School holidays

Wow - I am sure there were school holidays in there somewhere but they have disappeared!
Kyle's holidays started a week before Tasha's (we pay to send him to private school and he gets two extra weeks of holidays each year - go figure!) and we planned to have a mother/son day. Kyle decided he wanted to do Bomaderry Creek walk but as I had been unwell I suggested we do the shorter walk to the weir rather than the long walk........ Good plan...... except we went the wrong way and ended up on the 3 hour creek walk! We actually had a great time - he headed off on "A quest for adventure"... we ducked from imaginary ambushes and travelled through portals etc, etc.
The other problem was when we faced a sign telling us that Mossy Gully Bridge was closed due to flood damage... the problem was that this sign was at a T intersection with no indication of which way that was. So we had a quick discussion and headed off along the path on the left. Well for future reference once you walk for ages that way you come to the closed bridge and then you turn around and walk back again ~L~. I came back exhausted and feeling like I had been run over by a train but we had a great time (next time I am feeling so sick I will make sure I read the map properly!) Unfortunately due to circumstances that couldn't be avoided I ended up working nearly every day of the holidays but we did head off one weekend for a drive and stopped at Werri Beach for some takeaway lunch. The fish and chips was lovely and the kids couldn't figure out why I was so excited that the food came wrapped in newspaper! TRADITIONAL FISH AND CHIPS!
The weather was a bit chilly but we went for a wander down over the rocks and checked out the rock pools and beach.

The other really cool thing we did this holidays was go to see Aladdin at the Nowra Players Theatre. All I can say is WOW - there is some amazing young talent in this town. This was a youth production so all but 3 of the parts were under 18. We knew Bella who played the lead role of Princess So Shi and I know I am biased but that girl so so talented. Not only does she speak clearly, and sing beautifully but what a professional performer. In the middle of major personal upheavals she continued to perform shows with no sign to the audience of the turmoil and heartbreak going on behind the scenes. Well done Bella - Papa would have been so proud of you.

We also found a nest tucked away on top of the cupboard in our shed with an egg sitting in it. Tasha has loved the fact that she can see it from her bedroom and watch the mumma pigeon sitting on the egg.

Jhorjie came down and spent a day or two with us over the holidays as well and it has been lovely to spend time with her (although she is growing up waaayyyyy too quickly)

In the last week of the holidays I had a day off and Tasha and I headed off to Shellharbour for a girls day. Shopping, chatting, checking out shops, lunch out and then we headed to the Kings for afternoon tea. It was so what we both needed after the last couple of weeks. We had yummy chocolate cakes and donut holes. Tasha, Callum and Annie played Kerplunk before we all (yes Cass and I too) sat down to play Flippin Frogs! It was lots of fun, lots of laughs and just some light hearted time.

Well the holidays are over - both kids go back to school tomorrow. Kyle on monday, Tasha on tuesday. There are more difficulties looming on the horizon after some majorly bad news from the specialist on Friday so it looks like life will be very busy with lots of trips to Wollongong for treatment and doctors visits. Hopefully blognesia can be avoided but at the moment really am just working from day to day.

Blognesia

Blognesia:

A common disease where blog owners forget to update; leaving their readers with nothing to do, particularly on slow work days. (paraphrased)

Ooops sorry - life has been kind of mad. I do have lots to update - will try and get it done tonight.

What a week...

Yes, yes I know I am a bit slack with my update but I am getting there now......

We have had a fortnight of ups and downs...full of doctors visits, lunch with Cass and Annie, a daytrip to Sydney with Cass and Jane to check out the craft show...(oh and the Lindt cafe *insert blushing face here*)... and over the past fortnight we have had either Tegan at our house or Tasha at the Baldwins. We were given a reprieve of an extra week before they left and in the interim the girls have barely parted from each other. I think out of 11 nights they had 2 apart - we even allowed sleepovers on school nights (after all Tegan is an honorary Lucas now - even to the point where Tony and I get called Mum and Dad). It has been heartbreaking to see them leave. To see the girls distraught and doing the whole "Goodbye".."Goodbye".. "Goodbye".. "Goodbye".. etc. etc. as we drove down the street one afternoon. Tasha stayed with them on their last night here and I went over and joined them for brekky before they headed off. It was sad for us as well - as I said Tegan is often referred to as our second daughter and they will be missed. I am so glad for Facebook and MSN to keep us in touch.

In the middle of all this Tasha had her dance competition (and yes Tegan came along and cheered her on!). the studio comp is basically a chance for the girls to get up in front of an adjudicator and show what they have been learning without the strictness and pressure of exams (basically a practice run for exams next term) and a chance to get dressed up and dance!

Tasha did both Jazz and Hip Hip and did both her dances with her friend Emily who is in her classes. I love these photos I took of Tash whilst she was waiting to dance. Not only did the teased hair and head bands bring back vicious flashbacks of the 80's but I can so see a page with these pics title "This girl has attitude!" She danced so well and got Highly Commended in both dance styles.

Think thats all our news. No doctors visits for 2 weeks so its just a case of wait and see. Thoughts have been turned towards Melbourne so much lately and it looks like a catch up has been organised (can you hear the squeals?). Tony's friend Ken is in town for a couple of days with his work so we will be catching up with him too.

Oh and Cass.... I am totally wearing out my Wicked soundtrack. Thinking of you everyday whilst listening to it!

Yes......

I did sit and scrap a page just for me. It is a bit eclectic, lets see there is Jillibean Soup, Kaiser, Making Memories, Buzz and Bloom and Bella. This page is just for me - it wraps up all my feelings from this week. These girls have shared some of my best times with me and we have had some amazing, mad times but when the chips are down and life gets hard they are my support. Their help, support and love is awesome and something I cherish so deeply.

Love you girls

MWAH
xxxxxxxxx

Girls Weekend

This weekend was a bittersweet one for Tasha. Saturday night we had Tegan here and then Sunday night Tasha went to the Baldwins. The girls have been cramming so much into this weekend. They wanted to do all their favourite things as this is the last weekend they have together before Tegans family move up to Queensland. Funnily enough most of their fav things revolve around water.

It is the middle of winter and we have had some very cold weather but not only did they wash the car but then decided they wanted to go to the pool! Madness! Yes okay it was Bay and Basin so it was heated but still......

They had a ball - it was so good to see the smiles on their faces as they laughed and played.

A week of soccer

Wow with the mad week we have had you would think that not much else would fit, right? WRONG! This week has definately been soccer week in our family.
Starting with Tasha - Tash made the school rep soccer team which she was very excited about. they have been training hard and had their first game on Monday vs Shoalhaven Heads. They had a great game! The first half they played soooo well but just could not get the ball in the net. But they made up for that in the second half and won the game 3 -0!

Then monday night we headed out in the cold night to South Nowra for a make up game for Kyle as their game last week got rained out! Unfortunately they were unsuccessful but Kyle had a great game.

Wednesday night we headed out to Huskisson for another soccer game for Kyle. Talk about chilly! Husky is always cold but at 7 o'clock at night in the middle of winter it is freezing. You should have seen us (I forgot to take a pic) we had jumpers, warm jackets, scraves, gloves and hot chocolate!

Shoalhaven United were again unsuccessful.... they always have a blinder second half and in both games this week the second half score was 0-0 its just the goals they let in the first half that get them! Now we just need to figure out how to get them to play that well all game.

Then Friday is was Tashas turn again and they had a very exciting match against Callala. Illaroo ran rings around them but just couldnt score. Score was 0 -0 at full time so they went into overtime. Still 0-0 so it went into penalty shoot out which is a really bad way to win or lose a game but we came out victors 2 -0!

And now the World Cup is starting!

Soccer anyone??

Scrapping

Wow it was only a week since the scrap day. Somehow it seems like so long ago. this week has been a loooongggg one! Anyway thought I'd better do a bit of show and tell to prove that I actually did do somescrapping in amongst all the chatting, coffee drinking, eating and ..... oh yeah ..... some more chatting!
Looking at my latest pages I realise how back to basics I am getting. This hasn't been a conscious decision and I do still love all my fussy cutting/layering fancy stuff. I guess I am aware of trying to explain the stories behind the pictures so people can just pick them up and not need me here to explain them.
Hmmmm may have to spend some time this afternoon creating a layout just for me!
WATCH THIS SPACE. hehe

Just had to say........

Thanks to my amazing angels - don't know how I would have gotten through the last couple of days without knowing you were there. Your love and support is simply wonderful and at times all that keeps me putting one foot in front of the other. Thank you for always being there.

If you knocked on my door right now.....

you would find........

* me in my daggy jeans with my hair not done
* 2 baskets of ironing in the middle of the lounge room
* a pile of cooking magazines spread all over the coffee table (working on this fortnights menu)
* me sitting in my craft room - watching episodes of Numbers on the computer and going through scrap magazines for inspiration
* The kids bedrooms slightly untidy with unmade beds
* the vacuum still sitting in the dining where I left it after using it
* Fresh cookies in a container on the kitchen bench
* piles of photos out - trying to sort out what I am doing at scrap day this weekend
* the scent of apple martini wafting through the house (oil burner not the cocktail!)

Another one!

Last weekend we headed off for another weekend walk. This one was Tasha's choice and she decided on this place.......... I must admit we did cheat slightly and only started at the showground not down near the bridge but it was still a decent walk. The amazing thing....... Tegan willingly joined us again! I thought after dragging her around the bush at Currarong she would never come back!

We had a great time - did a lot of walking down memory lane - the kids loved hearing stories from both Tony and my childhood (even though there was quite a gap between said childhoods ~L~)

Wow the place has changed a lot but there was also a lot of familiar sights. The rope swing. The river crossing. The suspension bridge.

And yes again - a good amount of clowning around, hamming it up, laughing and rock climbing. (Including a discussion about the Ministry of Funny Walks from Monty Python!)

Well this weekend we will be heading up Georgia on Woodhill Mountain for the massive clearance sale. So probably no walk for us this weekend :(

Scrapping

Yes you read that title right - "Scrapping". I actually spent some time in my scrapping room over the last few days and got some work done. As opposed to just sitting in my craft room with the door shut to pretend that the rest of the world (or at least the house) doesn't exist.
The scary bit..... I used Basic Grey! I have been feeling kind of overdosed on BG and had kind of avoided it a bit lately but the bittersweet papers jumped at me so out came the scissors (sorry Cass) and away we went! The first layout I did was using some photos from a couple of years ago. Tasha's biggest complaint was that it should have been titled "the weird ones" ~L~

Then with the left over bits I did a layout of Tasha and I. I keep telling myself I am going to try and do the minimalist type layout but this definately needs something added to it....... just got this far and the scrappers block kicked in - so it is in my pile to look at again at a later date.

Glimmer mist........ I love this stuff! I don't know if I should thank Kim and Cass or yell at them for teaching me about it and helping me to fall in love.

And a very, very simple, plain album full of family pictures. Still needs some tweaking but I'm liking it so far.

Bits and pieces

Yes I know I have been slack - but Jane you should be careful what you ask for..... hold on tight as we head off on the update ride.

Lets start at Mothers Day....... I was reminded that I havent done show and tell yet so here you go. Firstly my nice warm boots for standing out on freezing cold soccer fields in the middle of the week in winter at night time. Having done the test last Wednesday they work well. I got new purple slippers for around the house and........ my gorgeous now black boots! JJJJAAAANNNEEEE........ they need a dance night! Now back to our normal viewing ~L~ Saturday morning we went up to Georgia - this is probably the last chance we will have to get photos etc. Next time we go up the mountain will be for the monster garage sale and clear out.
These hills are a lot of the reason Mum and John are leaving the mountain and heading down into town - imagine walking these hills a couple of times a day (at the age of 85).

We had a photo session with the kids in different places on the property. I love the relationship these two have. Yes they fight, argue, bicker etc....... but you take on one of them you take on both! I love how protective they are of each other. The other night I stuck my head into Kyle's room and they were playing a game of tetris with 3d blocks and the laughter coming out of there was wonderful.

Pity the grass covers half the faces but I love this shot. I was down one of the hills and looked up to see everyone standing at the edge of the driveway - love this pic.

The kids down at the front gate.

After spending some time at Georgia (and seeing some of Mum's old friends from school - one couple were one of the families we spent so much time with at Currarong, Noelene and Keith Larsen) we headed over the mountain to Kangaroo Valley and then up Barrengarry Mountain to Morton National Park and Manning Lookout.

Who said my family was normal??? They hammed it up something horrid at the "look out".

The view into Kangaroo Valley was a surprise - normally this view is a glorious bright green. I was shocked how brown the valley looked.

Oh and I have done some scrapping today! Will take some pics later if the light gets a bit better for show and tell!

Our little stroll

Little stroll.... PPPffffttttt!
Friday night Tegan came to stay and since it was such a lovely day on saturday we decided to head out for a little bushwalk out to the wreck and back at Currarong.

Currarong has always held good memories for me as it was where we went nearly every school holidays as I was growing up. Mum, Dad, Mark and I would head off to our "holiday house" - (read tiny, tiny shack - had a look on the weekend I am sure it wasn't that small back then ~L~). We spent hours each day exploring the beach and climbing over the rocks. We were usually joined by other families - mainly the Riggs, Larsens and Stuarts (in their own places - they couldn't fit in ours!) and I always think back on those times very fondly.

So with this in mind I decided to take the kids for a nice walk out to the wreck of the SS Merimbula which I visited many, many times as a child. A nice easy stroll through the bush with a short climb over the rocks to get back. The problem with our plans? We took Tony!!!!! Usually it is just the kids and I who head out and we have a nice little stroll, look around, chat and enjoy the sunshine (and if we find some sand to play in then all the better). With Tony not only do you keep walking you "just go down this track" and "we may as well go this way" and 4 hours later you get back to the car.
So yes we were very exhausted and it was with sore feet (all the girls) and one sore ankle (yes - me!) we got home.
Having said all that we did have a great time and the kids had a ball exploring the rocks and wlaking along very narrow and extremely high cliffs. We found spiders, lizards, crabs, plant life, seaweed, and even a knife and fork and toothbrush! It was great to see the kids having so much fun in a place I had such good memories about.

I was amazed at how little of the wreck was left. Hmmmm I am sure it isn't that long since I was out there as a kid.

What a weekend

Well what can I say - after last week and all its ups and downs this weekend started with a bang - LITERALLY!
After picking Cass up at her place and driving up to Sutherland we had just about made it incident free and were pulling into the car park near the train station when... WHAM... a guy on a pushbike cut up the inside of me using a footpath and as I turned into the drive way he rode full speed into the passenger side door. Poor Cass - big dint in the door, side mirror broken. That would be a shocking way to start the weekend right.... oh but wait...... theres more. I was still quite shaken and not quite with it so after booking in at the hotel I turned and walked straight into the ropes they use for the queue and then....... somehow managed to sit in bird poo at lunch time (yes I had black pants on!)

Oh well the day had to head up from there! And it did! We went to the Capitol Theatre and bought our Ozmopolitan cocktails whilst we waited for the show to start. Wow what a show (note * these are not my photos - I cheated and used publicity shots). The costumes, the voices, the lighting - Rob Mills poured into tight tight pants that looked suitable to be worn by Gaston from Beauty and the Beast! I LOVED the whole thing. The story line was incredible - it confronted racism, bullying, friendships and incorporated the Wizard of Oz in such a way that I will never watch it the same again. If you get a chance you MUST go see Wicked.

Now last time we were in Sydney they kindly put on a fireworks display for us as Cass and I both loooove fireworks. Well they must have known we were coming because for this weekend only - Fireworks at Darling Harbour! YAY

Oh and what trip to Darling Harbour is complete without a trip to the Lindt Cafe!

NOTE* I thought I was doing okay after the car accident on the weekend until I was sitting in the driveway on Monday waiting for the garage door to open and poor Tasha knocked on the passenger side car window. Only for me to totally lose it and sit there in the driveway bawling and shaking. I just heard the bang and saw a person at the window and it brought it all back to me. Poor Tash!