A sample of some Christmas art...

These are just a few of the decorations we made today.
Here are Mia and Sarah ever so proud of their accomplishements today. When Tom and Nick got home we had to go throguh it all again maing a batch of Salt Dough and then cooking it, waiting for it to cool so they could decorate them.
There you have it. Now to find some fishing line to hang them when they are dry..of course not until the 1st December :)

Salt Dough Ornaments and Our Santa (addit 28th Nov..)

The girls and I are going to be making some Salt Dough Ornaments to dress up the house and give away to friends as gifts. I have all of the ingredients for the dough but I need to go purchase some glitter, beads and other nice things to decorate them. I will show pics of it on Wednesday or Thursday. The days are beginning to get busier and busier that's for sure.
A friend of mine's mum makes cinnamon ones, they smell devine around the house, very comforting. She has a double story place and she does her stair case up with the most magnificent lights and homemade ornaments. She also has some very old American Quilts that hang over her balcony upstairs, setting the Christmas spirit.
Another thing we will be doing is getting some nice chocolate and making Christmas treats for people. Oh, and I almost forgot, I have to use the mould in the Advent Calendar of Mia's to make more chocolates..she gormandised the lot of them the day I bought the thing!! So, I have to make that again and hide it, LOL.
My boy Tom is almost 10yrs old, he told me his mates told him that Santa is not real. Then, he lost molar tooth the other day and he put it in a glass with water....for the toothfairy to come deliver some coinage. I am glad he can still make believe in something for a short while, or maybe he has me stooged trying to keep it all alive for the sake of the younger ones.
I have explained to him it is such an important time because we all get together as an extended family, and none more special than this year with my Pa back in our lives. Not to forget that we are also giving thanks for being alive and blessed to all have each other.
I am also thinking of making a Nativity set to display this year...but where to steal a donkey from and where to find Three Wise Men.

Mia has her new water bottle around her neck with her M.I.A Mia name on it.

We will be making Christmas decorations tonight, will blog them tomorrow :)

My Pa...

My PA came to visit us, he drove from Kangaroo Flats up near Bendigo..all the way to our place. This takes a couple of hours. But, he was driving his brand new car such as the one pictured above. He has had it for 7weeks. It has darkened windows, he likes this because he had cancer removed from his ear 17 years ago and that frieghtened him.
I had the best day ever having seen my Pa. It has been 10 years since we last seen each other. I was pregnant with my boy Tom back then, he will be 10 next April. It has been an exciting time.
My birthday will be celebrated with my pop here for a BBQ this year, and Christmas will be magic. He was wrapt to see my kids, they were wrapt to see him too. Big huggs all round :)

Horse in car...

Here's to a new style of transport, horse taxi, at your service, LOL. Have a fun and safe weekend people.

My Nan...

Nutcracker Suite- The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Bolshoi Ballet- Swan Lake.


My nan grew up during the depression. My nan and pop both met when they were just kids. They stuck by each other for their whole lives. Nan just passed away 19th November 2006 in hospital. She had just told my pop she would be coming home today. She got to the CT department and they must have called a code. My pop thought to himself, "Some poor bastard must be in strife"..it was my nan. A ten minute CT visit turned into another 30 minutes, until they came to tell him what had happened. There is an inquest, we will know what happened later on.
In the mean time, my pop wants to be left alone. Fair enough, he is in shock. Nan always said things beginning with, "When your grandfather dies..."..she always maintained that he would go before her..well, it is not so.
Nan had to start working by the age of 12yrs. Her dad had mustard gas poisoning from WW1 and he had resulting ulcers and respiratory problems which meant that in the depression, they had no income. My great grandparents had 7 kids to support. So nan, being one of the eldest, went to work. She was a seamstress, she made hats and clothes and towels and shoes. She upgraded each time she was offered even a fraction more pay for each 2 week period. She walked it, trammed it and walked even more to get to work. Food was precious and you never wasted one bit of it. To catch the ice man coming down the street was a treat..especialy if he shared some of it with the kids of the neighbourhood on a hot day.
She was a lover of the fine arts. She took my sister and I to many a ballet performance, always dressed to the nines...with her fur coats and her diamonds..all real too. I still do the same thing today, when I go our I like to dress up too. It always gets me when I go to a wedding or something and people are wearing jeans for goodness sakes!!!
This is a scattered post, I am tired and I feel crap. Maybe tomorrow I can enter something nice. But for now I just want to go to the ballet..I believe there's a performance coming up at the start of December..about time I took my girls out and we all get dressed up.

The Fete This Past Saturday....

Mia on the elephant ride.












Mia holding a snake. Just as I snapped this pic, a young boy ran through the room squeeling with his hands up in the air and scared all the kids and the reptiles alike. So the guy presently began packing up his reptilian familee to head on home. The boy got kicked out of the room. His grandmother scolded him all the way home I imagine!











Sarah patting the snake that then went on to kiss her..it must have tasted the sweet fairy floss that she had just finished consuming before we went into the Reptile Room.
There were also a few Blue Tongue Lizzards and a small Salt Water Croc..he had been dropped by a kid previously so the guy was hesitant to let anyone else hold it. Too bad, Mia just loves crocodiles.

More U2 set up

There it is all complete. A big mother of a stage eh? All of the staging and production gear was carried in 29 semi-trailor loads. Stand by for some Robbie Williams stage pics in about a month or so. I am told his set up takes up 76 semi-trailor loads. It will be one awesome stage!!!

U2 are here in Melbourne...

Am not sure how all these pics will trun out, as in, how they will display, because I am working in safe mode at the moment..damnation to Microsoft Windows!!!
These are pics of the U2 concert set up at Telstra Dome here in Melbourne, taken 2 days ago. There are more pics from last night on the digi cam but my love has the camera and is probably taking even more pics of the stage progression.
The height of the structure goes to within a metre or so of the roof of the Telstra Dome. It will take until sometime early tomorrow(Saturday) morning to finish the set up. I guess then the teching guys come in and do their bit with sound and light and all that jazz.
The place will cater to approximately 60,000 fans per concert. That's a whole lotta people dontcha think?
We have always loved U2, but I am soo into Pink right now, I hope to get me a ticket or two to go see her when she hits Melbourne next April. Guess I could get them for myself for my birthday this December..and I need to get me a new purse aswell...my Prada purse shat itself today..maybe I will buy a cheap ass one that will last forever...just like my cheap ass Sunglasses :)
Have a great weekend people. I am taking my kids to a local school fete tomorrow, they are going to have a ball with the reptile guy there and all his venemous snakes, and Dorothy the Dinosaur for my girls to dance with. With 26 degrees as the coming weather, it is sure to be a hit :)

A song and my friends....

For my friends abroad who now realise that I am "From the Land Down Under!!" :)

For my friend that is having a hard time right now....

Always remember to forget
The things that made you sad
But never forget to remember
The things that made you glad.

Always remember to forget
The friends that proved untrue.
But don't forget to remember
Those that have stuck by you.

Always remember to forget
The troubles that have passed away.
But never forget to remember
That we are here for you each day.

I know I can talk alot, but I know when to shut up, I know when it is an ear that someone needs to talk to and feel no judgement on the words that are uttered. I know the power of a silent hugg, to know people care for you. Call me anytime, anyday. You are our family, true friends are your family, they do not even have to have grown up under the same roof.

A few days behind..

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, I have been working my butt off..literally!! Two morning shifts and my legs are just aching.
My third born had her orientation at Primary School two days ago. She is over the moon about it, and so am I. She is sooo ready to begin school after the New Year break! We are practising her ABC's and writing her name and such things. All exciting for my Sarah :)
People in the Street where we live are doing their places up in Christmas festive lights and putting santa and the sleigh complete with Rudolph and his glowing nose on their roof aswell. The kids are excited and they think Christmas is only 4 days away or something like that. I am half way through the gift shopping so far. I begin it on Boxing Day really, the after Christmas sales are great.
Well, today is a day to catch up on the housekeeping..a good day to be indoors as it is 10 degrees celcius and teaming down with rain.

Rememberance Day....

Pictured is The Werribee Mansion. Where I got hitched, and where we will soon celebrate Christmas by singing Carols By Candlelight..aswell as my birthday at the same time :)
Today we went into Melbourne and saw, for the first time in 14 years, the Myer Christmas Parade. The kids absolutely loved it, both young and old! They had floats with really groovy themes, A Barbie Princess Float, one with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and of course, the last one was with Santa..and John So He's My Bro! In between Santa and John So was the lovely Miss Hawkins ,our own Miss Universe. Like a rose between the thorns, she was dazzling :)
The Myer Christmas Windows were also revealed but there were soooo many people we opted to come back on another day. This is a tradition that has gone on at the Myer Department store in Bourke Street Melbourne since 1956. Last year, there were so many people that they had special baracades and they employed people to move the traffic along just to get a good peek at the display. It is truly worth it with all the work the people put into it.
Today will also be remembered as a sad day for anyone who loved Belinda Emmett. A lovely young woman who lived ever graciously with that asshole disease we call cancer. A gorgeous actress, a lovely person, huggs to her husband Rove and her family and friends. The World has lost another nice person, dunno why it is like it is but it is the asshole people who seem to live forever.

Barbie time...

Well, when I get my digital camera fixed I will take pics of our fab work we did out in the garden this morning. It is a lovely 24 Degree day here in Melbourne and the Sun is a shining!! Great Spring Racing Carnival weather for sure.
The BBQ above is just to die for dontcha reckon? I love our Barbie too, it is almost as big as that one there...I will take a pic of it when the cam is a goin' again.
Today began at 6am for me. I woke, got shitty at myself because I couldn't get back to sleep. So I hauled me lard butt outta bed, got dressed, got my runners on and stepped out into the cold morning air. The Sun was beginning to rise, and I walked half way down the street before I even woke up properly!
I could see the hot air balloons lifting up into the sky in the city of Melbourne. When I drive into work for a morning shift I am lucky to see them then also. They are so majestic looking.
I walked for 40 minutes, got the paper, read this in the Herlad Sun, and thought to myself, "Yeah, on whose terms did Rummy leave?" Guessin' we will never know.... anyhoo...
I got home from my walk, got the kids up and off to school, went shopping, got home, did a bit of Spring gardening out under the pergola...now we can see the fish pond without having to seperate the ferns and Iris'.
I caught up with my lovely friend Stefanie from Sydney by telephone. Although we haven't spoken in a while due to such busy lives we lead it just is to affirming that your true friends are like family, family that never even grew up under the same roof yet have an amazing connection all the same.
So, it is Barbie weather and I am going to make some nice salads and cook some scrumptious food for tea tonight, but not before I take the kids for a bike ride.
Have a fun weekend. Tomorrow is Rememberance Day- Lest We Forget.

My bunch..

This was a pic from last school hollidays, soon enough we will have Christmas hollidays and I cannot wait for that!! They all love going to the beach house at Rye down the Mornington Peninsula and so do I. When our friend is not renting his lovely place out to people we get to go stay there. We feel so lucky for this. It is only 5 minutes from the Rye Pier and not far from other nice attractions. That there is a squid we caught from teh pier at Rye, yummy Calamari :)
My kids can drive me mental sometimes but they are growing up so fast, especialy Mia the baby.."I am NOT a baby!" she says to me..this I know only too well. Only yesterday did she get into my brown eyeshadow and put it all over her eyes..she looked like a racoon, HA!

Not long before I get to kick them out the door and have a life of my own...yeah right!!

NO MORE MRS NICE GUY

When I get the problem fixed with our DVD player (NO, the kids did not try to turn their bread into toast in the DVD player THIS TIME!!), I may endeavour to find this film and have me a looky at it as the plot just looks like a good one....does it intreague you? Have you seen the flick?
It stars this lovely looking lady Helena Bonham Carter. She has stared in many a play and many a film over the past few years. Good on her.
In other news, the weather is still crappola here in Melbourne and I still have my Winter gear on!! Let's hope it gets warmer soon so I can get my snowflake skin some color!!! Another school fete to go to next weekend with rides and karaoke contest and everything....stay turned for that post. I may have to belt out Khe Sahn and get my kids to cheer me on to win prize money :)

DELTA BLUES...

Well done to Delta Blues, a gorgeous horse that won the Melbourne Cup 5Million Bucks Prize money Race here today. The way they ran the race was unbelievable, even though I didn't win any money. Although, Sarah my 5 yr old daughter got 25 bux for her dollar win and place bet she put on :)

NO MANNERS...

Check out Steph's blog from today's posting, see how she is such a nice person to pay a skanky lady's fare on a bus ride, ALL OF THREE STOPS MIND YOU, with not even a THANKYOU!! You will get a laugh and a reality check as some people are just like this.
Then you get me, no angel yet, compared to Steph's story perhaps her and I are just alike. I have said this before is someone's comment section. I feel like I got this tattoo on my forehead, "Information desk is HERE!"..."Ask me, I know..". When I went to Sydney last year by my own self (thanks to Mia my 3yo daughter for that line) in November..OMG, it cannot be a year ago...where was I..I yeah, I was walking along minding my own business and I kept getting stopped. Only to have people ask ME directions. I was like, "Well, I am sorry honey, but I am from Mexico..oops, Melbourne, you know, across the boarder there, and I dunno where I am either. But, if you come with me we could both ask the fruit stand man there and I bet he can help you and I will also learn something". So, I did this a few times, not just once, and I got to know the area around St Vincent's Hospital and down towards town.
Turns out, I went for a 3 day stay to Sydney and forgot my mobile charger. I mean, we didn't have to worry about such things not so long ago. So, I went to find a vodaphone outlet and get my battery boosted. They were lovely at the store I found and I got them each a KK Donut for their help.
Oh, and I used my manners!!
Today I am making playdough for me..oops, them to play with. Pink and yellow is order of the day. I haven't had to put soap on Mia's tongue for swearing YET today..and I haven't had to put coins in the swear jar myself yet.

If you are a naturally good natured person, you will undoubtedly attract those who you would prefer not to.....it is just the way it is baby!!

The School Fete...

*The good thing about having a cold is, if you sneeze 3 times before your breakfast, you can expect good luck that day!
I read this on a web site and I can surely say it is just bullshit!!! I have the sorest throat about , feels like I am swallowing razor blades people....I kid you not!! I thought it had surely gone omly to return with vigour. I will ahve to call in sick to work for tomorrow morning. Can't have a sick nurse caring for sick patients now can we?

The kids school fete was great. They had great weather considering it pissed down rain the day before. The girls and I even got kissed by the Sun a little..no..not burned, kissed.
Tom had to man his class stall which was their own creation of a stress ball..balloons filled with sand, the size that fits in your palm of your hand. There were varying colors and so each of my kids got to pick one each.
Nicholas' stall had fish made out of DVD's and consentinered paper of all different colors. Suspended by fishing line on your window these make for a nice display of light when the Sunlight comes through the window.
Another stall had packs made up with Christmas stockings, a Christmas decoration, pencils, rulers, a lolly and a toy.
The youngest three had a go each at bowling and they won a treat each. Nicholas had a go at throwing darts at balloons, he just skimmed one and it did not burst..he did not get a treat :(
We all had some gelati each, purchased from the Italian teacher...chocolate and lemon it was very nice..actualy, I could do with some now to soothe my throat.
We all had a great time and we came home pooped.
I will post a pic at a later date of Nicholas and Sarah dressed up in cool costumes.
Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Chillin'

Bob Marley..chill people..and have a great and safe weekend :)

Great Day For Ducks....

Bloody wet, just as we like it! Here's hoping it will be a fine one for my kids' School Fete Tomorrow.