We Miss You Poppy..

Well on the 28th it was 12 months since my Dad passed away from Cancer.. The boys still talk about him.. which is good as I am glad they still remember him..

I had to laugh as earlier this month I was cooking with Brodie and I asked him if he wanted to be a chef like Poppy.. ''Yep" he says " I gonna be a big fat cook like Poppy!" He cracked me up! I told him if Poppy was here he would've called him a cheeky monkey and probably chased him round the house.

This is a layout I did earlier this week.. I used to love watching Poppy playing with the boys in the back seat when we went anywhere..

We miss you Dad.. You will always be in our hearts and minds!

xxxxx

May.... It didn't really improve!

Well as I said.. I soo hoped that when April was over so would all the rotten things that had been happening! But no such luck! Unfortunately Rachie was still in hospital.. and they still couldn't give us any definite answers on exactly what was wrong with her.. It was soo worrying for her family and all her adopted family.. (us!)

To start the month off we had been up at the hospital with the kids to see Rachie... after having spent the morning shopping.. So you can imagine by the time we got home we were all ready for a nap and some peace. Well I walked into our bedroom and the two cats were staring very intently at the curtain... 'Bugger' I thought.'The mongrels have caught something and brought it in!' Well I carefully pulled one side of the curtain over so as not to scare the bird or mouse I expected.. Well no such luck! I saw the rear coils of a fairly long snake!!! Dropped the curtain and yelled for Greg!!! Kicked the cats out and yelled at the boys.. a few times to get away from our door and get into their bedrooms. Greg tried to gently coax the snake out the door.. but noooo it decided to go under our bed instead! So it took prob about an hour of snake wrangling before we politely asked it to leave and it did... (cough cough) Seeing as you are not allowed to hurt them and all!

Here is our friendly visitor.. unfortunately I didn't think to play with the settings on my camera so I didn't get too many clear photos. But you get the idea. From what we could tell it looked like an Eastern Brown.. Only the second deadliest snake in Aus.. but if anyone knows different would be glad to hear it!

The only good thing to come out of the incident was that Greg got in and fixed the screens on the doors.. something I have been asking for for months..lol.. Tell ya what though.. I definitely needed a nanny nap after that!!!

That week continued with Connor in trouble at school and Declan getting nits.. just to make life easier..lol..

On the Friday Declan had an afternoon tea at prep for Mother's Day.. As Nancy and Aidan came up on Friday to look after the kids for the weekend, Nancy came along too.

Now why did we need them.. well something good for a change.. Greg and I were heading off to Cairns/Port Douglas to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary. It is actually on the 13th of May but that weekend was the only time we could get away. Plus it was Greg's Birthday today. It was absolutely lovely.. We flew to Cairns on Fri night and stayed at the Cairns Casino.. Ducked down and Greg played roulette for a bit.. and came out in front..lol.. then back to the room for an early morning room delivered snack.. love it!! lol. And woken to a huuuuge Breakfast in bed.. ahhhh my idea of heaven..lol

Took the hire car and met my brother Brett, and gorgeous Niece Claire at the shopping centre. In the mess that was Friday I had completely forgotten to pack my make up so had a wonderful time girlie shopping with Claire and also spending a bit getting little gifts for her and others for her to take back to Lainey.. so wish we could've seen Lainey as well. kicking myself because I forgot the Camera in the car.. Claire is growing into such a beautiful little girl!

After that we took off for Port Douglas and spent the weekend up there eating out, relaxing, wondering around.. It was soooo nice. Though of course I didn't get to see the boys for Mother's Day. Back to Cairns on Monday morning and home again that arvie.

These are the gorgeous flowers that Greg brought me on our actual anniversary.. and my wonderful friend Tanya made us this beautiful card which our friends signed..

Due to the misbehaviour and attitude of our two bigger boys I also cleaned out their rooms .. They now have nothing left but their beds, clothes and books.. My garage is full of toys lol.. Doesn't seem to worry them too much though.. just goes to show how much they really don't need all the 'stuff' in their rooms.. They can earn it back bit by bit as they behave..lol.. not much has been returned as yet..lol..

On the 14th May The school took the kids to Under 8's Day in the park. They had an absolute ball. I supervised one group of grade 2's and the boys were happy to wander around with other parents.. When I caught up with Declan he was very proud of his Spiderman face..lol.. and of course on the way back to the car we had to feed the turtles..

On the 18th we had a Scrap for Cancer as our Biggest Morning Tea.. It was wonderful.. Rach took some pics of all of us.. and of course they are just gorgeous then we sat down and did some scrapping.. what a wonderful way to spend the day. We were lucky to have some local scrap shops donate some goodies and Coles even gave us a gift voucher. We had given Carien $10 to get us the mugs from the cancer foundation but unfortunately they ran out so she went and got us some gorgeous mugs for $5 and we donated the other $5-. Mine says 'Drama Queen'.. So not me..lmao!! We also had some little raffle prizes and between that.. our gold coin donations, plus we were fining people for swearing, smoking and I donated every time someone made me a coffee.. ( I am sooo lazy..lol) we managed to raise $180 for Cancer.. It is not a lot but I am proud of it.. after all there was only 11 of us there.

Here are some of the gorgeous pics that Rachie took.. She is sooo talented!

And the good news is she is on the mend! At home now and nearly back to her old self.. It is soo good to see her smiling again.

What a month....

Birthday Parties..

Well to round off the month we had 3 Birthday parties to go to..as well as other things.. and can you believe I didn't even take any pics.. Luckily I have got some from friends.

We had Ella's Party (no pics)  and then we had Saphira's on the 25th. As Liv and Grant are into shooting etc.. she had a cowboy and Indian Party... A friend even brought a horse along.. not that Brodie would go near it ..lol. But the kids had a ball! And Liv did a great job on the Cake too!

And because Rach was still in hospital.. I picked up a cake and had a very impromptu Party for Bonnie.. Just wish I had've been better organised to make her a cake.. but she was pretty happy with the Dora one I picked up. The kids had a great time even though it was organised last minute and just goes to show all you need for a Birthday Party is a Cake, some lollies, Pressies and lots of good friends.

Isn't she a gorgeous Birthday girl!

Speaking of good friends I have to say that I have some of the greatest friends up here.. between us (the Aussie Aunties as we call ourselves..lol) while Rach has been in and out of hospital we looked after kids, cooked meals, cleaned, played Taxi and all those other little things that need doing. And Adrian was a wonderful father and Hubby through all this.. looking after Rach, seeing the kids and still working. Plus Rach's Mum came up to look after the kids etc. for a few weeks.  Just goes to show that real friends are there for good and the bad! And I lubs em all.. xxxx

What a Month!!

Well April ended as a real shocker.. I was sooo glad when it was over.. now what happened..

Well... my gorgeous friend Rach ended up in hospital.. very ill.. and was in and out for a couple of weeks.. It was a very worrying and stressful time.. During the first week she was in Julie and I trook the kids so that Adrian could concentrate on Rach. I took Tom and Julie had Bonnie and Sam. Tom was such a good boy for us.. helping out and being so thoughtful.. On the 16th Brodie just did not want to settle and wanted Mummy to lie down with him. A bad habit he has at the moment. and Tom offered to lie down with him instead.. I went in aout 15 min later to check on them and this is what I saw.....

 

Aren't they sooo cute.I just had to take some pics. We eventually woke Tom up to send him to his own bed.. not that he remembered that the next morning.. Lmao!

That week was very hectic between trying to keep our life in order, visiting Rach and helping Julie out with the two younger ones. She is such an Angel.. She was sick and still soldiered on with 5 kids in the house!

On the 18th Greg took the kids out in the boat.. The boys were very impressed with the big Crab they managed to bring home.

At our usual Friday morning get together one of the girls grabbed my camera and took some pics.. they were so cute I thought I would share..

And Greg was one happy boy this month.. I had Rach up at the chemist after rushing her to the doctor and he rang to talk about going fishing on the weekend. complaining once again how our boat couldn't fit everyone in etc. and making the comment 'unless I go buy a bigger one'. Well not thinking.. and not serious I said 'Well if I can have a good flash for me camera than you can buy a boat!' Well you guessed it ... the next day off he went and bought 'Night Fury' as we have christened it.

Here are some pics of it. I have to agree that it is lovely being able to send Greg and all the boys off fishing.. (I wanted to call it 'Mummy's Freedom!) lol.. but somehow I also managed to miss out somewhere on this deal. He got a boat.. and I still haven't organised the flash I want.. and the girls were all kicking me cause I should've asked for a scrapping shed instead..lol.. Oh well.

I have designed the name to get put on it.. we now just need to get organised and get it done.

The day after we picked it up we all went out for the maiden voyage on the Fitzroy River.. the boys loved it.. catching a few little fish.. and Declan even hooked onto something quite big.. but it went straight to the bottom and even Greg couldn't reel it in. Eventually it broke the line. A bit of excitement for the morning.

Easter

We went to Dalby to Marni & Pa's place for Easter.. Poor little Brodie was sick all day Friday and Saturday with High Temps and Headaches.. He was miserable.. I spent most of the days lying in bed with him.. He just wanted Mummy.. poor little man.. luckily he got over it on Sat night and was all fired up for Easter Sunday.

The boys found lots of little eggs that had fallen out of the Easter Bunny's Basket as he hopped around the house.. They do hope he never fixes that small hole in his basket..lol.. And they had eggs and pressies on the table waiting for them..

It was really cute.. I had put down 3 little eggs each for them from Greg and I but by the time I got there they had decided that it wasn't fair that Mummy didn't have too many eggs so eachof them had put one of their little eggs in my spot for me.. They can be such sweet boys.

The boys had a great weekend.. riding the little motorbike around.. and the little red car, both of which was their daddy's when he was little.. Greg also took them out the back to give them a go at the Air rifle.. After I lectured the hell out of them..lol.. It is a bit of a shock seeing your little boys with a gun in their hands.. even if it is an air rifle.. not sure I really liked it..lol.. but then I am not off the land like Greg and his family. Even Mummy had a go.. The boys love going to Marnie and Pa's and doing all that 'boy' stuff..

They sat down with Pa on Sun night and watched a 3D movie that the Easter Bunny had given Connor.. Been a looong time since I have seen the old red and green glasses..lol..

We left Monday morning for the long trip home and ended up meeting up with Friends also traveling back to Rocky. Was good to have someone to chat to on the loo stops..lol.

We also had another little excitement..

Picture the scenario.. driving along.. oops.. flashing lights.. kids.. 'what the policeman want'.. 'Just be Quiet kids".. Policeman.. 'Sir the radar clocked you at 110 kms'.. Greg.. 'Didn't think I was going that fast' .. policeman..'What speed do you think you were going?'.. Greg. '108'.. Policeman.. 'umm what is the speed limit sir'.. Greg....'100'..Policeman.. 'fine the same for 108 or 110'.. Ticket written.. we drive off.. Kids.. 'what the policeman want Daddy'.. Mummy..'Daddy was naughty.. not obeying the rules'.. (while she cacks to herself that he admitted to a police officer that he knew he was going over the limit but had to say it anyway!! Doh!!) .. For next 10 mins.. kids.. 'You speeding Daddy?' Greg.. 'no..be quiet..' .. Connor.. 'You sure you not speeding Daddy?' .. picture Mummy.. trying so hard not to PMSL!!!

And Olivia and Grant also have quite a laugh as Greg had overtaken them about 5 mins before..lol..

Oh well.. these things happen.. don't think Greg finds it particularly funny though.. hehehe..

Well Easter is over for another year but school hols don't finish until next Tuesday.. The boys have had a great time the last couple of days playing the Wii and xbox, and generally just being kids.. Big day tomorrow.. having a few of their friends over for a play.. should be fun.. and noisy.. and tiring.. and messy..lol.. Oh well.. least I get to chat..hahaha

Hope you all had a safe and wonderful Easter..and are enjoying the school hols!

Last month we had Rylan's Mad Hatter's Tea Party for his Birthday.. The kids had to wear mad hats so as You can see I was a bit slack and just stick things all over hats we had..lol.. they had a great time and Julie put on the yummiest food.. lol..

 

As you can see even the Mummy's had fun playing Egg and Spoon Races.. lol.. and I won.. hehehe as Rach and Carien both dropped theirs at the last second.. See slow and steady.. etc..

The last few weeks of school went very quickly.. now both my school boys have got awards at Monday Assembly.. I still have to get a pic of Declan's lol.. and Connor got one for always getting his spelling right.. He not dumb that boy..lol.. He is doing a lot better and his behavior is improving.. thankfully.. 

Anyway.. Gonna finish updating and then it is time for this little girl to crash..  

Declan's Bug tank...

Well I have finally gotten organised to update my blog.. here are the pics I took of Declan's tank initially.. Looks a bit different now.. we have more plants though most of them have been eaten by the 65 caterpillars he put in there..lol.. ok maybe not that many but it sure feels like it.. The eco system is obviously working as we have had quite a few turn into moths.. the first one is in the pics.. and we have had very few casualties..lol.. I think I need to start studying entomology myself as I now have to spend hours on the puter trying to identify all the bugs etc he collects..lol

I also got motivated on a Wed Scrap day and actually did a layout.. woohoo.. and yup I did the boy and his bugs..lol.. Quite happy with the way it turned out.. The top pics are actually layered so I could fit more on.. and the journalling is on the green paper behind the pic..