Dress Up Day

Fairy tale character dress up day today at school was fun....Mia went as a fairy princess. It was a fundraiser day for the JRock Eisteddfod, the school enter this competition every year. It is Australia's longest running and biggest performing arts event which promotes positive youth initiative and encourages students to make healthy lifestyle choices. Any student team can create an eight minute performance piece, within a set budget, live on stage in front of a public audience. The students choreograph the whole event, make costumes, perform and even do the lighting and sound.

I am not aware of the theme for this year, but last year was great. I remember when I was in High School and the performance we first gave was one to the song of Thriller by Michael Jackson. Ahhh, the 1980's were awesome years. I sure did love performing on stage. Da da da Thrillerrrr!!!

Today's Walk..

Today we walked between 7 and 8 kilometres in total. Now, I am one to have said to people I speak to in the past that Werribee is flat as a tack, or, "Gee, you are so lucky to live in a nice hilly area, because we don't have many hills here in Werribee at all!" (GONG SOUNDS HERE)..Well, I am sooo wrong!
We walked through the main street, no hills there, around the High School, Past an old Nursing Home I used to work at years ago, down past the old Werribee Pool, which has been renovated this past Summer, and past the Bowling Club....down the river track and along the railway line. We got to cross over the river at one point, where the water is so low that is exposed some old stepping stones. We stepped over the stones and looked down into the little bit of running water.
We had to step up a bloody great hill to get to the next walking track..ahhhh, I thought I might die...persist I did and now I feel great!
There were some lovely smells along the way, roses in the gardens, freshly cut grass, dog doo..ahh, no, not nice, but I was just checking you are reading this! Spiders spun their webs and they were flying through the crisp air, right into us! Little wispy things, not sure what spiders spin these flying webb's on such nice sunny days...anyone know?
Anyway, I will take my camera next time we walk..tomorrow..we ride!

Laughing..

I laughed when I read this cartoon before. I guess we all know or have seen ladies and men trying to be something they wished they still were from years before. For me, the need to get fit and stay fit is not really all just about looking young again, it is about being a decent size, looking better, healthier and combating the family history of diabetes and heart disease.

I have to say I do feel so much better. Walking and riding every day this past few weeks has been great. You take in alot from your environment too. People say hello to you, people stop to ask you directions too, and you get to see birds you never noticed before.

Today was a cool day and the wind was cool too, but now, I know I did a good thing walking alongside my girls as they rode their bikes. They also had fun at the park, while I kept on walking up and over a hill there. Now, I am tired, and they are not! No rest for the wicked right?

Aching on the way to sucess...

It was unreal, we all rode our bikes instead of walking because my fingers swell so badly during and after a walk. When we rode the 10km track, the way that we usually walk, with no problems, we found our hamstring muscles were aching like F^%& after the ride. Conclusion... walking fast every day does not use certain muscles that are otherwise employed during riding a bike! Amen to that. But, I do FEEL GOOD!!!

These Boots (Runners) Were Made For Walking..

Well, last week I began walking everyday and I feel tired yet much better than I had previously felt. Of course, when I worked on the weekend I did not walk, except for at work. Today I walked along the Werribee River. It has a little bit of flow to it at the moment, yet it is still, very sadly, so low. There is also green algae there atop the water. There are still some ducks hanging around and they seem happy enough...yes, they told me so ok! LOL.

My pedometre tallied 16651 steps for today's walk. This is a great achievement. The day was rather cool to begin with so I wore my coat and a scarf around my neck. By lunch time it was a really nice Autumn day. The picture above is of the Womens New Balance 806 Runners I bought on Ebay for $31.00..not bad eh? They are very very comfortable too.

Tomas is on camp right now, having a ball with his mates no doubt. Sarah said she misses him tonight. This is 0nly his second night away at camp. I can't wait to see what he got up to. I gave him a couple of those disposable cameras to take pictures of the fun times.

STUDENT OF THE WEEK!!!

My baby Mia got the student of the week award at school assembly today, I am so proud of her, she has really tried hard for this all term, and now she feels great! Proud mother hen am I!

A joke...

The AMA researchers have made a remarkable discovery. It seems that some patients needing blood transfusions my benefit from receiving chicken blood rather than human blood. It tends to make men cocky and the women lay better!

Have a great day :)

History Lesson...Kingston S.E

I have put the history lesson up a few hours early as I am cery tired from exercising and working really hard to be fit and look great...oh, and feel great too!
So, for your enjoyment...click HERE to read about a lovely place we went on our last holliday to South Australia. Make a coffee and enjoy Kingston S.E.

Nicholas' 9th Birthday..

Today is Nicholas' 9th Birthday. He was born at 6:23 am on the 12th May 1999. His birth was much faster than his older brother's. Tomas' was a 32 hour birth..ohh yeahh, what a marathon that was! Nicholas' was about a 6 hour work out...so it was much better. Except that when he was born he was not breathing. So here I am laying there looking around me thinking.."where is my baby?" Then I verbalised such...and the nurse, who was my friend, was calling my Doctor in from outside the room. They worked on his little body and got him to breath. For the next day I hugged him tight to bring his body temperature up..and well, we bonded. It is a connection I cannot describe, it is awesome.

He breast fed straight away which was suburb. However, he was a rotten sleeperfor so damned long! The first time he slept through for one whole night he was 4 years old! Nowadays, I have to wake him up to go to school, he sleeps so wonderful!

To my baby boy Nicky nu-nu..Happy 9th Birthday...I love you with all my heart!

Sleep-over Party!

It is Nicholas'9th Birthday on Monday 12th May. Last night he had a sleep-over party here with a few of his mates. They were all so well behaved and they had such a fun time too. We played pin the pirate on the treasure map (As opposed to pin the tail on the donkey). We laughed alot and it is so nice to see the kids having fun.
They watched a dvd all together and I set up a mattress in the lounge room so they slept in their sleeping bags there. Right now, one of the kids is still alseep, and the rest of them are up, dressed and walking the dog.

Of course, Mother's Day is tomorrow, and well, the kids have made things for me at school and bought things at the Mother's Day Stall...Mia kept on creeping into her room and munching away on what I think are my chocolates! Oh well, there are countless things you can do with an empty chocolate box right? LOL
Monday, apart from being Nicholas' Birthday, is International Nurses Day. It also happens to be the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth. Cards and donations may be sent to me myself and I if you care about nurses...haha, just kidding!!!

No word on Tom's Mongoose Menace 2007 as yet... let's hope we find it!

Have a great mother's day out there tomorrow people.

Tax Time!!!

A woman walks into an accountant's office and tells him that she needs to file her taxes.
The accountant says, "Before we begin, I'll need to ask you a few questions.
He gets her name, address, social security number, etc. and then asks, "What's your occupation?"
"I'm a Lady of the night," she says.
The accountant is somewhat taken aback and says, "Let's try to rephrase that."
The woman says, "OK, I'm a high-end call girl".
"No, that still won't work. Try again."
They both think for a minute; then the woman says, "I'm an elite chicken farmer."
The accountant asks, "What does chicken farming have to do with being a prostitute?"
"Well, I raised a thousand little peckers last year."
The accountant says, "Chicken Farmer it is!"

BOOM! BOOM!

KITCHEN SIGNS..a must have for Mother's Day....

1. Dinner will be ready when the smoke alarm goes off.
2. No husband has ever been shot while doing the dishes.
3. If, we are what we eat, then I'm easy, fast, and cheap.
4. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
5. Thou shall not weigh more than thy refrigerator.
6. A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
7. Help keep the kitchen clean --->>> eat out.
8. Housework done properly can kill you.
9. Countless number of people have eaten in this kitchen and gone on to lead normal lives.
10. My next house will have no kitchen ----just vending machines.

Someone is an asshole..

Well, someone stole my son's Mongoose bicycle from school today. I hope they are proud of what they have done. A police report has been made and the Cash Converter stores have all been notified. I dare say, however, that it is as good as been kissed goodbye..probably has a new coat of paint on it by now too!
As I said, someone is an asshole!

Sweet Potato.

I am baking a sweet potato in the oven right now for my dinner. With this I am steaming some nice fresh seasonal vegetables. I just looked up Sweet Potato out of interest and it says they are really named, "Kumara", this I never knew. I also didn't know that they are not even related to the potato at all, and that they grow on a vine too!

When I have read Bryce Courtenay books he often writes about the South African people eating Sweet Potato as a desert. I am not sure it is the very same one as this. Why? Because I read here also that the Kumara is Staple diet for Maori's and South American peoples.

Does anyone know any more about this Kumara? Have you cooked it before? And...does it taste nice in a scone recipe? I read that you can mash it and make it into scones too.

The Wonder Years... Guess who the girl is in the pic?

It Rained..

Today was so fabulous with all of the rain we got here. Finally, we ARE on the rain band! The kids loved it too.
The country areas will appreciate it as well. Coming back from Stawell this last Monday we got to see alot of farmers sewing their seeds into their crops. Some of them must have done the sewing of seeds with the last little sprinkles we got a few weeks ago. That is because, as you look over the neatly ploughed paddocks, you can see a tint of green coming through.
Now, as it is Autumn, my favourite tree in the yard is loosing its leaves, it is sad to see the tree looking so bare. I cannot wait for Spring to come again when the tree comes back into its full glory.
I read with both of my girls' classes at school today. It is so great to see all the children progressing in their reading. It makes me smile.
Mia had library today at school, she picked a great story called "Olga The Brolga"..it is one of my favourites too!
I got to buy myself a book today. I have been after a copy of it for myself for sometime now, it is called "Lady of the camellias" written by Alexander Dumas. I read it when I was about 11years old and ever since then I have thought about it umpteen times. I do believe there is a play based on the novel..has anyone seen or heard of it?