)

Holiday fun

What a holiday so far - I have had one week off but apart from that have only had a couple of days with the kids over these long summer holidays. We have fitted a lot into those days, we have been to movies, shopped, had mother/child days etc etc.
We played Monopoly..... well actually Lucasopoly.... and poor Kyle made the mistake of trying to take on three girls... he forgot the golden rule - girls stick together!!!! These holidays have also included some really hot days and with little money left in the budget the girls found there own ways to cool down. A packet of $2 water balloons kept them happy and amused (and yes they did clean up all the broken balloons afterwards)

And the good old tarp with no name detergent is another favourite. There was a lot more squeals and laughter this time as Buddy decided to join in the fun and would run along with the girls and go sliding along the tarp.

New year..... New look

Yes as you may be able to tell I have been doing some fiddling and giving my blog a new look for the new year. Not happy with it yet - will do some more fiddling later today.

New years Day

New year's day was a nice quiet one with a relaxed morning at home and then I met up with Mum and John to head up to Kiama to see the boys and their families.
We sat on the balcony of the cabin and had a great time catching up. It was something Mum really wanted to do and even though she was not doing well at all she enjoyed the time she got to spend with them. Why is always in the holiday period that things go wrong - I am so glad for the palliative care team and the pain killers they provide to Mum.

The view from the cabins is beautiful out over Kiama harbour. It is a lovely place to stay and if it is at all possible I hope we can join them up there next year.

I had to include this pic - long story but mention Mick and his mop to any of us and we find it quite intriguing. I have never heard a guy (or anyone for that matter) go on and on about how brilliant a mop is - EVERYONE heard about the amazing mop!

David Angela, Mick and Aunty Di

Mum and Aunty Di

Saying good bye to the boys.

Well it is now 2011..... I had thought this year just HAD to be an improvement over the last one but it doesn't seem to be heading that way. I really do not know how much more I can take and I am oh so sick of crying all the time. Oh well I know that life has to pick up from here as there is no way I can cope with one more thing hitting me.

New years Eve

After a busy day at Jamberoo we headed back to the cabins at Kiama for dinner and to watch the fireworks together. We could not have had a better position. The fireworks were set off at the base of the hill the cabins were on. The kids and I sat on the hill in front of the cabins and watched the fireworks explode directly overhead.

The balconies attached to the cabins are massive and we had heaps of room for everyone to sit and eat.

I had trouble with blogger and my photos tonight so they are a little bit out of whack

We had a great night and it was great to have a chance to chat and catch up with everyone.

Jamberoo

One thing I had promised the kids these holidays was that we would go to Jamberoo. When I was talking to Dave and Mick and they mentioned taking their kids there we all decided to spend the day there together. What a day we had! Tasha had Tegan with her and the girls went off exploring while Tony and I stayed with Kyle and we had a fun day. I was amazed with the amount of people in the park how often we ended up in the pool or on a slide next to a family member (although there were a lot of us scattered through the park.)

Don't have many photos of the day as cameras and water don't mix too well (note to self: when I win lotto invest in waterproof camera).

The park was busy (as we expected being peak holiday season) but the lines moved quickly and I think the longest we queued was about 15 minutes. We had a great group: Mick, Rylee and Elijh; Dave, Rowan, Henry and Amelia; Tanya, Lachlan and Thomas; Lisa (Tanya's friend) and her two girls as well as Tony, Kyle, Tasha, Tegan and I....... Angela, Steve and Di stayed back in Kiama with baby Dustin.

It really was a great day even if I did think we had lost the girls at one stage - (yeah okay slight meltdown ensued on my behalf at that stage). The girls gave everything a go. No matter how much we tried we could not get Kyle to try the Taipan but the rest of the crowd went on. Must say I had thought it would be...... well not sure what I expected but it was quite tame compared to what I had in my head.

Girls Day Out

As I have so little time off work these holidays we have tried to fit a lot into this post- Christmas week. We have seen 2 movies (Gullivers Travels and the new Narnia movie) and I promised both the kids a mother-child day each to do what they want together.
Tasha decided to go shopping! She had Christmas money that was burning a hole in her pocket and we went up to Shellharbour and hit the post-Christmas sales. I was very proud of her - she had a set list of what she wanted and how much she wanted to spend and she didn't go silly (although to look at her shopping - below - you wouldn't know it). She actually came home with money. After shopping we called in for a quick catch up with the King family.

Then we called into Kiama to catch up with my cousins, Dave and Mick and their families. We really don't get together anywhere near enough and this is something we hope to work more on from here. It is great for Kyle and Tasha as they have heaps of Cox cousins their age which is something they are not used to so it great for the kids all to get to know one another. Kyle and Tasha have a great relationship with their Lucas cousins and I would love to see this carried over to the Cox side of the family. My fav memories from my childhood are the times spent at Nana's with my cousins playing cricket, laughing, having fun and just being together. My hope for my kids is that they get that sense of fun and comraderie with their cousins I had with mine.