And we're back here again.....

Yep..... it's monday again and we're off into another week. This is feeling kind of like groundhog day. I am working every day this week again (and worked over the weekend). Oh well, it pays the bills I guess.

We had another typical Lucas household weekend. This weekend we added Tegan to the mix overnight Saturday night. Poor Tash - even though her and Tegan are the same age, ever since we have known her Tegan has always been taller but when you add Kyle to the mix she looks tiny! It's okay Tash- good things come in little packages. And here is the two girls. I love the friendship these two have. They go to different schools but still have a really close bond and love spending time together.

I woke up sunday morning and snuck in to check on the girls to find Tegan still asleep and this gorgeous photo op of my two kids. It's lovely to see the two of them still getting on so well.

Ouch!

There is only one title for this post and that is simply....OUCH.

When I picked Kyle up from youth group last night he had his hand covered in a bizarrely placed dressing. His youth leader came racing over to tell me Kyle had a graze on his hand from a carpet burn.

Knowing Kyle he does tend to make a fuss of little cuts and grazes - thus the bandage .......... or so I thought! We got him home and took off their dressing and OUCH. How's that for a carpet burn He has taken off quite a few layers of skin - not only from the top of his hand but also from his knuckle (which this photo doesn't really show). It is weeping quite badly and (not surprisingly) rather painful. Tell you what - when he gets a carpet burn he really does a good job of it.

Our work

I know I am slack getting pics up! If I must be honest I had forgotten about these until I uploaded pics from camera *insert blushing face here*. Ooops

Anyway just to prove that Cass and I did some work in amongst all our chatting etc - here is Cass' finished work from our retreat And here is mine - mot quite as impressive as Cass' - but yes there is some fussy cutting and buttons! Who'd have thunk it?!?

My spoilt daughter

Tony comes in with a package for Miss Tasha this morning and I am sure it was meant for her mummy not for her! But she won't share!

These choccies are favourites in our house - not easy to find here in Australia (in fact I know of only one place that routinely stocks them) and Tash got 2 of them! Not just the ones pictured here but MIGHTY perky nanas. Thank you Cass you put a massive smile on a little girls face. (and a somewhat smug look at the fact that she has some and we don't!)

Just doing as I'm told!

How is that Miss Jane?

Now as for 6 things to buy in Sydney

- Do I even need to say no 1? Seriously? Of course its a bag!
- Pritt (its an adhesive)
- Papers
- something from Lindt chocolate shop at some ridiculous hour of the night (another no brainer)
- Thickers
- Ribbons

Another great weekend

Well its Sunday evening again. How did that happen?!?

Have had another nice refreshing weekend. Spent Saturday listening to Hamish and Andy podcasts and doing a big spring clean in my bedroom! Tell you what I am getting ruthless. No such thing as sentiment here! As usual we had a house full - seems to be our thing lately. Must say it is great to see the kids happy to have their friends here. Tasha had her friend Kyah here and Kyle had 2 mates over for the afternoon.

Then Sunday I slept in till 8:30!! before getting up and doing some housework. Then we had Tracy and Jacob over for a few hours. What a great time we had - Tony went off to bed so Tracy and I had a great chat. It was lovely to catch up on her life and to just sit, relax and share. Oh and eat the beautiful chocolate cake Tasha made - thanks Tash.

Mmmm good thing this weekend was refreshing as this week looks to be absolutely insanely busy.

Just for fun

6 Things I Am Looking Forward To:-
- Going to Sydney with Miss Jane
- Catching up with SJ ...am missing you so much sweetie
- Seeing Pink... we bought the tickets so long ago and it is now coming up fast
- Catching up Tracy and Jacob this weekend
- The weekend! No work for 2 whole days
- My wonderful spoil me session.... the kids got me a massage/facial/foot rub for mothers day - just got to find a day to have it.

6 Things I Did Yesterday:-
- worked with Sally
- laughed so much that my face hurt
- picked Tasha and Kaysha up from their school disco
- Got coffee from Socrates.... yeah I know that one was a shock! ~L~
- Read blogs
- Spent too much time on the computer

6 Things I Wish I Could do:-
- See where my Mum grew up
- Sing in tune and in pitch
- Stand up for myself more
- Not let other people get to me
- beat my kids at a computer game
- find time for a craft day/hour/session each week


6 Shows I Watch:-
- spicks and Specks
- NCIS
- lie to me
- bones
- house
- my family

6 Favorite Fruits:-
-strawberries
- bananas
- kiwifruit
- raspberries
- blueberries...hehe notice the theme here!
- blackberries

6 Places I’d Like to Travel To:-
- England...as above see where Mum grew up
- Egypt...have always been fascinated by Egypt
- Tasmania... loved it and would love to go back
- New Zealand... as above
- Melbourne...Doh! for some reason this seems to be my favourite destination. Hmm what is the drawcard?!?
- Venice.. another place I have always dreamt of visiting

My budding artist

Each year Illaroo Road has its own version of the Archibald called the Irpsibald Awards. This involves each child making a portrait. This can be through any art medium eg painting, collage, sketching etc. Tasha did her portrait through a collage format this year and today was presented with FIRST PRIZE! The competition was judged by the curator of the local art gallery so this was a great achievement for her. She has her portrait on display in the school office. She was also presented today with a special laminted poster with a print of her portrait and First Prize on it. She also got an art pack which includes a large canvas, set of paintbrushes and acrylic paints. Tasha now has the opportunit to use this art pack to paint her canvas and then this can be handed over to the local art gallery for entry in a district school competition.

Very proud mum and dad here!

What a weekend!

I have had the best weekend in such a long time.

Cass arrived about 10am Saturday bearing slice and cakes! YUM. We sat down for morning tea and then we went off on our retreat! All the way to my scrap room where we retreated for the weekend. Okay we did come out for lunch, afternoon tea and a lovely dinner of home made pizzas but other than that I was "away"" at retreat.

We chatted, scrapped, laughed, listened to music (and expanded Cass' musical knowledge hehehe), chatted, laughed and had a wonderful time. We finally went to bed about 3am.

Then we woke up (eventually) on Sunday and after breakfast went back on retreat where we chatted and laughed some more. Anyway when Cass finally packed up to go home we looked at what we had done and were totally amazed. With all the chatting and laughing that went on we also scrapped - a lot! More than I think either of us have acheived at a retreat before. Cass did 9 single pages, 1 double and 3 cards. I got 8 pages done!

It was the best weekend and I now feel so much more refreshed, revitalised, rejuvenised and so many more other re- words. It was a great weekend, and the price was wonderful. NOTHING! Thank you so much Cass- you have no idea how much I needed this weekend and just how much I appreciate your friendship. The only thing that could have improved it would be to have SJ join us - although I don't know if my scrap room could handle that much laughter!

The last week

Ooops sorry - been a busy week so this is long post *insert blushing face here* Should update more often.

I mentioned in my last post that we had Tasha's friend Kaysha here for the weekend. Thought I would share a pic of the girls taken at Nana and Papa John's farm "Georgia". And here is a pic of Maggie in her new winter coat which Nana bought her. She is sooooo cute. I wasn't sure how she would cope but it didn't bother her at all.

Wednesday I drove up north to have lunch with this gorgeous little girl (and her mum). She has grown up so much since I last saw her - Annabelle that is - don't know that there is much chance of her mummy growing up, or at least I hope not we like her just the way she is.

And i got some kisses. She is such a cutie

She is so grown up - walking and talking and with such a personality. Cass and I have commented so many times how much her two remind us of my two. Poor Cass and Dale!!

The second half of the week was very heavy workwise and emotionally. Nothing I am at liberty to share yet but I may be working more than ever before (so much for working part time and taking it easier). and also have been thinking of my dad a lot over the last week. If you have the chance don't forget to let your Dad know you love him because once he's gone you find yourself wanting to share lots of things!
Workwise - have things coming in from everywhere. It's nice to feel wanted and to know that people approach me to ask me to work for them is a nice feeling. However, don't know how much more I can fit in! Oh well, will be good to know I can pay the bills.

CRAZY HAIR DAY

On Friday Tasha's school had their crazy hair day. This was Tasha before school all ready to go. Her hair was so well teased etc that it actually stayed like this until she got home. (then she was sent straight to the shower with lots of shampoo/conditioner and lots of "ouches" as she brushed it out!)

And finally..... Mothers day! I was presented with a menu for options for breakfast in bed .... Hmm maybe they should have checked the cupboards first as I hadn't done any grocery shopping so we didn't have most of the things on the list! but it was lovely. Got some gorgeous cards the kids had made me and some little gifts they have got for me and one BIG pressie! My pamper session. I have a facial/foot treatment and massage afternoon coming up! Last time
I had anything like this was when my work sent me to a health retreat for Christmas one year. Apart from that a massage was something I heard about and vaguely remember so I can't wait. Then we went up to Georgia to see my mum for Mothers Day. We had a lovely afternoon tea and got lots of Nana cuddles

Just as we were leaving the farm this glorious rainbow came out. It was so bright and clear and you could see it going right down into the valley.

Another full house weekend!

This seems to be our "thing" lately. It is great to see the kids making good friends and feeling happy to invite them home. Once again we had a house full. Kyle had Gavin over for the day on Saturday and Tasha's friend Kaysha came for an overnight stay and even joined us for a trip up the mountain to Nana and Papa John's! Whilst Kaysha was here she taught us to play Spoons - which is one of the maddest, most fun family card games! I am sure it is something we will be doing much more of. Don't know if I would try it with the entire Lucas family - could get terribly dangerous!

Kyle had school camp last week which he thoroughly enjoyed. He had a ball and even the rain didn't dampen his enthiasm. They did canoeing, orienteering, archery and heaps of other activities. It sounds like a massive undertaking - it was the entire secondary school camp. Thats yr 7 -12! WOW.

Anyway the next few weekends look to be just as busy. Kyle is already lining up someone to come over this weekend and then the weekend after is my turn!! I am unable to attend the scrapping weekend this year so to distract me and keep me from feeling too left out I am having my own "sleepover"! ~L~ Wonder if we will get up to as much mischief as the kids when they have a friend over......hmmmm maybe a bit more trouble! hehe.

Kyle has gone!

Well my boy has gone off to school camp. Had to be at school at 7 this morning - much nicer than the 4:30 start last year! He was very nervous last night and over the last week but seemed okay heading off this morning.

This camp worried more than last years because he is still the "new kid" so he doesn't know everyone as well but he is happy with his room allocation as he has 2 friends in his room. He also really likes his activities teacher, Mr Campbell, so that is good news. We had a long chat last night and prayed together and he was feeling much better this morning. I didn't think I was doing too bad stress wise until I woke in the middle of the night stomach churning! ~L~ Don't think I will ever change! I am so good at worrying - had lots of practice!!!

So Tasha and I will be able to prolong our girls time as it is just us for the next 2 nights! Tash has already requested tacos for dinner tonight!!! (she tried for McDonalds but was not successful!). She has gone off to school to show off her new haircut and catch up with all the goss from her friends. Her best friend was away for most of the holidays and came home to no phone or internet so Tash has had serious withdrawals!

Our mother/daughter day

Today Tasha and I had a great time!

Kyle went back to school today but Tasha doesn't go back until tomorrow so we took advantage of this and has a special girl's day.

First we went and got Tasha's hair cut. It is now layered and looks really nice! It suits her really well. she loves it and went around to show it off to Aunty Gail and Aunty Davina and Erin (and anyone else we ran into downtown!)

Then we hit the shops!!!! We had some money aside for new clothes as the kids have both grown so much. Hhhmm lets see - Tasha got some new shoes (big shock there! - not), we got her some new school pants for winter and 2 pairs of tights. Her special spend was a gorgeous black jacket with a hood that is lined in bright pink!! (pink ladies eat your hearts out!) and of course it has Hannah Montana on it.

Then we splurged on lunch - Tasha's choice - and went to Subway at Nowra Fair before going into Supre for her to pick out 1 new t-shirt.

It probably doesn't sound that exciting - 1/2 of it was school clothes but we had a great time together. It was so nice to have time with just the two of us - shopping, having lunch, chatting and just being together.

Happy Birthday

Dear Miss M,

Hope you have had a wonderful birthday and got spoilt rotten. Wish I could be there to give you a big birthday hug - and to share any left over icing with your mum!!!!

told you so, told you so

he he - told you that you would be sorry hassling me to update! Sorry will climb out from under my blanket and be more social now and update more often.

Easter weekend - pt 2

After cutting our holiday short we headed down to Ulladulla on Sunday to watch the street parade and we had planned to stay around for the fireworks but there really wasn't much happening down there and we didn't much feel like hanging around for 8 hours till the fireworks so we thought maybe we would head back to Nowra and possbily even crash the family lunch!

Anyway having said that we head back to Nowra via the longest trip I think I have ever done! We drove back via Huskisson and stopped for icecream and then got back in the car to head back to Nowra. Not Quite!!

Tony being Tony it couldn't be that simple could it?!. As we get just south of Nowra he suddenly turns off the highway "Lets go check out Main Road 92!" What the......

Years ago we used to spend our weekends drving around exploring but we haven't really done that since we had the kids. It was our thing to do when we were first married. Anyway we drove along for a while and then hit the dirt road. They are doing heaps of roadworks there so the trucks have been up and down that road making it very rough and corrugated. The average driver would slow down - not Tony!

We bumped our way along through Nerriga to Braidwood and then decided to head back to Ulladulla via Batemans Bay!

So there you go - we drove to Ulladulla via Ulladulla, Huskissson, Nowra Hill, Nerriga, Braidwood and Batemans Bay. what a mad trip.

Anyway we made it back to Ulladulla with 5 minutes to spare before the fireworks which were truly beautiful!

Easter weekend - Sydney

After lots of will we's or wont we's due to many things we kind of had our weekend away. The main 2 restraints being my health - I had the man flu for a few weeks and was very exhausted and really didn't think I could cope with a long weekend of walking around and the fact that the bank account really could not stretch at all- after how do you make a minus figure stretch except for in wrong direction. So we decided to postpone our zoo trip for now - the problem was that the Star Wars exhibit Kyle wanted to see closes these holidays - so we went up for an overnight stay only.

So one happy boy - at powerhouse museum Don't know who is scarier here - Tasha or the stormtrouper.

The kids with R2D2 and C3PO - have so many pics from the day at the museum - it was so hard to pick which to share

And just to prove I was there too! Heres me with a couple of R2 units

The star wars exhibit really was amazing. The background stuff was fascinating. They went into detail about not only the cinemagraphics and models and photography but the sound effects. We had a great time looking. playing and listening!

Then we did a rather abridged tour of the rest of the powerhouse museum. Too much information to cram into one day! There are heaps of different themed areas with lots of hands on exhibits.

We ended up staying in a motel we hadn't stayed in before and weren't sure what to expect as it was one of the cheaper places we could find. Having said that it was wonderful. We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Darling Harbour and admittedly they did upgrade us for free but the room and the hotel were wonderful. will definately be returning there! the kids were very excited as this was the view from our window. Kyle said it was the Aussie view - the power'ouse museum!!

Girls Brigade Dress up

As always at the end of term Girls Brigade had a themed dress up night. We had very short notice but this terms theme was "Indian" - as in the country not cowboys & - and after first thinking she would be a monkey (not the first I think of when I think of India) and then a safari hunter she decided to go as a belly dancer.

Auntie Gail to the rescue!!!! Yah thank you for letting Tasha raid your costume cupboard at the 11th hour so she could find a belly dancing costume and save me making her one in the 45 minute window I had that day.

Our bust weekend pt 2

As I mentioned we had the gorgeous Jhorjie here for the weekend. Here is one of the many gorgeous smiles we got from here over the weekend.
Then on Saturday Tegan joined us. I took the 3 girls to the park for a while in the afternoon and it was wonderful to see the 2 older girls looking after Jhorjie and making sure she was okay and joining in with them. This would have to be one of my favourite pics from the day. Don't know why it appeals to me so much but I just love it.

3 Cheeky monkeys!

Then Tegan ended up staying overnight Saturday so we had the 3 girls on the sofabed in the back room! Lots of giggles, chatting and not enough sleep!

Our busy weekend pt1

On the first weekend in April we had a very big weekend. Firstly we had Jhorjie with us for the weekend and we had a great time with her. It was great to see her fit in so happily with us. She chatted away to all (including Tony!)
Friday night we had Margie and the girls over for dinner. We had been to Margie's dad's funeral on Thursday and went out to dinner with Margie, Greg and their families afterwards. Greg had to go back to Sydney and Margie was here with the girls in a motel so we invited them over for dinner. (Not that Margie and tony need an excuse to get together for a gossip session).

There was lots of chats, catching up, reminiscing and laughs. the best thing was how well the girls got on.

This picture is terribly deceptive as I think this the only time all 5 girls sat down and it literally lasted for about 5 minutes maximum! They spent a lot of time outside playing with the guinea pig and running and yelling. I do think the neighbours were thinking we were killing a few kids here with all the squealing and yelling but they had such a good time. They came in for dinner and then headed back out (in the dark) - we could tell where they were by following the noise.

We really do need to make more of an effort to catch up and socialise. I love to mix with people and I find it very restrictive with Tony's hours. We even missed our annual bbq where we invite all our friends for a big catch up - may have to do a June long weekend barbie!

My 13 year old

Yes I know I said happy birthday over a month ago but here are some pics of my young man on his 13th birthday. This is the birthday boy all ready for school . As Tasha was away Kyle got to choose what he would like to do for his birthday and he asked to go out to "a real restaurant". (ie not the buffet place his dad likes to go to but somewhere where you look at a menu and order!) So after looking around and asking people (hhmmmm note to self - if I went out more I may actually know what the local places were like to eat) we decided on the Bomaderry Bowling Club. After hearing of our decision Nana and Papa John asked if they could join us too which Kyle loved.

And in an even bigger shock Tony joined us - yes people he does venture out at night on the rare occasion. Well he got some sleep that afternoon so he could come. So for Kyle this was a very special dinner.

You know cutting the cake is a very serious business! What a lucky mummy was I. When asked about the cake -and knowing that in the past we have requests for Thomas, Guitars and fairies and other elaborate things (just to clarify Tasha wanted the fairy not Kyle) -although not all of these on the one cake ~L~ all my boy wanted was a mud cake from Woolies with the "white stuff " and choclate on top.

And the final pic from the night - my wonderful 13 year old young man with his very proud mum.

Ggggrrrrrrr

GGGGRRRRRRR

Okay now I am annoyed! After a few subtle (and a couple of not - so - subtle) prompts to update my blog I sat down tonight and edited photos from the past month to update and post about our comings and goings over the last little while.

BUT apparently blogger has decided that me being slack and quiet is normal because it won't let me upload any photos. Stupid blogger!

Will try again tomorrow. But I do warn you that you should be careful what you wish for - I have lots to update!

Yeah I'm slack

I know I promised piccies and I know my posts have been very short and very low on "me" detail lately. Will sort things out and get some more stuff up soon.

Have lots of pics to share - done some scrapping, pics of margie and girls and heaps more.

We had a busy long weekend - ooops more pics to upload. Kyle got to see the Star Wars exhibit at powerhouse, we had fun wandering around chinatown with the kids AND we saw fireworks. What a weekend!

So will pop my head out - stop trying to ignore the world (yeah I wish you were here to do lalalalala's with me too sweetie) and kick myself back into gear.

Proper update soon........honestly!

man Flu

Yep its official I have the "man" flu. You know the flu you have when you just want to spend all day in bed and you feel like you are going to die! 2 weeks now - this is ridiculous.

Have pics to share but quite honestly just can't be bothered right now. Will get to it over the weekend - depending in how I feel.

Got to send a shout out to Matt who is in mourning for his beloved camera. ((((((Hugs)))))) Matt - well maybe not - you might not want to get that close ~L~

Will update properly in a few days

What a day!

HHmmm looks like the next few days are going to be big ones!

I am back at work today - just doing half a day to see if I can cope with that. Don't know how the exhaustion levels will cope but will see how I go. But compared to others I have it fairly easy at the moment.

Today we will be thinking of Margie, Greg and their family as we attend the funeral of Margie's dad Laurie. Margie has been a great friend of Tony's for many years and infact (in one of those twists) when we went around to their place to tell them we were engaged it turned out Greg had also proposed to her the same weekend! AND we had both picked the same weekend for our weddings! No bride wars here though - we moved ours forward a week, they moved there's back a week so we could be back from our honeymoon to attend and everyone was happy! Spare a thought today for Margie, Greg, their girls Lucy, Erica and Phillippa and Margie's mum Edna.

Then the big one - the day is here. This afternoon Mone and Greg take Isabella up to Westmead for her big operation tomorrow morning. Spare a thought and prayer for them and for Isabella whilst she is in surgery tomorrow She will be in hospital for 5 days following the op. Pray for piece of mind for Mone as she waits and also that Jackson will settle well for her so she gets some sleep whilst she is in Sydney. Mone was able to get accommodation at Ronald McDonald House which is one great load off her mind!

Hope wherever you are and whatever you are doing you are well.

Exhausted!

What a weekend! Wow - I mentioned in a previous post how busy my life is during the week - well just try keeping up with my kids social lives on weekends! It is great to see them both making good friends - NICE friends - and being able to spend time with them.

Lets see... starting Thursday I had was has now been referred to as the "Psycho Flu" ...~L~... No seriously I think if I went to doctor they would tell me I was insane. I had all the symptoms of a sore throat - feeling hard to swallow, that yucky feeling etc but NO PAIN IN THE THROAT! I also had goosebumps and sweats but when i took my temperature it WAS FINE. Told you - psycho flu. The only problem was that I felt so run down with it too. Thursday wasn't too bad. I got through the day at work and kind of crashed when I got home. Friday I made it to lunch time and then came home, slept on the lounge and did very little else. So in a way it was good the kids were so busy and occupied this weekend.

Friday night Tasha had a slumber party for Tegan's birthday so I was down to 1 child Friday Night. She came home mid morning Saturday and had a quiet day at home by herself as Kyle had gone to Ulladulla with a friend and his family. Then Tash had ANOTHER slumber party Saturday night (this time for Kyla) and Kyle called in briefly on his way home from ulladulla to say he was staying overnight at his friends. So no kids Saturday night! Then Sunday Tasha has had Kyla here for a while then gone back to Kyla's and Kyle didn't come home until mid afternoon so nice and peaceful and quiet......well not really.

You see as of this week I am working from home and I needed somewhere quiet and away from everyone to work (very hard to listen to the dictaphone with noises around!) so I spent the weekend re-arranging my craft room and adding a new desk so I have "work" space and "play" space. Just for next time - this is not a good idea when you have been feeling as exhausted and washed out as I was! Crawled into bed Saturday night (after having a couple of naps during the day). Very glad that plans for Saturday night did not come to fruition as there is no way I could have lifted my head up. In fact Tony came in at one stage( I think it was about 7pm) to find me lying on the floor asleep! I had sat down after moving the desk - totally exhausted - and must have decided to have a nap. ~L~

So a busy weekend for all. I am feeling slightly more human (only slightly) and hope to be over the psycho-flu soon. Or at least not feeling so totally wrung out and exhausted.

SSSSSHHHHH

I have to say Happy Birthday to an amazing friend but she would never forgive me if I named her!!!

So let me just say to an amazing friend who has been there for me through the ups and the downs, supported me in the lowest times and partied with me in the best of times. My dance buddy, shopping pal, voice of reason. I miss our clubbing sooooo much. We made such great groupies together. She knows ME which is something I only let very few people do. In fact I would go as far to say that there are only 4 people that I am really close to and I count this lady as one of those. She is always there not just for me but for so many people. If you have a problem she will be there in a flash.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a great friend. Hope you have an awesome day and even though you don't feel comfortable with anything big you deserve the best.

Wet but happy!

Well wehave just got in the door from the first soccer game of the season! Now that Kyle has gone up a grade he plays midweek rather than on Saturday which means AAARRRGGGHHHH for me. Tony is disappointed he wont get to see Kyle play any more and it makes my week just that bit more insane.

Lets see - this is a rundown of my week now. Monday - work till 5 then rush home pick Kyle up for soccer training at 5.30. Tuesday - hopefully no work BUT pick Tasha up from school for not 1 but 2 dance lessons before racing home for dinner and then Girls Brigade. Wednesday - work then Kyle's soccer match (sometimes as far as Ulladulla). Thursday - work then at this moment a night at home but that wont last for long! Friday - work - then home for dinner before taking Kyle to youth group. YUCK YUCK YUCK . Is it any wonder I have been feeling so shocking lately?!? I feel like I have hit rock bottom so I guess the only way from here is back up. One step at a time. I will get there eventually - its just hard to see the way out from down here.

Anyway back to the topic.....soccer tonight in the rain FUN. Kyle's team won 4-0 and a very well deserved win they played soooo well. As for Kyle well have you ever seen the movie champions AKA the mighty ducks? Well he reminds me so much of that guy that has so much power but no control or direction of the ball. But he doesnt quite make it to be "bash brother" as he is too polite and doesn't like taking the ball off someone! But he was everywhere on the field running like mad and doing some great clearing kicks. Proud of you mate.

Happy Birthday

Wow how fast have the last 13 years gone! On the 19th of March 1996 Kyle Michael Lucas was born at the ridiculous hour of 1.30am (Sorry Mone - your dinner went very very cold!) so much has happened in the last 13 years but all in all he has grown up into a boy I am very proud of. He is a great support to me and a wonderful big brother.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE

So you made it to 13 - have to admit had my concerns that we wouldn't make it here at times! You are now officially a teenager - that doesnt mean you can act like one!

For your special day I thought I would share 13 things I love about you:

* Your dimples! You are so proud of them and they are adorable

* Those special hugs you give me every morning and the times we sing our special song together

* The love you show for your little sister and how you protect her (on the occasions when you aren't the one picking on her!)

* Those amazing blue eyes

* Your thirst for knowledge and your analytical mind - always enquiring, always striving to learn

* The way you run to the door when I get home from work just to say hi. It really makes coming in that door so special

* Your caring nature and concern for others

* The fact that you are still happy to be silly with your mum and the fun times we have together (watch out for those aliens in the white cars!)

* The way your hand creeps into mine when you are feeling shy or uncomfortable

* Your willingness and happiness to share your things with others

* Your love of books and the special times we can share discussing books we have read

* The fact that you are willing to let others take the glory - you love just being part of a team

* The way you totally immerse yourself in the things you like and how you take notice of the small details.

* Your amazing smile it lights your whole face up and always makes me happy deep inside.

.

ooops I know that is 14 but I just had to add the last one because your smile is amazing!

Hope you have a great birthday my amazing young man. Love you to the moon and back. Love you to infinity.

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always

As long as I'm living, my son you'll be"

She's away!

Tasha is all excited - her bags are packed (and re-packed when I realised what she had and hadn't packed - who needs a towel and a toothbrush?!? especially when you have 5 shirts!!!)

Year 5 is off to Berry Sport and Rec for three days. They go off on the 18th and back on the 20th which she thinks is so cool as her brothers birthday is the 19th! When Kyle enquired about presents ie would he get one before or after she replied that her being away the entire day WAS his present ~L~

So think of her over the next 3 days. They have a talent quest tomorrow night so she has been madly practising for that!

As for her mum - I haven't been stressing much about her going. no seriously. I guess there is so much going on. I am so wishing I could be in Melbourne right now. Sweetie you know I am thinking of you and your family right now and would be down there in a flash if I could. Love you all heaps!

Woo Hoo - exciting times!

Woo Hoo - I had a great offer this week.

Stting quietly at my desk at work when in walks ........(name withheld for now) - a doctor I had never met before and offers me a job, simply on the recommendation of other medical colleagues, that I have been saying for years would be cool but never thought would actually be do-able. Just sorting out the details and then I can provide more details.

WATCH THIS SPACE. How excitement!!!!

Camping, Canberra, Commuting and Catching up!

Wow what a totally insane but well worth it 24 hours.

Kyle has his first ever camp with youth group Pulse. They camped out in an old hall at Upper Kangaroo River just the other side of Kangaroo Valley. So we drove him up there and dropped him off at 7:30pm on Friday night. YAY quiet time at home! NO WAY. We then got back in the car and I drove to Canberra. Shocking trip driving over the mountain and through the highlands on dusk keeping a look out for roos and wombats (and luckily only seeing those that had already been "intimate" with other peoples cars). We arrived in Canberra about 10 o'clock. Oh and did I mention that the cigarette lighter that I needed for my ipod dock that had been FIXED before we went - well he didn't actually check that it worked! GGGRRRR I hate driving with no music.

Then we got up this morning and made our way to Calvary Hospital to see Aunty Joan. On a strict by-the-book basis Joan is Tony's Aunty in law as she married his mum's brother but realistically she is very dear to us. When ever there has been something major on down here she makes the trip from Canberra to be with us and support us. She is always interested in what we are doing and what is going on and cares so much for all of us. So when we heard she was in hospital after an emergency hip replacement we knew we had to go see her. 1) Just to say hi and check up on how she was going and 2) because we knew if the tables were turned she would be here in a flash. Oh and 3) did i mention just how lovely she is!

We had a great chat this morning. It was good to see her up and out of bed and we sat and chatted for about an hour and a half. It was so lovely to see her smiling and chatting and to catch up on everything. We got to see Lorinda too (Joan's daughter) which we were really happy about as we weren't sure if we would be able to catch up with her.

Then to appease the youngest member of the family we made a slight detour via Fyshwick on the way home to hit the DFO (namely Smiggle) and probably spent more in petrol than the cost of the couple of pens she got but hey now we can say we have been to the new DFO Fyshwick and whilst it doesn't quite match up to Essendon (got to come down again for another shopping trip) it was still great. Tasha is soooo happy she can now say she has been to Smiggle rather than looking on line and Tony got new shoes for work which he needed.

Then drove home - Tony did the trip from Canberra to Marulan before I took over - and this is where I think he had some inside knowledge because it rained the whole way down the mountain and infact just as we hit the valley to go and pick Kyle up the wind hit so hard there were branches coming down all around us.

Picked Kyle up in the pouring rain. He had a great time. They went in the river, played all sorts of games and generally just had fun. Then did the second mountain - yes I drove in the rain again.

Hope wherever you are you had a great weekend and that you are not feeling as exhausted as I am right now. Totally worn out but so glad we went.

Dance - a - thon

Tasha is still loving her dancing - even more so this year as she is doing hip hop AND jazz. Last saturday night her dance studio (Le Pointe) had a fund raiser to support the dance studios who were burnt down in the bushfires. They started off with a movie and popcorn session followed by a 2 hour dance-a-thon. Tash had never done an "a-thon" before and wasn't sure what to expect.

She had a great time! She did take Miss Meryl slightly too literally when she said they were not to stop dancing so she kept dancing - even on the toilet she said her feet and hands kept dancing! ~L~

What a small world

I was blown away today. You know how the world seems a small place and you always seem to run into someone you know or someone who grew up where you did etc etc. Well today I had this bought back to me in a massive way.

I had lunch with my mother today....yes I know we lived in the same house - thats not the coincidence I'm talking about here..... Anyway we were discussing my weekend away and I was explaining the property to her and "scary driveway" and where it was and the view etc when she stopped and said to me "Was that place called Melross?" When I confirmed it was she was amazed. It turns out that years ago when they first came out from England and settled on the Highlands her dad was offered a job as farm manager of that property!! They lived there briefly before Nana decided she really wasn't happy with scary bridge and the creek all the way around the property as she was panicking about being trapped there when the causeway went under in the big rains.

How freaky is that. I was explaining this beautiful place to my mother and it turns out it has family history. We have both spent time there!!!! Oh and then to top it off I ran in to someone I haven't seen for about 15 years and we have plans for a cuppa and catch up tomorrow. They have kids in the same year as Tasha at Illaroo

Well I promised pics from the weekend and had so many that I had to cull them right down. This weekend has been great not just for the totally relaxing atmosphere but also the amazing sharing attitude of these girls. I came away with not only new scrapping techniques and a love of glimmer mist (hhmmm Kim don't know if I should thank you for getting me addicted or not ~L~) but also some great tips for photography and for photoshop. Anyway on to the pics

****ggrrrr blogger is so not playing nicely tonight. It wont set things out the way I want it to. Hope you can still figure it out ****


This first group is just some pics from around the house - including "scary driveway" as it became known.
























group 2 and 3 are some pics of the girls - the obligatory photo shoot. Although 2 of the girls had gone home by then.

Some proof that we did get some scrapping done. I acheived 4 1/2 pages and a mini album so I was pretty happy with that. Love my mini album. Got to thank SJ for introducing me to Teresa Collins papers. Love ya sweetie

Some more pics from around the property- the one through the window is........wait for it........a loo with a view! Yes that is the view from the toilet!

And then I got home to this. Isn't it just gorgeous

WOW

Wooooooo Hooooooo.
What a great weekend. I am majorly tired right now and can't wait to have a nice warm bath and an empty night.

Just had to pop on and say - I am home. I will post pics in a day or two once they are downloaded from camera.

I had an absolute ball. It was a great weekend. Beautiful place, gorgeous views (including the view from the toilet across the paddocks etc), pool, 10 lovely scrapbooking ladies, wine, nice food. It was just a nice, pleasant peaceful weekend with no dramas or upheavals just a lot of laughs (did I mention wine) and chatting and scrapping. Lots of sharing of techniques and stashes! Can you guess I had a good time. Can't wait to do it all again. Thanks girls for letting me join you and for being so welcoming and friendly.