Yesterday we went into Darling Harbour to say goodbye to Mike and Sheila. The weather was gorgeous.

The girls had a ride on the carousel.


Ashleigh asked: "Did they kill those horses and stick them on poles?" Ahhhh, the pure innocence of it all!! Yes of course they did - purely for your entertainment Ash!!!

Ashleigh chased the seagulls with Flynn.



Lauren wore her butterfly wings THE WHOLE DAY!! All the asians just adored her - they thought she was the biggest attraction at Darling Harbour!


We think she is!!

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

I'm loving this Spring weather! The flowers at the front of our house are starting to bloom gorgeous deep red lily type things! It's beginning to look a lot like Spring!!


I haven't blogged for a while because we've had Aaron's Dad and step-Mum visiting from NZ.

Here's what I've been up to:

YESTERDAY:

I did this:


I volunteered to cover some books for Ashleigh's school library!


got this:


Yep, Aaron finally bought me a new camera!! And it's fantastic!! I've been playing with it and am loving the features AND the 10 mega pixels!!

and TODAY:

We're going in to the city to say goodbye to Poppy and Nanny.

Still sick. Today's probably been one of my worst days so far. The cold is all in my head today. So I feel sleepy and mucusy - yuck!

Tomorrow's going to be a better day! I'm going to wake up feeling 100%. Power of positive thinking!!

Aaron just rang. He's in Alice Springs waiting for a flight to Darwin! He sounds tired. Unfortunately, we're ALL sick at the moment!

I had a great day on Tuesday. Belinda offered to have Lauren for me for the day (lifesaver!!) so I took myself shopping!! It's great to see all the Christmas decorations in the shops. I LOVE Christmas!! YAY!! I even bought myself some nice summery pjs!

Anyway, I'd better go and get Ashleigh to do some homework as we have a pretty busy weekend and she ALWAYS leaves it until the weekend to do it!! Lauren just woke up from a 3 hour sleep - she obviously needed it - poor sick little thing. I just hope she sleeps tonight!!

Funny ....

After a few days of stress and sick children I decided to check out what messages people had left for me on my Facebook Fun Space - just to give me a laugh and to put a smile on my face.

This one was left by my wonderful husband (one of the clean ones) I thought it was funny.

"Donald Rumsfeld briefed the President this morning. He told Bush that Three Brazilian soldiers were killed in Iraq. To everyone's amazement, all of the colour ran from Bush's face, then he collapsed onto his desk, head in hands, visibly shaken, almost wimpering. Finally, he composed himself and asked Rumsfeld, "Just exactly how many is a brazillion?"

Sorry 'Glo' I know you like Bush but I'm sure even you would find this one funny!!

No Ticky Tac Tac's Today

Lauren has this little dance she does. She repeats this over and over again ....

Ticky, tac, tac. Ticky, tac, tac.

Whilst doing star jumps.

But, there are no ticky, tac, tac's today as she has a stomach bug.

She was up vomiting all night last night. Every hour she was throwing up! Today she has a screaming temperature and is still vomiting. The poor kid had it coming out both ends last night. I felt so sorry for her.

Why is it whenever Aaron goes away she seems to get this?? Someone's got it in for me!!

Anyway, here is the family photo we had taken recently. I think it came out quite well.

And look, there's even a hint of a smile on Aaron's face (see, he does love us!)



It's another SPECTACULAR day today. It's supposed to be 28 degrees today!! Aaron said it's about 15 degrees in Perth - and he was so looking forward to the warmer weather he thought he'd be getting in Perth!!

Anyway, I'd better go get a few more things done before Lauren wakes up from her little sleep - goodness knows she needs it - she got no sleep last night - that goes for both of us!!

Random

Boy the computer's slow today!!

Not much is going on here. Ashleigh is home sick still with a throat and ear infection. Apparently she's highly contagious.

Lauren has the beginning signs of it.

And to top it off, Aaron left for Perth, Brisbane and Darwin today. He'll be gone for 12 days! Happy Joy! I just hope I don't get sick!!

I'm halfway through my book - and enjoying it. Man it's a thick book! I don't know exactly how many pages but let's just say LOTS!! I almost get a sore arm holding it up to read!!

The weather is spectacular today. We've had some pretty lousy weather the last week or so but it's another gorgeous day today. Just right I'd say - not too hot, not too cold.

Well that's about it. Not very exciting but I thought I'd blog anyway!

What's on the agenda for today!??!

So yesterday was Father's Day. Unfortunately I felt a bit under the weather so I wasn't able to spoil Aaron as much as I would've liked.

Lucky for me I have a hubby who doesn't care too much about being fussed over.

He got some lovely gifts from the girls and was showered with hugs and kisses. Again, not keen on being fussed over.

So what's on the agenda for today?

Walk Lauren to her Learn 4 Fun class and then walk back home - that's a good 50 minute walk!
Then off to Aldi's to get some essential grocery items.
Then clean the house a bit.
End the day with having Belinda and her family over for dinner (Aaron's sister)

And that's it.

Hope you all have a great week!!

By the way, we didn't forget your birthday Richard - it's on it's way!!

That Thing You Do!

Lauren has this thing where she puts her hand up to her "ear" to listen to something that is off in the distance.

Only, she doesn't quite get her hand to her ear - she kind of cups her cheek .....



It's hilarious to watch. She's such a nut case!!

Ashleigh likes to play along!!



We had Lauren assessed yesterday - just to find out exactly what was wrong with her. She has been diagnosed with a mild intellectual disability.

When the guy told me my heart sank and I'll admit it, I felt a little disappointed. He said that she won't grow out of it (like I have been hoping all these years) but that she will always be a bit slow and that it will only get harder as the years pass as she will become more aware of her inability to do certain things.

You can imagine how heartbreaking that news was but, at the end of the day, I'm happy.

I'm happy because she is such a beautiful little girl who is carefree and a joy to be around (most of the time).

I'm happy because I know she has been sent to a family who will love her unconditionally.

I'm happy because she makes us ALL laugh every day!

I'm happy because we can all learn to have patience.

I'm happy because I love a challenge.

I'm happy because ....

SHE'S happy.

And that's all that matters right!??!

So, there's more Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Early Intervention on the agenda for next year!!

With that said, I'm off to get some housework done and sit down and read my book! Aaron's got Lauren for a couple of hours so I'm going to take advantage of it!

Great weather for reading a book - it's cold and wet!! What's with this weather - beautiful one day, miserable the next!?!

Spring is in the air!!

Well yesterday was the first day of Spring and it didn't disappoint!!

The weather was fantastic. It was warm and there was a soft breeze blowing the wonderful fragrance of nearby jasmine into our backyard.

I was able to do a couple of loads of washing - perfect weather for drying clothes on the line!

I went for a walk and did some shopping.

I'm still a little disappointed I've only managed to lose 2 kilos but I'm sticking to it!! Summer's just around the corner!

Lauren and I made some fantastic tasting cupcakes! Thanks for the recipe B! So simple and yet so tasty! Maybe that's why I've only lost 2kg! Mind you, I only ate ONE because I HAD to see what they were like!!!


Notice Lauren has stripped down to just a singlet. That's how warm the weather was - lovely!

I borrowed a friend's copy of the book "Breaking Dawn".


It's the last book in the series I'm reading. I started reading it last night. So far so good.

The day finished with Lauren lying on the kitchen floor watching Aaron and I make dinner.



It all got a bit too much for her in the end!