It's Been A While

WOW I didn't realise how long it had been since I'd done a post on this blog! I am however, still blogging and most of the time you'll find me on my book blog Alaine - Queen of Happy Endings.

Lots has been happening in the last few months. I finished the Preparing for Success course at Southern Cross University, even managed to get a high distinction for one of my assignments which was just amazing and I still can't believe it. So in February I'll be starting a Bachelor of Social Science, 201o will be a very busy year!

I've been having some gynaecological issues for a while now. Five years ago I had a Mirena put it because of constant heavy bleeding, unfortunately it didn't work all that well and when I saw the gynaecologist the other day he gave me the choice of a Endometrial Ablation or Hysterectomy. Great choice, however, I'm kind of attached to my uterus, and whilst it's true that I no longer need it for child bearing, I want removing it to be the last option. This is the third time I've been told that I need a Hysterectomy, the first time I was only 23 and wouldn't have my beautiful boys if I hadn't insisted on trying other options. So I'm having the Endometrial Ablation on December 6th.

I went to another scrapbook camp a few weeks ago with my daughter Annie so I'll post pictures soon. Sheree and I are going to the last one for the year in November and we are both really looking forward to it. It's always nice to spend a weekend together, away from all our normal responsibilities where we can just laugh and have a great time. It's our 'us' time that we both really love. Next year we are booked in to 4 camps which will be great!

Our pregnant daughter and her husband have moved back in with us so that they can save money to buy a house next year and whilst this puts a lot of extra pressure on me with meals and washing etc the good part is that they'll be here when the baby is born. We are all very excited about this phase in our lives and the edition of the next generation, there is just something so special about it that I can't even put into words. I just feel very blessed.

Well that's about it for now, will update again soon.

Wonderful News

Today I took my married daughter, Kylie to the Doctors to get a pregnancy test done and it was positive. I cried and we were hugging and laughing, it was such a wonderful feeling. Kylie and Troy got married last year in September and have been trying to get pregnant since. They wanted to have a family straight away, in my ideal world, I thought it would be better if they waited for a few years, but it's all they both wanted. Troy told me when they left for their honeymoon that he wanted to get Ky pregnant then. So they've been through the ups and downs, but after 8 1/2 months they finally got the happy news.

We don't know how far along she is or anything like that yet as she's not sure of her dates and her last period was very light so she may have already been pregnant then. Doctor said he will send her for a scan next week to check her dates etc.

I am so excited! This will be my first grandchild and the first great grandchild on my side. I just love children and babies, which is probably why I had four LOL. Hoping to have lots of grandchildren! My youngest son will be an Uncle at 11, so he thinks that's pretty cool. We were sitting around talking about it at dinner last night because I told them I was taking Kylie for the test. So I just wanted to share my wonderful exciting news! Can't wait to start baby shopping! This baby will be so spoiled!!!!

I had a happy Mother's Day

My day started at 7am when Kristianne, Rory, Kenzie and Ian came in with a cup of tea and lots of presents. Kenzie made me a card at school and told me that his teacher made them do their best handwriting LOL. Then he wanted to know after I'd read all the cards if his was the best! He is the family clown that boy.

Presents: A Homemedics neck massager (it's fantastic and already my neck is feeling better), beautiful flowers, Play Station Sing Star Game - Queen, a charger for my IPod, Dark Needs at Night's Edge by Kresley Cole, Fever by Christine Feehan, Dark Challenge by Christine Feehan, a $50 gift certificate for QBD (book shop), a beautiful big jumper, The Stepford Wives on DVD, a singlet top, Twilight key rings, 3 pairs bonds bed socks, 2 boomerang pillows, 3 scrapbook magazines, a canister set for tea and sugar, a box of scorched almonds and a voucher to get a pedicure. I know I've forgotten something but can't remember what it is. I am so very lucky because I was very spoiled.

Then we went to Kylie and Troy's for a beautiful and delicious breakfast. Kylie also made cup cakes for us to bring home and a strawberry cheesecake (didn't get a photo cause we started eating it before I got the chance LOL). Kylie had to go to work today so breakfast was the only time we could see them. She went to so much trouble to make everything look lovely and special (see photos above). We came home after breakfast and had a sleep and then we watched Stepford Wives. Then late this afternoon Kristianne helped me re-organise my bookcase, to make more room. Now I'm sitting here after the boys have gone to bed while Kristianne and I watch The Other Boleyn Girl on Foxtel. What a perfect way to end a perfect day!

I am a very lucky woman to have such wonderful children and a thoughtful and loving husband. Kristianne wrote a beautiful post on her blog that made me cry and today everyone did their best to make me feel special and it reminded me how lucky I am. Although I didn't see my Mum today she is coming up to stay with us for a few days this week.

To all the Mum's out there I hope you had a lovely day with your family and that you felt as special as I did.

Empathy

Meaning: Empathy is the capability to share and understand another's emotion and feelings. It is often characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes," or in some way experience what the other person is feeling.

What this doesn't tell you is that if you are a person who feels empathy, it hurts, a lot. This week something happened in my family, well my brother's actually, and he, his partner and their children are going through a lot. This is not my story to tell so I can't got into details but it is causing a lot of pain and suffering throughout the whole family. It is a terrible thing to be so worried about people you love.

So consequently I haven't felt very inspired to create anything at all. In fact, I haven't even been near my scrapping stuff. I know that I should and it might help take my mind off things but while you come to terms with difficulties in your life you don't exactly feel inspired.

My 10 year old son, Kenzie got sick earlier in the week and now he can't stop coughing. So we are off to the Doctors this morning. I knew he needed to go last night when he got all snuggly and didn't want to play Xbox. So this weekend, I will be sitting around with him, having lots of cuddles and looking him after him and watching movies or TV. We were going to go to the movies and see Race to Witch Mountain but we'll have to do that next weekend as he is too sick to go out in public. Oh, I do have a mountain of washing, and I mean a mountain, well maybe not as much as in the previous post but I do have a few loads.

Aren't They Beautiful Birds?

They truly are beautiful birds but NOT at 6am. I wake up every morning to the loud screeching noise of these birds in a tree outside my window. First I start dreaming about shooting them with a slug gun and then I dream of cutting the tree down that is on the public footpath, then I realise I can't do that so I dream of poisoning this tree. Then I wake up and I feel cranky even though I usually wake up around this time anyway. Lets face it, it's not pleasant being woken up by an unpleasant noise!

Well had a nice weekend taking part in a 24 hour Read-a-thon, and even though I only had 4 hours sleep afterwards and then 6 hours sleep last night I'm really not that tired.

Today I have another very busy day. It's my daughter Kylie's 21st birthday and her and her husband Troy are coming over for dinner. She wants BBQ Meatloaf, Creamy potatoes, Caramel Dumplings for desert and a Chocolate Cake with strawberries and cream. A couple of hours cooking there! We've already given Ky her presents cause we didn't know if she had the night off work but she does so it worked out well. Happy birthday Ky!

For other reasons that I can't get into, today will be one of those really tough days that you don't know if you'll get through. Some stuff happening in my family (not my immediate family) How I'm going to cope with it is unknown to me. I just have to keep busy I guess even though I'd rather hide in my room with my head under the covers.

This week I've also got to go to the hospital to visit my niece who gave birth to a 2lb baby girl on the weekend. Her family live 6 hours from Brisbane and can't get down to Brisbane until the weekend so Annie and I will go and visit her this week and see the baby. The baby was 10 weeks premature and my niece is only young (18) so I'm sure she is feeling scared. The doctors haven't been able to give them a prognosis for the baby yet but she is holding her own at the moment.

Well that's my day, I really better get up and have a shower and make this cake. Hope you all have a good Monday!

So Much To Do Today!

Whilst that pile of washing below is done, it's not folded or ironed. I have a long to do list today. So here it is:

• Fold all that washing
• Do some more washing (never ends)
• Make Kylie's birthday present
• Clean house
• Go to 2nd hand book shop to get a couple of books for this weekends Read-a-thon
• Do the grocery shopping
• Bake some treats for weekend
• Do 2 book reviews
• Repair hole in waterbed!

How much do you think I'll get done? Well, I had better get up and out of bed since it's nearly 9am already and all I've done is read my Google reader this morning. Where to start?

3PM Update: Well I'm doing pretty well, cleaned whole house including floors and bathrooms! Don't know if I'll get the book reviews done though cause I only have Annie's laptop until she gets home from work. Hubby is still working on mine and when he only has an hour or two at night it's slow going. Should be ready by the end of the weekend (fingers crossed). Should have everything else finished by tonight. Will make Kylie present after dinner.

6PM Update: Hey, almost done! Just cooking dinner and then I can go and make Ky's present. Well I should be able to get most of it done anyway tonight. Who knows I might even get the book reviews done as well!

10PM Update: Well I'm going to do the book reviews right now and I started Kylie's present but figured out I only had one of the two colours of paint that I need so I have to go and get some more in the morning. I also realised that it's going to need lots of coats and then varnish at the end. So it will take me the next three days to do it. Not sure why I was thinking I'd just do it today LOL. Anyway, off to do my book reviews.

So Lucky!

We got back yesterday from our '2nd' honeymoon and you know I think I enjoyed this one more! I know that sounds corny, but Ian was so attentive, loving and romantic and he knows me so much better and knows all the things that make me feel special. I didn't open a car door the whole time we were there, we ate the food I wanted, went to the places I wanted to go and did whatever I felt like doing, even if that was sleeping LOL. Every time I asked him what he wanted he would say that this was about spoiling me so I had to choose. He's not a selfish man at the best of times but he really treated me like a princess.

This was the view from our balcony on the 7th floor. It rained most of the time we were there and the beaches were closed so no swimming. We didn't even get to go for a walk on the beach until the last day because the tides were so high there wasn't much beach to walk on.

Sunrise on the morning we left. It was the first morning that we could see the sun and it was beautiful. This past week, since our vow renewal have been the most romantic and loving of my life, I feel so lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful husband and an amazing family.
Our eldest daughter Annie, conducted the ceremony. I asked her because I read online that if you want a more personal ceremony that it is tradition to ask your eldest child. She did such a good job, she cried as much as we did and she shared in the moments like no one else could. You can read her beautiful blog post here. Thank you so much honey, it meant the world to us to have you do this for us and to share in such private moments.
We wanted a very private ceremony so that we could speak openly to each other without feeling inhibited in any way. So we only had our family and closest friends there. It was perfect and we both said afterwards that we wouldn't change a thing.

Now I'm so excited to have such lovely photos (thanks to Sheree) that I'm off to get some printed so that I can start scrapping them this weekend.

Happy Anniversary

Just a few quick photos before we go away to the Gold Coast to stay in the same place that we had our honeymoon in. Today was the most beautiful and romantic ceremony and I am so grateful to be able to share it with the people I love.

To my amazing and wonderful husband, thank you for the most beautiful words a man could ever say to a woman! You are my heart. XOXO

Will have lots more to share when I get back from my 2nd honeymoon at the end of the week.

The Special Two

In another week I will renew my vows to the man I committed my life to 25 years ago. I've spent a lot of time thinking about the things that I want to say to him during the ceremony. The only problem is that everytime I think about the words I get overwhelmed with emotion and start crying. Don't know how I'm going to manage looking into his eyes and saying these things on the actual day.

I have been a lucky woman, this man has been a wonderful husband who loves me more today than he did the day we married and I know this because he tells me. I know that I am without a doubt the most important person in his life and there is nothing he wouldn't do for me, he has treasured me, supported me, he has been there for me through the birth of five babies, the death of our baby daughter and the sudden and unexpected death of my Dad. Every single good thing in my life is because of him and for that I am so grateful. We have four amazing children and a wonderful son-in-law and this family that we created together is what keeps us happy and motivated through the storms of life.

Whilst most people wouldn't know this about him he is a very romantic man albeit in private and after 25 years of being together I know that he would still choose me to spend his life with and I with him. Isn't that amazing, to know that you married the right person and wouldn't change a thing? It makes me feel so lucky. Our love and passion for each other is stronger then ever. We've had our lifetime together, now we will commit to each other for eternity! We always new ours was one of the great loves! Whilst my Dad won't be there this time, I know he'll be watching over us, just as proud he was that day and with the same tear in his eyes. Only this time it won't be because his daughter will be moving on to another important man, it will be because he is so proud that I chose so well the man to spend my life with and be the father of my children. Love you Dad!

Pride & Prejudice

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love watching the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice. In fact, I would watch it on average, once a week. I even have both the English version (released in Australia) and the American version with an extended ending of the movies on DVD. If like me you love this movie than you should read this book.

Sharon Lathan was a fan of the movie like me and when she went looking for sequels to Pride and Prejudice, like me she found nothing to really satisfy her. So began her journey into what I hope will be a very successful writing career, as I'm looking forward to reading further works from this author. There is another book due out this year, one in early 2010 and Sharon is contracted for two more, although I don't know if those two are sequels to Pride and Prejudice. Of course I also recommend, Mr Darcy Presents His Bride by the Australian author Helen Halstead.

This book is one of the most beautiful and romantic love stories I've ever read. It is extremely sensual and yes it has lots of sex, as Mr & Mrs Darcy enjoy the early days of married life. Now I had read a few reviews that said this book had to much sex in it and I must confess that was one of the things that took it from a 'will read' to 'must read asap'. So if you're not one of those people who think that Darcy and Lizzie would have gone on to have a very happy and passionate marriage then this book is not for you. If however, you love their romance and just want more, then you can buy this book here with free postage to Australia.

Now I will also mention that the theme for my wedding to my wonderful husband was 'The Two Shall Be One' and we are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in two weeks with a vow renewal ceremony. We are also going back to the refurbished beach front apartment (7th floor) for a couple of days, I've even managed to get us onto the same floor looking out over the ocean, where we spent the first two weeks of married life. We were telling the kids at dinner the other night how we spent a whole night sleeping out on the balcony watching the stars one night, it was so romantic. Of course, reading this book reminded me of my early days of marriage and I loved it!

So if you're in the mood for romance then give yourself a treat and read this sickly sweet romantic book. It will make you sigh 'ahhh'.

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

Well what started out being a reasonably relaxing week very quickly became stressful. By Thursday night, having 8 people in the house, I was feeling, well, a little bit psycho, although at the time I thought I was fine. It really wasn't until the light of the next day that I realised my poor husband had copped my wrath for no particular reason. In fact, he'd done nothing at all except be in the room when my little outburst erupted.

The next day when I awoke with my guilt firmly in hand I wanted to ring my husband and apologise profusely and hope he wouldn't be mad at me for to long. Instead I rang him and pretended nothing happened and spoke to him as though everything was normal. He happily went along with this. Why? You know when he does something to upset me, I need the sorry. I've spent numerous hours debating this fact with myself over the past few days. Not only do I need to hear the sorry, I had an overwhelming need to say it, being that I was completely in the wrong. After two days I couldn't stand it any longer and said I was sorry. I asked him if he'd wanted me to say it to him and he said, 'no, I was just happy you were being nice to me'. What???

Now I have a friend, and I won't tell you who she is, but she is going through the exact opposite problem with her husband. He had the psycho attack and she copped it, he then proceeded to withdraw from her for a week, then did an about turn and is now being 'very nice', but she still needs the sorry. He won't give it to her (I have the compulsion to go hit him over the head with a lump of wood) I don't understand this, and in case you are wondering, is he just really stupid and doesn't get it, she did tell him twice, that she needed it. So why can't he say it, it seems so simple?

Why do women need the sorry? Is it because we are extremely emotional creatures and it's about comfort and hugs? When that comfort is taken away from us we find it difficult to cope. Why can men just let it go? Are my husband and I like this because we have been married for 25 years and we just hate wasting time fighting with each other? It certainly wasn't like that in the early days of marriage, although we could never fight for long, hours not days. However, as the years have gone on we just hate fighting and having tension between us, so we just let things go (most of the time). This has been a long and difficult lesson for me, learning to let things go, not sweat the small stuff. We are both passionate people so fighting can be and has been very intense at times.

Despite all this, I am still left wondering, why do we need the sorry? Is it not enough for them to demonstrate their love by doing things for us and making it better in their own way? I still need the words, but equally when the tables where turned I needed to give the sorry, despite the fact that it wasn't needed.

Mum's Room

Finally got everything finished in Mum's room. I've taken the time and paid lots of attention to the little details, even with the bed, even though you can't tell from the photos it's actually a high bed so getting in and out of it will be easy for her. There is a Scrapbook page on the wall in a clear acrylic holder (that I'll change each time she visits), photos of Dad on the bedside table, I even went and got a book by an author she likes and put that beside the bed for her. I've put a power adaptor under the bed so she can plug in her laptop and mobile charger.
On the book case I've put family photos, books that she would like, a candle and teddies. Put in after the photos were taken is a clock. So I think I thought of everything that Mum could want to make her stay comfortable. Hopefully, she'll feel better now she's not putting anyone out of their bed and has her own room to stay in, she can come over whenever she feels like it. She has no idea I've done is so it will be a surprise. I've planned all her favourite meals this week as well so maybe I can get some weight on her before she goes home. She has always been a thin person but she has lost so much weight since my Dad died that she is just skin and bones now. My sister cooks all her dinners but if someone doesn't feed her, she doesn't eat and my sister works full time so Mum's by herself a lot.
So another busy week and unfortunately I will probably not do any scrapbooking this week. I have my first physio appointment for my right shoulder. I damaged it last year when I had a fall and it's continued to get worse. Doctor said I have to try physio and if that doesn't work then it's off to see an orthopedic surgeon. But I'm looking forward to going and hopefully getting some relief.
Even though it was a busy weekend, it was nice. Got lots done, spent lots of time with Annie, watched movies, Return to Me, Fool's Gold, The Last of the Mohican's and Twilight! So it was a good weekend.

My Poor Boy

Today my son-in-law had surgery on his nose. He repeatedly broke his nose playing sport as a boy and did so much damage that his breathing was compromised. So the doctors had to fix it. They told Kylie (his wife/my daughter) that the surgery would take about half an hour and then half an hour in recovery. So instead of coming home to wait she decided to stay at the hospital. Six hours later and a very distressed daughter, I arrived at the hospital and demanded to know what was going on. The surgery was much more complicated than expected and it took three hours, and then he had a lot of difficulty breathing after the anesthetic and was kept in recovery for another three hours until they could stabilise him. It was very stressful for both of them. Kylie is now tucked up in bed after having some painkillers for a migraine she got from all the stress.

I took this photo of him when we got to see him. He had a lot of bleeding and his dressing had to be changed every 15 minutes. We'll be picking him up in the morning after dropping the boys at school. He's so sweet, he even put me down as his next of kin at the hospital, telling them I'm his Mum. I'll have to make him his favourite Vanilla Slices while he's recovering. The doctor told him that he only had 20% of his tastes buds and that he might not like some foods after this because his sense of taste will be so much stronger. But he is very sure he will still love his custard!

After Ky and Troy are settled back at their home tomorrow I will be moving my scraproom to another room in the house. It's going to be a huge job, but I need to have a room for my Mum when she comes to visit so that she doesn't have to feel guilty for kicking one of the kids out of their room and bed. I'm a little bit excited but also dreading all the hard work.

New Toy

I've been wanting one of these steamers for months and I finally got one today. They are the steamers they use in clothing stores and I'd saw one used and thought it would be great. I did a basket of ironing in half an hour. So on the plus side it's really fast, on a down side I have bad burns on two fingers and typing is painful LOL.

Today I did all the housework, washing and ironing. I even managed to get all the bed linen dry before the rain started this morning. I love it when I'm organised for the start of the week, it always seems to make the rest of the week flow more smoothly. If this rain keeps up tomorrow I might have a relaxing day reading and scrapping.

We Found the Spot

Just by this beautiful gum tree is the spot we both thought was the perfect place to renew our wedding vows in five weeks. We had two places in mind, one in the country and one at the beach. We decided to go with the one in the country, it's a place called Christmas Creek and it's about 1 1/2 hours drive from our home. It really is beautiful and just the perfect spot. It's been a few years since we've been out there and you can camp out there now, so we hope to plan a weekend camping trip with our friends for sometime later in the year. Now if I can just find something to wear as easily.

Thank God it's Friday

Well I have no idea where the week went, but I'm glad it's the weekend all the same. I can honestly say that I did very little, usually when I get back from scrapbook camp all I want to do is keep scrapping. Sadly not this time! In fact, when my BF mentioned scrapping next week I panicked and went and unpacked, which she thought was very funny. Apart from that, I've read a couple of books and kept the house tidy, without doing any actual cleaning (impressive if you ask me). I should mention that it was spotless when I went away so it isn't as though it needed anything major anyway.
This weekend my husband and I are going out to look for a place to have our 25th wedding anniversary vow renewal. When we got married I wanted a garden wedding, but things worked out differently. It's going to be a very casual jeans and t-shirt kind of affair with just a couple of family members and my BF and her family.

So back to scrapbooking or the lack of it! I spent a little time in my scrapbook room this afternoon and did some 'moving around'. I had to take pages out of the current work album and put them into the albums they belong in. What I discovered was not pleasant, in fact, it was kind of depressing! I have scrapped more photos of my dog than my children as babies! In the last couple of years I have done no back scrapping at all, I haven't really even kept up with the year. I need a plan!
The only thing I've come up with so far is to scrap a page reflecting each month's events and then the rest of my scrapping time could be devoted to back scrapping. This way I could also work on the kids individual albums. The pages I do for the boys generally include them both so they go in my album. I've done nothing for their individual albums for quite a while. Their school albums jump from 2005 to 2008, and the girls, well, did they go to school? So there is a lot to do including finishing Kylie and Troy's wedding album for them. So the goal for this weekend is to start scrapping again. I haven't scrapped at home since November so I need to get started.
Hope you all have a great weekend!

My Creative Escape

It was so nice to go to scrapbook camp. Sheree and I haven't been since May last year and we've really missed seeing everyone. There is something special about Scrapbook Camp at Daisy Chain, this is our fourth year of going but although we only catch up with these ladies twice a year it is just like going home. One of the things I love is the depth of conversation held over the course of three days, it seems to me that people there share a part of their souls with each other. Maybe it's because we are all Mum's with families we are devoted to and looking at pictures of people you love whilst scrapping all weekend, makes you feel emotional and so you talk more openly. Maybe it's just the cosy atmosphere and the fun and laughter that makes you feel so comfortable. Whatever it is, it is special. Catching up with Jenny, Gina and Sue and getting to know Lisa was a special highlight of this camp. Of course, chatting about favourite books and sharing Audio Books was also great! Sheree and I got to talk about our two favourite subjects, books and scrapbooking! Sitting and talking to Barbie in the early hours of Sunday morning (another camp tradition) started to get me excited about Ian and I renewing our vows on our 25th Wedding anniversary this year (it also helps that Ian picked up my ring on the weekend while I was away and is now teasing me with it).

Camps at Daisy Chain have become so popular that we had to book in to camps right up until February next year! We have put our name on the waiting list for May and are booked in for October and November. So if we are lucky we will fit in more than two camps this year.

Back to blogging! I know I haven't blogged much since December last year and that's because over the summer life always gets busy and I don't have time for scrapbooking and other things! But, I'm now back into the swing of things and my plan is to unpack and tidy my scraproom this week and then I can get back to it! Have plenty of audio books to listen to while I scrap and the housework is all up to date so no excuses!

Only did four layouts at camp and a canvas so I'll photograph them tomorrow!

Thinking of You

Tonight at midnight it will be 18 months since my Dad died. So hard to believe because so much has happened and so many events have gone on without him. I still miss him terribly but have come to accept that I always will. It is just the way it is when you lose someone.

Of course, watching the news and what is happening in Victoria with the bush fires and the awful pain that people are suffering it's hard to know how to cope with so much pain in such difficult times. All you can do is remind the people you love how very much you love them and give them all an extra hug. It's the people we love that mean so much to us at times like this. We just never know what life will bring.
Now for some happy news! I have a brand new niece, Amy Pearle. Welcome to the world precious one!
To all my 'special' people, who all know who they are, I love you with all my heart and am thankful everyday to have you in my life. xoxoxo

Back to School

Happy when they left and happy when they returned! I spent the whole day worrying and of course, just like every other year they are fine.

After school we went to the Orthodontist and had his spacers put on and then he has his braces on next Tuesday. So it was a big day, but all is good! Now tomorrow I can relax and enjoy myself without having to worry!

What Have I Been Up To?

For the last couple of months and in particular the past two weeks I've been madly working on a new Book Review Website that I'm contributing to with two other crazy women. This would explain why I haven't done much scrapbooking since November. That will all change when school resumes in two weeks as the itch is getting stronger!

However, in the meantime if you're looking for a new author or just trying to find a good book to read, go and check out Royal Reviews there are dozens of book reviews so you are sure to find something you like.

We've got an air conditioning unit being installed in the only bedroom that didn't have one tomorrow and I'm spending the day with the boys and my Dad. He goes back to Thursday Island on Thursday so tomorrow will be the last time I see him in a while. Getting to know him has been such an unexpected surprise. I find him so easy to talk to and I feel very comfortable around him which is not what I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, it has been very awkward at times but the more time I've spent with him the easier it has become. Last Monday he spent a few hours with me and we were alone for the first time (well except for the boys) and it was really nice and effortless. So I'm looking forward to tomorrow, going to make him my famous Vanilla Slices! I am sad that he is leaving so soon after meeting him but I find it very easy to talk to him on the phone so we'll keep in touch.

Rory has to have another two teeth out on Tuesday, he had three out on Friday. Four of the teeth are adult teeth and one baby tooth all ready for his braces to go on. He has the spacers put on the first day of school in two weeks and then the second week of school the braces go on. He is very excited and so are we. His teeth are dreadful so I can't wait to see him with a gorgeous smile and straight teeth, if the girl's braces are anything to go by his smile will be dramatically improved within the first month.

My youngest son Mackenzie turned 10 on the 4th of January and we had friends and family over to celebrate. I can't believe my baby is 10, time just goes by so fast, reminds me why scrapbooking is so important, to keep those memories fresh.

The last but not least bit of news, is that Kylie and Troy are finally looking for a house to move to. They put in around six applications yesterday so my fingers are crossed that they get one of them. It's not that we don't want them around, it's more that the boys desperately need their own rooms now, especially with Rory starting High School in two weeks. I am also looking forward to cooking for five, two extra people make a huge difference, especially if one of those people is Troy, he has a mountainous appetite.

Well that' all my news for now, I have to go and wash dishes because the dishwasher has broken down again. Tomorrow I have ring up to get a repairman out, can't handle washing mountains of dishes for very long.