Our Christmas this year was very quiet. The kids both got up about 8am and we sat down to open our pressies. I must say we all did very well this year and even with the strict budget and the kids not getting their "santa sacks" everyone seemed very happy. I did have to laugh at one stage - talk about the difference between the sexes. The kids and Tony all got puzzles for Christmas from Miss Jane - you know the wooden have to put it together again type brain teaser puzzles. Well I had to laugh..... the boys immediately started looking and trying to figure it out.... Tasha (being the smart girl she is) immediately pulls out the instructions and starts reading. Buddy loved the paper and had lots of fun playing with it on the lounge room floor. We got our wonderful christmas phone call from Melbourne which always puts a smile on our faces
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Christmas Day
Posted by Miss cath at 10:26 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
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)
We saw some amazing lights, met up with quite a few people I knew and generally just had a bit of fun.
Posted by Miss cath at 9:16 PM 1 comments
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
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!
Posted by Miss cath at 10:59 PM 2 comments
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!
* 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.
......... the next few weeks seem just as busy - lots to do but lots to look forward to.
Posted by Miss cath at 10:19 PM 4 comments
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!
Posted by Miss cath at 9:54 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
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.
Posted by Miss cath at 9:11 PM 0 comments
Sunday, December 05, 2010
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.
Posted by Miss cath at 9:00 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
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.
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.
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.
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)
Posted by Miss cath at 6:56 PM 0 comments
Monday, November 29, 2010
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.
Posted by Miss cath at 7:58 PM 0 comments
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Melbourne
Wow what a weekend! I am home....... tired........ exhausted......... looking forward to some sleep.
Will update tomorrow night
Posted by Miss cath at 10:02 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
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
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,
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!
Posted by Miss cath at 10:51 PM 0 comments