A message from the other side....

Yes, you read it here first.... "Mum there is no more toilet paper"...it was sent via Mia-mail from Princess Sarah...from my ensuite toilet. 10/10 for her efforts in letter writing I say, haha!!

Catching Up....

Today my friend and I rode our bicycles three times and well, I know I will sleep well tonight! Really though, I feel great.
Stace asked if it had rained at all, it had not rained..until now! I just ran outside and grabbed all the washing off of the line..now to fold it all!

Ok, as everyone probably knows, something has happened with Starbucks coffee shops and well, today I was having a cafe'mocha..without cream! and the girls there were told they would not have a job from tomorrow..very sad. I do like their cafe' mocha, but I like the girls and their service. My little girls have always loved their babycinos there..with my cream from my cafe'mocha on top of their babycinos. The girls loved speaking to the baristas asking how they make coffee and why they use the steam and all that. I am sorry for them, but it just shows how fickle business can be. I am glad I am a nurse, we are always needed.
Anyway, time to go.

Night Owl...

I have been a night owl for the past 5 days, and so I will be back with more posts this week. The day I began night shift was my very good friend's birthday. I bought her a Cher record..yes...on vinyl. We got her turn table working and sang madly with Cher...of course, if we could sing as good we would be millionaire's! Jesse James and Turn Back Time were our favourite songs :)
I had about an hour sleep or so before going to night shift...that always helps you on your first night. The day sleeps were great, the cold wet weather always makes a great environment for sleep..no one was out mowing their lawns like they do in good weather..how rude to wake me then , haha.
I really enjoyed my nights at work, it was very very busy. For the first time in a long time my calf muscles hurt me when I finished my last night shift. I had even worn my runners that night!
I can say something very safely and with great honesty..the new 2am lockout from certain establishments who sell liquor brings in the herds of people who are from slightly intoxicated to inebriated and sometimes bleeding from fights. I am not sure if the numbers have increased in incidence, or that it is just more evident because when we look at the clock, 3am seems to be the time the waiting room fills up.
The kids all began their swimming programme last week. Twice a week on different days they swim. So, Winter is such a bad time to get things dry for the next lesson, my clothes horses are getting a work out :)
When the rain settles this week I am back to my usual bike riding each day...I cannot wait ..I think (winks).

Weight Loss Plan, a sure Winner...for some...

I remember one time when I was home visiting some old friends. My friend asked me to set the table for dinner. I opened the refrigerator and taped to the inside of the door was a risqué picture of a lovely, slender, perfectly built young woman.
“What’s this?” I asked my friend.
“Oh, I put that up there to remind me not to overeat,” she answered.
“Is it working?” I asked.
“Yes and no,” she said.

"What do you mean by yes and no?" I asked.

“Well, I’ve lost 15 kilograms, but my hubby has gained 20!”

Great weight loss plan hey!!

Dreary Day Programme..

Well, I did have images to upload but blogger is being a pain in my one-day-soon-to-be-"J-Lo"-butt!!!
We are doing art and craft and painting and cooking up a storm and Mia is dressed like a fairy Barbie Princess and we are all just clowning around.
Ahhh the lamb roast smells great, with spuds, potato, pumpkin, onions, carrots, peas and corn and some yummy gravy...... what? Is it lunch time now? Ok..gotta go!!

OUCHIES!!

I did ride my exercise bike over the school vacation time. But, today when we rode our normal 10 kilometre riverside ride it HURT like all buggery!! The insides of my legs ached, we had to walk up stairs when we got back to my friend's place...and we both moaned..oh well, what can I say...I thought I was fit, and she thought she was fit, but..we aren't!
Back to the drawing board, we will pass the pain threshold...we will conquer all!!! Muahhhahahaha...Dracula laugh :)

Lakes Entrance..

We spent 3 nights and four days at Lakes Entrance which is a few hours drive out of Melbourne. I have posted a little about this before a while back in a History Post(click to see). It is Winter here for us and as we were not far from snow country it was quite chilly the first night. Still, it did not deter us all from doing quite a bit of fishing, and alot of driving and looking at alot of amazing things.

Image 1:Mia caught her very first fish on this vacation. It is called a silver trevally.... we used him for fresh bait. Image 2: Sarah catches her very first fish, the biggest one of the night. Image 3: Tom caught adecent sized fish, he has caught fish before. Image 4: Nick caught his very first fish...can't you tell from his face?? Image 5: Catch of the night, ME! Haha see that? What a massive shark right? LOL!!!

We truly had such a wonderful time. We cannot wait to travel further up the coast next time and keep on fishing. We travelled as far as to Orbost, even closer to the Snowy Mountains..and through to Marlo, where the Snowy River meets the sea...such gorgeous and untouched views. The largest pelicansI have ever seen in my life, and just crisp clean air..ahhh, lovely :)

ADDIT# To top off an awesome vacation, and to begin a new semester at school, Sarah got student of the week today. She had to stand by her lonesome up front of assembly while everyone cheered for her efforts of last semester's work. Then, she presents me with a tooth that she lost while at school today...wow.... then, another thing happened, Mia got "star student of the day" in class today..yippeee, how cool is that?

Winter activities...

Too cold to play outside...why not use all the blankets in the house to make a cubby house?
Time to play some table tennis.....
Mia uses the skipping rope for the first time..and jumps right through it first go!! Woohoo, what fun!

Fun times..

Tom is unwell at the moment so I give the boys concession and have let them "veg-out" today and play Xbox 360. The girls, on the other hand, have been playing other indoor-sy games. They have my kitchen chairs, everyone's pillows, everyone's doonas and have made an indoor fortress. Topped with that, they have all the torches in the house to play inside their Kingdom. All good fun!
Last night the dining table was used as a table tennis table and the kids had a ball playing that. Thank Goodness hubbie lacquered the top with varnish that is used for floor boards...strong as a Mallee Bull!!

So, the song I give you above is called Sugarcane, sang by our home grown loveleeee Missy Higgins. It is about ballerinas, hiding, playing in the night with torches..well, that is what is sang, but there are deeper meaning to the song of course. For me, it is about my girls playing, having fun, yet I know they will grow, and not so far away, they will not be so innocent, they will have to face the World, and hopefully, they will have learned to be nice to each other and to others.

My most favourite song of Missy Higgins' is PEACHY...enjoy it if you have the time :)

School Hollidays..

It is vacation time here and with Winter comes colds and flu and well, you guessed it, two of the four kids have it. Ahhh, sharing the love. Anyway, when they are all over it we plan on doing alot of fun things that I will surely take pictures of and blog about...until then, I am making soups and juices and drawing lots of things for the girls to color in. So, now, without further adieu, I give you...

THE SOUP POEM

Take one whole yummy Butternut Pumpkin,

Cut lovingly into equal bits,

Sliced so thinly,

Mind you save the pips,

One whole purple onion,

Swiftly chop it up,

Get some chicken stock,

At least half a cup,

Place all ingredients into a saucepan,

Make sure to stir it around,

Simmer for at least 40 minutes.

When the timer rings,

You can choose to do

A couple of things,

Leave the soup as it is,

Or blend it smooth and make it thick,

If you like some cream

You can add it.

For me I prefer some thick slices of bread

Dunk it in and slurp it up

Mmmmmm, yummm!!!