Home sweet home :)

After 8 days away with the kids, and no hubby, it was great to be home. B and T were hardly out of the car before they were into the pool! In our absence A had been very busy, working,and replacing "stuff" at home....we have new beds in the kid's room, new washing machine (which "sings" when the load ends) and a cover for the pool.
The dogs were beside themselves trying to get to us all, and the birds have been enjoying time outside in the fresh air.
Back to work tomorrow,and the challenge of remembering to take photos for my photo a day challenge begins.....

2011.

What will it bring?
We all talk about "new year's resolutions" but how many are broken within the first month (or week!), which just sets us up for failure....
Having said that, I will try, for the third year running, to complete a photo a day/life in photos album for 2011. Being on Holidays right now, it's easy, beaches/themeparks/extended families....but what about being at home - that's where the challenge begins. How exciting!!
I will also return to weightwatchers, being a life member is still pretty cool, but needing to lose 10 kilos that I've put back on, is not. WW is beginning a NEW points system in 2011, geared to healthier eating...I'm going to give it a try.
Money. Oh my, where does it go???? This year won't be any easier, with M living in WA for the year, where we save on expenses at home (4 vs 5) we will need to spend lots on keeping her in her tennis program, and boarding for the year....and that is without flying her anywhere to play - thankfully their will be more tournaments close by than there would be here....add to that B and T are moving from Public to private schooling...
As much as I would have LOVED to take up the offer to take up my old job, the above mentioned finances will not allow me to do this. However I will still be involved in the cluster and at State Level, taking the NT Team to Canberra in October - can't wait!!! Love Canberra :)

As for our little family, I hope we have a happy and healthy 2011 without the dramas of stabbings and motorbike accidents of 2010. Raise your glass to a Happy and Healthy, love filled, 2011.

May 31

I am so far behind, but really committed to this 365 project that I've decided to try to post one old and one new picture each post, to try to get up to date!!

MAY 31
Another horrid day! Although I stayed in my PJ's all day it was a very productive day. My scrapbooking area is clean, although rather unused :( and I have done most of the organisation for the SSNT Tennis Exchange. Mum came to visit to pick up her portion of my Stampin Up! paper order and we managed to get a little of the washing dry by hanging it all over the loungeroom!
B spent the entire day with Kat, with M popping over to visit them for a while and joining them for lunch. T caught up with Adam again and A cleaned the club and took a trip to the tip.
I actually love Pyjama days, but am glad that we don't get cold wet days very often as I'd probably never leave the house :)

March 13 and May 30

Photo for March 13 is the School Sport NT Desert Storm Logo. I've been doing a bit of work for them of late (and as usual it plays on my mind during the night) so I thought I'd take a picture of the logo. This picture is off the plaque I was given on leaving my job as Cluster Administrator. It sits on the desk at my new workplace. I am still a volunteer for the Cluster and get a lot of emails at work regarding what's happening (or not) in the region. Unfortunately some of the emails get quarrantined by the email administrator, but he's pretty understanding and usually lets them through when he realises what they are about :)The young lad who's taken over my job tries hard, but doesn't take notes so if he doesn't do the "thing" right away he often forgets to do "it" at all. It's also tough for him because the other person helping with the Cluster is also new to the job. I'm thankful to be able to be involved even though I'm no longer working in the school system and I'm looking forward to my next adventure - convening the State Tennis Championship event for School Sport NT, in June.

MAY 30
What a horrible day!! Wet. Cold. Grey. We couldn't even see the the mountain from our front door. It stayed like this for the whole day and the next as well. It makes it tough to get the washing dry as it rains so rarely that most of us don't have clothes dryers. Saturday is usually our big sport day - coaching, umpiring, playing or watching, sport takes up most of the day. On this cold wet May day almost everything was cancelled. Soccer was most organised, letting us know early that the whole day was cancelled, where as netball unfortunately cancelled game by game, which meant we had to sit by the radio or computer to know what was going on. After attending the delegates meeting at lunch time I'm not sure the policy will be any better next time, although I'm hoping they'll cancel by blocks rather than games...
After buying a heap of hot food from the no longer required canteen at netball we spent some time down on our bed, all five of us, laughing and joking and talking. We are usually so busy these times, are few and far between so it was great to be able to spend the time together! I had a granny nap, T went to his friend Adam's, B went to sleep over at Kat's and M went to a party. A cooked a curry for tea, but it wasn't ready in time so we put on the menu for sunday.

March 12. 12 on 12 day.

As usual, I've taken my 12on12 photos...but who knows how long before a layout gets done? Today was a busy day, like any other Thursday. With work, Netball and Cricket it gets a bit long. When I got home from work on this particular Thursday, B had been cooking...Jam Drops or Billy Buttons. She loves to cook. Cakes. Biscuits. Chocolates. I used to love to cook too. I love having home made wares in the cupboard, but I no longer enjoy cleaning up after the baking process. I'm happy for B to do it :)
Jam Drops
INGREDIENTS:
120g Butter or Margarine
1/2 Cup Castor Sugar
1 Egg
1 3/4 Cup Self Raising Flour
Pinch Salt
Vanilla Essence (1-2 drops)
Jam for "drops"

DIRECTIONS:
1. Butter and sugar to cream
2. Add egg and vanilla
3. Gradually add sifted flour and salt
4. Mix with spoon until mixture forms a dough like consistency
5. Spoon small amounts and roll to form a ball
6. Use small finger knuckle to imprint into ball
7. Spoon small amounts of desired jam into ball centres

Oven Temp: 180*C
Ready when biscuits are brown
Approx 20-30 minuntes

March 11

This is a terrible photo. But it's a photo...taken on March 11th. LOL. I was trying very hard to get a photo of the awesome moon. I'd walked around to Kat's house and seen the moon and asked her to take a photo of it. She tried, but couldn't figure out which setting, and with no tripod it was blurry. I tried from home, but unfortunately the street light kept interfering with my shot.....
March 11th is my mum and S/dad's wedding anniversary. We don't do anything special for them, it's their celebration, but it was interesting to note that when I emailed her to say "Happy Anniversary", she'd forgotten until she arrived at work! This has happened to me on occasion too. Once I went to work and only realised it was our wedding anniversary when I wrote the date on a cheque! True romantics aren't we...?

March 10

This was dinner. Nothing is more frustrating, than getting home from work on a day when your DH has been home on a rostered day (or two) off, and having him ask "What did you want to do for tea?" It happened so often in recent times that on this occasion I simply said, "I don't want to think about it. Let's go to the club" So that's what we did.
Apparently A didn't know what to cook because I often don't want fattening things - like sausages. Well, I don't like sausages anyway, but pretty much anything else would be good. As you can see, this meal from the club is hardly fat free! LOL, Men.

March 9

Pack. Unpack. Take out half. Put it back. There you are ready to go....
That's what they say anyway. I'm not really sure how many times I packed and repacked, but I was pretty sure it was not all going to fit and I was pretty sure I wouldn't have room for my shopping!! We did so much planning for our NZ trip, it seemed it would never come. I got A's backpack out of the shed, months before I needed it, to see if my items would fit or if I'd need to buy a bigger pack. In the end I decided to go with A's pack as it was clean and easy to carry, most of my gear fit and there was no point wasting $200 on a pack I'd rarely use...
This photo is of all my gear that wouldn't fit into the backpack! I bought a day pack to use as my hand luggage and for our day trips, but with all the bits not fitting into the big backpack I borrowed B's school bag to use as my carry on luggage. Her bag was bigger and had more pockets... I packed my day pack into the big bag as well, to use as my day pack in NZ so I wouldn't have to carry everything with me every day during our vacation. It also doubled up as an extra bag for my shopping if needed.
Initially I had my clothing sorted into stuff it bags (see the red bag) but decided it was probably not making the best use of the space inside the backpack, so I removed the bags and packed my gear straight into the backpack instead. Kat convinced me on one such repacking venture, that I really didn't need 8 pairs of socks and liners, freeing up quite a lot of space, which when we finally got to NZ I was grateful for :)

March 8

This was photo was taken after the School Sport Tennis Exchange selection trials. For the first time, both our girls were selected to the team. M has been a part of the team for the last three years and plays heaps of tennis, but B only decided to try out because we were there. I have been a coach/manager of the local representative team on and off since 2005. This year I am convening the State event so won't be taking on a team. As I was at the trials to assist the new team management, and M was trying out, B came too. She filled in during the Bump Doubles to help even up the numbers. The following week she got her forms filled in and entered to try out at the final selection trial - and was selected to represent our Cluster! She was very excited and it was great to see both her siblings excited for her. She's since joined the local club and is having some successes.

Day 63 - March 4

Wednesdays are so huge, with netball and tennis!
If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do.
Lucille Ball
It seems all I do at my house at the moment is sleep. This is what it looks like if I ever get home before dark :)

Day 60 - March 1st!

I enjoyed a quiet morning at home, in my still spotless, child free home :) I organised my netball coaching and did a few loads of washing. After lunch we had to go to the School Sport Trials and then after a short break, the first round of the town Championships.
I LMBO when I discovered that I was a "seeded player" in the competition! M is seeded Number 1 in the ladies comp!! As I was seeded I had a bye in the first round but played a nice match with one of the tennis mums, including a nice chat half way through the second set about schooling... I won 6-0;6-0, a smooth transition into my return to tennis..
Next weekend I won't play at all as my opponent lives out of town and won't be here. I need to arrange to play her on the Saturday of the following weekend, meaning two matches in one weekend for both of us!!
Today's photo is me a couple of hours after the match, but still dressed to play...

Day 59

OH MY! Can you believe how fast February is flying by? It's all good, it means my New Zealand holiday is coming up very soon!! Less than 25 days now!!

Bonnie's friend ended up staying all day whilst her parents worked and I was seriously in need of some adult company! After tennis we popped into town and grabbed some kabanos, coleslaw, noodle salad, potato salad and smoked salmon for lunch and headed over to Auntie Kat's. After lunch we piled all 6 kids in the car and went back to our house for the afternoon. Kat and I spent the afternoon working on our New Zealand holiday, making sure we had all the addresses we needed along the way. Kat even managed to cut some scraps out of her travel brochures, in preparation for her New Zealand Holiday scrapbook.

The kids swam, skootered, rode the ripsticks and watched Horton Hears a Who? whilst Kat and I chatted, typed and cut over a couple of quiet Vodkas. Literally a couple as there wasn't much in my bottle!

Around tea time Bonnie's friend was gone and Kat took all our kids back to sleepover with their cousins. As I rushed around tidying my now kid free home I got a phone call inviting me to mum/dad's for tea. It was a lovely quiet meal with just the three of us. After tea mum and I printed the vellum for Kat's birthday card and then I went home to watch a bit of tele with A before bed.

Day 56

Obviously not a photo as such. But it sums up today. We had our first 13/U training for the season and I only knew three of the girls! This will be a completely different coaching experience to last years, when the teams were made up of mostly girls I'd coached before. It's hard to remember back to the start of the season, but I wonder if last year's Div 1 girls played at a similar standard to the girls I had at training tonight...if so they came a long way in 6 months. I'm not really sure how I've ended up with a 13/u team as well as the 15/u team I volunteered for. I'm not really surprised, and not really too fussed. It means I have some input into the formative years of both our girls, with relation to netball. I'm looking forward to being able to watch both girls play this season, after missing out on most of B's games in 2008.

DAY 55


Tuesday. A nice easy day at home with a "sick" B. She was sick yesterday but made it through the school day - trooper that she is :) B was probably on the mend today, but a quiet day at home was good for both of us. I had lots of things I wanted to do: New Zealand planning/repacking my backpack/scrap booking/netball planning etc. etc. but I didn't do any of it :) It really was just a nice relaxing day at home, until I had to pick up M from school and take her to tennis. We visited Auntie Kat on our way home and that was the extent of our activity for the day!

Day 54

Today started the first of our "sport everyday" weeks for this year. We knew early in the day that we'd have to have take away because we had work/school, tennis and then a School Council meeting...no time to cook! I did manage to go shopping though, and got some stuff for the freezer for those days when we will need to "whip" something up...
The kids were humbugging for Macca's or KFC, but as I knew this could become a bit of a regular occurrence we had something, perceivably healthier...Subway. M's disappointment meant that she ended up having a sandwich instead lol. . one day she will learn to be thankful for what she gets..we did allow her to take it to school for lunch, though she didn't know that at tea time!! I always have a lot of fun choosing toppings for my Subway meal...I mean does anybody really care what type of cheese they have? The sandwich is loaded with so much stuff you can't even taste it! I always have all salad toppings, except halapenos and pickles. A doesn't have onions because he gets a headache from the raw onion. T and M got Meatball Subs and Bonnie was sick and couldn't eat dinner :(

Day 51

Mum and I were very excited to be able to try my new cartridge - ZooBalloo to make her a crocodile for a Scrapbook page after trying, unsuccessfully, to find a picture she liked on the internet.
We made a large (4inch) one for the main page and two other smaller ones to fill a space she had. The cartridge is very cute - we'll be using the Narwal as a dolphin for my sister's surprise birthday present card - we've written her a poem and have shouted her a swimming with dolphins voucher in New Zealand when we go on our holiday in a few weeks :)
I love the funky shape of the letters on the ZooBalloo and the fact that I can get Pictures, Upper Case and Lower Case on the one Cartridge. I'm not sure I'll need any more cartridges, but if I do, I'm sure we'll use the OhMyCrafts website again ..what a bargain.. and I received great service.

Day 50 - and I'm up to date!!

I remember to take the photo each day..I just don't always have a chance to post here. I'm still a few weeks behind in my layouts, but find that as long as I print the photos I can catch up pretty easily. I'll have to print LOTS this weekend :)
Today's photo is part of a little story...

On my way to work this morning a Huntsman Spider ran across my bonnet - totally freaking me out! I mean really, why do they always run over the car when I'M driving?? At least it's outside right? Right!
I tried to get it off the car by turning on the windscreen washer and wipers, to no avail. The hairy little (?) spider ran along the passenger side of the door, not totally freaking Miss M and Courtney! All was good whilst I had sight of the spider in my side mirrors. We watched him run along the window and into the handle recess of the passenger door....and then he disappeared!!!!!!!!! Aaargh! Chaos reigned! The spider ran into the space between the passenger and rear passenger door, right near where M was seated....
...it didn't come inside, but it may as well have! M couldn't sit still. She had to be forced to sit and put her seat on, even climbing through to the front seat to "get away from it". When she realised the space between the two doors was actually closer to the front, she moved to the back again. . but I still had to convince her to put her seatbelt on and SITDOWN, because being dead would be worse than a spider bite. LOL - she didn't agree!!
When we got to school we got out to have a look, but couldn't see the spider. There was no way we were going to open the passenger side doors so both girls had to climb out my side.
The passenger doors stayed shut until around 6pm, when we went to Cricket and my team mate, DI, offered to remove the spider for us. When we got to the car Di looked into the crack between the doors and could see the spider still there, 10 hours after it climbed into the crack! She opened the front door first and tried to remove the spider with a stick. The spider ran into the rear passenger door space - exactly what I was afraid of!! Thankfully she removed it and it ran under the car, over to the driver's side rear tyre. We took the handbreak off and pushed the car to try to run over the spider, but the car wouldn't roll far enough. I grabbed T's SpeedStick and nudged the spider out from under the tyre, with the plan that one of us would tread on it as it escaped. NOPE. It ran under my mum's car!!! Last time we saw it it was laying under the edge of her driver side rear tyre.
We didn't tell mum it was there, hoping it would be gone by the time she went home, as we didn't want to worry her about something that might not be an issue. I might tell her tomorrow....I'm just glad it's not on our car anymore!!!

Day 49 - 18th February

Wednesday's are big days at the moment. M has swimming at school and then we all head down to the tennis courts at 7pm for M's hit with her coach Craig. B and T spend a lot of the time playing tennis too, and sometimes playing with Turner...
Turner isn't really allowed in the car because he leaves too much hair and he won't sit still, so the hair goes all over the car...BUT, when Dad isn't home we sometimes sneak him down to tennis with us :)
Wednesday's are great because there's very few people at the courts and Turner can run around all he likes. We shut the front gate and he walks around and sniffs things, chases the kids, has some cuddles and if he's really lucky, gets to play with a ball.
It's really hard to take a photo of Turner because he always seems to move just as you click...

Day 48

On Sunday, M attended her friend's little sister's party and took along her newly acquired "ripstick". Somehow or other the board got water in it and was difficult for M to turn safely. She lost balance and fell backwards, steadying herself with her right hand and causing herself some pain in the process. After a couple of days listening to her complain about the sore arm we whisked her off to Emergency for an X-ray. We got to the hospital early and were seen fairly promptly. On examination the doctor informed us there was no break and no need for an xray, even though I asked for one "just to be sure" because she plays so much tennis (at least 5 times per week). The school was just around the corner, and by the time we arrived at reception, to sign M into school there was a message for us from the hospital. We hopped back into the car and returned to emergency to pick up a form requesting an xray for one RW (right wrist). Again, we wer attended to pretty quickly and we were back at school and work, with the "no break" verdict, a couple of bandages, some panadol and instructions to "rest", by 10.30am.
M rested for one day (the day Before the x-ray) and attended her tennis lesson as per usual on the day we visited the hospital. Her arm is still sore, and still strapped, but she's not taking pain medication and is icing after use. She's not wanting to miss her tennis and whilst she can cope she's going to give it all she's got. She's one tough cookie!

Day 47 - Out with the Old

My purse has been on the way out for sometime. I purchased the black one in Darwin last year when I was there, because the zip on the brown one kept splitting. I like the layout of my brown purse (which doubles as a bag) and so was delighted to find another with the same layout! The black one doesn't have bag clips and it will take me some time to get used to looking for a black purse in a black bag...
I managed to prolong the life of my brown purse for quite some time and believed it would continue to work ok, as long as I didn't stuff it full of register receipts... It finally bit the dust on the 16th of February 2009. Thankfully I had the black one on standby and was able to clear out my old purse and swap my bits and pieces to my new purse right away.

Day 46 - Pyjama Day

We had plans to go for a drive, and to spend the day as a family out of the house. . . Somewhere during the week M made plans to visit Courtney, right in the middle of the day - throwing our plans somewhat off course, not that she would have minded us going without her!
As it turned out it was a very relaxing day. I stayed in my PJ's for the entire day and no one else seemed to have much energy either...although T was very keen to go for a drive..
Maybe when the weather cools and the flies aren't so bad, we'll go for that drive.
Overall, it was a lovely day at home with the family :)