Winter is a-coming...

Because today we cleaned out the flue on the roof, got all of the old coals out of the wood heater and polished the door so we can see the warm orange flames.

Not to mention trekking outside in the cold and wet to bring in the wood that spiders call home, constantly dusting the mantlepiece and hoping each night that the fire stays alight for the morning!!

Happy birthday Em and Kyle

Last night we went to the Wheeler's to celebrate Emily's 12th and Kyle's 24th birthdays. Jess and Kyle announced their engagement last week and that they are getting married on June 6 so now poor Kyle is stuck with us. Mum had gone out and impressed him with a pressie from Just Jeans, a really cool shirt. Thankgoodness it wasn't Glasser and Parker. Obviously Kyle is going to be the cool son-in-law.

We had a great night and as usual Noel and Margaret impressed us with a grandeose birthday cake for Em.

Now that I have made my feeble attempt at Robert the Robot birthday cake for Oliver. (You can check out my monster cake here), I could appreciate the work that went into the cake. And it was very yummy.

I asked Jess to take some photos of the party. This is what I got. Figures!

No she did also take some of the birthday girl, cake and guests but....... mostly of Kyle.

At 8.30 we dutifully turned out all the lights for Earth Hour and sat there chatting in the dark. Rohan was our Earth Hour police and made sure all the lights were off and then he disappeared, only to be found watching the footy on tv downstairs.

Later in the night Jayme styled Oliver's hair so he looked like a rockstar and then Oliver spent the rest of the night playing Guitar Hero by himself. It was scary how good he was at it and was nodding his head in time to the beat. He was very serious and concentrating really hard so he could press the buttons at the right spots on the screen. He was also sporting the mandatory Fanta moustache that is a MUST for all kids at b'day parties.




This was how his feet were when he was really getting into the Guitar Hero groove. Imagine if we stood like that for a long time. A ballerina in the making!!

These were two gorgeous photos that Jess took of little Jonty Monty.

All in all it was a good night had by all and we slowly dragged ourselves home around 11pm, ready to face today with grumpy tired kids and and a husband in the middle of an 8 day straight night-shift, so 5 grumpy kids in the house. :)

Delcity's latest arrival

On Friday afternoon I made a quick trip into Launy to meet Emma and Leon's new baby girl. She was born the day before (Thur 26th March) and her name is Holly Elizabeth. She weighs 6lb and is such a little cutie. Congrats guys.

Those Bridport beaches...

Last week while Simon was on holidays we took the kids to Bridport for a few days to spend with Mum. It is lovely staying at Bridport. It always has a relaxed beachy holiday feel and we love the fact that the phone hardly rings, there is no routine and we can have fish and chips for tea after a day playing on the beach.

Here are a few photos Simon took of the kids having a ball on the beach and at the local skate park on their bikes.

At one of the beaches the kids found millions(their words) of crabs. They all tried climbing up on the motorbike just to get away from them.

Sarra got the courage up after awhile to pose with one of those horrible creepy crawley things.


The stuff of nightmares................

'...learn wisdom in thy youth...'

Beauty at Bicheno

On Friday at 12.30, Kit, Mel and I headed off to Bicheno for the night to stay at the Porter's shack. This is our third yr working in RS together and we worked out that we had never hung out, all of us together, outside of our church callings, so a girls night out was called for.

It took about 2.5hrs to get there and it was worth it, to smell the fresh salt air and hear the waves on the beach. The Porter's shack is just over the road and up a little from the beach and you can see and hear the waves from their house.

We sat out on the front veranda and relaxed and closed our eyes in the sun. Jonty was content to sit with us and Tyren had a little explore around the garden. We had worked out to do a meal each before coming and with Kit and Mel fantastic cooks, I knew I was in for a treat.

The view from the front of the Porter's shack

chillin on the veranda

For tea Kit made these yummy chicken pies with french potatoes and salad accompanied by sparkling non-alcoholic wine.


For dessert we had toblerone mousse - oh it was to die for.

We stayed up talking until 12.45am. Bad move for me and Mel with both boys keeping us up during the night. Ty was coming down with the flu and poor Mel was having to battle that, nurse her own cold as well as her morning sickness. The only way she felt better was by eating more - hey fine by me - was happy to keep her company in that respect.

Jonty decided having me in the bed was too much fun and decided that milk on tap was a real treat. He normally sleeps through the night (10-11hrs -spoilt I know) so it was a rude shock.

For breaky Mel made pancakes which we drizzled with maple syrup, juice, fresh fruit, yoghurt and hot cross buns. Poor Kit was not used to all that food and couldn't believe how much we could throw back.

After breaky we went for a walk down to the beach. It was blowing a gale which was a pity but the scenery was still beautiful and it was calming to just sit and watch the waves roll in and crash on the shore.




For lunch I made salad rolls with a choice of 4 different meats and jarslburg cheese, radish and alfalfa sprouts and the usual salad you put in a roll. I have noticed this post is alot about food but you tend to get hungrier by the beach and on holiday - don't you?

We headed back to Delcity around 2.30 and stopped in Campbelltown for a hot choccie. It poured all the way home and it was great to see the east coast finally get some rain. Thankyou Kit for a wonderful relaxing mini-holiday. I hope we didn't wear you out too much!