Kids are back at school...deep breath and attack the house,,,,,maybe tomorrow????

Well we survived the school holidays.  Yep I have the usual "mummy guilt" of them spending too much time on the Xbox etc but I will get over it.  I had the stepkids here for 10 out of the 17 days so that was quite limiting on what I could achieve outside of the house.

I have tried several times to write this post, as there was something I was going to say but I don't think it would be right to talk about it.  So frustrating!!  It is one of those times that so many of us who have blogs go through.  How much to share with everyone.  This is my style of diary, even though it is kind of irregular lol, but because it is "out there for the world to see", you have to limit how much you truly write about.  I don't like to whinge all the time and sometimes I feel that is all I seem to do.  There is so much going on in life right now that I would love to use this as a bit of a venting board but I know that because it most often relates to my stepkids and their other parent/s I can't.  Aaaaghhhhh!

Okay moving on lol.

Our diet has been pretty shocking over the last 3 weeks.  Today I finally got back to the weight that I was 3 weeks ago,,,,even though I did get lower at one point during the school holidays, lack of exercise and/or too much food intake ruined it and I went back up again.  We really need to get back on the horse so to speak.  Our measurements for this week were bad as well with both of us gaining cms instead of losing them.

But this week is a new week and we can get our routine back on track.  We are going to start trying some new recipes for a bit of variation as we have been kind of stuck just rotating 4-5 meals around in circles lol.  Lunch and breakfasts have been pretty stagnant between only 2 different things as well.  For the sake of Mr17's school project this needs to change quickly.

Our exercise has been pretty irregular the last 2 weeks as well.  We were supposed to be trying out the Wii Family Trainer and the Wii Fit but instead, we stuck to the Bowflex and the Treadmill because they were more convenient (sadly though, we missed alot of days :(   slack I know!).  This week though we are using the Wii Fit Plus.  I did my session this morning and had fun with it.  I just used the Wii Fit Plus section today and burnt approx 145 calories according to the Wii Fit.  Hubby will be doing his training tonight.  The kids and I were supposed to be walking to school this morning but naturally, we got up to find it was raining and I certainly didn't fancy walking 2kms there and 2kms back in the rain.  I also didn't want the kids getting saturated as they already have colds.

So, tomorrow is a new day, the house will gradually look better and my mission for this school term is to get some more of the house painted and keep on selling things online.  We have finally decided on some tiles for the kitchen walls (only taken 4.5 years lol).  We will pick them up this week and hopefully we might be able to make a start next weekend,,,,,unless something else comes up which is highly possible!.

Right, now that half the day has gone lol, I might look at getting some stuff listed on Ebay before I go and pick up my clan from school in 2 hours.  Back to the school time routine again,,,,always takes about a week to settle back into it lol!!!

Where is the time going.....

Here we are, Friday 20 April.  The last Friday of the school holidays already!!  I know many parents dread school holidays but I have learnt to love them.  Only problem is, they go past way too fast.  I find that since we generally have my stepkids in the first week, and as that always means we are housebound while hubby is at work during that week, that the first week disappears and we don't really do anything with the kids.  I always feel sad that the kids have spent way too much time in front of screens as my time has been taken up with Mr11 with Autism.  It gets to the end of that first week and I feel totally drained of energy.  This time my energy has remained drained.  I don't know why I just feel a little flat.  I think lately everything has just accumulated and after my last post about things going wrong.....well yet more things have gone wrong but I'm not going to bore you with the details.  Everyone is still alive and kicking (animals included) so that is all that matters.  Once again I had so much I wanted to achieve with the kids these school holidays (game wise) and we haven't done any of them.  We have been home enough to play heaps of games but none were achieved.  I found all the little bits and pieces that had to be done took up alot of time and by the time I could actually sit down and play a game, well it was time to think about dinner.  The after dinner routine for these school holidays has been watching movies with the kids.  So by the time dinner and dinner clean up happened and the kids had their showers etc, it was movie time and the games were pushed aside yet again.    Then the boys have been with their Dad for a few days here and there too that also meant less time.

The boys are off with their dad today and won't be back till dinner time tonight.  We also get the stepkids back tonight for the weekend.  Tomorrow Mr11 has his friend coming over for a sleep over and of course we have soccer games each day of the weekend.

Today I need to get this house back into shape, it is just all kinds of disgusting right now.


Oh yeah,,,,the diet is still going, although school holidays have been a struggle as far as the exercise routine went, we had to deviate from the plan and our food intake has been a little less than ideal.  But our results for 6.5 weeks have been:

Hubby has lost 5.8kgs and 20.5cms and I have lost 4.5kgs and 32cms.  (Yesterday our results were better but we both gained a heap yesterday due to having to eat out for two meals!!)  I am beginning to see the results of our efforts.  No one else has made comment so the changes aren't huge, but I can tell by the way my clothes are fitting that I am changing.  I have been wearing loose fitting clothes so that is probably why no one else has noticed lol.

I will leave you with a few photos I have managed to snap over recent days.

Life can be so cruel sometimes......

I seem to be complaining alot lately, I apologise for that.  Life at the moment seems to be one thing after another going wrong, some I have mentioned, others I have let slip by unmentioned.  Today though I'm mentioning because I am beginning to feel swamped by all these things.

As you may recall we had to get our precious older dog, Billy put to sleep about a month ago.  This was totally heartbreaking as you can imagine.  Things have also been going on with my stepkids which I can't really share here but these events have been consuming us and life as we know it right now seems to be in the hands of Hubby's ex at the moment.  I know that sounds confusing, and believe me it is, but lets just say that we have no idea where life will lead in the next 12 months or so when it comes down to those 2 kids.

My Mr17 bought a car a couple of months ago.  That went great for about 7 weeks.  One day he went to drive to his mates house and the Distributor Module went $320 later it was running again.  The next night he went for a drive, it overheated and cracked the radiator.  We got a new radiator and hubby fitted it only to have it die again on the way back from my ex's house where the car was.  This time the timing chain and a blown head gasket.  It sat in our front yard for a few weeks as we pondered what to do.  We couldn't really afford to fix it and Mr17 certainly couldn't.  Hubby found an older guy who owns an auto wrecker yard who also has a couple of older mechanics working there.  They fix cars as a sideline.  Well lets just say they were brilliant.  Ended up costing us just $750 for them to fix the head gasket, timing chain, a solanoid thing in the starter motor, new thermostat and water pump and another new hose.  The car now runs perfectly.  Mr17 is paying us back a little at a time.

On Saturday morning we got up to discover Mr11's beloved cockatiel, Aussie had died during the night.  We have no idea why as he was just 3 years old.  He was devastated.  It really made me look at the fragility of life and wonder why we are having so much bad luck lately.  The poor kid has now suffered two losses of his beloved pets in the space of a month, it really is unfair.

Yesterday I noticed the dog scratching and discovered fleas aaaghhh.  Today I am out to get flea treatments for the cats and dogs, there goes  a small fortune.  We have been flea free for so long, this just sucks.


Back tomorrow in a happier mood I hope!!!

More snippets from our weekend.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yummy Chicken Salad

A new to me recipe Hot Cross Cookies.....so yummy...will post recipe to my Cooking Blog soon :-)

Our "raid the freezer" stirfry meal when we didn't have kids on Sunday night

My Easter treat to myself bought at a book sale we attended on the weekend

My blog is having an attack of "I don't want to cooperate with you itis" lol.  I don't know what it is doing but I will just carry on as though nothing happened lol.

I have found that since starting our diet our world seems to be revolving around food and shopping.  Its starting to drive me a little insane.  I think I have lost my planning mojo and it is starting to show with us just making the same meals over and over again, both for us and the kids.

I have been browsing through Michelle Bridges book "Crunch Time Cookbook" and I think we will start incorporating a few of her meals into our diet regime.  I feel like we have slacked off to a degree this past week with Easter and Mr10's birthday really playing havoc with our weight loss.  This week we have Mr11 with Autism here so that makes life really difficult too.  I can't leave the house with him on my own because he will just throw himself to the ground and he is getting too big for me to lift now, so we are housebound while hubby is at work and can't get to the shops.  I planned for Easter food really well but not so much for the rest of this week lol.  The best thing about our little diet break was the fact that after having junk food, we really didn't feel that great.  It showed us that our bodies are adjusting to not having crappy food (not that we over indulged in it before but it was little bits pretty regularly lol).  We both really felt it on Saturday after having had junky meals the last two days.  It is great because it is inspiring us to keep going on the diet and even though I hadn't really felt any different or healthier, last week made me realise that my system has in fact changed for the better and it doesn't really want to go back to nibbling on crappy food.

Exercise this week has been a little tricky too.  We were supposed to be doing one of the Wii games but having had between 6-8 kids in the house all the time and will have for the rest of the school holidays for the most part, it has been a little  hard to find time to use the Wii uninterrupted.  Therefore, we made the decision that for this week at least we will do either the treadmill or the bowflex instead.  Next week I will be back to having just my boys and probably a few extras at various points in the week.  I hope (fingers crossed the weather will help me out here!) to be able to get out and about a few times next week even if it is just going for some walks or bike rides!!  Money is tight right now so free activities are a must lol.  As I keep telling the kids, we can leave the house and not spend money and enjoy ourselves,,,,,my boys get it but Miss13 just doesn't, not at all, which makes me feel sad.  It is hard being a step parent and only having minimal influence on a child, especially when the other parent has totally different values than you do....can make life rather difficult at times.

I better go and check on my Anzac cake I have in the oven.  It smells delicious!!  (No I won't be eating it lol, I promise!!)

Week 4 Diet Results

Gee life has been busy this last week or so and with school holidays/Easter/Mr9's birthday later this week, it doesn't look like stopping any time soon!

I thought I would quickly pop in to update our diet results.  We are both please with this weeks results and have our fingers crossed that it will keep on going (having said that we have arrived at the traditional time of the week that we always seem to put on weight,,,,Monday/Tuesday, who knows why lol).

Anyway off we go.....

Day 23 results
Hubby gained 800 grams bringing his total loss to 4.7kgs
I gained 600 grams bringing my total loss to 3.2kgs

Day 24 results
Hubby lost 200 grams bringing his total loss to 4.9kgs
I lost 100 grams bringing my total loss to 3.3kgs

Day 25 results
Hubby lost 1.0kgs bringing his total loss to 5.9kgs
I lost 600 grams bringing my total loss to 3.9kgs

Day 26 results
Hubby lost 200 grams bringing his total loss to 6.1kgs
I lost 300 grams bringing my total loss to 4.2kgs

Day 27 results
Hubby lost 100 grams bringing his total loss to 6.2kgs
I lost 300 grams bringing my total loss to 4.5kgs

Day 28 results
Hubby lost 200 grams bringing his total loss to 6.4kgs
I lost 300 grams bringing my total loss to 4.8kgs

Our measurements for this weeks were down by 11 cms for hubby and 5cms for me.

So after 4 weeks our bodies have shrunk by 32cms for hubby and 28cms for me.

I am pretty happy as I have lost 9cms off my waist, 4cms off my hips and 6cms off my chest and my thighs and arms have lost a little too.  No one has really noticed it on me yet, hubby says he can tell I have lost weight but I'm a typical girl and until someone from outside of the house notices it, it doesn't seem real lol.  I wouldn't say I really feel different or healthier or anything like that, but I have found that my cravings for salt/sugar are diminishing and I have found that I'm not really missing the "junk food" any more.  Hubby and I still have a couple of chips if we make hot chips for the kids, just so that we aren't totally missing out, and the older two boys have both brought home samples of their cooking from school last week so  obviously we had to try their cooking out......I have to remember to tell you all about Mr15's cake tomorrow, that boy really suprised me last week!!

This week's exercise is the Bowflex Machine (weight training).  Last week on the cross trainer just about killed us I tell you lol.  We didn't do as much as we should have and probably if we had done more our results would have been even better.  But we can only do what we can do and we are doing our best to fit in the exercise where we can each day.

This week I promise to update you on my son's cake and his sports day achievement, my latest crochet project and I am bursting to show you all our newest family member.  I was unsure and thought it was too soon for a new member of our family after our dear old Billy passed away just 3 weeks ago but with our younger dog missing Billly very much I gave in.  I will share more over the next couple of days....Stay Tuned!!

Day 18-21 Diet results - Weekend Catchup Soccer Season Kicks Off

Okay I'm a little behind in the diet results aren't I....whoops!
Day 18
Hubby lost 100 grams
I lost 300 grams

Day 19
Hubby lost 900 grams (evil eyes were given again lol)
I lost 300 grams

Day 20
Hubby gained 300 grams
I gained 100 grams

Day 21
Hubby gained 100 grams
I lost/gained 0 grams

Measurements for this week show hubby gained 1.5cms and I lost 4cms

So our total losses for the 3 weeks have been:
Hubby lost 5.0kgs and 21.0cms
I lost 3.6kgs and 23cms

Overall we are happy with the results we are achieving.  I haven't lost much in weight in the last 2 weeks (only 700 grams) but in that time I have lost 12.5cms from my body.  As long as that continues I'm not so fussed about numbers on scales.  Hubby for whatever reason seems to be gaining cms each week.  This week I admit he gained it in his arms mainly so I am guessing that is due to him lifting heavy boxes at work, having said that, it may be simply a matter of us not measuring in the exact same spot each week.  As everyone knows you measure up or down your leg in just a slightly different spot, you will get a different number.

Also this week has seen soccer season kick off for Mr15 and Mr11's kicks off next weekend.  Our lives are now officially sports driven with soccer occupying 6 days a week!  Mr15 bought home his season schedule on Friday night and I was a little (okay alot!) disheartened to see that his games kick off at 8.45am and we need to be at the ovals by 8am on Sunday mornings.  There goes Saturday night movie nights for the next 22 weeks!  Normally we watch a family movie with everyone and then the younger guys go to bed and we watch a M rated movie with the older 2, so it is often 1am by the time we get to bed.  One of his games is down South which is a good hour's drive away so that is going to be a killer I tell ya lol!  I am grateful though that this year he has a few games against Port Pirie which is a decent 2 hour drive for us.  Those games have been moved to 1pm,,,,yay!!!!  Best we start saving for the cost of the fuel to get there the way petrol prices are going!

Yesterday Mr15 played against "The Cove" team.  Sadly he lost 4-1.  They did play a pretty good game though and they could all walk away with their heads held high.  They are pretty much a newly formed team this year with only about 4-5 kids having stayed from last year.  They also have a new coach so it is going to take a little while to gel together.

Yesterday afternoon we drove over to the outer perimeter of the Parafield Airport (this is a small airport just north of Adelaide and only about 5 minutes from where I live) to watch an Airshow they had on yesterday.  We had Mr11 with Autism with us so we couldn't stay too long but the kids got to see a few planes doing their acrobatics which was pretty cool.  There was no way we were going to pay to go to the Airshow, they were charging $25 for adults and something like $12-15 for children.  That I thought, was a little over the top!  I was disappointed I forgot to take the camera,,,,,,I am shocking for this lol, I always forget!!!!

Day 18 Diet Regime

Just a very quick update today.....

Day 17 results
Hubby lost 400 grams bringing his total to 4.4kgs
I gained 100 grams bringing my total to 3.1kgs.

I gave Hubby the evil eye look this morning when he reported his loss to me,,,,,he didn't even exercise at all yesterday!!  I on the other hand walked 4.5kms and did my exercise on the vibration machine.  Life can be so unfair lol, us girls have it tough I tell ya!!!!!!!!!!

Today's menu is:
Breakfast - Poached Egg on Rye
Lunch - Tuna Melt
Dinner - Salad (not sure exactly which one yet lol)

Now please excuse me, I have to go and retrieve my kitchen........this is what it looks like at this moment,,,,see that grey bit that pokes out here and there on top of the cupboards, well that is my benchtop, somewhere under all that clutter.  This is the result of me not having cleaned up after  people for two days,,,,,,,none of them seem the least bit bothered but it stresses me out!  Another thing that is driving me nuts is those walls,,,,,,,we still haven't tiled them and it is just driving me insane.  We think we may have finally made up our minds now though and we just need to do it.  (I'm a little nervous, we have never tiled before and we are going to give it a go ourselves,,,,,,crap I hope it turns out okay!! lol)

I can't believe I have actually shown you all this disaster zone, lol ok I am off to make it look nice again.  Seeya!

HAVING LESS STUFF AND LEAVING LESS FOR OUR KIDS TO DEAL WITH....

As I have sat here listing things to sell on auction sites, it has made me realise the need to own less.  Lately I have listed cookbooks and knitting patterns, some of which belonged to my mum.  My mum had a smallish collection of Australian Womens Weekly Menu Planners and a larger collection of knitting patterns, many of which had been torn from magazines over the years.  When I lived at home I cooked many meals from the little Menu Planners and she gave me a few of them which contained my favourite recipes when I left home.  When Mum had to move into a nursing home almost 3 years ago, 2 of my brothers and I were left to clear out her unit.  My sister in law got in on the act too.  I arrived there that morning after taking my kids to school to find a trailer half filled with "rubbish" (or so it was deemed by my sister in law and one of my brothers).  I was shocked.  Perfectly good woolen blankets were in that trailer.  I got angry and hauled them back out,,,,honestly who would just toss out woolen blankets???  I told them that with 6 kids, I would certainly make use of them!  I headed to the bookcase, knowing that my Mum's old encyclopeadias would be hitting the bin too.  I piled them up to bring home with me, knowing that the kids would enjoy looking through them (and they have!).  At the time I forgot about these little Menu Planners.  It was only when I went to visit my brother the other week that I noticed sitting on top of a box at their front door, a large bundle of Menu Planners.  I said to my Sis in Law "I didn't know you collected those too" and she said "oh I don't they were just some from your Mum's house that I'm giving to the Salvos cuz I don't want them".  I took them out of the box and placed them in my car - she wasn't impressed - even though I said to her how sentimental they were and how much I had used them when I lived at home and how my kids have enjoyed cooking from them too.  She muttered under her breath "you probably got the good ones at your house" lol.  Upon getting them home I realised there were about a dozen that were double ups, I have no idea where those ones came from but I decided to list them and as with anything of mum's that I sell, I put the money aside to buy her some new clothes as the need arises.  (My sister in law doesn't see the point in this either, but Mum gets the pension and by the time nursing home fees chew up that, there isn't much left for any luxuries for her, so to me, every little bit helps)

I guess the moral to my story here is that so many of us have so much "stuff" lying around our houses.  When we get old and if the worst should happen and we have to suddenly go into a nursing home or we die unexpectedly, it is our children who get left to go through all that "stuff".  I am a sentimental person and I have "inherited" boxes of mum's ornaments, suitcases of clothes and shelves of books.  Naturally the clothing she has used, as I rotate clothes around for her taking up new clothes each change of season and bringing home the other stuff she has at the nursing home.  As for the ornaments though, 99% of them are stored in boxes in my carport.  I have taken out a few of the more sentimental items and have displayed them in my house but the rest sits in boxes.  So much stuff did get either tossed out or given to the Salvos as there is only so much that you can keep.  Her furniture had to get sold.  It was a lot to deal with when we were all feeling so stressed out about the whole situation.  Doing this made me decide to get rid of stuff in our house.  I have so much to list and try to sell.  So much stuff has been donated to the Salvos etc it is truly unbelievable. 

While we are striving to live a simpler life and get rid of stuff we don't use, thinking back to my Mum's house makes me just want to get rid of it all NOW.  I don't want my children having to go through our things and feeling guilty at having to get rid of it.  My husband is right when he says we should try and sell stuff first and then if it doesn't sell either Freecycle it or give it to charity.  We have always looked after our things and our kids have mostly done the same.  Very little goes into the bin here, it is pretty much all worthy of earning a place in someone else's home to be given a second chance.  My husband and I have decided this week that any money we make from selling our bits and pieces will go towards a holiday with the kids.  Hopefully a trip to the Gold Coast again.  Since so much of the things we have to sell are actually kids toys, we figure that they too, should benefit from their sale. 

So for the time being, I will be striving to list as many things as I can.  I sure could use that holiday and I know that emptying this house out a bit will make me feel much better too.

Growing Up......

My Mr17 is growing up.  I know, I know, he is 17 years old, naturally he is growing up, nearly full grown even, but to me it seems like just yesterday when he was a baby.  My baby that wouldn't sleep, my baby that would wake up the second we got into bed, my baby that slept between us most nights, my baby that cried on his first day of kindy.  My baby that has struggled through school but has never given up.  He has always tried so hard.

Well my baby now has his P plates and is therefore driving independently.  My baby has bought himself a car.  My baby now leaves the house in his car and I seemingly hold my breath until I hear that car pull back into our driveway.  I have been feeling more stressed than usual lately and hadn't been able to put my finger on it, now I think it has hit me.  I am stressing because he is driving, alone and also with friends in the car.  Even though he isn't driving far and I know he is a responsible kid, it doesn't make you worry any less.  I know I have to get over it and accept it is just a part of life, but right now I want to turn the clock back and start over lol.  My youngest will be turning 10 years old in a few weeks, how did that happen?  My stepdaughter is now a teenager, the little munchkin, who a week after I met her, had her goldfish die and she cried so much and I told her that he was swimming with all the fishies in heaven.

Watching your kids grow up, is so wonderful but at the same time, so sad.  I truly makes you want to just take a step backwards in life and appreciate every moment just that little bit more.  To have taken more photos, enjoyed more time, put aside the housework and the mundane chores and just lived that little bit more with the kids.

I feel like I didn't take enough photos.  I so wish I had taken more. 

Life is full of "I wish"es isn't it?

Life is moving so fast now,  the weeks are whizzing by.  Mr11 has just started playing soccer.  Mr9 still doesn't have a sport of his own.  Other than swimming lessons he doesn't do anything else, he isn't sure what he wants to do and that is ok, he will work it out.  In a way I am glad.  Just with two kids doing sports our weeks look like this.

Monday - No sport - its homework day (get as much done that night to free up time in the rest of the week lol)
Tuesday - Mr11 soccer training
Wednesday - Mr15 soccer training and Mr11 Karate
Thursday - Mr 9 and 11 Swimming lesson and Mr11 Soccer training
Friday - Mr15 soccer training
Saturday - will be Mr11 soccer game
Sunday - will be Mr15 soccer game

Mr17 no longer does sport as he has chosen to concentrate on his Year 12 studies and his part time job.
Miss13 does no sport as she is only with us alternate weekends during school terms and her mum refuses to allow her to participate in it as "she just doesn't have the time to take her to training and games etc" (I won't even start on that one!!)
Mr11 (stepson) sadly cannot participate in anything due to the nature of his Autism.

This post has really been a waffle of a post lol, I apologise.  I didn't really have much to talk about but I have waffled on for what seems an eternity.

I guess the whole point of the post is my desire to shout from the rooftops that I want life to slow down a bit.  I want to hit the Pause button lol.....please???

Mish Mash Post for a Mish Mash Week

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you seem to do nothing but rush around and in the end achieve very little.

Over the past week I feel that my feet have barely touched the ground.  First week back for the kids at school saw mixed emotions from them and from me.  In some ways I was happy to see them back to school as it gives me a few hours of "alone" time during the day, but that alone time also bought a sense of "where do I start and how do I get it all done",,,,,I truly felt out of sync with the world.  On the other hand I quite honestly can say that I hate the school routine.  I hate the lunch box packing and the kids declaring that they hate sandwiches,,or should I say they hate lunchbox sandwiches lol.  Give them a toasted sandwich and they will gobble it down but for some reason none of them are overly taken with fresh ones....so odd I am the opposite.  I just can't get my head around making sure there is a piece of fruit for each lunchbox, a muesli bar, a yoghurt/custard and maybe a piece of cake.  I haven't even baked yet.  Normally I have baking done ready for lunch boxes but I cheated and bought some from the shop instead and I also bought some marked down cinnamon donuts as back up in case I hadn't baked by the time the other cakes ran out.....soooooo bad!!

Last week saw small amounts of housework get done and I can quite honestly say my house is a bomb site even by my less than perfect standards.  There is ironing I did on Saturday still waiting to be put away.  Unless I nag at everyone, it will continue to just sit there.  Sometimes you get so over all the nagging that you constantly have to do that you just think "stuff it, I'm  not bothering, it can just sit there...." which is precisely what I have done.  I have more ironing that will need to be done tomorrow so I'm saying nothing to see what happens but I can guarantee you that until I nag, none of those piles of clothes will move!

My crochet frustrated me so much this week.  I started on a new project, another scarf which may be for me or I may put away for a present, will see how it goes.  It took me 3 restarts to get it right.  I couldn't believe the first two times it just didn't look right.  I was getting so frustrated.  Then as I unravelled the second attempt, I sat there staring at the now familiar pattern and realised that instead of doing 3 trebles as part of the pattern I had only been doing one,,,,,DUHHHHHHHHHH lol, it clearly said 3T, 3CH, 3T but I was reading it as 1T, 3CH, 1T,,,,,just don't ask me how I managed that twice!!!  Anyway it has now been started again and it looks similar to the pictured scarf and I am happy.  I am still have problems with my tension, I think I crochet a little loose but I refuse to restart and at the end of the day it is a scarf, it won't really matter too much provided it is consistently the same tension lol.

Oh I forgot to show off my bag that I made too.  Here is a pic.....hmmm well I thought I would have a pic but at the moment I cannot get this darn thing to co-operate with me and load my pics,,,,,,have I ever mentioned how much I hate computers??? lol.  Tomorrow I will try again,,,,stay tuned......

Okay I really have to go and do something about these dust bunnies that are hiding in the corners of each and every room, if I don't return you will know the dust bunnies turned ferocious and ate me lol.

Cya tomorrow!!! :-)

PS....I really think I should turn the name of this post into the "Whines and Whinges of  a Crazy Housewife" or something along those lines lol, I truly am sorry for the amount of moaning and groaning I do on here,,,,I really am a nice person lol.

Miss 12 turns 13 - Bring on the Teenage Years for our only girl!!

Well it has happened,,,,our only girl in this house of boys has turned into a teenager, a scary thought lol.

She has changed so much this last year as she has progressed through to the end of primary school, ready to start high school in two weeks time.  The language has changed (not for the better I might add!), the likes and dislikes have changed (also not necessarily for the better lol) and she has become struck by this mysterious disease called "Bieber Fever".  This is a girl that hated Justin Bieber with all her might earlier in the year last year.  I, in my mean mum phase, made all the kids watch the Justin Bieber "Never Say Never" movie because I wanted to see it out of curiousity so it became one of our Friday night movie night movies lol.  She grumbled and had a intense sour look on her face for the entire movie.  The boys put up with it and I think actually quite enjoyed it to an extent.  Anyway about 6-8 weeks after we saw it, she all of a sudden was obsessed with him.  She declared that all she wanted for both Christmas and Birthday was Justin Bieber stuff.  Well we kind of had other plans for Christmas, I don't really go into fads too much, because in the past she has been known to change her mind at the drop of a hat and the said fad items are then left to become giant dust bunnies under her bed.  So Christmas saw her getting a Calendar, book and towel in amongst her presents, oh and a JB CD too.  That to me was plenty of things to keep her happy and yet still allowed for a few other gifts that would stand the test of time.

For her birthday though, I decided to go against my usual thoughts and give her a truly Bieber birthday.  She needed a new bike so that was her main present but over the last couple of months I had searched Ebay and the like and got some real bargains for her, spending quite little as they were at bargain basement prices.  I got her a stash of Bieber presents.  She ended up with a cover for her DSI which lives at her mum's house and is now smothered with Bieber.  She got a phone sock for her mobile phone which her mum bought her.  She got a tshirt, 2 pillow cases, a mug, 2 books, I made up a frame and filled it with photos of the Biebenator, she got a Bieber birthday card and a personalised plaque for the wall and of course her much asked for Bieber cake.

I struggled with this one.  I can do cartoon characters but Bieber, well this is one I really had a problem with.  My solution in the end was to print a few pictures and laminate them and stick them to the cake.  I did the cake purple and pink, her favourite colours and then in icing I made the words Justin Bieber with a love heart and the number 13 on it.  She was suitably happy I think with my efforts, probably more so than I was.

The table was a sea of wrapping paper as I wrapped each thing individually.  Thankfully about 80% of the wrapping was left intact enough to be reused (I hate seeing wrapping paper get tossed lol,,,,I tend to use it to post items I sell on Ebay, especially DVDs!!)

I just realised that in my blog absence I hadn't posted anything for my 2 boys birthdays, or much in the way of Christmas,,,I have been so slack!  Here are a few photos from these other momentous events that have taken place in the last few weeks......

There was Christmas baking with the kids.....

There was a 17th Birthday on Christmas Eve....

Then there was Christmas,,,,waiting for the everyone to gather for present opening can be so hard on Christmas morning lol......

 There was playing in the pool with their big cousin on Christmas day (this was my brother's pool, we don't have one lol)

There was a 15th birthday party with some good mates.....

and just an overall good time has been had for the most part.  Christmas holidays are a time where I always have great plans but in the end very little of those plans get done.  With the 3 birthdays and Christmas the first 4 weeks of holidays pass by in a blur and then we are organising the back to school stuff,,,,,why can't the summer break be longer?????? lol I can't believe I actually am saying that!

School Holidays,,,,busy doing nothing

First of all I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Our Christmas Day began with the usual chaotic morning of present unwrapping and ooohing and aaahing over the gifts, followed by lunch at my brother's house and christmas night was just Hubby and I as the kids all went to their other parent's houses for dinner.  (This meant we got to check out the Kinect on the new family (or should I say Hubby's Xbox lol,,,,,,,our house really didn't need another Xbox but Hubby's puppy dog eyes won out on that one, but that is a whole other post!)

For New Years we headed down to Victor Harbor a beautiful seaside town about 2 hours drive from here.  We set up our tent in a caravan park down there and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon just milling around the park, followed by a beautiful barbecue dinner and on New Years Eve we spent the day exploring the local area and the kids spent a couple of ours on the beach while Hubby and I relaxed watching them enjoying themselves.  The weather for this weekend was very hot in Adelaide, high 30's/low 40's forecast and it was quite warm, even down on the coast, although thankfully not as hot as Adelaide!  After heading back to our tent for a chicken and chip dinner, we got ready to head to the beach for the New Years Eve Festivities.  They had rides set up there for the kids (at a price!) and of course the kids got their rides on the dodgem cars, Ferris wheel and one other fast spinning thing that Miss12 jumped up and down with excitement about and dragged Mr17 along for lol.

Miss12 and Mr11 chilling in the tent

Our little campsite

On the way to the beach

Dodgem fun

Waiting for the fireworks, complete with glow bracelets to keep them occupied

Glow fun on the beach

This photo doesn't look full of fun lol but they had all been laughing just before I took the photo!!

I hope you all have a wonderful start to the new year.  This week I have a houseful of kids, Monday was Mr14's 15th birthday so he had 3 friends over to stay, they went home Tuesday night.  Mr17 and Mr11 were away for Tuesday night, Wednesday night saw Mr11's friend over for a sleepover until tonight and today Mr9 has his friend over for the day, then the same friend will be back again tomorrow with his older brother who is Mr11's friend as well.  Tomorrow night the step kids arrive for a week and as Miss12 is celebrating her 13th birthday today, we will be having her friend over for a sleepover tomorrow night and of course our traditional birthday dinner of pizza, party pies, sausage rolls and the usual party food......tomorrow I also have to create a Justin Bieber cake of some sort lol, could be interesting!!

I am still here.....

Hi everyone, thank you for your comments regarding Hubby's impending job loss.

Sorry I have been missing in action, part of the reason is that I have been feeling a little, I don't know, "lost" could be way to put it and partly it has been just due to the usual Christmas madness at this time of year with kid's school things.

Hubby's job continues to cause us stress.  The guy from Queensland has already left, he got time off due to the stress of it all and they basically just paid him out until the end of the month straight away.  The guy from Sydney is working up until close of business on Wednesday then he joins the unemployment queue.  Found out that at the same time they did this they also fired the guy from Tasmania which is especially cruel given that he moved his whole family down there 2 years ago to start up the operation and in that time he lost his mum a few months ago and his daughter just 2 months ago and now this.  My hubby has given them a counter offer in a bid to save his job and they are considering it,,,,,,,,they won't give us a definite answer though, which is so frustrating.  He has offered to run as a one man band (which makes life very hard when you need to be on the road as well as in the office/warehouse at the same time) and take a pretty large paycut (which I am still trying to juggle things to cover that possibility).  Jobs right now are hard to come by in Hubby's field, doing what he does.  His job is safe till end of January, we know that and we know we have pay until end of February so we have 2 months breathing space but it doesn't stop me worrying.  I have been out of the workforce now for 13 years and naturally I also stress that to make ends meet our family life will have to be turned upside down.  Hubby and I would love to do something together but finding something that fits and doesn't stretch the budget too much is also a problem.  As you can see, right now my head is spinning.

Christmas is usually a time of year I love, this year, not so much.  Our usual Christmas light display is a mere shadow of its usual self.  We don't have a huge display but I normally feel proud of our little display that we put together.  This year our huge inflatable Santa ended up with a huge hole in it and that kind of put a dampener on our display and hence it never really got finished which is a shame.  Still we do have some lights up along the gutters and around the windows so I guess it is better than nothing.

Luckily we were organised on the present side of things and we only have a couple of things left to buy, 1 for my brother and 1 for Mr14.

I look around my house though and feel like everything has kind of just been thrown together this year, maybe its just me but it doesn't have its usual Christmas cheer and sparkle.  I am just putting all my efforts in to making it a special time for the kids, regardless of the pressures of life.

Last night we went on our first of 3 Christmas light tours.  We went to see the Brewery lights, the huge Xmas tree in Victoria Square in the city and then to a few sets of house lights on the way home.

Tonight we will go driving around to various other houses which have been decorated and tomorrow night we will go down to Ethelton where there is a street that really goes out to impress with their light displays and then go around to some local one which are computerised to music and are absolutely brilliant.

Last week we had my Mr11's Karate grading for his Orange Belt.  He proudly wears his orange belt now :-)

Last week we also had Mr11 and Mr9's POP day which is like a Christmas concert.  Mr11's class did a Hula Hoop demonstration which went really well and Mr9's class sang a couple of songs,,,,so cute!


Also last week was Miss12's Christmas Concert and then her Year 7 Graduation.  Next year she begins High School.  I can't believe it!

I had a dress in mind for her but had to leave it up to her mum to do the dress shopping.  I wish that I had just bought the dress for her, her mum couldn't be bothered and rushed out on the day of the Graduation to get her something.  Miss12 wanted a purple dress and nice shoes,,,,instead she ended up wearing what appear to be her mum's sandals :(

We have my stepkids this weekend and Miss 12 has shared with us some news about happenings at her Mum's house which she isn't very happy about so I think there is going to be some trouble in the wind very soon.  We have been watching this unfold over the last couple of months but she hadn't said anything to us.  This weekend she has told us that she isn't happy and doesn't really want to be there.......this could be fun....NOT!!

 What is the saying,,,it never rains but it pours or something like that, mind blank sorry! lol.

I will be back during the week to share some Christmas Light photos.

I hope everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit and enjoying the lead up to Christmas,,,,,,just 6 sleeps to go!!

From Hubby's Boss......Merry Christmas........

.....your position is terminated!

How cold and heartless can big companies be.  This company took on 3 guys in 3 states of Australia, taking them from a company they all worked for but were unhappy in.  He wanted to expand his company in the area that these 3 guys specialised in.  He has had them for no more than 11 months at the most, got the information and the new customers he needs and now has terminated all three of them at the same time quoting it is due to the economic climate....this is while announcing he is hiring 4 new storemen in Victoria and WA!

I just want to scream right now!

Such kindness is shown in Blogland :-)

Recently I was reading Emily's blog Little Farm In The City and she was talking about her loofahs and was offering some seeds to her readers.

Well I have never grown Loofahs before and have never for that matter seen the seeds for the plants.  Since I have become a little bit of seed fanatic this year I emailed her and lucky for me she still had some available.

I was chuffed when I went to the letterbox yesterday afternoon and she had sent me a gorgeous card and a packet of seeds.

I can't wait to plant them, and I have a couple of the little people eager to help me grow some loofahs too (although I think they have other plans for the loofahs,,,,but that is a whole other story lol).

Thank you Emily, your generosity is most appreciated!!

Finding the Joy in Being a SAHM

Sometimes I think we Stay At Home Mums forget just how important our "job" is.  Some days I think I should be out in the workforce providing a constant source of income.  Other days I love my job just the way it is.  Yes more money would be nice but how much would I have to sacrifice for it?

My Hubby goes away for work sporadically throughout the year.  Often he gets only 24 hours notice of a 2-3 day trip.  This is fine, I hate it, but it is fine since I stay at home.  If I was working it would be a totally different story.  There would be childcare that would have to be arranged out of the blue.  My kids school Out of Hours School Care group is usually pretty full as it is and often don't have places available for extras.  I don't know that the extra stress placed on the kids and I would be worth that little bit extra money a week.  I think if I worked I would have to find a job that was just in school hours.

Then I think of how much I do around here and if I worked alot of it just wouldn't get done.  I know many women balance the two but I'm at the stage where I'd like to explore new things.  I want to learn to be more self sufficient and hence save money rather than have to spend a large portion of my income just so that I can work.  If I worked there would be transport to and from said work to consider (I would need a new car as our old Tarago is on its last legs and only gets used for the school run and shop run).  I would need new clothes.  Then of course there would be probably child care for the younger two boys and the older two would become "Latchkey Kids".  Then we have school holidays where we also have Hubby's two kids.  There would then be vacation care for 4 of them and my stepson with Autism would require special care (he has previously been "thrown out" of vacation care that his Mum has had him in, due to his high needs and behaviours).  Of course, with me working there would be less baking done and also probably more take away or preprepared meals entering the house and the expense associated with it.  When I sit back and add all that up, would working really, honestly, be worth it????

Staying home enables me to keep my house clean (well kinda lol).  It enables me to plant and care for seeds which will hopefully produce food for us.  It enables me to bake treats for the kid's lunchboxes without having to resort to shop bought cakes/biscuits which are full of preservatives etc.  It enables me to cook from scratch, cooking most of our meals at home.  It enables me to prepare the kid's lunchboxes each day, saving money on school lunches.  Naturally my wardrobe is pretty daggy to say the least, but when I am cleaning and gardening and baking throughout the day, who needs to be dressed up fancy lol.

Yes life can get mundane and boring but you know what?  I really don't think I would have it any other way.  I am starting to get a new appreciation for my house.  I have ideas that will turn it into our home.  They will take time to save up for but I know that eventually we will get there.  If we move in a year or two, then we move but in the mean time we will work towards making this house look the way we would like it to.

Money is tight, yes, but when I add it all up, I don't think that me working will change it by much, by the time you add up all the extra expenses working would bring.  The kids are only kids for such a short time and I don't want to miss it.  I feel like my eldest has gone from toddler to teenager in a blink of an eye and when I sit back and think, I can't remember where all those years went.  I feel like since my Ex and I split up, there has been so much happening and life has been so busy that I forgot to sit back and enjoy my kids.  I hate that more than anything. 

Starting today, I want to ensure that I live in the moment more often and just relax and let the little things slide.  Life is to be enjoyed and our kids are precious.  I will get stuck into seriously decluttering and either donating to charity or selling online the things we no longer want/use/need.  This can bring a little extra money into the house, it may be small amounts but they all add up.  This is what blogging and reading all those wonderful blogs out there has taught me.  Reading blogs has given me new skills, a new mindset and  most of all inspiration to achieve so many things I had never really thought possible.

So I want to say a big thank you to all the wonderful bloggers whose blogs I read daily, the ones that I read weekly and just all you wonderful bloggers in general.  I may spend way too much time exploring Blog Land lol, but it is time that I think is totally worth it.

Image from http://www.desiglitters.com

I'm trying to be grateful......really I am!

 

The last couple of weeks have been pretty full on with sick kids, Hubby's work, my Stepson's Autism tantrums, my stepdaughter's moodiness and my own kid's homework/school hassles.  I am trying to be grateful for the small things but right now it's a little tough.  The above photos are of the basket of ironing that is waiting for me and my folding which I did this morning.  This bed you see pictured here is my stepson's.  The room is our old loungeroom.

Earlier this year we decided that our large family room was only really being used by my stepson and no one else really used it for much.  So we moved out of the smaller front lounge and into the family room.  Yes the extra space is nice but now our old lounge is rendered a vacant lot for the majority of the time because my stepson is the only one that uses it.  Now as you will see we have a strip of vinyl which runs from the front door though to a door which is barricaded off by his bed.  The horrible dirty looking concrete floor used to have carpet on it,,,,,,that is until Stepson moved into the room and proceeded to use it as a toilet :( (the joys of having an autistic child that sadly isn't toilet trained and after 8 years of attempts being made I am beginning to lose hope of it ever happening :(  I could go on about the amount of gross behaviours that this child exhibits but I think if I did, I would find my friendly followers would all fly the coop lol).  If I took another photo of the room I would show you the curtains, or what is left of them that Stepson has also destroyed.  The remnants  now sit at varying lengths along my nice big front window.

Right now I quite honestly don't know what to do about the whole room situation.  I hate having a room that looks like a war zone when he is here and this barren wasteland when he isn't.  I hate that he can't simply share a room with one of the boys, but sadly that would be a recipe for disaster and we would find that the boy's things would be destroyed very fast, not only that we have to barricade him into his room at night or he will be literally destroying the house, raiding the fridge and every light and piece of electronic equipment would be on.  When he is here keys have to be hidden and the house has to be locked up like a prison or he will go walk about.

Some days I find it hard to be grateful and today is one of them.

I guess one thing I am grateful for is the fact that he doesn't live here full time like he used to.  The stress one child can place on a family is immense.  His mother doesn't seem to bothered but the state of their  house I believe is totally atrocious, I simply can't live like that.  At Mum's house he is apparently left pretty much to do what he wants, there isn't much supervision.  We have heard from my Step Daughter that he got into the little kid's chocolates from easter and ate the lot in one sitting.  He destroyed her Nintendo DS.  They simply replaced it for her.  We can't do that and I believe that Autistic or not he has to be taught to fit in somehow.  Days like this I sit here and think about what the future holds for him and I guess for us too.  What happens when he is a teenager and bigger and stronger (he is very tall for his age as it is).  What happens when he finishes school, what future does he have.  

In his eyes, I am the Wicked Witch of the East.  When his Dad leaves the room he runs from me, not wanting to be near me.  If I go near him or into "his" room he screams, and I mean blood curdling screams that you would quite honestly think he was being belted within an inch of his life.  I quite honestly expect to have the police knock on my door one day during school holidays, when I have to care for him up to 10 hours a day by myself.  I am sure that the neighbours must think I am abusing him.  Out of those 10 hours he can sometimes scream for at least half of them.  School holidays can be very short on fun sometimes for our house.  The other kids spend way too much time on Xbox or Wii or generally in front of the TV as I simply can't go out when I have him.  My boys really look forward to the half of the school holidays when we don't have the stepkids here.  I hate that, it shouldn't be like that :(

OK enough of my ranting, I will go and do this basket of ironing, so at least the clothes can all be put away and the room looks a little less like a chinese laundromat.

Followers gadget not working....

Just a real quick one for today......is anyone else having problems with their followers gadget.  Mine isn't working on either of my blogs.  I have taken them out and put them back in again time after time but they are only working sporadically if at all.  I look at other people's blogs and they have theirs working so does that mean its just me???? lol

What will summer be like with days like this in August????

Adelaide has apparently had its warmest August on record (or at least for a long time I can't remember which).  I wonder what Summer has in store for us...........................................I HATE SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!

Just the thought of the possibilities makes me want to move country or at the very least to move to Tasmania!!

I think we had best make the most of the beautiful weather while we have it, before it turns into unbearable heat instead.

Have a great weekend everyone.

All back to school

Do you ever have moments where you wonder if you have done the right thing?  I have sent my two littlest soldiers off to school today.  Both were eager to return.  Mr9 just has a cold, he is over the runny nose stage and just has a chesty sounding cough which I have had checked by the doc who said its okay its an innocent cough.  So I know that he will be fine.

Mr11 with Pneumonia though, the doc said he could return to school when he felt up to it.  He was adamant that he was okay to return today.  He had his puffer and antibiotics before he left and so he should be fine but I am just hoping he doesn't over do it.  I told him to take it easy.

I hate this part of parenting,,,,the worry, it can drive you mad if you let it, I am sure of that!!

Today after having sickies home for the better part of the last 2 weeks, I should be getting stuck into some housework but I really don't feel like it.  I have stuff that I really need to go out and do, shopping for example but I really don't want to.  I just honestly don't feel like doing anything....lol do you think anyone would notice if I spent the day in front of the TV with coffee and chocolate and any other junk food I can lay my hands on????????