Sunday - Wednesday

Ben had a wedding on today so I just stayed home with the kids and took them to a park down the road so they could have a ride around the little bike track. We also made some scones.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty crappy at work so I've decided to look for a new job - it's time to move on!

Kenz went to vacation care and they saw Kung Fu Panda at Southbank, Tuesday they could take their bikes along, and Wednesday they went to QUT to watch some theatre show and ALL the kids thought it was boring - McKenzie was not impressed at all!

A quieter Saturday

This morning I had a nice sleep in until 8am (mind you I did get up to Dom at 4.55am and gave him his milk). He then went back to sleep until 7am so Ben had a sleep in too.

Ben had a wedding appointment at 10am for about 45 minutes, so the kids and I were just playing upstairs.

Then after lunch we went down to Wynnum/Manly so the kids could practice riding their bikes. McKenzie is doing really well without her any training wheels and Dom's little legs go a hundred miles and hour!! We went to a little park and had an ice cream - mind you it was quite cool down there. Then we were just watching the kids go back and forth along the waterfront when Cassie, Nathan, their new bubby Olivia and their Rotty called Max walked passed and we chatted to them for a while! Ben also saw a photographer who he knew also.

Came home, bathed the kids and I'm just making a chicken pasta bake at the moment - I bet the kids won't like it!!

Last Day of School

Well it's the last day of school today (for 2 weeks anyway).

I couldn't drag myself to the gym today - I had heaps of housework to do and my toe was still too sore to play squash, but hopefully I'll be able to play next Friday!!

Had to go to the Post Office to pick up some worming and flea stuff for Oscar (I buy it online at Priceless Pets - so much cheaper!!).

Did the housework, lots of washing, and the place is so dusty - must be because of the flanelette sheets etc...

After school I met up with McKenzie's teacher - she said she is doing ok, has improved in her Maths and her writing is improving but she really does need to practice a lot more. She gave us about 22 little reader books to read over the holidays and said to get McKenzie to write a school holiday diary (about what she did each day) so that would help her with her writing and she would tick it and encourage her for doing a job well done once Kenz returned to school.

One concerning thing was that she said she thought McKenzie should go see a Behavioural Optometrist (there's one at Arana Hills) - and I know we've never had McKenzie's eyes checked (her eyes could be fine, but there could be a reason why she finds writing so hard), so i need to look into that now. I think on your first appointment they do a full on eye examination - so I guess that can't hurt.

Kenz also lost another tooth today, so I think that's 8 now!

We took Oscar for a walk this afternoon and McKenzie rode her bike and Dom even rode his trike (it's the first time he's really ridden it anywhere!). They both loved it.

We think we might go for a drive down to Wynnum tomorrow - just for somewhere different. Ben has an appointment in the morning, but we'll go after lunch and go for an ice cream or something like that.

We were meant to catch up with Tania and Paul for dinner tonight but Tania isn't well with her pregnancy or the flu - that's horrible when you can't take any medication either.

Busy Thursday again

Thursdays always seem to be busy. Take Kenz to school and then to the gym. I did Body Pump which was great but my toe was still quite sore and made me a bit off balance - even Alex the instructor asked if I was ok! I don't think it's broken, but it is badly bruised - half my foot is purple!

Then grocery shopping, unpack the groceries, make lunch, and then I had about on hour to muck around with the camera - so I took some photos of Dominic and Oscar.

Then I picked Kenz up from school and took her to Numberworks - she got 100% in her A Level "Sequencing". Oh and we got Kenzie's report card yesterday - not too bad, but obviously still needs to work on her maths and her hand writing, but at least she's polite and courteous at school!!! Whilst Kenz was at Numberworks I raced off to Aldi's to get some other groceries. Came home and had Beef Stroganoff for dinner.

I hate work at the moment

Well our pay remunerations came out this week and work seemed so pleased with themselves that they were giving me a payrise - only thing is, since I HAVE to go from casual to permanent part time, my week wage ends up being reduced by $58 a week so I so not happy about that!!! HR keeps telling me it's good that I get sick and holiday pay, but I've worked the figures out and they're still ripping me off by about $2,500 a year! Not happy Jan!!

6 months to Christmas!!!

Sunday - a quiet day at home

Well since my toe was so sore and swollen, we were lucky we didn't really have any plans for today.

Kenzie was happy to learn to ride her bike up and down the footpath and she was doing really well - she only crashed into Dom once!

Ben and I went through the camper trailer and checked out what food supplies etc we had and I managed to write a list of what we'd need to get next time we go away. It's amazing what's in those 4 food drawers!

Ben mowed and I washed Oscar and that was about it for the day.

Broken toe, Winding roads, car sickness, campgrounds, meat pies and learning to ride a bike

Well it all happened today.

Firstly I broke my little right toe on one of Dominic's toys (well I'm 99% sure I have) so I guess that teaches me for running around trying to get things ready so we could go out for a drive!

We decided since we didn't go camping this weekend that we'd check out Neurum Creek Camp Ground (out past Woodford) and see what campsites would be suitable for the camper trail. We went out through Samford and by the time we got to Dayboro McKenzie was as white as a ghost! So we stopped there briefly to give her a break (and we hadn't even hit the windy part yet!). Then we went over Mt Mee (and stopped at the look out for about 2 minutes as it was freezing cold!).

Once we started coming down McKenzie was feeling better, even Dominic was a bit quiet. Then we drove onto Neurum and the campground and it was really nice. We spent about 45 minutes there looking around and we think the kids would love!! Might be for a summer destination as it was quite cold at 2pm in the afternoon!!

Then we went to Woodford and had some beautiful meat pies for a late lunch.

Drove back home through Caboolture and along the freeway so Kenz wouldn't be sick and it took about 1 hour and 10 minutes to get home.

Then Kenz decided that she wanted to learn to ride her bike! I bought her that bike 16 months ago and she's never really tried to ride it (because it doesn't have training wheels). Anyway she tried under our back deck and then on the grass in the backyard (dodging the trampoline and the swing set) and then Ben took her to the school down the road. We've uploaded some video footage on u-tube so I'll attach the link to this.....

click here to watch McKenzie ride her bike

Squash!

Raced up to the gym again this morning (are you proud of me 3 days this week!) only because I was sore from Pump, so I thought I'd try jog it out on the treadmill - bad idea. But it's a good thing that Ben now goes to my gym (as I feel I should go up Thursday/Fridays because he is there).

Anyway Ben took up our squash raquets (as members play for free) and we had a good hit - Ben won 3 games to 2 but considering I haven't played for 10-12 years, it all came back to me quite quickly!!

It's a great way to let out frustrations too!!!

Dom and I had a quiet day at home as I just needed to do nothing!!

Body Pump

Yay I made it back to the gym today and did the Body Pump class which I love. I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow!!

Steph came over with little baby Sophie today also - she's just lovely (and so tiny). I took some photos and Ben took some too. It was so nice to spend some time with Steph.

Here's some of my photos:-


Then Dom and I did a quick grocery shop and then picked up Kenz from school. We then took Kenz to Numberworks (where she got 100% again) and I also raced off to Aldi's to get some other groceries.

We watched National Treasure 2 on DVD last night.

Another week

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday just flew by. Had a terrible nights' sleep with the kids Tuesday night - Dom was awake from 11.30pm until 1am and he also managed to wake up Kenz too!! So I managed to get 5 hours sleep by Wednesday morning - and struggled through work.

Recovery Day

Ben had to get up early this morning to go and shoot the Firewomen's Calendar and the Firies training centre, but thankfully I didn't have any plans, so I just stayed home and played games with the kids. I taught Kenz how to play Fish and she really enjoyed it!

Then they spent time outside (it was such lovely weather) on the trampoline and swings and I tried to have a look at a photography magazine.

Ben was actually home at 2pm so I was surprised to see him so early!

Then we just relaxed at home and got things ready for the working week.

Fete Day!!

I was up at the school at 7.15am to start setting up the plant stall for the fete. I realised we were setting up in a bad position, as we were behind the big cake/sweets stall and no one could see us when they walked into the school. It was quite cold and windy too which didn't help things.

But anyway all the parents turned up and Ben arrived with the kids and Rod and Mary about 10am and then Mum, Dad and Nanna turned up about 10.30amish. Rich, Becc and the kids also came along so it was nice to have all of the family supporting us.

I was pretty much on the stall all day and didn't get to see any of the fete - but at least the kids had a great time.

Ben took a couple of snaps so I'll upload them when I can.

Anyway most of the plants went, we had to give some away but hopefully we've made some sort of profit. Kenz and I left the fete at 3pm - I had been there for nearly 8 hours and had had enough...remind me NOT to be a fete stall convenor ever again!!!!!

So glad it is all over!!

Conjunctivitus!!

Kenz woke up with her eye stuck together this morning, so no school for Kenz!! I got her into the drs at lunch time and got some eye drops - I think we've got it early as her eye is mainly red and not junky (lovely topic of conversation hey!).

Earlier I went to the post office (I had both kids with me) and picked up my birthday present from Bron - a voucher to spend at Big W.

So off to Big W we went and I bought a yoga matt - I've wanted one for ages, and I also had to buy a new iron since I dropped mine last night!

Then we went to the drs and the chemist and grabbed a few groceries and came home.

We were meant to go to the Hogs Breath with Tania and Paul but I had to postpone that until another time when Kenz is better.

Photo Assessment

Here's the photo that my photography teacher liked the most - and it wasn't even on my list of my 3 favourites (posted yesterday).


So that's the end of my 8 week course, it's been very good and I've learnt a lot!

Now I really want to do this 4 day seminar down the Gold Coast - it has very well know wedding and portrait photographers holding the sessions - so now I'm saving to get my money so I can go. I might have to start selling things on ebay again!

http://augustexposure.blogspot.com/

Kenzie went on a school excursion today to an Aboriginal Arts Centre and she had a great time - she threw boomerangs and they did dances for them, and painted their faces. She has come home with a really red eye (she said there was something in it this morning when she left).

Then I took Kenz to Numberworks and Dom and I went shopping at Aldi for groceries - I find they're really cheap for bread, milk, cheese, toilet paper, detergents etc. You can buy a 1.5kg frozen chook for about $5 which is great!

I finally got back to the gym to do my Body Balance class too - I haven't done that for about 3 weeks!

I broke the iron when I came home, the stupid thing fell out of the linen cupboard and smashed so I'll have to buy a new one tomorrow!

2 days of work

With the public holiday on Monday, I only had to work 2 days this week. Nothing exciting happened.

I have my last day of my photography course tomorrow and these are my better photos that I'm submitting.. the theme was Reflections and the candles shot (there are 2 of them) is to show with and without fill flash.

Queens Birthday

Today we had a public holiday for the Queen's Birthday.

Ben had a 9.30am appointment (they were up from Melbourne I think) and Troy Pam and their 2 little boys came over (Brady and Andy). It was great to catch up with them (as always!).

Then Ben had a photo shoot with Glenn, Liz, Liam and Ryan, so we took them to a run down Garage at Deagon and got some shots there and then we went to Shorncliffe to Fish and chips for lunch.

How is this, Glenn & Liz were wonderful and shouted us all lunch, and being fish and chips it wasn't cheap. Anyway we were sitting outside waiting for our order and when it came it the waitress said we couldn't sit there as we had ordered take away and the outside tables were only for diners! How bizarre and rude was that!!! No one asked us if we wanted to dine in or take away and considering they also had charged a 15% surcharge for the public holiday we thought it was extremely rude of them. So at first we thought "stuff it" we'll just stay here and they can get the owner if they wanted, and then we thought, no bugger them, we're going to the park!! It was just really bad service (which is a shame as the food was really nice!).

Then we went down to the jetty and took some more photos. Glenn took some photos of us so we had a photo of the 4 of us - and considering Dom wouldn't look at the Camera, we'll have to see if they turn out ok!

Ben came home this afternoon!!

I pretty much had a quiet day at home with the kids waiting for Ben to come home.

He left Gove at 7.30am and flew to Cairns, spent a few hours in the Cairns airport and then finally made it to Brisbane and home by 3.45pm!

We were all so happy to see him but I think Oscar (our dog) was the most happiest!! I couldn't get near Ben for the kids and Oscar!

I cooked a roast chicken for dinner, so I think Ben appreciated that.

Here's some photos...as you can see it was a beautiful bright wedding with the Mad Hatters theme:-

The Weekend - Saturday

Saturday - I took the kids to McDonalds to catch up with Dena and her 3 girls and we ended up staying for 2 hours!!! It was mainly so the kids could play on the indoor play centre and Dena and I
could sit and chat whilst watching the kids, and telling other kids off for being so bossy to our kids!!!

In the afternoon we caught up with Denise who lives in the next street and we took our dogs for a walk - so that was good too.

Ben is shooting his wedding in Gove today - I hope it goes well.

I watched Across the Universe on DVD - not a bad movie - different and a musical.

Congratulations Steph and Brad!!

I received news today that Steph and Brad had a beautiful baby girl at 5.42am. Little Sophie Isobella was 2600 grams (5 pound 12 - same as McKenzie). Steph and bubby are doing well. I can't wait to see them.

Well Ben has had an interesting time in Gove. I don't think he's really done a lot up there, mainly just stayed at the Hotel, but he was possibly going out with the Groom and his best man to the local pub to meet the locals tonight! He said Bourbons were $7 and Cruisers was $12!!! He sent through some photos of where he's staying too.

What else did I do today? the kids were great this morning getting ready - there was no yelling or screaming for a change which was nice. We took Kenz to school and then Dom and I went to the gym. I did my weights program and a bit of the treadmill and step machine and my backside is sore tonight! Then Dom and I did some grocery shopping and came home and had lunch.

Liz and Deklan came over and Liz gave me a lovely 9 tealight candle set in a wooden block (to go with our Balinese look). It's really nice.

Then we picked Kenz up from school and then we took Oscar for a walk in the afternoon. Dominic started off riding his little bike, but his shoes kept getting caught so he went in the pram and fell asleep!!

Ben phoned to talk to the kids and we just had dinner. After dinner we made some Microwave Popcorn (which was pretty good - the kids loved it!).

Just having a quiet night tonight.

Photography day

Thursday already. Well I left with the kids at 8am and we said good-bye to Ben as he is flying to Cairns and then onto Gove (Northern Territory) today!

I went to my course in town - my 2nd last week. Next week I have to bring in my Reflection photos.

Whilst I was in town, I bought a couple of shirts (mostly for work) at the sales. I only managed to get 3 but it was a start.

Pick up Dom from child care and then Kenz from school and then took Kenz to Numberworks. Then Dom and I raced off to Aldi to do the grocery shopping. Raced back to pick up Kenz and she got 100% in her subtraction this week, so that's great!!

We came home, had dinner, did homework, rang Mum and Dad who are actually away for the first time in their caravan down at Kingscliffe! Then Ben phoned about 7.30pm to say he had arrived in Gove and was getting his luggage and wanted to say goodnight to the kids. He then phoned back about 10 minutes later from his hotel room to let me know how his trip went - which all went fine - except they didn't have a key for his hotel room! Anyway he was going to catch up with the bride and groom (and all their family and friends) at the bar - so at least Ben's getting a bit of socialising done too.....

I phoned Tracey to see how she was going down in Victoria - and all is well. Kids didn't go to sleep until at least 9pm! I hope they sleep all night tonight.

MTW

Just the usual Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday.....

McKenzie's School Fete was postponed

until Saturday 14 June 2008.

2 Silvers for Ben at the NATIONAL - 2008 Canon APPA's

Wow, fantastic news! Ben has won 2 Silver Awards for his wedding photography category. It's the first time Ben has entered into any Awards, so it's a fantastic achievement and we're all so very proud of him!

Here's his beautiful photos:-