Twas the week before the Christmas.....

....... and chaos ensued!
Yes to call the week before Christmas chaos may just be the largest underestimation I have uttered! With all the personal @!*$ going on around here we added some insanely busy days to the mix.
The weekend before Christmas was Tasha's dance concert. So Saturday we spent hours at the studio waiting for costume checks and photos. Tasha HATES one of her outfits and so would only pose for me at home in her hip-hop costume.
Then Sunday morning we had to be at the entertainment centre at 9:00 for rehearsals which (surprise, surprise) were runnning late and so we finally got out of there about 11:00. We then raced around and picked up Tasha's friends Kaysha and Tegan who were coming to watch the concert before racing home, sorting out hair and make up and then getting back to the entertainment centre at 1:00pm for a concert starting at 2:00! The concert was sensational. Mum and John came along and it was the first time they had seen Tasha dance which was very, very special (especially as we were all aware this may be the last chance Mum gets to see Tasha dance). The dancing was phenomenal - wow the talent blows me away every year!
Then as the concert came out at 5pm and the carols in the park started about then we went over to the park with our picnic blanket. (YEs Tasha was still in full dance costume and make up). We got there just in time for the rain to start pouring down..... so the girls decided to pass on the carols in favour of dinner! We had planned on going back down for the fireworks but the carols were moved to a local church and firreworks cancelled. Instead we had 3 girls to try and get to sleep ( I Gave up about midnight and just went to bed myself)

Then Mon, Tues, Wed and Thurs I worked. YUCK! So after work Thurs I picked Tegan up and the kids (Tash, Tegan and Kyle) and I went out on the hunt for christmas lights

We saw some amazing lights, met up with quite a few people I knew and generally just had a bit of fun.

We called it a night about 9:30 as Tegan wasn't feeling too good so we came home and sent the girls to bed.

Friday - The girls put the gingerbread house together (yes for those of you astute enough to realise we are aware that we put the roof on upside down)

This was done much later in the day than expected as Tegan really wasn't feeling well by now and after getting up about 8am put herself back to bed at 9 and didn't wake until 12:30.

The girls did a great job - especially as the icing in this kit was not easy to use - we had not used this kit before and must send a big MWAH to Cass for finding it for us as we thought we have to miss out this year :(

And then it was Christmas Eve.........

Family addition

WE have a new member of our family!
We have spent a lot of time lately looking into dog breeds, chatting with people, checking out dogs and today we found our new family member. This dog was going to be a present from Mum for the kids and we had looked into Cavalier King Charles Spaniels as they are mum's favourite dog but with my allergies and sinus issues it was not possible so we looked at non-allergenic dogs like poodles. We had hoped to get a cavoodle but they are not easy to find - then today I was walking past the pet store and these pups had arrived today!

When I got there they had only 2 left and this little boy was ours on the spot. I raced home and got the kids and we went back in to the shop where the kids instantly decided this was the one. Talk about timing. No sooner had we said we would take him and placed a deposit but a friend we know walked in to look at the dogs. She fell in love with our little fella - sorry Andrea but I am glad we got in first! As we left she was looking at his sister so I am not sure if she ended up taking the last puppy or not.

Tony and the kids pick him up tomorrow. Now the hard bit...... what do we name him?

We have spent lots of time tonight discussing names and still haven't come to an agreement.... some possibles:

Spike (he has the same markings as the gremlin)

Buddy

Brutus (yes that is Kyle being ironic)

Murphy

Hercules

and from Tony........ yep Simone you guessed it.... Mutt!

What a day!

December 14th was a massive day.
Wow I don't think we stopped for air all day. I was met as I came out of my bedroom door with choruses of "Happy Birthday" and lots of hugs. I sat down to eat my very yummy breakfast of assorted fresh berries and custard. Lets just say I got very, very spoilt for my birthday
* I got the hugest box of choclate seashells from Tasha. I didn't know chocolates came in a box that big but there are 12 sheets of 10 shells. YUM
* I got an itunes voucher from Kyle - can't wait to go shopping!
* from Tony I got a new boomerang pillow which I have wanted for a long time.
* I also got to open a wonderful pamper pack from Sandra - now just got to find the time to fit it in.
* Sounds like I got well and truly spoilt hey......... but wait, thats not all........
Next thing I know the kids and Tony come back in with big grins and another present...... I have been saving up for an ipod touch but never seem to get there and now I don't need to! (Yes Sandra the first game I downloaded WAS angry birds!)

* Anyway as soon as Tony woke up from his morning sleep (I spent the morning setting up the ipod touch) we drove to Berry to meet Mum and John for lunch. We went to Jetz cafe for lunch with mixed results for lunch.
* Then it was home in time for Tony to go and pick Tasha up then bring her home to do her hair (we tried to straighten it but it has such a determined wave that even with a massive amount of hair product it did not want to stay straight) and her nails, then we threw her dress on and raced up to North Nowra for her end of year farewell.
Wow.... too grown up. My baby is leaving primary school. How did that happen!

I know I could be biased but she looked gorgeous. I was so glad that she picked out an age appropriate dress - some of her classmates were sooooo overdressed. Short cocktail dresses, high heels, beautician visits and hairdressers. These girls are only 12 years old! Tasha's close friend Kaysha, teacher Mrs Faulks and Tash

Proud daddy!

The two proud mums!

this is what girls look like when you organise a group photo

And this is what boys look like!

* After presentation Tony, Kyle and I headed up to North Nowra Tavern for dinner and Tasha headed in for her farewell dinner and dance. We met up with Jane and Stephen and had a lovely dinner. It was lovely to just sit and chat.

* then we had to rush off as school had told us to be back at the school at 9 to pick up the kids or 8:45 if we wanted to share the last dance with them. We walked back in the school gates at 8:43 to find a very sad girl sitting outside as they had finished up early and when I got there we got to do maybe 30 seconds of the end of the dance.

......... the next few weeks seem just as busy - lots to do but lots to look forward to.

Oh and quote of the day goes to my cousin Michael who first sent me a message to "check on the REALLY old girl" but was then followed up by this:

"you're lucky that age is relative, and all your relatives are oldies"

Hehe - out my generation (siblings, cousins etc) I am the youngest by more than 2 years!

Social week

Wow what a busy week last week was. Lets see if I can remember it all:
* Kyle had a busy week as he finished year 8 - he started school holidays on Thurs 9th Dec (much to Tasha's disgust as she had another week to go)
* Tuesday was Tasha's last dance class before her concert on the 19th as she will miss dancing on the 14th due to her year 6 farewell
* Thursday night I went out to dinner at Riverside Thai for the NPH Secretaries Dinner. The food was great... had a fun time catching up with people I hadn't seen in ages.
* Friday night was the NAP Christmas Dinner. We went out the Bruce's house and had a lovely meal. We got there about 6pm and after chatting, eating, laughing, listening to some VERY entertaining stories etc etc I took my poor tired night worker husband home at 11:30 (about 5 hours past his bedtime!)
* Saturday was so what the doctor ordered. After sorting out my family here I headed up to shellharbour to be greeted so beautifully by Annie who always me feel soooooo special (as does her special mum). Cass and I spent the day shopping, laughing, eating, shopping, drinking coffee etc, etc. It was a wonderful relaxing day even with the Christmas shopping crowd.
*Saturday night the kids and I went out to dinner as a celebration of both of their amazing reports. I was sooooo proud of the 2 reports that we received this past week. Not only did they acheive well but the teachers comments (especially Tasha's) were wonderful.
* Sunday night the kids and I went to carols at the church. It was a fun night with a sausage sizzle and jumping castle. Tasha loved the candles and glow sticks.
The BIG NEWS FOR THE WEEK was Kyle's new job. Kyle has been waiting to be old enough to go out and get a job and as he hit to magical age of 14 and 9 months in December he had started putting his name down for work around town. Then we got a call Friday night offering him a trial starting the next morning. He did a shift Saturday morning, was asked back Sunday, Monday and is loving it. He is working with Greg at Oysters Galore and is so eager to go to work. I hope he keeps that enthusiasm!

Dancing, Pressies and Froggy!

These pics of Tash could have been taken on any afternoon. Each day she has been treating the neighbours to her dance music played at full volume repeatedly whilst she practises for her end of year dance concert. She has been putting in heaps and heaps of effort in making sure she has her dance moves down pat (even down to her solo worm in hip hop). She is working hard especially for Nana as this is the first time Nana will see her dance and she is aware that this may be the last dance concert she sees. This week has also seen the beginning of my advent Christmas swap with SJ. I came home from Melbourne with a suitcase full of little pressies and with the help of the kids have been having fun opening a new one each morning. 1) A gorgeous lavendar soap 2) okay so I know I am known for doing the occasional spot of fussy cutting - but now I have these cute scissors for when the mood takes hold 3) this gorgeous reindeer is now hanging on our christmas tree 4) hugs and kisses ribbon. How cute is this.

5) What a great combination. Iluuurve Jelly Belly beans and I am not quite normal so these belly flops are perfect. 6) A little shopping bag for me to slip in my handbag to be filled up when I am shopping. I love these little bags and try to have one with me at all times 7) mmmmmmm pralines.

Can't wait to see what is in store over the next few weeks.

New pets.

We are currently looking for a new dog. Tony and I had discussed a new dog for Christmas and then Mum approached us and asked if she could buy us a dog so we had something for the kids to have to remember her by and also as Kyle found Maggie good to talk to when he felt upset, she felt he may need a talking buddy in the future.

In the meantime Tasha has been quite focused on the idea of a pet frog! They are surely in ample supply around here at the moment but do you think we could find one? Anyway Tony came home from work with this little fella. However, after doing a little research on the care of a frog and the work involved it was decided that maybe keeping a pet frog was not such a good idea and he was placed back outside to resume his life.

And a Merry Christmas to all.....

I got home from the oncologist with Mum on Friday to find the christmas tree and all the trimmings down from the storage in the roof. So after returning Harry the budgie to Nana and John we put on our christmas hats (well the kids and I anyway) and our christmas shirts (Tasha and I) as we traditionally do for tree decorating and the fun began. This year was a lot quieter and quicker... last year we had Tracy and Jacob and we also had Tegan to help us.

So now the tree is up and decorated although the presents will be a little on the light side this year.

Apart from that not much has been done this weekend. I had planned to spend some time scrapping but it just didn't work. No mojo! I did, however, spend time in y bedorom cleaning and sorting out drawers that have been left for waaayyyy to long. I would love to have my urge to scrap back but apart from a couple of days shared with Cass and Jane it just hasn't been happening for months. Life is getting me down and I am just plodding along with one day at a time. Sometimes it seems hard to keep my head above water.

We are heading into the mad season and it seems like every day for the next 6 or so weeks is full. The mad rush in the lead up to christmas and then the few weeks after. Then we will be madly getting Tasha ready to start high school and Kyle going into year 9.

Melbourne part 2

It was another glorious Melbourne day (ie lots of rain) as we headed into the city on the train for a girls day out with Miss M.

We did some touristy things, took photos, shopped at Body Shop and Lush, and had an ammmmmazing burger lunch at Grill'd. You seriously need to try these burgers.

Then we caught the tram to Bourke Street where we saw this statue of Santa........ well actually no it was a man dressed up as a statue santa and he was amazing. He just sat there for ages while kids walked up and touched his hand and people checked out his costume. Miss M really wasn't sure what to make of him!

Then we joined the queue to check out the window displays at Myer in Bourke Street. This year they did the Nutcracker and each window had a different part of the story. The detail and little bits in these displays was just gorgeous.

We stood in line for ages at Myer so Miss M could go on the kids train to be told she was too tall when we got to the front of the line so we sent Santa an email and then ooohed and ahhhed over all the Christmas decorations in the christmas section at Myer.

Then another tram down to Flinders street and we walked over the Yarra river. Hmmmm not sure I would like to go swimming in there in a hurry.

The christmas light show at Crown Casino was amazing. We walked through just about every part of the casino with SJ stopping to ask directions every time we saw a man in a suit and we finally found the lights just at the beginning of the display. Could not have timed it better. The show was really cool with lots of lights and sounds.

Then another tram trip up to Lygon Street for Gelato. YUM YUM YUM.

Then it was time to drag our wet bodies and sore feet home.

MONDAY

It was time to head home and after a quiet morning with the Allan's we headed to the airport with my suitcase laden with shopping and christmas present. I was a bit worried about excess baggage - I had travelled down with just over 11kg in my bags and with a limit of 20kg for my bags I placed my suitcase at the check in counter and............... 19.8kg!!!!!! I think I did that last time I headed home from Melbourne too! After a short delay (surprise, surprise - I don't think I have EVER flown out of Avalon on time) I headed back to NSW and was met at the baggage claim by what sounded like a herd of elephants but was infact three children running full pelt towards me (Kyle, Tasha and Tegan - yes the Baldwins are back in Nowra! Surprise as Tasha wasn't expecting them until the 18th of Dec)

Once again I have to say thankyou to the Allan's for letting me become an extended family member again and especially to Matt for all the running around he did this weekend. MWAH love you all.

Melbourne Weekend pt 1

After couting down for so long suddenly it was time to head to Melbourne. After mega amounts of last minute text messages everything was organised. We didn't get to go to Spicks and Specks which I was MEGA disappointed about but when I got the final email from them they had moved the filming forward and it started about the same time my flight landed at Avalon so it was not possible. Oh well hopefully I can make a special trip down there for Spicks and Specks next year!

So thurs morning we got the kids off to school and then Tony and I headed up to Sydney Airport. A short flight later and I was in Melbourne and then with the amazing Allan family. What a blast we had. Thursday night we went to see Keira get an award at the school end of year night. Wow.... I love her school!
Friday Sandra drove us into Docklands and we hit the DFO's. I found my new favourite shop, TYPO.

Then we hopped onto a tram and headed around to Swanson Street to a wonderful thai restaurant that SJ had told me about. YUM, YUM, YUM. This is their lunch special!

Oh and Miss Jane I bought a bag! I know, big shock hey!

And true to Melbourne after starting in a nice sunny morning just after lunch as we headed back to Docklands the skies opened and we got drenched. Of course 1/2 an hour later the sun was out again!

............ more to come...............................

Melbourne

Wow what a weekend! I am home....... tired........ exhausted......... looking forward to some sleep.
Will update tomorrow night

Another "C" week

Wow what a busy weekend. On saturday I picked Miss Jane up and we headed up to Shellharbour to do "CRAFT WITH CASS"...... Okay, okay - we did coffee, then went out to lunch then went back to Cass' and did some craft (which I can't show here because it's a surprise for someone who may read this blog) and then we had yummy dinner with the King family.
Isn't she just the CUTEST! Oh and some CHOCOLATE CAKE for dessert

with special DALE COFFEE. What an amazing barista Cass has at her house!

Then Sunday Tony the kids and I headed out to the new CORRECTIONAL CENTRE at south Nowra. They are due to take their first lot of inmates early December and had a series of open days. We all found it very interesting although Tasha felt it was quite a nice place to be! Lets see,

* your own room

* Hairdresser

* Beauty salon

* Dental Clinic

* Medical centre with x-ray

* tennis courts/ gym/ ping pong/ running track

hmmmmm one major downpoint - total loss of freedom! Oh and the fact that you can still go to school/uni there.

I am now getting ready to head to Melbourne. soooooo can't wait to see the Allan's. We last saw each other in sept last year which is waaaayyyyyy too long to go between visits. Long day with lots of travelling tomorrow, we need an airport much closer than Sydney!

Now just got to find a bride, a bag and some ice cream to complete Miss Jane's challenge....... (long story)

Letter of the Week

This week was sooooo big it had to be brought to by two letters! So this week is brought to you by the letters "B" and "S". And yes there was plenty of that floating around as well! :)

Lets get all the "S's" over with in one day! On Wednesday I drove up to SHELLHARBOUR and did some SHOPPING for christmas before heading to the King's for SPECIAL LUNCH (thank you Dale for letting me crash your day off and have lunch with you and Cass). Then I headed up to Wollongong to the SPECIALIST with Mum where it was decided that due to the trouble she has been having and the little benefit it was doing we would SUSPEND her treatment until she returns from holiday and then we will see him again early December to work out where to go from here. She has been seen by the Palliative Care team and hopefully we can keep her pain free.
So that just about wraps it up for the S's. Lets move onto the B's

BON VOYAGE
We said goodbye to Mum and John as they head over to New Zealand - John has a son in NZ they have talked about going to see for ages and this is something Mum really wanted to do so whilst she is feeling slightly okay she decided to listen to Nike and "Just do it". I am concerned about how she will cope but I spoke to her on the weekend and she seems to be doing okay so far.

BUDGIE SITTING
Whilst Mum and John are away we have their budgie Harry. He has been providing us with much entertainment listening to him chatter away. He has quite a few fluent phrases and sometimes gets them confused. My fav is his confusion over Christmas and you hear "Merry kiss me quick"
BAGS
Okay, okay I have a "small" thing for bags. I have checked out this pattern with Jane on numerous occasions and was surprised by Mum when she presented me with the completed project! Love it sooooooo much. The framing job was shocking so it has to go back to the framers this week but it will soon be hanging in my room for reference for Tony when a new bag appears! Hehe

BOILING

What a weekend! 30 degree temperatures . Yuck!

BOLOGNAISE

Part 1 of Kyle's dinner. Kyle cooked dinner for us on Sunday night. He picked the recipes and ingredients and cooked everything from scratch. We had spaghetti bolognaise that was a little over cheezed but tasted quite yummy

BERRIES

Part 2 of Kyle's dinner. Fresh berries with chocolate mousse. Yummmmmmyyyyyyy.

Our "C" week

Well it seems like this week was brought to us by the letter
C
Let's see..... To start with we had Cathy's career consuming too much time. It was another week of working lots of extra hours. I am sooooo looking forward to next week when I am only working 2 days.
.
This week we had
Cooking
With Tasha in her Coles apron and chef's hat. Tash was a great help to me when I came home exhausted from work and helped cook dinner. She is getting to be quite skilled in the kitchen.
On Saturday Jane and I headed up to Cass' house for a Christmas Card making class with Brigette. I had a great time. Lou came down and it was great to catch up with her as well. After the class Jane, Cass and I headed into Shellharbour village for a
Cafe lunch and Coffee

Then Sunday we had a knock on the door with a face that we were very excited to see - which brings us to the next C

Cousins

Paul is my sister Jo's son and we haven't seen him except to briefly say hi to in the street for quite some time. He felt like catching up with his cousins and walked out to our place!!

It was so good to see him and he and Kyle spent hours together - it was just like old times.

Cards and Craft

I actually spent some time this week working on cards. They are all variations on the same basic card but I am actually quite happy with them.

Oh and lets see I am sure there was another "C" in there somewhere......... oh yeah..... that would be COUNTDOWN! It is now 2 1/2 weeks before I am zoom zooming to Melbourne. Can't wait.

Now I wonder what letter this coming week will be sponsored by? We have oncologist appointments, Mum heads away for a couple of weeks and I hope to get some scrapping done so we will have to wait and see!