Oh what a night!

Last night we went to Hogs Breath in Shellharbour for dinner. I have to say I have some great friends. To drive all that way in this horrid wind (and especially Lou coming down the mountain!) for dinner was amazing of them.
It was probably the first time we have been somewhere with all the "other half's" and it was good to finally meet Lou's John.
So I am now 36..... Who'd have thought I'd make it this far ?!? 20 years ago if you have told me I would be married with a couple of kids you'd have been told to wake up!
I got sooooo spoilt by these people. I was just hoping for some fun times at dinner, a catch up and some laughs (which I got) but I got pressies as well. It's amazing how well these people know me.
MWAH Love you guys. Thanks for making the trip. Thanks to all the DH's for coming along. Thanks for not walking out in that heat (apparently the air con was not working - but they were working on it!). But most of all thanks for being there for me during the year!

Tis the happy season!

No not christmas! It's the happy birthday season!
This is our mega mad birthday period over the next 6 or so weeks. Lets see:
We started with Tracy's birthday yesterday (HB Trace!)
Then the 14th is my birthday. It is also Rachel's b'day - she was my partner in crime during school holidays as she lived next to my nana. And the 14th is also my best friend at high school Shell's b'day.
Then we have Annabelle's b'day
Then Mick's (hey I may be 5 days older than you but it is a recorded fact that women live longer!)
Then my friend Gail is on Dec 25
1st of Jan is the wonderful SJ. Wish I could be there to celebrate your public holiday birthday with you sweetie :(
January is the Lucas family month lets see:
Mark, Philip, Erin, Dominic, Tony, Gail.

I am sure I forgot someone - if its you I'm sorry.

Le pointe goes to the movies

Tasha started hip hop lessons at the beginning of this term and her teacher Miss Nicki felt she was doing well enough to participate in the end of year concert. This was a very exciting time for Tasha as she loves performing and had never danced in anything like this before. Her class did a hip hop routine to the Alvin and the Chipmunks song "witch doctor". We were a bit concerned about whether she would make the concert as she had been doing swimming school and (as for the past 2 years) she got sick. That pool always makes her sick. She had Friday off school and seemed to pick right back up.
Here is Tasha in her costume, make up and hair ready to go. Scary - so did not look like her she looks so grown up!

And here she is showing of one of her dance moves. the pics aren't the best but they had loose hip hop black pants with their hooded tops. Can't wait to get the photo taken of her group at rehearsals.

Anyway the concert went well. Tash's dance was the last of the night so we knew we had a long wait but the standard of dancing was absolutely amazing - tony and I were both blown away by the level of the dancers.

Tasha danced so well. She had a few troubles in rehearsal but she danced the best I had seen her do the routine. I was a very proud mother.

The evening was badly marred for Tasha in the finale. As she came onto stage for her big finale the girl in front of her fell and as she had hold of Tash she went down too - and hard! She got up clutching her stomach and crying and left the stage. It is so hard as a parent sitting there not knowing how badly hurt she was. The finale went on and then the teachers came out for the end of year celebrations. Tash came back on stage then but very quiet and still holding her stomach.

I raced around to the stage door to get her and she was so upset. She has a big bruise right on the hip where she hit the floor and was so mortified and still in tears. She screamed when I touched her hip but her stomach didnt seem to be tender so I decided a trip to hospital was not needed and brought her home. A very subdued girl went off to bed last night but she has decided today that she wants to do dance lessons again next year - shes just not sure about the concert!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!

It definately is. The kids are getting excited as they see the lights come on the house up and down the street and are already spotting places they want to see when we go for our annual "christmas light hunt". We go for a walk (well we have the last 3 years) all around our area for a couple of hours checking out lights etc.
We finally got our tree down and decorated. The kids add a new ornament with their name and year on it each year so it is getting a bit full now but it is lovely to see the history (including the names of family members who were with us different years and their ornaments as well!)

And the wish boxes are getting culled and re-filled! We have these boxes sitting out all year round and if you see something in a magazine etc you like it goes in your wish box.

And my amazing advent box! My gorgeous friend Sandra (who seems to appear on these pages at regular intervals!) and I do our own advent swap and I am having a ball unwrapping my little gift each day in December. The presents each day show me that this is a girl who knows me so well and so much thought has gone into each and every one of them. Love ya so much MWAH.

I have told Tony the only present I want this year is a trip to Melbourne ~ after all got to check out the new lounge covers!

November update

November seems to have flown by so quickly. Have so much news!

New Car

Yes we finally (about 12 months overdue but hey!) updated the Suzuki to a car that goes and doesn't chew petrol! YAY US! We went up to Sydney to check out a Toyota Paseo that Tony had seen on the internet and it was horrid! Door handle broken, cracks in the bumper, dint in the front panel, hole in the floor etc etc. So we went for a wander along Parramatta Road where i kept falling in love with cars waaayyy out of our price range. Then we walked into a car yard and I was immediately drawn to a little turqoise 2 door hatch, sporty looking thing which Tony then laughed at when I pointed out to him because it was a TOYOTA PASEO ~ yes thats right the same as the one we had come up to look at!
First car we have both agreed on so we came away with a new car
(BTW tried to take pics but they didn't work out so will edit later with pics)

Girl time

Jhorjie has spent a lot of time with us lately and she has been an absolute pleasure to have. Her and Tash have such an amazing relationship I love watching them together. I took this pic of the two of them out the front - just love it!
Girls Brigade

Tasha had her end of year display night for Girls Brigade. They showed off their marching skills, led by one of the cadets who did a great job. Then Tasha's group showed us the exercising they had learnt. thanks to Aunty Gail and Aunty Davina for again supporting Tash. She loves seeing her family there!

Please come home...

All is forgiven so please come home!!

Have spent the day today in my scrap room making christmas cards. Had to do something crafty or i may have gone insane (no comments from the cheap seats please}. The major problem I had today was making my cards with no pastels - they have run away from home!

I know I had them at the last card making day and I don't think I had them at the scrap day cause I couldn't find them then. Have been through all my bags and searched my room and can't find them :( So if anyone sees them please let them know that all is forgiven and they will not be in trouble if they just come home - or out from where they are hiding!

got heaps more updates re the new car, annoying teachers, dance concerts, my advent parcel (love ya sweetie) etc but am off to go searching again. will update later.

BTW with the cards made at the card making classes and todays I think I am almost finished my christmas cards, now just got to write in them and send them

Today's quote of the day

“Respect everyone: each person you meet is better than you at something and has a lesson to teach you.”

Quote of the day

"You can’t make footprints in the sands of time if you’re sitting on your butt. And who wants to make buttprints in the sands of time?"
- Bob Moawad

Today was a big day!

Today was Kyle's orientation day at high school. Poor Kyle was feeling really quite nervous this morning as we headed off to school. The day started with a meeting in the hall with the year advisor where we got all sorts of different info for next year. Most of the kids were actually students who had been at the school for primary school. There was only about 5 "new" kids ~ Kyle was one of these. Then the kids went off for the day and Tony and I went in to speak to the bursar and then hit the uniform shop before heading back to the car.

Walking through the playground we noticed the kids were having recess and when I turned around my heart just about broke in half. Kids were playing and chatting and there was our boy - sitting there all by himself quietly eating his recess. He is so shy and takes a while to make new friends but it broke my heart to see him just sitting there with kids all around him but sitting by himself. I just wanted to stay but I knew we had to leave. I know in my head he will slowly make friends but in my heart it was so hard.

Anyway when we picked him up at the end of the day he was happy. He enjoyed the day, had fun with the different lessons (they did a mock timetable for them), and actually played handball with some other kids at lunch time. Not kids his own age - apparently some older high school kids saw him sitting alone and asked him to join them - but it was a start.

I really thought the hard day was kindergarten but this was so much harder because in Kindergarten they make friends much easier. I wish they could stay in Primary school forever.

Quote of the Day

In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.

Albert Schweitzer

What a social weekend!

Well from feeling kind of like a hermit we made up for it this weekend!

With Tony's hours we don't tend to do much socialising. However on Friday Tony started 2 weeks holidays and he didn't get time to take a breath before the catch up began!

Friday night we had Davina, Steve, Gail, John, Haylee, Royce and Megan over for a bbq dinner. Once again Tasha had better plans! She went off to the circus for a birthday party. Apparently it was "the best circus ever" and we were regaled stories and a blow by blow description of all things circus.

Then Saturday we went over to the Baldwins for their housewarming party. Met some new people, caught up with some old friends and had a pleasant evening sitting and chatting with some people who had a child in soccer's team last season.

Sunday Cass came down and went to church with us before coming home for lunch and then we had her card making class where we made more gorgeous christmas cards. These classes are heaps of fun and I can't wait for the next one. It was also a great afternoon catching up with Jane, Jess, Kristy and Kylie. Oh and we had Jhorjie over for Tasha and Jayden came over to play with Kyle.

All in all a very social weekend - and next weekend looks just as busy - bet Tony regrets taking holidays now ~L~ If I could just fit in a Melbourne trip and a shopping trip everything would be great!

What a shocker of a weekend!

Well, for poor Tasha anyway!

Tony picked Tasha up from school in tears because she had a headache and hadn't felt well and they had a relief teacher who told her to just go get a drink and come back to class. Anyway about 10pm she comes wandering out to the lounge room telling me she felt "really" sick. She had that shiny glowing face and when I took her temp it was 39.3! And then it went up to 39.7 before the thermometer started telling me it was "too high to register". So we tried to cool her down and gave her some Panadol (which is always a worry cause it always makes her vomit when she has a temp) and then put her in my bedroom with the fan on and had a very restless night.

Still had a temp Saturday morning and was very dopey and lethargic most of the day and into Saturday night. Woke up Sunday feeling slightly better, temp only low 37's so she was doing better.

Then to top off a bad weekend - she went outside to sit and play with her brother and somehow managed to whack her head on Tony's weight bar. don't ask me I don't know how!?! and then........

and I thought this was just an excuse - I didn't realise it actually happened....................................

she came out to show me her homework and the dog tried to eat it!!! Not just once but she reached for it 4 times!!!!! Could you imagine going to school and seriously telling the teacher "the dog ate my homework!" ~L~
Anyway everyone is happy and well now, the homework is safe and we are just about ready to face the new week (IF I get through all this ironing first!)

Fun with photos

I have had heaps of fun playing with photos tonight! I dream of getting photoshop elements one day as I have no photo editing software except for the very basic program that came with our printer so when I get the chance to "play" I jump in. However, this is playing with a difference!

This first one is a pic of SJ taken at Darling Harbour, posing on the ground in front of the fountain ~ as you do (Well if you are as mad as us you do!)
A pic of Cass and I taken at a scrap day in Sydney makes a lovely wall hanging!

Heres that SJ pic on another billboard! for some reason this background just seemed to "fit" her really well. (And there wasn't even any pink icing or flavoured vodka!)

Kyles fav movie is Pirates of the Caribbean so he thought this pic was excellent

And finally a gallery pic! This pic is a very special one to me ~ it was not the first time I had met the Allan's (that had happened a few months before at Norah head and I had met up with SJ again at a craft show in Canberra) but this was the first time I had spent some decent time with the family (and even scrapped with SJ)...... Gail and I drove to Canberra to see them before they headed down to Melbourne to live.

So yes I have had fun playing with photos but they are all very special photos that sit in my "fav pics" folder. Special pics of special people

I found, it, I found it, I found it

Woohoo I found it!

So excited. I wazs cleaning up in my scrapping room - packing away the goodies from Paperific that I had just dumped on my scrap desk and sorting out the lace packs I had in piles on the floor. Anyway.......

When placing things away - there in the back of the cupboard, tucked away. I found this albeit small but very exciting bundle of.............
.........................................................................................

You'll never guess! In amongst all the new goodies I had bought was a small clump of..............................................................

Scrapping mojo! YAY ~L~

All of a sudden had not just heaps of enthusiasm but ideas popping around in my little head! I know exactly what I will be doing this weekend. Hope I found enough mojo to stretch over the whole weekend! Can't wait to get started.

Part time ......Ppfffttt

Lately I have been stresing and feeling guilty about my contribution to the household budget (or lack thereof). I have felt bad that I am only working 2 days a week and knowing that this is likely to drop more soon. However, I haven't been taking extra work into consideration.
I worked out today that yes.. I am officially only on 2 days a week but this week I am working 5 days (between 2 places), next week am working 4 days and 4 days the week after.
Maybe my lesson for today is to stop stressing the small details and look at the bigger picture!

In other news......

Got to send a shout out to Sandra and Andrea who both have special job interviews over the next 24 hours. Praying for both of you.

A fun afternoon

Had a great fun time today. It was a mad, busy day but a good one too. Spent the morning running around cleaning the house - having been away last weekend and then working this week the housework was a bit behind and I had people coming!

We had Jhorjie over for Tash to play with. We had promised Jhorjie when we met the twins that she could have a day with Tasha this weekend and the girls were so good together. They are so well behaved. Kyle had his friend Shaun over which is always pretty full on to say the least! Even Maggie the dog has a friend over to play! (We are dog sitting Mums dog overnight) And Tony has been sorting out all the junk that we have been putting aside for a tip run, borrowed Phillip's truck and got that done today.

This afternoon Cass moved her monthly card class down to Worrigee so I got to stay home and make 8 christmas cards for $15. And they were amazing cards! She is such a clever lady. It was great to catch up with Jane as well. We really don't see each other nearly enough - we communicate regularly by sms but don't spend near as much time together as we used to. I really miss that contact! All up there were five of us there: Cass, Jane, Gail, Kristy and myself. It was a nice group and just a friendly relaxed afternoon.

Home Mk 2

Yep made it home safely. Am now very tired and exhausted. Would love to share some pics with you but......(insert blushing face here).... actually forgot to take pics for most of the weekend! Anyway had a great time.

Friday
Got up nice and early and got the kids off to school then drove to Canberra and caught flight down to Melbourne. Have to say thanks to Kase for the pics of the new Pignataro twins. They were born as I was travelling today! Sandra met me at the airport and I don't think we drew breath for the next few hours catching up on all the latest details! Got home after stopping off on the way - we wanted to try out the new flavoured vodka but couldn't decide which flavour so bought 2! ~L~ (Raspberry and Citrus for the detail oriented!)
Then we sat out the back and watched the sunset sipping our drinks which were lovely! We went around to see one of the dentists SJ worked with who was moving in to lend her Matt's muscles! Then we came back home and sat and chatted and laughed. (Sorry Matt :( ) Eventually got to bed sometime around midnight I think.

Saturday
We went to Paperific! I got to meet the lovely Miriam who is such good value and heaps of fun. We wandered, chatted, did the touchy-feely thing, checked out the make and takes - did a couple of them, bought a little (yeah okay maybe a little more than that!), laughed a bit more and just had a great day. Got some cool stuff - stamps, new sassafras papers, a gorgeous cupcake chipboard album, ribbons, and heaps more. The weird thing about Paperific was the fact that I was recognised by people I had never met ~ then we realised it was because my face had appeared on Sandra's scrapping. So I became famous vicariously through her work! It was kind of off-putting though when people said "I know you don't I?"

Then back home for more drinkies and sunsets. Then a bit more chatting (not much we were both pretty worn out) - mainly I just sat in the chair that I am sure is there just for me - I love sitting there besides Sandra's scrapping desk watching her creative process and listening to Matt's music and checking out his photos. This guy is so creative and his pics are amazing. Check them out if you get a chance!

Sunday
Slept in till 8:30! Then we hit the shops! These shops were amazing. We just to the local shopping centre - ie this shopping centre services just their suburb but what a complex! Imagine a crossroad intersection with a mall the size of Nowra Fair on each of the 4 corners! (well technically 3 - the 4th is under construction) Did quite a lot of browsing and spent ages checking out baby clothes trying to decide - Keira wasn't much help she kept finding cuter and cuter outfits.
After doing a spot of grocery shopping we headed home and just relaxed and vegged out for the afternoon. Had the yummiest home made Satay Chicken pizzas for dinner. mmmmmm so good. Then I attacked Sandra's craft stash and did a heap of stamping to bring home.

Monday
Got up nice and early this morning as we had to be out by 7.00. Matt dropped us at the train station and SJ and I caught the train into the city where we sat and had breakfast before parting ways. For this country girl who isn't all that used to public transport I was so proud of myself. Today I
* Caught a train (okay so Sandra was with me so maybe that one doesn't count)
* Caught a tram
* Caught a second tram
* Found the bus terminal
* Caught bus to the airport
* Checked in ~ no mean feat as the check in took an hour and a half (was actually worried I would have nothing to do - ended up being very glad I got there early!) Did have a good chat to an architect from Newcastle who specialises in sushi bars whilst in the check in queue!
* Flew back to Canberra (after getting a free upgrade for being nice to the check in staff ~ all I did was change a $20 for them!) in a nice new plane.
* Tracked down car in long term parking (I am sure it wasn't that far away when I parked it on Firday)
* Drove home!
* Collapsed in a heap!

All in all I had a great weekend. Am now totally exhausted and missing Melbourne already. Have to work on that transfer again Tony!

Have to say thanks to the Allan family for once again being my family away from home. For welcoming me in and letting me be one of them. For putting up with my weird sense of humour and for letting me be me. Matt and Sandra you are the best friends a girl could have and I love you both MWAH. Miranda thank for the smiles at breakfast ~ what a great way to start the day. Keira thanks for the bed again sweetie. Hope your voice is back soon - but in the meantime STOP TALKING! Jamie, hope you are feeling better soon mate.

Thats about it - would love to share pics but.....Doh.... can't!

Now I just want my bed!

Home

Not happy - just did the longest post about the weekend and blogger lost it! Will sit down and try again

Mayhem and Madness

Yep you can tell from the title that all is normal here in the Lucas household ~L~

This week has been kind of mad with lots going on - mainly so I can organise my 4 days away! Soooooo excited - can't wait to totally terrorise Melbourne again ~ hmmmmm wonder just how we can get into trouble this time (note to self: Keep SJ away from security buttons!) So I will drop the kids at school on Friday and then drive up to the airport leaving them at the mercy of their father for the weekend!

I was a very proud mummy when Kyle came home from school on Monday with a note saying he had received a CREDIT in an ICAS computer skills test he did at school. Very proud of you mate - well done.

Am very excited over the fact that on Friday I will be an auntie again. Keep Simone, Greg, Jhorjie, Dominic, **** and **** in your thoughts and prayers (edited to protect those who don't know names etc of the twins).

Have applied for a couple of jobs so anxiously waiting to hear back. Have loved only working 2 days a week but the bank man doesn't like it quite as much as I do ~L~

Anyway hope you all have a great weekend. Will catch up with you on the other side of it!

Cards

Well I finally got around to uploading the pics from world card making day at Gails. Here is a glimpse of some of the cards I made. Some are fairly basic but I am happy with them. Also got some cards made with the "impossible" stamp from Jane. Forgot to take a pic of them so will do that and post them up here at some stage.


Oh and for anybody still counting ~ 5 days to go!!!!!!