Hello Again!

Wow time has got away from me and I haven't felt like being too sociable. Thank you to all for their sympathy messages for Hanny cat. She hasn't come home but strangely enough we still think she's going to come bounding in the door so she must be around us in spirit I think.

School started again for Nicholas this week. He began Year 1 and could hardly wait for the first day. He's had a great week and went to sleep without any protest tonight! Penny tells me that she is "sooo ready to start school". She sounded very funny coming out with this and must have heard me saying it to someone else. She still has 2 years to wait.

Last weekend for the Australia Day weekend we went camping with 3 other couples and their kids out at Boondooma Dam (click the word to link to the site). Despite the 4inches of rain that they had received on the 2 preceding nights and the 1 inch we received on Saturday night in less than an hour, it was an enjoyable weekend. I was very thankful that Craig had insisted on packing the upright fan as it was awfully humid. We spent much of the time sitting in the dam cooling off. It was great for the kids to be out in the bush and experience nature at its best. The storm was a great experience as there was no running to hide. They found it very exciting.

Here are 2 LO's that I finished a week ago. Have also finished another LO this week but have sent it into the shop to be hung for this month's challenge, so will post it on its return. I'm very excited as I went in to pay for my ticket to the Jill Geraghty Grove day at the local scrapping shop in later February. She is a scrapping guru and so I'm looking forward to learning some new techniques during the 12 hour scrapping marathon.

Goodbye Affectionate Hanny

Earlier in the week our 12yr 2wk old Tonkinese cat, Hannah went missing. We haven't heard or seen her since. We have searched the neighbourhood with the help of our next door neighbours to no avail. Unfortunately Hanny had become very slow and thin over the last month and wasn't as sprightly as usual. Although she was a tiny cat, she was incredibly athletic not to mention very affectionate. We think Hanny has gone to heaven where she can sit on as many laps as she wants and everyone has plenty of time to cuddle her. She is also climbing trees and catching birds and of course letting them go without injury!!! The children, as Craig and I are devastated at losing our first pet. Penny particularly had formed a very strong bond with Hanny over the past year. Hanny was often being covered with dolls' blankets or most recently being given injections from Penny's new doctor's kit.

She will be very sadly missed but never forgotten. Rest in peace our dear little Hanny.

Trucking

Yesterday morning we visited one of the truck depots that Craig oversees for Nick to have a look over a BIG TRUCK! Penny and I waited in the car whilst they had a good look. She told me that she wanted to be a truck driver as she was in awe of their sheer size but as I informed her she had to actually get into the truck to drive it which was a much too scary option. Nick just loved it. He had the window down with the wind blowing through his hair and loved being up high. Nick pulled on the very loud horn (the highlight) which almost sent Penny through the roof of the car! With a HUGE amount of coaxing we managed to get Penny up into the cab to have a look at the controls and the bed but I think she was most relieved to climb out again.

Yesterday was quite a dreary day and much cooler thank goodness. We have been enjoying regular bouts of rain throughout the last week which has made the garden spring back with its healthy green glow. Today it is bright and cheery again though.

This afternoon, I attended the first club scrap under a different name and it was lovely to catch up with everyone. I took a pack that I had ordered and received before Christmas. I have almost finished it and will post it in the next few days. My NY resolution is coming along well - 3 x LO's almost completed this week. Things will slow down a bit in the coming week though as I'm going back to work.

Have a good week.

Rach xx

Spreading The Love

Thank you Kylie for the spread the love award that you left for me on your site. It also is my first award.

So I am sending it on to:

Cassie

Petrina

Karen

Sandra

Donna

Not much happening here today. I'm trying to get Nick off his trainer wheels on his bike - a long overdue job. He went quite well this morning but gets quite frustrated as he doesn't like climbing that steep learning curve. We'll have another go this afternoon. Spring cleaning is sort of happening in the scrapping room today but I am so easily side-tracked in this room!

Scrapping Again!

At the beginning of December, I put all of my scrapping gear away as I had too much to do for Christmas. This week, I pulled out some papers and a photo that I had slotted together for a LO and hey presto it went together very quickly. The photo is of Penny at almost 6 months. I hope to complete about 50 LO's this year - we'll see.

This week has been quite cruisey after our busy Christmas. We have enjoyed catching up with my scrapping friend Petrina and her children, Angus and Thea and trying out her new coffee machine which brews delicious coffee. We also visited the library on Monday morning with the crowds as it had been shut for 12 days. The kids really enjoyed selecting books and DVD's as we haven't done this for over a month. Tuesday was the return to swimming after a 2 week break. Neither of the children wanted to go but both loved it once they were in and I think the time spent in the pool at the beach apartments was quite valuable in improving their confidence. They enjoyed a play in the water park after swimming - the highlight of course! Penny returned to daycare on Wednesday and has gone up into a new room with most of her friends so she was quite at home and happy see everyone after the break. Nick and I managed to purchase his books and stationary for next year which was a long process. I think I'll just let the stationers pick and pack it for me next year. Nick was quite patient and so was rewarded with lunch at McDonald's.

My fitness regime has begun for the New Year with avengence! I have been to the gym on 2 mornings at 5.30am to do my program and on the other 2 days I have taken the kids on a bike ride and today Nick rode down to daycare whilst I pushed the stroller and we collected Penny and pushed her home much to her delight. Nick had a bit of trouble on the return up the hill but enjoyed riding through muddy puddles at the end which required bike, leg and shoe washing on reaching home. We've also put the table tennis up in the garage and Craig and I are enjoying playing. Unfortunately the children are still a little too short but still have a try. Craig had Penny standing on the table playing last night. She appeared to have more of a cricket action though.

Zoe is mending well and her surgery looks great. Unfortunately her pathology results were not very favourable as we feared (soft tissue sarcoma) so we are just enjoying her whilst we still have her with us.

Well must be off to bed as I'm also spring cleaning at present. I gave Penny's room a make over today and when she came home she was overjoyed. I can never get enough of a small child's reaction to something exciting.

Happy Birthday Zoe!

Our dear darling Labrador, Zoe who is a regular feature in my blog at present, turned 10 years old today. She was born on a property about 30km from us. She had 9 brothers and sisters and just days before another of the Labradors had given birth to 10 puppies. So really it was like having 19 brothers and sisters. I think that there were 16 males but only 4 females. The breeder certainly had her hands full. We had waited for Zoe for about 6 months and were lucky to get her as females were so highly sort after at this time. We went out and chose her when she was only a few weeks old, much like a little golden rat. We went back to visit when she was about 6weeks old to make sure we were happy with our choice and when she was 8 weeks old we brought our little puppy home. She howled for her Mummy and brothers and sisters all of the first night but soon fitted into our family of Craig and I and 2 cats. We still have all of our original babies. The cats, Holly and Hannah are 12.5yo and 12yo respectively and despite having slowed down are still with us. The rudest shock for the animals was the introduction of our first born human child, Nicholas almost 6 years ago which saw the end of their inside life as they knew it. The animals would all get on the bed with us in the mornings and one of them could always be seen on our laps when we were sitting. We were a little worried that our overly affectionate Tonkinese cat, Hannah would smother the baby. Over time since the children have grown, the animals have slowly crept back inside, especially Hannah. Hannah is great friends with our 3yo daughter, Penny who often plays babies with her and wraps her in blankets. She also loves it when my parents come to stay as they love cats and spoil her rotten by letting her sleep on their bed.

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZOE and hopefully there will be many more birthdays to come

Out With The Old ...

and in with the new. A new year and a new look blog. I just love these bees - so cheery and bright. Maybe this could be my new year's resolution across the board! Hmmm.

Bye Granny and Gramps

My Mum and Dad left early this morning bound for Brisbane where they will stay with my brother and family for 4 days before driving home to Adelaide. They had a good rest and the kids had some great quality time with their grandparents.

In other news, Zoe's paw is healing well although she has to keep a bag over the bandage when she ventures outside due to the recent beautifully cooling rains. We visited the vet yesterday to have it redressed and then back on Monday for the dressing to come off. She will then have to wear a sock on her foot for a while which will look pretty funny.
I still have another week of holidays, so the kids and I have many projects planned, weather permitting. They are having a great time playing in Penny's new cubby house. Yesterday it was a vet surgery, a children's hospital and this afternoon I think they have a restaurant planned as I have been instructed to move Penny's kitchen set out to the house! I love imaginative play, it's so much better than sitting in front of the TV.
I have some more photos from our holidays, so that everyone can feel famous.My brother, Richard.

My sister-in-law, Trudie.

My sister, Robyn.

What a great Christmas holiday we had and I'd like to thank all of my family for making the special effort to come to Bundaberg. Thank you for the memories!