Growing Up

 

 

 

 

Luke has just about completed his first term of High School. It has been a learning experience for us all. He has coped really well, made some new friends and navigated his way around his new environment. He has also started catching the bus which has been an adventure in itself. I am extremely proud of the way that he has settled in. He has given his all and worked really hard. The homework/assessment schedule has been quite tough but he has worked consistently to meet the deadlines. I feel a little sad as we have to search for time in the week for him to be a kid and I do believe that time to just hang out is equally important as homework. I feel that I am really lucky that things have gone so smooth.

I look at these photos a see a handsome young man. Where did my little baby go? I know that we say it all of the time but time really flies by (way too fast). We need to treasure each and every moment. I blinked and he was 12. Soon the teenage=attitude years hit and I am soooo not looking forward to that. For now he is still thoughtful and respectful and can still hold a conversation with his mother (I will hold onto that for now).

Love to all
Rell

Ben's Achievements

 

 

 

This was our first year of Little Athletics. Both boys really enjoyed the weekly competition. Although it was a Friday night the boys were always eager to go. Both boys went to state twice within the season. We were really proud of Ben as he partipated in the Zone Multi Event and placed 2nd with a Silver medal. We then went off to Wagga for the weekend to participate against 36 other boys. Ben placed 12th overall. We were so proud of him and the way that he competed. He has grown up so much in the last year. I think that he will do even better next year as he has a little more experience behind him. He broke the ground record several times for discus. Within the season he came very close to breaking ground records for 100m, 400m, 800, 1500m and longjump. He also broke the ground record for shot put. One of the memories that sticks in my mind is of the night he tried to break the 1500m record. He went out hard and started to stitch on the first lap, by the second lap he was crying and by the third and final lap you could hear him coming down the straight crying very loudly. He was so determined BUT he missed the reourd by a few seconds. He ran through the pain under his own will to do his best. I was embarrassed and proud all at the same time. He is already looking foward to the next season of Little Athletics.

Love to all of the mums out there doing the sporting circuit.
Rell

Make Me Laugh

I love this ad as it makes me laugh and then I found one quite similar. I have a great story about Old Spice and one of my first year 6 classes. Nathan this little darling after PE one day decided to make himself smell good. When I asked him what he had put on (as I was holding my nose) he told me that it was his father's Old Spice. I asked him how old he thought it was and he replied well Miss he said that he had it since he was a boy. Then I asked Nathan how much he had put on and he proudly replied that he had used the whole bottle. You have to love kids. make sure to watch the second one as well.

One of my main objectives this week is to get my blog up to date. Life has been way too busy and I have been out living it.



I hope that I have given you all a laugh for the week as heaven knows that we all need one.
Love to all
Rell

You Have Got to Love the Holidays

 

 

 

January 2011

This month has been a jam packed one and it is not over yet. We have:
* Travelled back from our Lismore trip.
* Dealt with 3 ear infections (Luke x 2 and Ben x1)
* The boys went away with the Nies family for a weekend. They had a great time but ended up a little homesick.
* Had some slip and slide fun.
* Tamara got married on the 14th of January and I took some photos for her (Bel where were you when I needed you).
* Had two sleepovers at our house.
* The guineas have had two litters.
* Read a book for the first time in ages.
* Gone shopping and prepared for school (especially High School).
* Had lunched with friends (friends from school were over).
* Chris has gone back to work and not really enjoying it.
* Seen the birth of our gorgeous little nephew Zachery (I will have to post some photos - he is adorable).
* Had a trip to Gerringong and played on the beach.
* Been to the movies twice (Yogi Bear and The Dilemma).
* Slept in lots.
* Stayed up late lots.
* Cleaned the house and filled our bin several times (as well as the neighbours - a little of clearing the cluter).
* Seen the worst floods in Queensland for many year and listened to tragic stories. I have donated some money to the appeal but nothing seems enough to compensate those families for their loss. The story that breaks my heart is that of the 13 year old boy who asked for his brother to be saved first only to lose his own life. Love to all of those in the terrible mess that will go on for some time. Living on the North Coast for most of my life I know what it is like to experience floods.
* Completed Project Life for 2010.
* Planned our Easter holiday to Port Macquarie for a few days.
* Caught up with a couple of old and dear friends who I have not seen or heard from in a couple of years.
* Caught up with sorting and storing my everyday photos.

A busy month so far. Enjoying every moment. Making a conscious effort to be present in every moment and enjoy it.
Love to All
Rell

The Year That Was 2010

 

2010 was one of the busiest years we have ever had BUT probably one of our best years yet. We had a stack of major events in the family. Here is a run down on the year:

* Celebrated Chris' 50th Birthday
* Celebrated Mum and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary (what a special occassion)
* Ben made his first Reconciliation
* Luke made his Confirmation
* Ben made his First holy Communion
* Boys played soccer Winter and Summer
* Ben's soccer team made the Grand Final and lost 2-1
* Luke made it to State for Discus with school (threw really well and came 6th)
* Boys joined Little Athletics and made it to State at Homebush Bay Olympic Stadium and came home with two Gold Medals each - how exciting
* Boys competed in the Zone Little A's and made it to Regional for each of the events entered in
* Made 3 trips to Lismore to be with my Dad who is slowly slipping away. I am ever so grateful that I had him for another year.
* Made a trip to Dubbo Zoo in April
* Went to Gerringong for a few days with Chris' family
* Enjoyed the X-Factor journey on a Sunday and Monday night for many weeks. Mahogany came 4th in the overall competition - what an achievement.
* Completed 2010 Project life
* Had lots of lunches with friends.
* Got a new boss at school and he is just lovely.
* Spent many hours at training with the boys for throwing.
* All time low when Kerri (a good friend) lost her little girl Lillian. May you find her in your dreams Kerri.
* Acting Principal for all of Term One and part of Term Two.
* Went to the Camden Show
* Good friend Sarah had a little boy Harry.
* Loads of lunches with friends
* Celebrated Lachlan's 1st Birthday
* Luke went away on his Year 6 Camp
* Stripes had 3 litters.
* Celebrated Ben's 9th and Luke's 12th birthday (I am going to have a teenager this year - help).
* Luke represented his school in Football, Netball, Swimming, Athletics and Cricket.
* Had the worst tummy bug ever - whole family had it but I thought that I was dying.
* Celebrated Danielle's 40th Birthday.
* Organised a Staff Development Day involving a number of schools.
* Took stage 3 away to Canberra for Camp.
* Saw the Roosters make the Grandfinal only to loose to St George.
* Cleaned out the lunches I found under someones bed.
* Ben dis-located his shoulder at school (twice in two days).
* Picked the Mebourne Cup winner and won a little money - Americain
* Met most of the X Factor contestants and got to stir Altiyan up.
* Enrolled Luke into his High School - Clancy Catholic College
* Luke's Year 6 Farewell and Graduation Mass were both tear gerkers.
* Celebrated my 39th Birthday.
* Collected some more owls.
* Thoroughly enjoyed Christmas with my family.
* Showed everyone how to do the catepillar/worm on New Year's Eve.

That is a brief overview. Loads going on - a top year. One that I am grateful for.
Hope that you all had a good 2010 - Happy New Year Everyone. I hope that 2011 is just as good -it is going to be hard to top.
Love to All
Rell

The Celebrations at School

 

Here we are celebrating at school. The girls were well supported. Love these great girls!!!!

Love to All
Rell

Aint No Mountain High Enough

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Well the X Factor journey is over. It was our second home for a couple of months (only missing a few shows). It was so exciting knowing some of the contestant and getting to share their extraordinary journey with them. Love you girls and I am so proud of you. The most amazing part was that they were fine with the verdict and they conducted themselves with dignity and grace. They sung for their fans one final time and they were so strong. Afterwards I was hugging Maureen and I teared up and she told me to be happy for them. I am happy for them but believe that they should have gone one show further. If Mahogany had have made the top three the girls and Guy Sebastian were coming out to visit our school. So our kids were ripped of the opportunity that would have meant the world to so many of them. Anyway it has all been a fun experience. We have had many laughs and one of the best parts was getting to spend Sunday and Monday night with some really close friends.

Here I am cheering my little heart out. MA HOG ANY!!! MA HOG ANY!!!MA HOG ANY!!!
Loads of FUN.

Love to All
Rell

X Factor Fun

I hope that these very talented girls go all of the way. We have been there supporting them and wishing them well. Please get behind them as they deserve to win. We will be there again on Sunday and Monday.

Here we are stirring Altyian up. Good fun!!!!!

And then a happy snappy with India Rose.

Please vote for our girls.

Love to All
Rell

Go Mahogany

Go girls- you are survivors and you rocked tonight. All the way from here.

Love
Rell

MAHOGANY has the X Factor!!!!

Look at these beautiful girls. Two of them are teachers at my school. I so hope that they win. They have so much talent. They are the most gorgeous girls who are ever so humble about the talent that they have. They have all the talent at school and you rarely hear them sing whereas me I have little to no talent and you always hear me singing(some probably wish that it was a lot less). Anyway we have been going to support them most Sunday and Monday nights. I hope they win as they are by far the most talented in the competition. It has all been very exciting. I hope that you too will vote for them.

Love to All
Rell
PS My weekend job is to get this blog up to date. It has been sadly neglected.

Giraffes are My Favourite

This page was inspired by our recent trip to Dubbo Zoo. I just love watching the giraffes. I really have to tear myself away from watching them. They are so tall and graceful. I use one of the gorgeous embellishments designed by the lovely Julie and you can find them on her website - Time to Create. I urge you to have a look at her site as there are so many yummy handmade products there and what I really love about them is you won't find them anywhere else as she designs them herself. I simply can not get enough of them. Hope that you are all finding time to scrap in this busy life.

Love to All,
Rell

Our Little Champion

Ben lost his grand final on the weekend in a very close. The other team scored in the final minute of extra time. Ben handled the loss really well. We had a talk before the game where I told him that despite the outcome that we were going to celebrate after the event. When they scored Ben ran straight to the goalie to tell him that it was OK. He was a graceful loser!! I think is just as important to know how to lose. It was a really good game. Ben's team were doing all of the attacking however they let a ball through in the end. Them the breaks. We went to the park afterwards to celebrate and all of the kids had an absolute ball. Ben was awarded with two certificates. One was for being the one that trains the most consistently and the other was for "Overall Best in Attack and Defence." I thought that they were both appropriate as he trains really hard and he is all over the field. It was a really good season. Ben had his old coach watching him for the last two games and as he walked off the field his old coach was trying to sign him up for next season. Ben is really happy where he is so he will probably stay with the Robbins.

So we now get a rest because the season is over BUT only for a week or two as he has already signed up for Summer Season.

Love to All of the Soccer Mums out there,
Rell