Funny

So I was driving to church the other day with Ashleigh in the car with me.
I looked in the rear view mirror and saw a car I thought looked like a police car.
I said to Ashleigh:
"I wonder if that's a police car behind us?"

She replied:
"I don't know. Go really fast and we'll find out!"

So there you have it - problem solved!!

School 2010

As you may or may not know, Lauren was accepted into a Support Class at one of our local schools which is an absolute blessing as these classes are impossible to get in to.

She started at Sherwood Ridge Public School in Kellyville on 1st February this year and she absolutely loves going to school every day.
She has taken to school like a duck to water.
She loves her class and her two teachers.
There are only 8 kids in her class so she gets really specialised teaching.
She is learning so much every day.
She particularly liked being picked up by her big sister Ashleigh last Thursday to go to the canteen for the very first time and buy herself a chocolate Paddle Pop ice cream.
This was the best part of her day - I think it was Ashleigh's best part too!

Ashleigh loves having Lauren going to school with her!
She loves knowing that Lauren is at school as well as her and not at home having fun with Mummy!
Ashleigh LOVES the new school.
We changed her from Ironbark Ridge Public school this year so she could attend the same school as Lauren.
It makes life a lot easier being able to pick them up from the same school and not have to try to be at two schools at the same time.
She loves her teacher and has made heaps of new friends.
Every day when I pick her up she has a huge smile on her face and says she's had a really good day which is a big difference from last year - thankfully!

Here's a photo I took of the girls on their first day at their new school!


As for me ...

I've been flat out ever since they started back at school.
Monday and Tuesday, Lauren only had half a day at school so I had to pick her up at 1pm.
I was so busy those first couple of days catching up on house work and grocery shopping.

I've been able to potter around the house and sit on the computer as long as I want without Lauren pulling on my arm saying she's either hungry or bored.
It's fantastic!
I must say, I really miss having her around though.
She was my little friend and companion.

I've tried to organise our study.
It's difficult because Aaron and I both share the study and let's just say he's not the tidiest or most organised of the human race.
So I've had my work cut out for me trying to make sense of the debris that's called our desk!

I bought this to sort out the paperwork and it seems to be working so far.


Next thing I need to do is get a part-time job to get some spending money!

Fingers crossed!

New Shoes

We had a bit of a bad start to the year this year.
I thought I'd be super organised and buy the girls school shoes early on in January so that they had their shoes ready to start the school year.
Problem is I wasn't anticipating Lauren's feet growing so darned fast.
By the time the first day of school rolled around her feet had outgrown the new shoes.
Then when I went to take them back to get some bigger ones all the shops had sold out of shoes in her size!

So I've got some on order - yep, only the expensive ones are available now so I'm paying almost 3 times as much as the original pair I bought.
Let's hope her feet don't grow anymore this year so they last her 12 months!

Then on Ashleigh's first sport day I realised I hadn't bought her any new sneakers!
So, on the weekend we went for a drive in to the city to the New Balance Outlet store and bought the girls some brand new sneakers!


They love their new shoes!
Lauren loves hers because they are pink.
And Ashleigh loves hers because they are "cool".
We got them for such a good price. Lauren's shoes were $110 down to $45.
Ashleigh's shoes were $99 down to $45!

So we're set for shoes now!!

Camping + Heatwave = Not Much Fun!

So we decided to go camping on Monday.
All was well in tent city ....



To my surprise, we erected the tent with speed and precision for first timers!
(Well, Aaron and the girls did!)
I supervised and took photos! Phew - it was hard work!
But the finished product was very exciting:



Then the girls decided to chat to the locals to get a feel for their surroundings and what it had to offer:


They got along well with the locals - even the big ones!
Watch out for that bull on the right - he's a nasty character - very protective of his 32 heffas and calves!

Driving with the cows was interesting:


Don't get too close or they get a little agitated!
We slowly drove past them and gave them space.
But then Aaron decided he'd toot his horn at them to see what would happen!
We then had to drive a little faster - out of necessity!
"Get me outta here - quick!"

The scenery was gorgeous though.
High up on the hill - this was our view:


The first night was warm so needless to say the sleeping bags were not needed!
Aaron was too scared to have the doors open for fear of mozzies and creatures crawling through the screen in the middle of the night so we sweltered a little the first night.

The first night ended up being the last night as the next day we woke up to a HEAT WAVE!!
The temperature reached around 38 degrees - and that was in the shade!

We spent most of the day here ...

GERRINGONG BEACH

Love the sunnies Ash!

Ash looking for little fish and rocks!

The girls walking around the rock pools looking for crabs and fish!

Lauren enjoying the shallow water - Aaron in the "big pool" in the background!

As you can see, it was very relaxing and cool.


The rock pools were great. They found all sorts of things:


Then we had lunch at Berry at a little bakery that make THE BEST Custard Tarts!!! YUMMM!

Then we browsed the local shops.
They have the most quaint little shops in Berry - very unique.
Here's just one of the many available - it's full of cuckoo clocks and babushka dolls!
The girls loved it!! They were in there for ages looking at all the bits and pieces.

Then there's my favourite candle shop - Candleberries!
I'm on a first name basis with the owner! Love it!

Yes, there are a lot of cows in the Berry area!
And they're proud of it!


All in all, despite the heat and the early departure, we had such a great time!
Very memorable!
We plan to do it again real soon!

Camping + Heatwave = Not Much

Technology Dummy Spit!!

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while.

Our computers died a few weeks ago. Yes, both of them!
One of them got a virus - we can't even turn the darned thing on
And the other one is so ruddy slow it's painful to work on.

So we're using Aaron's lap top at the moment and it has very few programs on it that I'm used to using.

I can't find the driver for our camera so I can't download photos.
So this post will have to be a photo free one!

We had a really great Christmas.
It was very relaxed. So relaxed I forgot to get photos taken of the girls with Santa!
The first year ever!
I guess I did santa a favour by not putting Lauren on his knee!
He may have had to go in for knee surgery if I had've.
She now weighs more than Ashleigh!

Aaron and I decided not to buy each other anything for Christmas this year.
Instead we bought a new lounge!!!
I'm so excited! I can't wait to get it but it doesn't arrive for another 6-8 weeks!
But that's OK. It will make me appreciate it even more when it does arrive!

The next thing I'd like to get is a trundle bed for Ashleigh.
She is often having sleep overs and her friends are now getting too big to sleep on our flimsy spare mattress!
But we may have to wait a while for that one!

We had an amazing New Years!
We took the girls in to a friends apartment in Pyrmont and watched the fireworks!
It was the biggest year yet - they spent $5 Million on fireworks this year!
The girls were absolutely amazed by it all!
That's literally $5 Million up in smoke!
But well worth it!
It took us almost 2 hours to get home though as they close the Harbour Bridge and we had to battle millions of other people to get home!

Some other great news ......
Lauren was accepted into a "Support Class" next year at a school really close by!
This is unheard of as there are only about 5 schools in Sydney's West that offer support classes and each of those classes only accommodate 10 students!
It was truly a blessing that she was accepted!
We just don't know what we are going to do with Ashleigh - should we send her to the same school or keep her where she is!?? What to do!?

As is customary, we made some New Year's Resolutions:

Here they are:
1. Lose 10-15 kilos
2. Eat healthier
3. Cut down (considerably) on takeaway food
4. Be more organised at planning family meals
5. Pay off all our debt!
6. Be more charitable
7. Go to New Zealand!

Anyway, that's about it for now.
Hopefully I'll be able to post some photos soon!

Christmas Comes Early At The Browns....

Yesterday we decided to put up the Christmas tree.
It's a week earlier than normal but since next weekend's going to be busy I thought we'd get on to it this weekend to enjoy it a little bit longer!
I decided to go with majority gold this year!
I think it came up well.



It's been stinkin' hot here lately so I've kept mostly indoors or out in the pool!
I hope it settles down soon - I don't like the heat too much!

Anyway, this week's going to be a pretty busy one again.
I was sick most of last week so the house has a lot of work needing to be done!
Washing,
Vaucuuming,
Mopping
Bathrooms to be cleaned,
Dusting ...
just to name a few.

I had a pretty miserable day yesterday. Got a migraine and felt rotten all day!

Today, I had a hang over from all the headache tablets and migraine so I had the day off.
But, I was busy the whole day doing "other stuff" around the house.
I did a candle delivery and got some bits and pieces from the shops.

Tomorrow I've got a couple of appointments so I'm going to have to have the day off again.

We've got a HUGE garage sale on the weekend.
I hope it goes well. I always hate garage sales - especially if they're a flop!

Amanda arrives on Wednesday night. We can't wait to see her again!

On Thursday I'm off to see this:


I can't wait - so excited!!

It's been a busy couple of weeks - I can't wait until things slow down a bit!

Just wanna say .....

I bought this gorgeous book for the girls on the weekend.
It's absolutely adorable!
Everyone with young kids should have one of these books at Christmas time!


On another note, I'm still working at Macquarie Uni - third week now.
It's a little boring and a long way to come but it pays the bills.

We are all doing well.
Aaron's studying at the moment - just for another 2 weeks.
I'm working - just for another 2 weeks - hehehehe.
Ash is counting down the weeks until Christmas holidays.
Lauren is counting down the weeks until she starts school next year.

I tell you what, I have to be the queen of thriftiness!
Yesterday I rang up our telephone service provider to query why our phone bill was so high.
By the end of the conversation the customer service rep had reduced our bill by a whopping $110!!!
And I was only expecting to maybe get a $20 discount!
You've gotta be happy with that!

What do you mean where have I been!?!?!!?

Been so busy lately.
Haven't had time to scratch myself.
This week I'm working for the Executive Dean of Business and Economics at Macquarie University! The traffic sux!! But at least it's money!

Here's a few photos to catch you up ....

Happy Halloween!!

The girls enjoyed going trick or treating last night! Got wayyyyy too many lollies!!


Ash snuggling up to Thomas. He's had a bit of a hair cut. He got in a fight a few weeks ago. He's been a bit cranky lately and moody. I had to shave the sides of him because his hair got matted after being in a fight. But he's on the mend!


Ash and Taylor enjoying their gifts from my trip to Singapore. Lots of bollywood stuff - bangles, saris, bindis!!



Two peas in a pod - Georgia and Lauren! You'd almost mistake them for being sisters!


The weather's warming up now which is nice! I can feel Christmas in the air - YAY!!

I'm Back!

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while.
But I'm back from Singapore now and have lots of photos to share.

Let me just start by saying - the humidity is a killer!! You just have to sit down and you sweat!

I stayed with a good friend who is living over in Singapore for about 2 years. This is the view from her apartment:


The pool is fantastic!! The round pool in the middle is waist high so you can sit there and relax!! I didn't get nearly enough time in the pool! Maybe next time!!!

We went to this amazing Indian Restaurant (fantastic food). The restaurant was on top of a building so we had 360 degree views of Singapore! It was amazing!



This is something EVERYBODY has to try before they die! It's called a FISH SPA. You stick your feet into this tank and the tiny fish eat all the dead skin off your feet. It tickles like a son of a gun! Your feet feel amazing afterwards and the tingling sensation stays with you for a while afterwards too! It's absolutely amazing. I can't wait to do it again! Unfortunately they only have this in Singapore.

Here is my initial reaction to the fish spa (it's a bit out of focus but you get the idea):

(Excuse the 'cankles' - the humidity made my feet swell!)

I had THE BEST drink over there! It's called a Himalayan Tea Latte and it's absolutely delicious! It's quite sweet - you can taste the cinnamon and a caramel flavour. Yummy!! Unfortunately they don't have them here in Australia! They are sold at McCafe!

I visited a place called Little India. It's probably the dirtiest place I visited whilst in Singapore because the rest of Singapore is pristine!

Little India .....

The streets of Singapore - just gorgeous ....


Because it's so hot during the day - everybody tends to come out at night! The night life is incredible. The shops are open until about 11pm! They even have outdoor air conditioners to keep everyone cool! Very strange!

I left at just the right time because they had the Formula One the weekend after I left so I got out before the crowds came! However, we did get to drive on the track while I was there!!


They had so many festivals on while I was there. Here's just one .... the Chinese Autumn Festival! The street decorations are so elaborate ...

Well that's about it for now. I'll post photos from the Singapore Zoo next time!

I'm Off To Singapore!

I think that just about says it all.

The ticket is booked ....
19th September!

I finish my temp assignment at work on the 18th and fly out the next day!!

I can't wait - I'm so excited!

It will give me some much needed ME time! No hubby, no kids - just me and my best friend and hot weather!! What more could you ask for!?!!

Oh yeah - great shopping!!

Wanted: Good Home for Tabby Cat - Goes By The Name Thomas

I came home this morning from dropping Ashleigh at school to Lauren grabbing me by the hand and pulling me towards the laundry. There on the laundry floor were two goldfish!

Thomas had gotten into the tub that we have our goldfish in and had scooped them out.

I thought they were dead but I quickly picked them up and threw them into the water.

Luckily they came back to life and started swimming around.

I'm not sure how long they will survive but for now they're alive.

As you can imagine, I went ballistic!!

Then I came to work this morning to find this picture attached to an email from a friend at work.

How appropriate!!! hhhmmmmm.

Random

Here are some photos from our "pink pink" (picnic) last weekend.


The weather was gorgeous!

Here's a photo of my dream house. It's across the road from Lauren's school at - of all places - Pendle Hill. I just love it - it looks even better in real life! Just gorgeous. One day, dream, dream.


We had a visitor from a little fella called "Dusty". He's a moodle (maltese, poodle).
Such a gorgeous little thing.
A little fluff ball!
Lauren just adored him!


On a side note - I'm loving the song "Africa" by Karl Wolf. A great remix of an old classic!