Farewell Helene

Australia Day was a sad one as we had to Farewell a good friend. Helene and her family are moving to New Zealand. It was sad as we are losing a really good friend. I think that we had 20 adults and 21 children. It made for a busy night. We had a great night!!! I plan on making a trip to New Zealand to visit as soon as possible.

Welcome to the world Amira Violet! Tamara (our next door neighbour) had a beautiful little girl. I went to visit this afternoon. I am still blown away by the miracle of child birth. It is amazing that we can create such perfect little people. She is just gorgeous and Tamara is really well. Congratulations!!!! Can't wait until she comes home to be able to hold her again.

Happy Birthday Max

Happy 2nd Birthday Max. We hope that you had a super day celebrating. We love you lots and are looking forward to our next get together.

Some Layouts to Share

Scrapping Fun - Here are a few more layouts created in the last couple of days. I have thouroughly enjoyed my scrapbooking time. I am now working on using wax on your layouts. I post a couple of layouts when they are done. Don't know how much time I will have as I am having 40 people over on Australia day to farewell a good friend who is moving to New Zealand. The plan is to finish them before school goes back so that they won't be a distraction when I should be doing other things.

Last Week of Holidays Scrapping

Here are a few layouts that I prepared for the shop using the black and white Doodlebug range. I always enjoy working with black and white as there is so much that you can do with it. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to sit and scrap over the last couple of days. We haven't really been going out a lot, just enjoying being at home.

I have also been cleaning out the house madly. Some think that I am nesting BUT don't worry I am just throwing out things that should have been thrown out years ago. I am such a I'll just keep that in case I need it girl - it is scary. If I keep going the house might just explode. I threw out 9 garbage bags the other day and you can hardly tell that anything was gone. I am now going to keep on going and get rid of anything that I "might" need and just keep the things that I "do" need.

Someone Stop the Clock

Can someone please stop the clock? On the 21st of January 2008 Ben lost one of his front teeth. I know that this shouldn't make me sad but it does. It is a sign that he is growing up. Time is going too quickly. I just want him to stay my little boy. I love his cheeky little smile now. I think that he is sick of me asking him to smile, but I just love that little gap. I know that I have to make the most of each day as time is flying by.

There Were 5 in The Bed and the Little One Said "Roll Over"

These photos were taken Boxing Day morning when there was a major wrestle going on for bed space. We loved having everyone over for Christmas and the kids were devastated when it was all over. I love all of the smiles and happy faces you see in these photos. I think that Dave lost the battle and ended up being the first out.

Nanny and Poppy

The boys had a great time staying up at Nanny and Poppy's. They have a close bond with them which is great considering that they only get to see the boys a couple of times a year. They take the time to be interested in what they are interested in and they take the time to play with them. The boys love them both. I hope that this bond always remains. I know that I am lucky to still have my mother and father alive. They are both aging but in reasonable health.

Cricket - it has been the flavour of these holidays. Whenever it is not raining the boys love to have a backyard game. This was a good game. We got everyone at Dungarubba involved. Luke loved playing with Uncle Wayne. I think that he is Luke's favourite uncle. There were many laughs. Poppy even had a bat and Benny did the running for him. With all of the rain and floods up North we still had a good holiday. We got to spend lots of time with the family.

This Time Last Year

This time last year I was busy preparing Ben for school. It only seems like yesterday that I had to let my baby go off to big school. It broke my heart putting him into his big boy uniform. It took me a long time to adjust to the fact that he was going to school. On my day off I would be forever looking for him. He was great company when he was at home. He was never any trouble. Now he goes into year one and Luke into year 4. I can hardly believe it. Where does the time go??????

Kylie and Andrew's Wedding

Friday the 11th of January Kylie and Andrew got married. We were lucky enough to share this special time with them. It was a beautiful day and Panorama House had the most spectacular views. Kylie and Andrew were so happy and I am happy for them. It was easy to see how mucht they love each other. They have been through so much in recent times and now they look like they may have some easier sailing. I am truly proud of the way that Kylie faced all of the difficulties. You are an inspiration to others and I am so proud of you. You guys deserve so much happiness. We had a great evening catching up with friends. I am very lucky to have so many beautiful friends. I love them all so dearly. They are the ones that make me laugh and get me through the every day hiccups. I know that they are always there and not matter what we share each others ups and downs. Thank you all for being so beautiful.

Brother or Bother

Here are a couple of photos taken at Christmas time in the Nies Family Christmas shoot. You can tell how much Chris is enjoying having his photo taken. It was like trying to take the photos of some naughty kids. It was hard to get a decent one of them. I love the others just the same. By the time we took the photos Chris was the only brother (or bother) - lucky him.

It Was Just Like Being a Kid

Oh it was so much fun. At Christmas the big kids got carried away on the swings. I think that we had more fun the kids ever did. Come on Chris we will see who can go the highest. It bought back a lot of childhood memories. My sisters and I would spend hours at the park on the swings seeing who could go the highest.

Everyone wanted to have a go and be a part of the fun. I think that everyone was young at heart!!!

It is a wonder that the poor swings held up to the treatment that they got. Poor Rob fell off a few times. I nearly wet my pants laughing. It is a wonder that I have any photos at all as the camera was shaking so much due to the laughter.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to Everyone- New Year went off with a bang and I think that we finished up here at about 4.ooam. We had a super night celerating with family and friends. My sister Michelle was very giggly - hmmmm!!!! So what will the New Year bring??? I hope that it means less illness for our family. Last year was a tough one.
So what are all of your New Years Resolutions???
I have made one and one that I hope that I can stick to and that is
"to be present in the moment"
I aim to enjoy whatever I am doing wherever I am doing it. I have already had the opportunity to try it out when stuck in a flood at my parents. There wasn't a lot that we could do so I made the most of sitting around talking with my family and kept reminding myself that it could be a thousand time worse. It was really a good holiday as we moslty sat around doing nothing.
I hope that you all have a wonderful year and that it is full of health, happiness and good times.

January the 2nd 2008

The Split Head - The first night that we stayed at mum and dad's Luke fell out of a single bed and split his head opened. He then went into shock. It scared the living daylights out of me. He was wrapped up in the sheet and didn't have his hand free to break the fall and split his head. We had trouble getting the bleeding to stop. Eventually it stopped and Luke went back to sleep but I don't think that I slept. After fixing him up I had trouble settling myself and I thought that I was going to faint or throw up. He was such a brave boy. He always deals with things so well. We had to keep him quiet the next day because I was afraid that it would open up again. Thank God nothing like that happened when all of the roads were blocked and getting to the hospital would have been impossible. As it was we didn't go to the hospital. I was only saying the other day that this was going to be a better year for Luke and on day 2 of 2008 his head was split. Hopefully the rest of the year will be better.

Good to See the Sun

Good to See the Sun - After so much rain it was good to see some sun. This is how the sun sets at the back of my parents house. These photos were taken from the kitchen window. They bring back memories for me as I use to love watching them as I grew up. Dad didn't understand me taking the photos as it is a sight that he sees most days but when you don't see it every day you appreciate it. It was even more appreciated and welcomed in amongst the flood weather that we experienced.

The Flood

The Flood - These photos probably don't portray the damage that a flood does. In fact the first couple of photo make it look good. Recently on holidays at mum and dad's there was a flood. They were lucky as the water didn't go into their house. They escaped but dad is predicting another flood in a week. I think that it pretty much rained the whole time that we were on holidays. There was no use going to the beach as the tides were too high and there were cows washed up on them from some of the dairy farms in Kyogle. It seems ironic that there can be flood in one state and bush fires in another. My brother was lucky as it come right up under his house. If it had of rose any more it would have ended up in his house. We got stranded at my little sister's for a couple of days as the roads were closed. Don't worry we had all of the major supplies (alcohol) and we whipped up some deadly cocktails. Thanks Lin and Shayne for the farm stay.

Pool Time Fun

Pool Time Fun - We are so lucky to have a great pool and beautiful friends to fill it. It has provided hours of enjoyment. Summer afternoons always consist of a swim. At the moment the boys have Mitchell and Aiden down and they are playing cricket in the pool. They decided their own rules and are having the time of their lives. I am keeping an eye on them through the window. The boys love the water and it makes it so easy now they are proficient swimmers.