It's on like Donkey Kong!

So I did a mad trip down to Melbourne on Friday to look at houses for our move. I flew back home on Saturday night and I was absolutely knackered!!!  I saw so many houses I've lost count.  But we've got an application in for a place that would be perfect for us - so fingers crossed!!

Going back down to Melbourne only reaffirmed why we think it's a great idea....

1.  It just looks so much nicer than Sydney

2.  The roads "work" there and actually look like they've been laid out with some foresight in mind.

3.  Most main roads are 80kph - as they should be in Sydney, but are not.

4.  The people are lovely and very welcoming (except for one property manager I met who was "one of those" who are totally full of their own self-importance - I haven't applied for that property out of principle).

5.  The airport is easier to figure out than Sydney's airport.

6.  The houses are just so much cheaper!!

7.  What can I say? I just love it down there.

I can't wait until we're there. We're starting countdown mode with ONE MONTH exactly until our move.

Bring it on!!!

Zits, Babies and Stuff

Pure laziness personified :D

Fuck I hate these freeze frames.

Blogs I'm loving right now

I'm a massive fan of reading other people's blogs. I just can't get enough of them. I thought I'd share some of my favourites with you in celebration of Nuffnang's Blog Day - which is today :).

Anything, Everything & Inbetween
Lovely Mummy-blog xx

Carly Webber - My Life in Colour
Beautiful photography

Whoa Mumma!
A mummy-blogger who makes me laugh every day xx

My Big Nutshell
Another mum who makes me laugh but is great for the serious convo too

Kate Says Stuff
She says the stuff that I'm always thinking xx

Check them out!!  And make sure you check out the Nuffnang link: Nuffnang celebrates Blog Day August 31st 2011 for some other great blogs being celebrated.

Want to share some blogs you love?  Leave them in my comments so I can check them out too!

A letter to my Dad....

Dear Dad

So it's Fathers Day this Sunday and I thought I'd take this opportunity to pay a bit of a tribute to you. Not that you'll ever see this, but I'd like to get it down on paper, so to speak.

Dad, I'd be lying if I said our relationship wasn't a sometimes rocky one.  We go from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows.  Something to do with the fact that we're so damn similar in personalities - we either get on great, or fight like mad.  It's our stubborn streak that proves our undoing.

I remember you, when I was a kid, as someone to be loved but I was also sometimes scared of you.  But I don't hold any ill-will over that. You were just doing the best you could - like we all do.

We used to have some great times together. Like when I would help you work on our cars handing you spanners and sockets when you needed them. You taught me so much about cars and how they work, stuff that I still know today and has proved invaluable.  You also passed on your love of Holdens to me and I love that we can sit together and watch Bathurst together every year and bag Fords out to our heart's content (much to The Husband's dismay who sadly, is a Ford fan).

I used to love going to work with you during my school holidays. You were a delivery driver and would start your days at 4am delivering crumpets to supermarkets. We'd sit in the van together and sing along to the radio.  Then we'd stop at a park for morning tea where you'd crack open your thermos to have a cuppa and I'd eat the lollypop you'd just bought me as a treat.  Those were really good times.

I remember how you used to pick me up from primary school in a royal blue tracksuit with the white stripes on the side - the jacket and the pants - and I used to think you were so daggy. I used to wish you wouldn't come to the gate to collect me because I felt embarrassed. Especially if you were still wearing your slippers too.

Dad, you've always been a really good speaker and people often asked you to do speeches at weddings and different functions.  You were always really nervous and you'd have a few drinks (or more) to settle your nerves, but you always came good and did an awesome job (even if you were wearing a bad tie).

One thing I've always loved about you Dad, is how you always make two cups of coffee for yourself at the one time so you don't have to get up to make another one when the first one runs out. And yes, it's cold, but you drink it anyway.  Maybe that's where I got my laziness from.  But you're one heck of an ideas man Dad.

We had a doozy of a fight once, in the car, when you picked me up one day in my final year of high school. I'd had my shirt signed by all my friends and you hit the roof. Even though I was never going to wear the shirt again you went on and on about how it was defacing something that wasn't mine....I still don't get your point Dad, but I remember how bad the fight was. That wasn't a good day - and something I think neither of us are that proud of.

I also remember how you dyed your hair and MOUSTACHE brown to go to my school formal because you wanted to hide the grey hairs.  OMG, you looked hilarious. I have a photo of it somewhere, but be darned if I could find it.  I wish I could - you would laugh so much at how silly you looked.  But I love how you did that for me - you wanted to look good for me in front of my friends.

I remember how tickled pink you were when I met The Husband and how you thought he was completely normal and a great guy and you both liked the same things and all that.  I think you would have married him if you could.  Now, he wasn't as normal as you might have thought (but he is totally great) but you both got on famously - and still do.  It's true what they say, that girls pick guys just like their dads.  Well, it's true for me anyway.

I don't think I've ever seen you look as proud as you did the day The Husband and I got married. And you looked so dapper in your suit.

In 2002 when you had your stroke, my God, that was one of the scariest times of my life. And when you had surgery to clear a blockage in your carotid artery and I saw you afterwards in ICU with tubes coming out of you everywhere....I cried and cried. I so didn't want to lose you. And I didn't. You came good and were home soon after.  You still show everyone the scar on your neck - like it's something to be proud of. In a way it is. It's because of that stroke and subsequent surgery that you quit smoking. Something I thought you'd never do. I'm so proud of you for doing that - and doing it so easily.

I thought I was going to lose you again when you were diagnosed with kidney cancer a few years later.  But you had more surgery to remove most of the dodgy kidney and this year you were given the all clear.  My relief was huge.

But your true shining moments have been when you're with my kids. Your grandchildren.  When Master 8 was born, you couldn't get the smile off your face. And you've been an amazing Grandad to them all.  You used to look after Master 8 every day when I went back to work - not many Grandads would be happy to do that on their own every day, but you did. And you rocked it.

The kids love and adore you and you know what?  So do I - to have you be such an awesome Grandad to them means the world to me.

I love you, Dad xxx

Cherish Your Cherubs - "Remember"

Today for the first time, I'm linking up with Naomi from Seven Cherubs for her Cherish Your Cherubs Project.  This week's theme is "Remember".

Master 8:  My first baby and what a learning curve he was (and still is)!  He is our little pioneer, the trailblazer, setting the way for his brothers and sisters.  The Husband and I sometimes refer to him as our practice child LOL.

I remember the big cone-head he had when he was born. I thought he was going to be a freak, but it settled after a week or so.  I remember that as a very new newborn he had a night where he cried and cried and cried. And I couldn't handle it.  The Husband had to call my Mum around to save the day and of course he was an angel for her.

I remember how much he adored his Grandad (my Dad) and they would play together all day as Dad looked after him while I went back to work. He was always such an inquisitive little fella.

I remember how he embraced going to daycare at 18 months old with gusto....he adored being there and always had such a fun time.

Master 8's graduation photo from daycare in 2007

I remember how excited he was about starting big school and how he couldn't wait to make some new friends.  I was a blubbering mess, of course. But he looked so cute in his uniform, I couldn't stop taking pictures, and he didn't like that so much LOL.

I remember the time he snuck off with my camera early one morning while I was still in bed and took some photos of himself. I laughed so much when I saw them later....he's a sneaky devil.

And I especially remember how thrilled he was to be playing football. He loves it sooo much. Even though all his friends play rugby league, he only wanted to play AFL - "cause they kick the ball heaps, Mum and I love kicking a footy". So AFL it was.  And I was so super proud when he got a Coaches Award last year and even more so when he kicked his first ever goal in the last game of the season.  This year has been ever better and it's been an absolute pleasure to see him improve and enjoy every minute of it.

But what I remember most is how he is a fantastic big brother. Always happy to play with them and help take care of them.  So very kind-hearted and such a beautiful soul.


Miss 3:  I remember how she interrupted my most favourite day of the whole year - the Bathurst 1000 - by gracing us with her presence (she was a week early).  Now, Ford won that day which was awful, but her arrival made the day sooo much better.

I remember how she was a very easy going baby.  Happy to go along with the flow, very placid and easily pleased.  Oh my, how things have changed LOL.

I remember how she was growing into the most beautiful little girl with hair the same colour as mine.  And then, for some strange reason, she started to pull it out.  All of it.  I was so scared and broken-hearted because we couldn't stop it.  It got to the stage where she really had not much hair left at all.

Pretty bad, but the worst was still to come.

I remember how she finally outgrew that habit and her beautiful hair started to grow back. I was so happy!  At the same time, she really started to develop a real Little Miss personality.  She knows how to try our patience but she makes my heart melt too with her kindness and love.

I remember how much you loved going to Grandma and Grandad's each week for a visit, especially when the Easter Bunny had been and left eggs for you to find in their garden.

I remember how excited she was when I was pregnant with Miss 5mths. She would always talk about the baby in my tummy and how there was a baby in her tummy too. And then, when Miss 5mths arrived, she was so excited to have a baby sister!

She always helps out with looking after Miss 5mths - she has an amazing mother-instinct in her already. She's going to be a great mummy some day.


Master 22mths:  I remember that he arrived in a real hurry and made his presence known as soon as he was born.  But he was an awesome newborn and started sleeping through quite quickly.  He has always been, and still is, a Mummy's Boy. He just loves being with me, which is great, because I just love being with him too.

I remember that he was always such a happy little guy, always laughing, usually at his big brother, Master 8.  But he could find fun and laughter in anything and everything.

I remember that he would love to sit outside and watch everyone play. You'd think with all the action going on he would join in...but he was my slowest walker so far. But that was ok, he was content just to sit and observe.

I remember how much he loved his first taste of cake on his First Birthday.  He loved smooshing it up and getting the blue icing all over himself. So much so that he had to have a bath before he could open his presents.

I remember how when his little sister arrived he wasn't too sure what was going on and was always pointing at her and asking "wassat? wassat?"  But over time he's grown to adore her and loves laying next to her on her playmat and playing with her.  I hope they get to be great friends as they grow up together.

Miss 5mths:  Obviously she hasn't been with us for long but she is a great baby.  She made me wait until the day before my due date to arrive (my longest baked baby) but she ended up being my smallest baby ever at 2900g.

I remember that she slotted into our family perfectly. We all adored her and it was pretty clear that she adored us too.

I remember that when she found her voice, she never stopped using it and would tell us big stories all the time.  She's a typical girl :).

I remember that she loves to play with her toys and to grace us with her beautiful smiles.

Accidental Pube Exposure

My mum got a digital camera nearly two years ago.  It took her all this time to FINALLY download all those photos off the camera and on to her computer. All four hundred and something of them.  Since the majority of them are of my kids I asked for a copy of them.

So I put them all on my flash drive yesterday and went through them all last night.

Included amongst all the cute kiddy pics are some shots of my last bubby's birth in March this year.  I'm ever so grateful that Mum took those photos because at the time, the last thing I'm thinking of, or The Husband is thinking of, is getting the camera out.  I love them :).

There's a great shot of my little Miss having her umbilical cord cut by The Husband. It made my heart leap when I saw it.....until I looked at the bottom left-hand corner.

PUBES!!!!!

My pubes are showing!!! WAHHHHH!!!!

Here I was, thinking, I've got to share this photo with everyone and now I can't because of the accidental pube exposure.

So I was thinking I could alter the picture?

Something like this?

Or maybe with a warning label?

Or should it be simple and understated?

Have you ever had to hold back on any of your birth photos because of a similar problem?

My first ever vlog

Here it is...my first ever vlog! And no, there's no vagina logs as was suggested to me this morning on facebook - Boobs, you crack me up!

Wow, I never really noticed how annoying my voice is LOL. Sorry my first vlog was so uninteresting....I'm sure the next one will be so much better :).

** Insert giggly girly laugh here **

Ok, so I'm only new to the blogging scene but I've been reading blogs for ages and one of my absolute favourites would have to be Woogsworld.  I read it, without fail, every single day.

Mrs Woog is an absolute crack up.  The tales and adventures that she shares make me wet my pants with laughter (maybe I should send her my dry cleaning bill).

I idolise her....in fact, I'd even go so far as to say, I have a bit of a V-crush on her.

So you can imagine how much I almost creamed my pants when I logged in the other day and saw that not only had she read my blog, but she COMMENTED on one of my posts.

OMFG!!!

She noticed little ol' me!!

So Mrs Woog, thank you soooo much for making me feel noticed. You're a celebrity in my eyes and you have totally made my day, no - my week....ah fuck it, you have made my life.

In the words of emo teenagers everywhere:

I HEART YOU


Ok, sickening dribble over. Make sure you check out her blog - it will be so worth it :).