Friday Frenzy

Fridays are fun. They usually start the same - with a game of netball, but never end the same. Today Claire, with some help from Mel, kindly looked after the kids at Halle's house (sorry Lisa and Stan, but here it's referred to as Halle's house, not yours!) while we played netball.

Lisa then cooked us up a yummy pasta lunch and we sat around chatting all afternoon while the kids played. The girls had a wonderful time with Halle, Meea and Ben and Emily especially had a lovely time helping take care of Archie and Seb! Hope you had a big sleep when you got home Seb!

I didn't really take any photos, but found these on the iphone... don't you just love little Seb and his cute smile!!?

Here is Halle, being watched very closely by Em help Aunty Claire feed Seb his apple, it was very entertaining!

Thanks for a great relaxing afternoon of chit-chat girls!

Happy Birthday Bessy

This little girl was so happy to finally be one, and we were happy to help her celebrate at the park! All the kids had a great time together. I used my iphone to capture some of the happiness... isn't she a cutie!

She got some lovely pressies and I think her Mummy was just a little excited about all the girly things!

And check out these two skinny little chic's!

amazon.co.uk

I thought it was time I stopped moaning about how we got ripped off with the value of the pound on our return home and take advantage of it instead. So I got on amazon.co.uk and did some ordering. All I really wanted was some more Erica James novels, but when I saw Alias Season 5 (Final Season) for only 11 pounds I was so excited! When Michael and I first got married we were right in to Alias and would stay up and watch every episode - jigging away to the opening music! We have seen every season - except for the last - because I don't think they even showed that on TV? Could be wrong there, but we waited patiently for ages for it to come on and we never saw it advertised. ANYWAY.... so we have often thought about getting it, but it always just got put off.... until NOW! I decided to get season 4 as well, to complete the set (Laura, I am claiming your 2 seasons that are at Mums!). Such a bargain - even with the postage. I really just need to find time to watch them now! (And I'll have to watch season 4 again too, so that I can remember what was going on!)

When we were up visiting Sarah and Joe a few weeks ago, Taj and Owen showed us their Gruffalo book, and Sarah was telling me how much of a great story it is (not sure how I have never read it before really?!) so I decided to get a copy of it and its new dvd. LOVED the book (Thanks Sare if you are reading this!?) and the dvd is very cool too - the animation is awesome, and I'm sure this will become one of our favourite family reads!

So with the pound still only worth $1.65 jump on to amazon.co.uk and find yourself a few bargains... they arrived in the mail pretty quickly and it was fun opening up the package today!

P.S LOVE Erica James novels - and will be starting on my 5th one tonight!

Bubble Blowing

Mick had to attend a course today at work on Paediatric Anaesthesia, so the girls and I made a huge mess of the house while he was out. It really doesn't take long, especially when you have one little girl (Emily) who doesn't really like to pack up after herself! Most of the time it takes a bit of nagging to get Em to help pack up. To be fair, she can also be very good at getting in and helping - but it's usually only when she wants to! While the girls were stamping and sticking and playing with just about everything I did some 'moving things around!' Which reminds me of something Leilani said about 3 weeks after we moved in here "Mum, why do you just keep moving everything around??" I guess it was a fair comment as the clock got moved 5 times and every picture has just about been on every different hook at one point! Anyway I have turned Mick's study into a craft room!!! I don't think he was too excited when I first suggested it, but then he agreed that he really doesn't spend that much time in here because he mostly goes back to work to study because it's easier and less distracting there!! Anyway, he still has his desk and I'm loving MY new room!

It was Charlotte's birthday yesterday, so we headed off to her party in the afternoon with Leilani dressed as Snow White! There were lots of great costumes there and everyone had a fun time together. Leilani and Emily haven't stopped singing Crocodile, Crocodile, may we cross the golden river!?" Didn't take any photos so we will have to wait for Blanche to post some!! Anyway... the girls got some bubbles in their party bags so they spent a bit of time this morning out the back blowing and blowing... this time I did take some photos!

It was such a beautiful day today so Aunty Elle came up in the afternoon and we went for a walk along the bike track so the girls could ride their bikes! I think they did just as much running as they did riding though! Not because they don't like to ride their bikes - they just like to run as well!

We then went and did our grocery shopping where I had a lucky escape! $120.00 left in my 'grocery money account' and what did my total come to.... $118.00!!! phew! I was starting to get a bit nervous and thought I was going to have to do a 'Mum!' - I can hardly remember a time going on the big grocery shop with Mum after school that I didn't hear 'Just put that one last - in case we have to put it back'.... and most of the time, Mum would be taking a few things back out after seeing the total! Fun memories!

Here there and everywhere

Had a busy day today, which started earlier than normal with Emily waking at about 4 and not wanting to go back to sleep - she was coming up with all the excuses - toilet, drink, scared, want a cuddle, dropped Minnie, toilet again blah blah blah. Broken sleep really knocks you about when you're not used to it... I was getting so mad!

We spent the morning cutting and sticking and printing and laminating - getting ready for our Primary Leadership Training next week. We then headed off to the shops before Lani had swimming. She was once again trying to convince Emily that she should come swimming too, telling her that she will be able to touch and that she will hold her hand! Quite cute really, but Emily wasn't getting on board - she is still happy to sit on the side with Zak! (Which is lucky because Lani doesn't realise that Em's not allowed to just join in now even if she did want too!)

We picked up Aunty Elle about 5pm and went to visit Grandad - just to make sure he is doing okay on his lonesome! It looked like he was taking full advantage of having the driveway to himself and was parked dead in the middle on a strange angle! The kids were excited to see him and had a little play. We then took off for Leigh and Anges where the kids stayed for a couple of hours while Elle and I went to the Relief Society Birthday Party at Blanches house. It was a great night, we played some fun games and got to know a few things about each other that we would never have otherwise known! I'm so thankful for the friendships we make through Relief Society and that it gives us the opportunity to serve each other.

It sounds like the girls had a fun time with Jenna and Locke but all looked very tired when we picked them up! Thanks heaps for looking after them Carmichael Family! x

Boot Weather

This morning Leilani was excited to be going back to school. I'm glad she really likes it, but I do know sometimes she feels a bit torn in that she wants to be at school but she also wants to be at home with me and Emily. I guess that's what Kinder is about - getting a bit of both worlds!

After Em and I dropped her off we headed into town to get a few things - mainly from Officeworks and Spotlight, but we somehow ended up in the shoe shop that was having a 30% off storewide sale! Somehow... I ended up leaving with these....

I was desperate for a pair of winter shoes and thought if I'm gonna get boots, I may as well get them now and get a full winters wear out of them - and at 30% off!

This evening I did some more sewing while Mick was once again at work studying!

Memories and turning thirty four

Michael turned 34 today! He's getting old huh! Unfortunately I have had a cold over the past few days, which hasn't been too bad, but this morning I felt very ordinary, with a sore throat and headache, so I didn't go to General Video Conference with Mick and the girls. I did however get to watch the Saturday sessions on the internet and finish off Mick's birthday cake. The peaceful home was very soothing actually and it was nice to listen to some of conference with no distractions. I LOVE video conference and always feel uplifted and inspired from it. They are always so relevant - no matter what stage of life you are at. I'm excited to listen to the rest of them. I also love how they take bits of the talks and make them into mormon messages for YouTube now. Elder Holland's talk last conference was so powerful and one of my favourites.

When Mick and the girls got home we had a nice relaxing afternoon eating cake and not doing much else! The weather seems to be turning colder each day, which is a little sad but I do enjoy home days when it's cold outside! It was nice to have everyone home together and Mick out of his study for the day!

Here is the Man of the Day on the Champs Elysees last July. Photo is a little shady but he was so happy this day!!

He was also pretty happy the day we climbed the Col de la Colombiere, maybe even happier! So that's what I attempted to make his cake of!

We have such great memories of that day, and even though it was far from a perfect day (with quite a few things happening not the way we would have planned) it was still one of the best days we have ever had together and we will never forget it.

I also made him a chocolate bike - which was on the cake - but it broke, so it ended up on a plate! He was pretty happy!

Bean Bags

I asked Mum if I could borrow her sewing machine while she was away so she brought it up for me last night. Mick had to work today, so I stayed at home with the girls and made bean bags. I mean every kid needs a bean bag right!? The girls had a great time with them and used them for all sorts of things, including a pillow for their babies. Emily even took hers to bed tonight! I have put some away for a special event coming up in a couple of weeks. Sewing machines are very useful when you have one!

Family Dinner

Today Ange and the kids dropped in for a few minutes so we decided to walk down to North Hobart to look for some US money to give to Mum as an early Mother's Day present.

At 6pm we had everyone over for dinner to say goodbye to Mum as she is flying to 'the States' tomorrow for 5 weeks. Dinner was nice and it was fun to have all the family over in our new house. It's so nice to have a bit of extra space and somewhere for the kids to go and play. Jenna did a great job at making Grandma a card and getting everyone to sign it! The Saints were playing Collingwood at 7.30pm so the TV got turned on and the football was all anyone was interested in. What a game!!! It was intense there for a minute but thankfully the Saints came out on top - it doesn't get much better than beating Collingwood and the Saints hold their spot at the top the ladder!

It was sad to say goodbye to Grandma for 5 weeks, but we know she will have a great time so we are happy for her!