Day 12 of our Diet Regime and some fun in the sun last weekend

Today is Day 12 of our "diet regime".  We have definitely settled into the healthy eating.  It doesn't feel like such a chore any more,,,,,well except for the bit of having to cook two meals each night, that is still a pain in the butt.  For the most part though we are incorporating ours and the kids meals together and just doing it slightly different for the kids, with not quite as much of the salad and veg for them (I have typical males who aren't keen on their veggies lol, feed a man meat and all that stuff is how the younger 3 boys at least think!)

Our results from Day 11 are:

Hubby lost 400 grams bringing his total weight loss to 5.1kgs
I lost 600 grams bringing my total weight loss back up to 2.8kgs

It seems we are now back on track, although the last couple of days we have been pretty busy and have dropped our snack altogether so have only been averaging about 1200 calories again.  But thats okay, we haven't been starving hungry and don't feel deprived which is good.

We have continued on with the treadmill.  Half an hour a day, not really that much but we can definitely feel it at the end of the session.  We have been doing fast walks, just enough to keep the heart rate up there but still be just able to have a conversation.

Hubby is going to Melbourne this afternoon for work.  He will be back tomorrow night.  Therefore he won't get his Saturday morning weigh in, or his treadmill in for today or diet meals for dinner tonight, breakfast and lunch tomorrow.......instead he will be eating dinner with the guys, which of course means healthy doses of beer.  It will be interesting to see what his scales reveal on Sunday morning lol!!!

Since we had a public holiday on Monday and also to get us out of the house after losing our beloved BillyBoy on Sunday night, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and head down to Glenelg Beach for the afternoon.  My Mr17 was out with friends and Mr15 decided that he would be too bored if he came with us without Mr17 so he wanted to stay home and play Xbox online with his mates.  So Miss13, Mr11 x 2 and Mr9 came with us down to the beach.  Normally we are at the beach just about every weekend during summer, but this summer has been quite mild and we haven't had many opportunities for our little trips to the sea.

Monday was a beautiful day, it was warm in the sun but cool in the shade.  The water was beautiful, it didn't have a chill to it really (well we Hubby and I only went in up to our knees and it was nice lol).  Due to Mr11's Autism he doesn't really like the beach that much generally.  He has no sense of balance and the water rushing in and out totally throws him off lol, it can be quite funny to watch.  Generally he fusses and carries on like a pork chop refusing to go in further than ankle deep and more often than not will just sit on the sand and whine.  On Monday though, he got a little braver.  The first half hour was the traditional whine time but after that he went in a little deeper.  He then actually walked in the water away from Hubby (normally he remains glued to Hubby like a leech).  This time he actually headed over to where the kids were when they were sitting in the shallow area near the jetty.  We got Miss13 to grab his hand and take him in a little deeper.  She managed to get him into his knees before he became too strong for her to control and she gave up.  The main thing is that he actually seemed to be enjoying the water for a change.  It was nice to see a smile on his face and for us to have a chance to just enjoy the moment instead of having to put up with his continual protests.  Fingers crossed it may continue,,,,,I doubt it lol but will live in hope!

I think I can..........

Mr9 was telling him to let go of the jetty lol

My Mr11 performing some kind of opera it seems

Mr9 was still trying to convince him to just step away from the pole

He did it, he let go of the pole!!!

Miss13 and Mr9 just chilling out

Look, he is nearly in up to the knees and not a pole in sight, yay!!!!  See the smile,,,,,just a shame the hat on was lol

On his way out, one step at a time, that moving water was tricky to navigate but he was actually laughing about it so that is a good thing!!

Port Adelaide Festival Part 2

Last Sunday night saw us take the kids on yet another "UFO" (Mr 14's term for "Unavoidable Family Outings",,,,yes I'm such a mean mother lol).  The boys spent Sunday at their Dad's and returned home at around 8.30pm.  They were a little surprised when the younger two asked if they should get their pyjamas on, only to be told nope you need to stay dressed.  Straight away the "Why, where are we going?" questions started.  Miss12 came running in saying "You didn't tell me we were going out".

Yep she was right we didn't lol.  I wasn't sure whether the kids would enjoy our outing or not, but I really wanted to go and see it so I decided to just do it.

The lights were set to sound and music and projected on to a few of the old buildings in Port Adelaide.  It was truly amazing how well the artists had managed to line everything up so each building fitted perfectly to the image they were portraying.  It was a constant slide show, each building had a segment which lasted about 10 or so minutes before starting again.

Here is a link   to Illuminart at the Port

Below are a few photos that Hubby captured on the his phone to give you some idea at least as to what these amazing artists accomplished.  Overall I think most of the kids enjoyed it.  Miss12 was pretty underwhelmed but that is just standard for her these days.  The boys didn't mind it though so majority rule lol.

This image was so bright and the way the windows stood out was amazing

The corrugated iron building looked so real!

The grey brick building started to collapse....amazing

As the building collapsed the stone one started to crack open revealing a large tree in the centre

This building "caught fire" it looked awesome

The One and All sailing ship was docked at the Port

Our outing on Saturday - The Port Adelaide Festival

This Saturday saw us actually have all 6 of the kids with us at the same time for the day,,,,,this is a rarity lately since Mr16 is usually working on weekends and the chance for us to go out as a complete family is a real treat (well for me at least lol).  This weekend just happened to be the Port Adelaide Festival and the Maritime, Railway and Aviation Museums, as well as the Lighthouse were all free entry.  This saved us a small fortune!!!  Normally there is no way we would be able to afford to go to all these places in one day and the fact that none of these places are exactly huge sees us a little unwilling to fork out large amounts of money to go there.  (If only I had taken the camera,,,,I still can't believe I left it at home,,,,,thank goodness for cameras on phones!!)  The kids, naturally enough, had varied reactions to each of them.  Mr9 is still young enough to find the fun in most things.  Miss12 and Mr11 are happy if they can keep entertained, which is easy when there are things to climb in and explore.  Mr11 with Autism is tricky at the best of times but we had his MP3 player with us as well as the wheelchair to save him walking (believe me,,,the tantrums when he has to walk for any extended period of time are enormous and see him dropping to the ground screaming and generally carrying on like a pork chop lol so the wheelchair is a definite advantage to having a nice family day!).  Mr16 and Mr14 are a little past most of it but even they put a smile on their face and I think they kind of had a good time at least lol.  All of them naturally enjoyed the Hungry Jacks we had for lunch so that made up for any boring bits they may have experienced.

Keeping large families and age gaps all happy is hard work and I guess the older kids are the ones that generally have to put up with things that they may not enjoy, but my boys are pretty good at keeping Mum happy and tag along.  Mr14 started calling these little excursions UFOs....(Unavoidable Family Outings) lol, and he is right they are unavoidable and he will come along, especially when I know that if he doesn't he won't leave his computer or Xbox for the day.  At least coming with us he is out in the fresh air!!

Miss 12 was captivated by the Ghost Lady and was determined to follow the instructions of finding the sailor boy that she was given

Mr 9 grew a little bored with Miss 12's insistence on finding the sailor boy, he already knew where he was lol but wouldn't tell Miss 12

Mr 11 (with Autism) loved the train ride at the Railway Museum

Hubby, Mr16, Miss12, Mr11 and Mr9 all climbed to the top of the Lighthouse

The Lighthouse was loved by those of us who climbed the stairs,,,,,,I chose to stay on the ground with the other Mr11 and Mr14 lol

Miss12, Mr11 and Mr9 enjoyed climbing on and off all the trains at the Railway Museum

You can tell he likes things when he gets vocal lol

Miss12 still enjoys rides like this

Mr9 is still young enough to enjoy these rides too!

The Stress of Having Parents in Another Country

Yesterday my Hubby rang his parents in New Zealand.  They live in South Auckland and Hubby's youngest sister also lives with them, along with her 12 year old son.  When he called, his sister picked up the phone and said that it was great that he called as she was about to send him a message on Facebook.  Apparently she is moving down to Napier at the bottom end of the North Island of New Zealand.  This would be roughly a 5 maybe 6 hour drive from where they currently live.  She is engaged to a guy and he has recently got a job down there and she will be moving down there too.  Now, she asked her parents if they would like to move down there, initially they said no, but apparently yesterday they said that they would have to move with her too because they couldn't afford to live stay where they are currently.

This wasn't what she wanted to hear.  She has decided that she has done her time and needs to be out on her own with her son and her new man.  Fair enough I say, she is 40 years old and has only lived away from home for a short time in her life.  Her mother has just about raised her son for her!  Now of course she wants my Hubby and their older sister who also lives in Australia to try to help her to convince Mum and Dad that they shouldn't follow her.  The older sister was straight on the phone to Hubby yesterday, as she saw the Facebook message straight away and was ranting and raving about how selfish their younger sister is being.  I explained to Hubby how that is not true as I had been in a similar position a couple of years ago, I was the main person that helped my mum out and then when it came time for her to have to live in a nursing home I subsequently got stuck with all the hard stuff.  Well his younger sister has been dealing with her parents ill health for the last couple of years and I can only imagine how it hasn't been easy on her, not having other siblings to turn to for a hand at all.  Hubby sees my point and also understands where his baby sister is coming from.  The older sister on the other hand, just thinks she is being a total **tch about it all (mind you, this is the sister that in the past, has been the Queen of Selfishness so really she needs to just shut up lol).

I suggested to hubby that he call them again next weekend and just say "I hear you may be moving soon" (when he spoke to his Dad last night, nothing was mentioned about moving).  I thought maybe we could suggest that they  move over here.  I'm not expecting them to say yes, as I know they don't want to, but I feel that it is only right to offer.  We couldn't have them living here as naturally with 6 kids our house is full to the brim already and I don't think I could deal with living with them full time lol.  I thought that maybe they could move into a retirement village where they can mix with others but still have their independence, but also with their health issues we would know they would be safe.  The thought of them staying where they are, if that is what were to happen, worries me.  Mum doesn't drive and Dad now can't drive due to health issues.  His younger sister said that Mum has gone a little strange lately and is refusing to cook.  This worries me instantly as I wonder if the stress of "losing" her grandson whom she has virtually raised will be too much for her.  I feel that she is shutting down in a way.  Not having any family support nearby may all be too much for them.

I truly believe that somehow we need to get them over here.  I don't know if it is a decision I may live to regret as not having seen them for 4 years, we don't know just what is going on exactly.  I know Hubby's older sister won't offer any real assistance, she lives in NSW and we haven't seen her in 4 years either.  She never even mentioned getting them over here.  The main problem is that his parents have no money.  They rent, they own nothing of any real value.  We don't have the money to enable us to fly backwards and forwards if something goes wrong.  I know that Hubby will be worried sick about them if they stay where they are.

Right now I just don't know what to do.  I want to persuade them to come over there as I think at least that way it would ease the worry for hubby.  I have no idea how we would afford to bring them here as I know that straight away it would involve Hubby going over there to help them pack up etc then we would also have to pay for them to get here, which will involve passports etc as they have never left NZ before.  If they do come here, it will mean that we can't move to the country or interstate either (an idea we are tossing up, one which is/was sounding very appealling).  I wouldn't feel right moving them here and then we move away as well, that just wouldn't be fair.  So to do this would also put our dreams on hold,,,,,,but now I am being selfish aren't I????? lol.

Aaaagh

I don't know what to do or not to do as the case is.  I'm the outsider and I should just keep my nose out of it to an extent but I also know that Hubby will be left playing "Piggy in the Middle" between his sisters.  Crap, Crap CRAPPPPPPPP!!!!  Life sure does suck sometimes!