Not much goin on

Not much to report on this week.

We've had some wicked storms the last few days. We were at Hungry Jacks one night having dinner and this fierce storm came over quite suddenly. We saw some lightning hit the carpark just a few metres away. It was amazing!

We've had a problem with Ash drawing on everything lately. She got Aaron's prized possession - his basketball and she had scribbled her name on it in permanent marker. Needless to say Aaron was not impressed.

A few days ago we woke up to find that Ash had drawn all over herself as well as the curtains and a little bit on her bedroom wall with texta. We never had this problem with her when she was a toddler - why now??!!!?!

Mum's coming along nicely. She'll be out of hospital next Monday with any luck. She had to stay in longer than anticipated but she's doing well.

Ashleigh's got her school dance on tonight so I'd better go and help her "choose an outfit". Oh the drama's associated with going out!! What a diva!!

Girl Flying Kite

I went and visited Mum today. She is doing really well. Her leg is in a heavy cast and she said it weighs a tonne but other than that she is feeling pretty good.

She has decided to go into a rehab centre for a couple of days to recover which will be good. She will be able to relax and not feel as though she has to get up and answer phones etc. We're all happy at the way she is recovering from the operation.


Below is a photo of something Ashleigh did the other day. I think it's absolutely brilliant (of course I do, I'm her mother). It is a picture of a girl that she cut out and she made a kite out of paper and stuck the girls two arms together as if she's holding the kite. I thought it was so clever for a 5 year old! I laughed out loud when she showed it to me. I thought it was really cute.





Below is a photo of Ashleigh's hair. We decided to try something different. I get tired of her pulling her hair out at school so I did it like this so that she couldn't pull it out. She wanted me to take a photo of it so she could see the back of her head.

Killer Moth!

We have a new resident at our place. It's a giant killer moth! Well, I don't know about the killer bit but it's flippin huge!

This photo doesn't do it justice really. I put my hand up so you can see how big it is. Not much smaller than my hand.

Needless to say I have been giving it plenty of room and not going too close to it for fear of it flapping it's huge wings into me. Yuck!!

Lauren's Birthday

Here are some photos from Lauren's birthday celebrations!

Can you believe she's 3??? I can't!!







This last photo was taken at the end of the night. She was a bit over it by then! So take that!!

She had a great party with all the family and thanks to everyone who sent pressies from New Zealand! She loved the clothes and books thank you!

7 Years Ago Today ...

7 Years ago today I married my best friend and eternal companion ....




Ashleigh wished us a "Happy Wedding Birthday" this morning. Very cute!

We may not have a lot of money in the bank but we have each other!

Watch Out - Ash Might Bash U Up!

This is a conversation we had with Ashleigh the other day:

Ash: "I'm on Andrew's team at school, not Jack's"
Me: "Oh, what do you mean - his sports team?"
Ash: "No .... his team to bash people up!"

LOL.

She cracks me up every day!! She comes out with the funniest things!

How's this for Murphy's Law. It just took me about 15 minutes to hang out a FULL load of washing on the line - it was brilliant sunshine. Now (10 minutes later) I look out the window and there are HUGE BLACK clouds heading our way. This seems to happen to me a lot!!

Not much is going on at the moment. I'm on canteen duty tomorrow so Ashleigh's very excited. Ash LOVES her new teacher this year. Miss Aqueliera is such a lovely gal! She's only young which is great.

Lauren is missing Ashleigh but enjoying having me all to herself during the day (the day's I'm not working). She is starting to talk more and more. She loves telling people off. Her favourite words are:

Mine!
Don't touch!
No!
Move!
You Move!

I can't believe she's going to be 3 next week! Time has just flown! She is having a Peppa Pig Birthday Party with the family!

That's it for now!!

Here are some photos of the girls! Ash and Lauren mucking around on the lounge and then Lauren in the bath.

Tonight Ashleigh asked Aaron what was for dinner and he said "omlette". Horrified, she looked at him and asked "Vomit?" "YUCK". She obviously didn't hear him properly.

Work has been quite busy lately which is good. The word is getting out so we are getting quite a few sales.

Ash loves her new class at school and says goodbye and waves now - no tears.

I took Lauren to Gymbaroo this morning and she loved it! I was quite surprised at how co-ordinated she is! Very impressive!

Well, not much else to report on for now. Until next time .....

Sixth Sense!

The other day at work I was at my desk when I decided to get up to go to the loo. On my way down the stairs I started to think about creepy crawlies. As I got to the bottom of the stairs a huge lizard ran out in front of me. I gasped out loud and nearly wet my pants (hey, I know of a good product for that). The fact that I had just been thinking about creepy crawlies made me even more sensitive.

I seem to have a sixth sense for this kind of thing. A couple of months ago I was driving home in the dark by myself and I had this thought come to me that an animal was going to run out in front of my car so I started driving really slowly. Sure enough about a minute later I came face to face with a wild fox.

This kind of thing happens to me all the time - its freaky!

Another Funny!

Ashleigh came out with another funny one yesterday. I went for a jog and when I came home Ashleigh was there to greet me. She saw that I was sweaty and said:

"Mummy, you're leaking"

I thought that was funny! It's funny the things kids say when they don't know all the words.

It's the last day of holidays today. I think Lauren is really going to miss Ashleigh when she goes back to school because they really bonded these school holidays. I must say I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine. We have done our last minute shopping for shoes and school supplies today so we're all set for tomorrow!

Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day everyone!! It's a public holiday here today and we're taking it easy before Ash goes back to school next week. We are having the traditional family BBQ at Mum's this afternoon and go for a swim so hopefully the rain will hold off.

Not much else going on right now so I'll say bye for now.

Happy Birthday!

Today it's Aaron's birthday - the big 33!! Only 7 years away from 40 - scary!!

We worked out yesterday that when Aaron's 40 Ashleigh will be 12 and Lauren will be 9 turning 10!

We went to Balmoral beach yesterday to celebrate his birthday. It was a great day - much cooler on the beach than out in the burbs!! The kids had a blast playing in the rock pools splashing around - except Lauren who hates both the water and the sand - so basically she just had to grin and bare it!

Here are some photos!

" I'm only just tolerating this sand and wind Mum!"

"Happy Birthday Dad!"

We're having a quiet day today. Off to church at 1pm and then a quiet dinner.

Photos!

Here are some photos I found on the computer that I haven't put on the blog!

This is why you don't leave kids unattended with beads! What a mess to clean up.

Lauren playing with the cat in the backyard - she just loves Thomas!! I'm not so sure if Thomas loves her so much - especially when she tries to ride him like a horse!

This is how Lauren sleeps - sideways!! Even when we're in the bed too - she rests her head on me and kicks Daddy in the face!! You can imagine how much Aaron likes that!

Thanks for the pressies!

Aaron received a parcel from his Mum this week for his Birthday on Sunday and inside was a gift for the girls from Aunty Mandy and Grandma Stanley. They love getting stuff in the mail - especially gifts! Thanks Aunty Mandy and Grandma!

Here are some photos of their gifts!

They love those sunnies!! Especially Lauren!! And of course, Ashleigh LOVES matching her sister in the same tops!! You know exactly what Ash loves Aunty Mandy!!

I can't believe Lauren is going to be 3 next month! That time has gone so fast and although I get clucky every now and then I don't think I could have anymore kids. I want to be able to spend QUALITY time with the girls rather than have a whole brood of kids and be too busy to enjoy them!

Not much going on today ..... I've got Taylor and Georgia here today to help entertain the girls. Aaron's got a couple of appointments in Bondi today - unfortunately it's too hot to sit on the beach and enjoy! He's doesn't fancy the heat so I think he'd rather sit in the air conditioned car than on the beach!

Anyway, I'm off to make some lunch for everyone!! See ya!!

Funny Things!

Ashleigh continues to come out with funny things! The other night I had a stomach bug. Aaron and Ash came into the bedroom to ask how I was feeling and I told them that I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. Quite concerned, Ashleigh said "that's not good Mummy because if you've been hit by a truck that means you're dead." I had to giggle.

Last week Ashleigh was eating a sandwich when she came over to me and said "Look Mum, a t-shirt!" See photo below!!!

Very funny!

I have to say I'm really enjoying the holidays. It's great to sleep in a bit and to spend time with the girls. As much as Ashleigh can be trying at times, I'm really enjoying spending time with her. I'm not looking forward to school going back because I know Ashleigh is going to have a hard time going back. She's enjoying holidays too much!

I walked into Ashleigh's room the other day to find this!

Simple things!

Then Ash decided to jump in too!

That's it for now. Hope you all have a great week!

Happy New Years!

Well it's New Year's Eve and I can't help but reflect back on this year and what it held for us.

Here's an overview of 2006 for us (in chronological order - or at least close to it!):

• Ashleigh started school
  
• Belinda and Abel moved out to their own place in Castle Hill
  
• I decided to start a new online business with the help of Abel ,but still haven't done anything with it!!
  
• I had a mole removed at long last! I've been wanting to get it removed for about 15 years and finally got it done!! OUCH! I can't tell ya how much it hurt!
  
• Lauren started walking!! YIPEE!!
  
• Started this blog!!
  
• I started selling Salt City Candles through party plan - I absolutely loved doing this!!
  
• Amanda and Richard came to visit us!
  
• Lost about 15 kilos (but have put back on about 7 since then - oops!)
  
• Got blood tests done on Lauren to check out that she was OK - and she was which is good.
  
• SEPTEMBER - started working with Dad on Contiform!
  
• Ashleigh got glasses - we found out she has only 25% vision in her left eye.
  

Aaron and I have been discussing what 2007 might hold for us. We would love to go back to New Zealand to see Aaron's family again. Aaron's planning on starting a new job doing exhibitions with Austand. I'm hoping Contiform will do well and keep me busy. Maybe Lauren will start Pre-school towards the end of the year. And we both want new cars so that's the plan.

I hope everyone has a great New Years Eve - we're just having a quiet one at home this year - and I hope next year is filled with happy memories!

Merry Christmas!

I'm in a bit of a hurry but thought I'd quickly post a few Christmas Eve photos!

Lauren having a play on the X-Box with Christopher!

You're guaranteed to win when you play against her!

The Terrible Two!

The Three Amigos!

Smile Lauren - it's Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve!

I thought I'd write a quick message to all my friends and family who are reading this to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and safe New Year!

The girls are very excited about Santa coming tonight and they are both having a nap as I am typing this to prepare for their big night out tonight with family. We are going to Jodie and Greg's house tonight for Christmas Eve dinner and to walk around (if this rain ever stops) to look at the Christmas lights on their street. It's like Las Vegas around them!! Every second house is light up so elaborately - Griswald's eat your heart out!!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and takes time out to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas!!

With love from Aaron, Mel, Ashleigh and Lauren!

Here is a photo of the girls - I really wanted to get some nice Christmas photos but haven't got a chance yet. Ashleigh is very excited about how long her hair is getting so I had to take a photo!! She wants to grow it long like Rapunzel!! Good luck!!

Ashleigh's Celebration Night

Last night we had Ashleigh's Celebration night at her school. It is basically a night to celebrate the end of another year and to congratulate the Kindy students on doing such a great job. They sang and danced and were presented with their awards!

The night didn't get off to a good start for us though. About 10 minutes before it was time to leave Ashleigh was all dressed up in her school uniform with her hair all done and I told her to go in and wash her face because she had some dinner on her face. Five minutes later she came out crying and asked me if she was bleeding on her face. I had a look and sure enough she was bleeding. In her hand I saw one of my disposable razors I use to shave my legs. "What are you doing with that?" "Why are you bleeding?". She had decided to get the razor out and shave her face like Daddy does! It's times like these that your patience is really tested. I couldn't yell at her because she would start to cry even more and I wanted her to be happy for the Celebration night and not arrive crying. It took AGES to stop bleeding. It bled all the way in the car there and only just stopped bleeding as we were walking up to the school.

It's times like these you wonder why kids do the things they do! It all ended up well though. She didn't cry and did a great job singing Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer!

Needless to say she will never touch a razor again!

Aaron and the Girls!

Here is a photo of Aaron with the girls. Lauren has a grape in her mouth.

All I Want For Christmas ......

Ashleigh just turned to me and said:

"You know what I want for Christmas Mum?"

I replied:
"What?"

"A homework machine because I don't know how to do my homework!"

So there you have it - for all you relatives out there who don't know what to get Ashleigh for Christmas you can get her one of those! Good Luck!!