Update

Well its been awhile since I last blogged so will try my best to remember all thats been happening. We are currently in the middle of some renovations. Our bathroom has been demolished and our kitchen is about half done. We have a shower outside which I not really fond of. Found my first spider in there the other day! We were told the bathroom reno would be about 4-6 weeks but instead it will be about 4 months. Very stressful but I try to keep reminding myself that I will have a nice new bathroom soon:) We have also added to our family! We have a puppy called Rosie who came to us about 3 months ago. She is a dashound x maltese shitzsu and is very cute. Nate just loves her to pieces. They wrestle and roll around together on the floor. Mind you Nate also have scratches all over his arms from their playing. I worry about that but in the new year Im hoping to start getting her some training. She is a cute little dog and doesn't give us too much trouble otherwise. It has made the other kids not so fearful of other peoples dogs but it has made Jesse more scared! Funny kid:) Maddie has been really sick this term. She ended up in hospital last week because she was so dehydrated. Spent all day on the drip and had to go in twice before she stopped vomitting. She still looks washed out but is on the mend. Alyssa is starting Graceful girls solo and made the A team for cali. I think this year will be a lot harder for her but I think she will also enjoy it a lot. She has some great coaches. Jake has played a term of cricket but will start back to basketball next year. They are both still doing scouts which they love because their friends go. Its nice for Jeff to be involved too. Nate is still in nappies. I don't have the energy at the moment to deal with undies. Maybe in the school holidays. I did get rid of his dummy which wasn't as traumatic as I though it would be. The bottle is next to go which will probably happen soon. He only has 4 more sundays in nursery and then off to primary! Crazy how time flies. I also joined the gym recently and have enjoyed going with Kathy. I really do feel better after I excerise and I don't find it that hard to get up in the morning which I thought I would. I do get tired in the afternoon though after a 6am class. I am hoping to lose about 5 kgs but I am lacking a bit of motivation at the moment. Christmas is just about upon us and Im looking forward to all the festivities. Its a busy time but good also. I think Jeff is having a week off work which will be good. I am hoping that we can have more family time together in the new year!

Sydney Trip

During the school holidays I went to Sydney with Mum, Kathy and Eila for the Time Out For Women event. Dad had bought me the tickets for it for my birthday. We arrived on the Thursday about lunchtime and had an adventure trying to find the apartment we were staying in. We had to catch 3 trains with all our luggage. Probably not the best move as we had to carry it all up and down stairs. Eventually we got to our last stop and started walking to our hotel. We ended up walking the wrong way and had to stop on the side of a freeway. It was pouring with rain and I ended up calling the hotel to have someone pick us up. It turned out the hotel was only a 1 min walk in the other direction from the train. We were so soaked and tired by the time we got to the hotel. I think the laughs started from there and didn't end until we left to go home. I was glad that we were with such lovely people who enjoyed a laugh as much as me and mum did. We did a bit of shopping on the Thursday and had booked to go on a harbour cruise that night. Well because of the rain we couldn't get a taxi and almost missed the boat. I wasn't feeling that great and couldn't really eat much of my dinner but still enjoyed myself. Friday was another day of shopping and eating. We met Rachel after lunch and saw some sights of the city. By the end of the afternoon I think mum and eila were about ready to crash after so much walking and we eventually found the marriott where we had a nice dinner and lots more laughs! Saturday was the event we were all waiting for. Almost 2000 women gathered together at the Olympic Park for the TOFW. There was so much excitement in the air and I think we all knew we were in for such a wonderful day. It didn't disappoint. The day went by so quickly before we knew it, it was over. I was really touched by the music by Hillary Weeks and look forward to listening to some more of her music. All of the speakers touched me in some way or another. It was like they were feeding my spirit with all the things I needed to hear. I am ready to make some changes to make the next 6 months of this year better. 2 Quotes in particular that stood out to me was 'Don't be the one thing standing in your way" and "Take time to stand still and hold your children a little longer" They are only children for such a short time and then they will be adults for the rest of eternity. I came out of the conference feeling like I was doing a good job but there are still lots of improvements I could make in my life and the life of my family. I felt really uplifted. Normally when I hear about what I should be doing and so forth I get down about the type of person I am but during this experience I felt like I was doing ok and I felt like I have the strength to be a better person without getting the negative feelings I usually get. It was great to share the experience with such close friends and family. Only wish more of my loved ones could have shared it with me. I hope I can continue to develop and grow into the wife, mother, daughter and friend that I am supposed to be.

Another busy week!

I have another busy week this week as life pushes us along. Alyssa has her first sub junior cali comp this weekend. It will pretty much take up all of sat and sun. She has worked really hard this year and I'm hoping the girls get rewarded for their efforts and have a placing. I think I will be really nervous for them but I know they have worked really hard. Can't wait to see all their completed costumes. I still haven't finished sewing but hoping to have that done by wednesday. I'm also getting a massage with Kathy this week and can't wait for that. Jeff and I went to the stake ball last friday with Kathy and Matt. We enjoyed ourselves even though we thought the ball could have been better. I am so grateful for Matt and Kathys friendship. I love spending time with them and look forward to creating lots more memories with them.

Maddie's first cali comp

Well last weekend Maddie had her first cali comp. Her group competed with 6 other teams and did really well. Some of the girls were so tiny and cute. Maddie did so well again and had no trouble remembering all the things she had to do. She even tried to get the girls off the stage after the march when they wouldn't' budge. It was so cute. She is really looking forward to being with Miss Kristen soon. Hopefully she continues to enjoy her dancing. She is also starting swimming lessons this week which should be exciting for her. I think she will do great as she just loves the water and was swimming with floaties last year by herself. She is starting with Kaleb and I'm looking forward to watching them both learn to swim.

New worries

I have been most worried about Jake the last couple of months. He has started blinking his eyes a lot and sniffing constantly. First I took him to the eye doctor but his vision is fine. The optometrist suggested eye drops for dry eye. That didn't really work so I then put him on allergy meds but that did nothing as well. Next I took him to the docs and he put him on nasal spray and eye drops. That was 2 weeks ago and there has been no improvement. Back to the docs this week to see that the next step will be. Jeff looked up something called tourettes syndrome. Not sure if this is what Jake has but hopefully we can get some answers soon and Jake can get some relief.

Time for change

The other day I realized that Jeff had been in the Bishopbric for almost 3 years and I said it's about time for a change. Well there was a change. Jeff was released as 2nd cousellor and called as 1st counsellor. Not quite the change I was expecting but I think its a good thing. Hopefully we can all support him in his new role.

Sickness returns....it must be winter

What a horrible month for sickness. First off the flu hit maddie and me....then Jake, Alyssa and now Nate. It has been hanging around for about a month now and I haven't been able to go to church for 3 weeks. Very frustrating. The kids are on school holidays and haven't been able to do much at all because of all the sickness. It has been a long month. I am really looking forward to going to Sydney on Thursday. Hopefully I can stay well enough to enjoy my time away. Most of the time I feel like I have more patience when the kids are sick but when it drags on for so long I start losing it. Jeff gave Nate a blessing tonight so I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow with a healthy Nate.

Cali concert

June 25th was Maddie's first cali concert. I don't know who was more excited me or Maddie. She was so happy to be going on the stage. I just love how Maddie shows all her emotions and when she is excited about something she jumps up and down and has so much joy on her face. I just love it. Her big moment came and she did such a great job. She is by far the best in her group. She was up front and in the middle. She was the only one you could hear singing and knew all the moves perfectly. During the march she was telling the other girls what to do and at the end she was trying to push the girls off stage because they weren't moving. After all that Maddie just left the stage first and the others followed. It was the cutest thing:) Everyone was raving about her afterwards. Grandma Kay came up to us and was so excited to see how well maddie did and that Kristen will want her next year. Such a proud mum of both of my girls. I'm looking forward to the comps to see how much they have improved.

Alyssa turns 7

What a busy week it was when Alyssa turned 7. Her and Maddie had their first concert of the year on Alyssa's birthday so we decided to celebrate her birthday with a family dinner 2 nights before and then a trip to the ice arena the week after her birthday. She invited Jordyn, Leah and Bailey. Jake didn't want to go so it was just the 4 kids and Kathy and I. We had a lot of fun but it was sooo cold! A few spills here and there but Alyssa had a blast. Off to McDonalds for lunch after a couple of hours of skating. Seeing as we went during a school day there was hardly anyone there. It was really nice to have some one on one time with Alyssa that day. I'm really enjoying spending time with her as she gets older. She did such a great job at the concert. She works really hard to remember her routines. The other day at the end of practice her teacher said to her that she did an excellent job. Alyssa thought that was great! I hope she continues to enjoy dancing and performing. I love watching her!

Coldplay - Fix You [Lyrics]

Alexis Jordan - Happiness Lyrics

Sia ~ I Go To Sleep ~ Lyrics

Eating Machine

Big boy Jake is such an eating machine. He is up to my mouth now and will probably get taller than me by the time he finishes primary school. He eats sooo much! The other day he ate 7 pieces of pizza! He is definitely going through a growth spurt. He is trying a lot more food now aswell which is good to see. When the others see him eat new things they try it also. I think when he is a teenager he will eat me out of house and home. Jeff is a big eater so I can see where Jake gets it from. Jake still likes his cuddles and sometimes its a bit awkward to cuddle such a big boy but I still love it! He is still a mummas boy and is quite emotional at times but I guess that comes with being a sensitive kid. He has lost about 7 teeth by now and his mouth looks funny with all the new teeth coming in but it doesn't stop him from eating a lot. Love you Jake!

Cheeky Nate

Nate is now 2 and a half and the cheekiest and cutest little boy. When he smiles it lights up his whole face and just makes you smile aswell. He loves to wrestle and cuddle and jump right on top of you. He loves his friends Jesse and Kaleb and is always excited to see them. Nate brings so much fun and joy to our family. He loves eating and is the best eater out of the all the kids. He also loves Thomas and playing with his trains. He still sleeps with dummy, teddy and blankie every night and still naps every day for a couple of hours. We love our little Natey!

Kindy Girl

Maddie has started full time kindy this term. She goes 4 half days a week and just loves every minute of it. She has made some new friends but in particular she is good friends with a girl called Samantha. It has been great watching her make her own friends. She had her first play at Stellas house and her and Stella had a great time. They played really well with each other. Maddie thought she was such a big girl and I really missed her when she was there. She is growing up really quickly. At kindy she loves doing all the crafts and playing outside in the sandpit. Di gave her a speech test the other day and she still has trouble with about 4 letters but we will just work with her at home on them and hopefully she will improve. She is such an easy going happy little girl and just loves to cuddle. Her favourite thing at the end of the day is to cuddle and have back scratch and leg scratch and belly scratch. She is a touchy feely kid and I just love her to bits.

Dancing Queen

Last week Alyssa (6) competed in her first cali sub junior comps. They did clubs, skirts, and exercises. They did really well and placed 2nd in clubs and 3rd in skirts. She has a great night and loves getting dressed up and performing on stage. Her group came 2nd overall out of 5 clubs. I think next time they will perform even better. Alyssa loves cali and being in subbies. She likes to be able to do all the moves with her body and is very good at most of them. I love watching her perform.

Baby Gracie

Today Baby Gracie joined our growing family. There has been a lot of excitement about her arrival. We got to the hospital this morning about 8:30 and after a long 2 hour wait we finally got to meet her. I fell in love with her as soon I saw her. She is beautiful! I can't wait for my kids to meet their new cousin. Janny looked a pit pale but happy. I am hoping that her recovery won't be too long and painful but she was in a lot of pain already. Gracie has beautiful pink skin and gorgeous black curly hair. It will be interesting to see how she changes and grows and who she will look like in the end. Jesse just loved seeing her and holding her. He was a bit possesive and Grandma and I didn't get as much of a cuddle as we would have liked seeing big brother wouldn't let her go! So cute. As we were leaving Jesse said I just love her. I predict that he will be the protective big brother. Welcome to the world Baby Gracie!

May Days

I love the month of May! So many happy events for our family. Today we celebrated Mother's Day. I was awoken early by some excited children who couldn't wait to give me my presents that they had made and bought for me. They were so excited that they woke me up at 7am to give them to me. I had had a late night the night before at Lisas reception and couldn't even open my eyes to see what the kids had given me. I love the fact that they made things for me and put effort into what they had written. It makes being a mum all worthwhile and instead of usually feeling like a failure as a mother, today I felt loved and felt like I was doing something right:) I love my kids so much and love being a mum to them. I also love being able to honour and do something for my mum today and am looking forward to eating the roast turkey that I am making for her tonight. In our family one of the ways we show our love is by cooking with each other and cooking for each other. I am hoping to pass that down onto my children. The girls enjoy cooking and helping in the kitchen. Alyssa wants to go on Junior masterchef. We shall see if that happens! Happy Mother's Day!

A week of Celebrations

What a week it has been! We celebrated my 32nd birthday last weekend with a karoeke cruise on Friday night. Even though we missed out on seeing the wedding of Wills and Kate, we still had a great night. We even got mum up which was great:) On Saturday we celebrated the upcoming arrival of Janny's baby girl. Such a fun night and it made me a bit clucky. Monday was my actual birthday and was spent with one my of best friends Kathy shopping and hanging out. Great day. Very spoilt as usual. Today is Cara's birthday and is now half way to 50! Happy 25th Cara:) This weekend we celebrate Mother's Day and also Lisa and James wedding. Almost have my outfit ready. Bit stressed about getting it all together but am excited to get dressed up for the day. Like I said a week of celebrations!