Attn: GIRLS ONLY PARTY!!!!!

The Birthday Girls Name:

The Theme: a PINK party!

The required dress code...pink ...of course!

The Venue

The balloons being the favourite attraction

This is how the Birthday Girl's brother handles the akwardness of being the only boy at a girls party....shows off of course....

...like how cool would it be to gather all the balloons and then go outside and watch them go into outer space??? ...hang on...oh yeah....lets get my basket and put some teddys in it and make an hot air balloon!!! ....I just might need a few more balloons....like 60 or more!

Some of the favourites on the menu

Some of the little Princess's

The Craft activity: Paper flower necklaces

BUSTED!!!

The Birthday Girl taking a sneak peek at the birthday presents...caught on camera!

Completely random...

What was my husband doing at the kitchen bench that warranted him a little fan club???

Last but not least....

Trying desparately to blow out the candles on her 'purse' birthday cake while still continuing to eat her biscuit...if you know Layne...you'll realise how typical this is...the girl can EAT!!!!

Flying High...

This year have been somewhat of a rollercoaster for our family...last November Mike was asked to consider a position in Singapore within the company he works for. Mike served his mission in Singapore so he was excited to say the least. I had to do some hard core research first before I began to feel comfortable with it...since we had a son starting school in February...there was more to consider than usual. Singapore is an extremely expensive place to live especially when having to send your kids to intertnational schools and since Mike's company usually only does permanent moves - nothing would be financed by the company...so after waiting 7-8 months they finally gave us the financial package....which we promptly declined. I was somewhat surprised at myself to say the least...because after all the waiting and preparing and effort I put into research etc to do with moving...I thought that I should have at least felt like SCREAMING! (This isn't the first time this has happened to us!) But funnily enough both Mike and I just shrugged our shoulders and were like...whatever!...haaa there were no tantrums, PMS or screaming....in fact there has been no emotional display whatsoever...we were just happy to get on with our daily lives - where ever that was going to be!

Because of not knowing what we were doing we hadn't been able to actually plan a holiday so far this year...we have HEAPS of frequent flyers so we had been tossing up different holidays....should we take a trip to the snow (NZ), Fiji, the U.S???? but we were always undecided...within 2 weeks of us declining the offer to go to Singapore we FINALLY booked our holiday!!! So now we are showing alot of emotion....we're sooooo excited!!

I'm also feeling some anxiety to do this trip since we had to leave the kids behind...for 3 WHOLE WEEKS! I've never been away from both of them at the same time for more than 2 nights! But I'm not going to think about that for now!

So this is what we'll be doing and seeing during the month of OCTOBER!

First Stop

PARIS, France

Second Stop

Cairo, Egypt

Third Stop

Italy

Fourth Stop

New York

Fifth Stop

Chicago - the windy city!

Now it took us 3 days of hard core negotiating with each other to actually decide where we were going to go...I was willing to spend only 2 days in the States and the rest in Europe as both Mike and I have both lived in the States before...BUT Mike would have none of it...he wanted to spend practically half the time there...

In highschool more than half of my allotted units were History units...especially Ancient History - if I had gone to uni back then it would have been to become an history teacher...I LOVED ancient history...it just fascinated me. So of course when trying to plan this trip I was wanting to go to ALLLL the places that I had studied in highschool...Mike on the other hand didn't seem too interested in those places - he wanted to reminisce and go back to the places he grew up in...Germany, France, Switzerland....he wanted familiarity...he wanted 4-5 star accommodation, I wanted to Backpack through Europe....so the places I wanted to go were places like Egypt, Athens and the Greek Islands, Turkey, Middle East, Rome, Prague etc....of course the list went on....I figured since he kept the America leg - I could choose the Europe/Middle East leg...haaaaa I'm constantly amazed at his talents in the area of 'persuasion'!! The boy is gooood!

All in all it ended coming down to what flights were available and how much time we had...and Mike has promised me that in the next few years he will take me to Athens and the Greek islands since that was the one that I had the hardest time giving up!

Tedious...

So awhile back I decided to start scanning our wedding photo's and making digital copies...not that I particularly like my wedding photos but I figured for posterity's sake I would concede....it's been a bit tedious and I go through apathetic stages of whether I really want to bother - I think a big part of it is all the annoying things that come to mind...like why oh why did the little rosebuds I put in my hair not stay LITTLE...and instead decided to bloom throughout the day which - of course - I was oblivious to it. But then you come across a photo like this...and suddenly you don't notice it anymore...

...that's my youngest sister...I guess she thought instead of TELLING me about the stupid damn rosebud she'd just simply go one up - she competed with the rosebud!

....Back to the rosebud...I've always wondered why Mike never mentioned it...well, no, that's a lie...I don't wonder...I know what he had his mind on...and I'm not going to say anything more about that!

Back to the rosebud...you know when there is something embarrassing about the way you look and they seem oblivious to the fact that maybe they should actually tell you...????

I'll never forget sitting down with two of my sisters at a church function a couple of years ago...our kids running around having fun...my younger sister started talking and immediately my older sister and I informed her that she had something green right smack on one of her front teeth...and since we had only just sat down BUT hadn't actually STARTED eating - she immediately realised that it had been there for a while and her husband had NOT told her!!! I can't really tell you exactly what happened next but it involved Ember & I acting out conversations she'd been having with other people...one of us being Alison and the other being the one that couldn't stop staring at the 'green' tooth...we nearly wet our pants laughing (because we just find ourselves so damn funny!)...while our husbands stood from afar watching us, they have a name for it when they see us like this - the silly hour - it means when we've lost all self control and it won't get better until they separate us...

They wandered over obviously curious to see what had us in stitches...so the three of us performed our role play for them, needless to say all six of us laughed till we were in pain because our stomach muscles couldn't cope with the workout they were getting!

I love that about our husbands...they totally get us!

Disclaimer: DAMN is NOT cursing/swearing down here...so don't go sending me comments telling me what a potty mouth I am! ha...take that!

Lost....

If you're wondering where I am...or why I haven't posted...please see last post...I'm LOST in a world of books...I think I may have read 10-12 novels in the last two weeks...ok so I am starting to see that maybe I need to work on...balance? ...so...um...here is my effort!

Rainman????

My husband has a nickname for me...it's 'Rainman'...not Raingirl or Rainchic but Rainman...basically he thinks I'm a freak of nature...simply because I read...FAST! (in my head anyway).


Since I've been married I've found that I don't read alot of novels and if I do they are usually ones that I have read before...like works from Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, C.S Lewis or L.M.Montgomery. I found once I had kids I read books that I would learn something new from...I love learning something new... it was also because I know what I'm like when I read a novel...I have to keep reading...I need to know what happens...it's a yearning that's so strong that it takes me into the wee hours of the morning till I gain the satisfaction that comes from knowing the way it ends. Having to get up to children and feed them in the morning - basically getting up before 11am after a night like this doesn't necessarily produce the best in my 'mothering capabilities'. So I stopped reading new novels and stuck to the ones that I had read before and already knew the ending...it was safer that way.

And of course the staying up to the wee hours of the morning to read is FREAKISH behaviour for my husband...

1. He doesn't understand how I can read a whole 630 ish page novel in a 1 day...and

2. He doesn't understand how and why I just HAVE to know how it ends...like NOW!

So in the interest of helping him to understand his 'freak of a wife' I asked him how annoyed he would be if every 10 minutes or so into a movie he paused it and then went and did something else and left it for a few days/week before he actually got to watch the end of the movie...and IF he did would he enjoy it as much as sitting right through it??? Needless to say he got my point... (I still wouldn't mind trying it out on him sometime I think it would be quite entertaining to watch him wandering around aimlessly, looking lost and unable to cope as I do when I have to put my book down...)

So earlier this year I was feeling like I wanted some 'light' reading...something that I wouldn't necessarily have to read with the pressure of focusing and learning about what I was reading...something else...and I ventured to think to myself... Can I handle it??? Will I be ill-tempered at the kids the following day because I stayed up late reading? Will I still be able to cope putting dinner on the table, getting homework done and putting the kids to bed??? It was a big decision...It had literally been years since I had allowed myself the freedom...so I tried a short novel by Janet Evanovich. I enjoyed it. I stayed up late. I was extra mindful of being patient with the kids the following day...and I was genuinely surprised at myself that I was coping with the 'short-term' effects of reading a novel late into the night!

Now there was a series that I had been wanting to read...since the first book was released...I had had HEAPS friends in the States tell me I needed to read it...one of the girls I served my mission with knows the author...I kept putting it off...thinking I don't know if I can cope with reading an actual 'series'...the effects on our 'normal' family life will be MUCH MUCH worse than just a novel!

My friend that visited about a month ago from the States sparked the desire to read that particular series again... So I caved...and decided I'd read the first and I would pace myself over the rest of the series...I could do it...really I could...

I think I have officially crossed the line...I have become a TWILIGHTER!!!....

I started reading on Thursday night...I finished on Friday morning, promptly showered and drove down to get the next one

I started reading this one Friday afternoon and finished Saturday morning...promptly got dressed and drove down and got the next one

I had finished this one by Saturday night...

So much for the self-control!!!!

I'm happy to report that I just read 3 novels in the course of the weekend - that's 3 LATE nights and I was still able to get dinner on the table, housework done, play outside with the kids...AND finish and thorougly enjoy my series!

The funniest part of this was that my husband was getting slightly confused because one minute he thought it looked like I was at the end of my novel and the next minute I was only at the beginning - I guess he was trying to judge when he'd have his wife back - I left him in the dark until I was getting toward the end of the last one and then told him that this was the 3rd one...he promptly decided to remind me that I was a FREAK. I didn't mind in the slightest!

But he was also somewhat curious about the book since he has tried to get me to sit down and watch 'scary' movies so that I'll cling to him for dear life...I HATE scary movies or horror movies...so for me to be reading a VAMPIRE novel quite intrigued him...I think 'TWILIGHT' the movie will be officially the first maybe 'scary' movie that I will see with him...but since I know the ending it might not have quite the same effect as he is hoping!

The saddest part about all of this is that I'm wishing I had not caved in quite so soon...because now I have to wait till August 2nd before the final book BREAKING DAWN is released!!! The agony is acute!

AAAANNNNDDDD I have to wait till December the 12th before the movies TWILIGHT is released...!!!!

Can I live through that kind of torture???

Hiding...

In case you're having a hard time imagining what it's like to find a grown man hiding...(see last post)

7 Years...

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It's was actually 7 years yesterday...but I was busy yesterday with it being our Wedding Anniversary AND Mother's Day...yeah...I know I didn't think that one out too well...:) - (by the way it's extremely hard writing on your left hand when you're left-handed...)

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...He worked all weekend....

...gasp..

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OH PLEASE!!!

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Really we have the whole of ..oh.. I don't know ETERNITYtogether - and even with working he still managed breakfast in bed and a 3 course dinner for Mother's Day...so he still did a pretty decent job of it!

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And as for the Wedding Anniversary...we can just celebrate that one ALL week!...Now I realise that many of you don't know the MAN and even those that do, have the general impression that he is quiet and reserved (and yes he is)...and I totally make up for this because I'm so loud and obnoxious...but he also has a cheeky and mischevious side (which I might add has ALWAYS been there) and over the last 7 yrs this has started to become more obvious and my loud obnoxious ways are slowly being tamed...we're good for each other that way...

He's my favourite husband EVER!

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He gets lots of these...but you don't really need to know that.

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So for any of you out there that have believed all these years that the MAN is quiet & reserved...let me give you an idea into what he's really like at home:

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It's called CHILDREN!

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They tend to show off the worst and the best of us...and sometimes you're just not sure which it is...for eg take Primary Presentations of any kind at church...Jake's first Primary Presentation he had one line to say...oh and did he SAY it!!! In fact he yelled it into the microphone giving all the elderly in the congregation near heartattacks...while the adults mainly tried to compose themselves and the children cracked up laughing...(My dad, Mike and I?? we hid down the back cracking up laughing too...it was kinda funny you know). Or running around the hall with his elastic tye around his HEAD instead of his neck, shirt off, claiming he is a 'stripping warrior' (his favourite book).

He's my favourite son.

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And then there is Layne our almost 4yr old - yesterday during the Mother's Day song presentation...not particularly happy about being made to stand up and sing some lame old song...hung over the edge of the pulpit area looking bored out of her brains for the most part and then decided to grace us with a 'spiced' up version of the song by playing the drums on the pulpit area in front of her, while staring out at the congregation DARING anyone to try to make her stop!

She's my favourite daughter.
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The children tend to HIDE when they are fully aware they have done something wrong and they hear me coming and know they will be found out at any minute...the MAN has also been known to hide with them! - (you try remaining serious with absolutely no hint of a smile passing your lips when you have a grown man hiding with two children claiming he is innocent!)

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Or try remaining serious when the MAN does something like this to his daughter while she's sleeping, even though you have already bathed her!

They're all my favourites!

My heart...

J. got this at his Mother's Day stall at school on Friday...he was so excited. He couldn't stop telling all the other parents that he got a heart for mum. :)

Memory Lane...

We took the kids apple picking on the weekend...


I love orchards...I used to live on one....

It's times like this that remind me of growing up...I lived with my Grandparents until I was 10 yrs old....in an old weatherbooard house with a huge verandah...with an apple orchard out the back and my cousins living up the back in another house. I have only a few memories at that house as we moved into town about the time I started school.

I remember not having a TV...in fact we didn't have one until I was 10 - and even then it was a tiny black & white one...

Lesson Learnt - If you don't have an apple orchard as a backyard...then get a TV...

I remember telling my sister, Alison, that the electric fence wasn't on and it was ok for her to pat the cow...and then peeing my pants laughing when she got an electric shock...to this day I still feel that temptation when I'm at my dad's place with my own kids...but I restrain myself...or have so far...

Lesson learnt - Simple - don't listen to a word I say!


I remember always thinking that my sister Alison had a cow lick in her fringe because our cow a licked her in that exact spot...hmm...


Lesson Learnt - don't let a cow lick you...you're hair will never be the same again.


I remember thinking that I caught the chicken pox from my older sister, Ember because I touched her 'contaminated' pencil case


Lesson Learnt - Don't touch your sister's stuff or you'll get germs!


I remember while my sisters and I had the chicken pox my Grandma bathing us and towel drying us on the open verandah and my sisters and I standing there NAKED as one of my older male cousins walked by and waved to us...OH THE SHAME!!! I remember feeling embarrassed - not sure if I showed it...but the feeling was ACUTE!...mind you I must have only been about 4 (as I hadn't started school yet)...which in itself is strange to me since my almost 4 yr old girl has NO SHAME in running around naked!


Lesson learnt - just don't stand on the verandah naked, the ending is never good...I don't care how old you are!


I also remember watching my two cousins chopping wood, wearing thongs (aka: flip flops for all you americans/canadians) and one of them chopping the other one's big toe off...yeah...nice memory -thanks for that Steve & Craig! I just stood by watching as I think my sister Ember washed the bloody thong...I don't really remember being that distraught...just thinking...I wonder if he will be able to wear thongs again??...


Lesson learnt -don't chop wood wearing thongs...not that I chop wood anymore...I live in the city...but if I had to...I still couldn't do it without thinking about Craig's toe...or was it Steve's toe???


And lets not forget my cousin Ashley talking me into going for a walk down to the river (without permission I might add...because why would you ask when you know they'll say NO right?)...We took the shortcut...meaning straight down..rock faces and trees (NOT merrily walking down the nicely grated road - because that would be just too logical now wouldn't it)...in the middle of summer...when all the lovely venomous red belly black snakes are out and about...and of course coming across one...we didn't really see it until we were quite close and by that time it was already in striking position...it went for my cousin and he made a dive for it...right down and over the rock face - me....I just stood there watching the snake slither off into the bush all the while thinking that Ashley was surely, seriously hurt on the rocks below...but Ashley was a man...at the ripe old age of 7 or whatever he was... He soon climbed back up the rock face...(because I certainly wasn't coming to get him...I was standing in that exact spot...I wasn't moving...I was going to pretend to be a tree because somehow that would fix everything!)
After he finished describing to me what happened - at the time I thought he must have thought I was like his blind cousin or something, but now, with the wisdom of age, I know it's just something a man feels a need to do even if you were RIGHT THERE! - he then, in all his wisdom, told me we should probably head back to the house for dinner....but deep down inside I knew he was SCARED OUT OF HIS PANTS!!!


Lesson learnt -Don't let Ashley talk you into anything!

Love them...

These two are just so just so cheeky...and so much fun, I love it...

f2.0, 1/750, ISO 400, 50mm lens

f5.6, 1/80, ISO 400, 18-55mm

It's helps with this one to have a relatively fast shutter speed available on your camera...seriously...she never stops moving!