Changing ones mind.

As a mother I'm allowed to change my mind and realise my mistakes.  The hard part is explaining myself and holding true to myself.

I've stuffed up with Marko and his damned, stupid, irritating, life-sapping xbox.  I allowed him to play war games, I purchased them for him.  These are not just war, but graphic, realistic, blood splattering, violent war games, ones that are rated MA15+.  Not sure entirely why I ignored the rating when I got the first one.  He said "all my friends are playing it" I believed him and truth be told they are "all" playing it.

The latest and greatest of the Modern Warfare series came out this week.  I heard on the telly that England is trying to ban it due to its extreme violence, realistic graphics and scenes that are obviously based on the Underground bombings in London several years ago.  Mark is desperate for this game.  Desperate to the point of tears when told NO.

There are two reasons not to purchase this game in particular.
                             The violence.
                             The cost.

Mark's response is: "Its exactly the same as my other games"
Me: "You don't need it then, play the ones you've got"
Him" THis one is better"
Me: "Oh well, too bad, I've made my decision and its NO"

Tears! Slamming of doors! Aggression!  (Yet he swears black and blue that he is not being affected by these games).

He wants to know why he's allowed to play the old games and not the new one.  So I've offered to sell them all.  Didn't get a favourable response to that one.

I just don't know what to do at the moment.  I feel hypocritical.  I'd love to sell the whole damned system.  I want him to be a kid, go outside and play.  He is only interested in killing people on that stupid console.  Tomorrow we MUST put the timer lock onto it.  He has no self control with time.

grr

I'm currently on hold to Centrelink.  Enough to drive someone to drink!





We've had a super busy weekend, and physically I'm paying the price.  Aches in my knees, hips, back and shoulders.  Not happy Jan.

Currently I live in a massively messy house.  I need to organise the kitchen so its habitable, the laundry (which is seconding as our bathroom) is full of shit (oops I mean stuff).  We have bare floorboards in every room, along with staples and dirt.  OH THE DIRT.

I need to de-staple Ryan's room today, Jamie will sand the walls tonight and then we can paint is either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Went shopping today, bought (or is that brought) 4 t-shirts, 2 shorts and 5 socks for Mark as he appears to have grown on the weekend.  Everything is too small, too tight or worn out.

Got myself 3 tops and a pair of fashionable shoes, quite excited about the shoes actually.

Halloween mask and some cookies for Marko's party / get together tonight.

Photos of the Munchikins

This is from tonight (19th October), Ryan was happy to have his picture taken, but Ben was not feeling very safe.

Starting out having solids, rice cereal is pretty yuck, but he does seem to like pumpkin and apple.

Morning tea time at Speers Point Park.

Ben at Speers Point Park.  

It must be annoying being stuck in the pram,
when everyone else gets to play.

Mark and Ryan in the water play area.  This was a tap that kept on running and gets recycled around.  Ryan was enthralled by it.

Ryan with Christian's scooter.  (Christian is Mark's friend Damien's little brother).  Ryan LOVED this scooter, it's essentially a bike without the pedals

Ryan with the rocket launcher.

Ben after a bath.

Moving

 In 6 or 7 weeks we will have packed up our home in Shortland and will be on the road to our new/old home in Tullamarine.

Its a massive move.  We've been here for 8 years, we've almost doubled the size of our family.  We've accumulated, oh how we've accumulated.

When we moved up here, we had approx 50 boxes of stuff.  I'm most intrigued with how much we'll have this time.

So far I've packed the china cabinet, trophy cabinet, photo albums, Mark's stuff (he did that himself) and half of the book case in the lounge room.

* * * * * * * 

We also need to finish off the renovation!

Soon, we are getting new carpet in the four bedrooms, the hallway, the lounge room and what we have renamed the "rumpus room".  The bathroom is halfway done, the kitchen still has 5 things to be done.  Ryan's room needs to be painted.  Might need to replace the clothesline, paint the "post" on the front porch, weed the garden and tidy up the backyard.

Getting it off my chest.

Currently not coping with my lot.  I don't want to sound ungrateful, I'm terribly grateful.  I have a man who I love.  3 healthy children. A good job. Money. Family.  So please don't think I don't appreciate all that, but some days you just need a good moan.  So for this post, I don't plan to punctuate every sentence with "but I really love him" as that is a given.  This is straight up saying how I feel.

I'm not happy.

I'm not coping with my Ryan, he is 22 months old and at the moment it feels like he is never happy, he is sooky, selfish, grumpy, annoying and a poor eater.

Today he woke up at 5.30am, I gave him his milk in a cup and then put him back to bed.  He talked to himself until we got up at about 7am.  That is pretty good.  He isn't unhappy in his bed.  His breakfast this morning was poor, wouldn't eat half of his (one) Weetbix, sultanas and a drink.    Anything not eaten is thrown on the floor.  He is refusing to go into his highchair, back arching and screaming when I attempt it.  As for going out, don't get me started.  I'm hating leaving the house with him, he has become "that child" the one that screams.  He doesn't want to be in the pram any more (and I don't blame him, he's nearly 2), but I'm not entirely ready for him to walk.  When he walks, he runs away.  If I can get him in the pram, it feels like child abuse, pushing him in the chair.  Awful.  So how am I dealing with this.. by not going out without Mark or Jamie, or waiting until Jamie comes home and leaving the boys at home.  Hence they are not being socialised and not learning the proper social skills for out of the house.

I'm very stressed about his lack of language skills.  But am not willing to do anything about it until after our move.  Maybe I will.  Oh dear.  I'll call a speech path today and see what kind of cost/wait it is.

I'm stressed about Mark.  He is addicted to the xbox and I can't seem to stop him playing it.  That feels like a cop out as he's only 13 but its the truth.  Yesterday at the end of the day he calculated that he played for at least 7 hours.  That's not good.  I can't get him to do homework without threats and I don't like that.  This afternoon he needs new shoes, so we'll go shopping and then he can do some homework.

Ben is a dream except he has nappy rash which is making me feel like a bad mother.

Jamie is working so hard and I'm just riding him harder.  He have to have everything finished in about 6 weeks now, but I thought about it yesterday, he knew all year that we were moving, he's known for 3 years that we were renovating our kitchen.  I don't need to feel guilty about him doing 15-18hr days at the moment as it should have already been done!  Harsh but fair.  Plus when we get to Melbourne, he most likely will not be working, so can have a break then.

Sometimes things just happen

And you haven't made a conscious decision about it.
Take Ryan for example: he now only gas one nap! Surprisingly this works.  I don't recall thinking the two.naps are gonna be over soon.
And take Ben: all of a sudden I was carrying him on my hip, not in my arms.....
Weird.

WOW

I'm almost at 500 posts on this here blog.  Who would have thought?


Mark:

Today starts the beginning of Term 4 at school.  Mark went off this morning in a mostly happy mood.  Challenges this term will be getting to bed on time (he believes he is 16 not 13), prioritising correctly and limiting time on the blasted xbox.

I asked him yesterday what his priorities in life were, after a bit of thinking

1. My brothers
2. Doing well
3. xbox

Do wish xbox wasn't on the list, and wish that I was on the list.  But that seems fair (and quite sweet).

This term I believe will be the same as the other terms and there will be bugger all homework, I have a feeling that Waratah High School is catering to the lowest common denominator  and not pushing the children. Last term he had weekly Maths homework and one other assignment.  Most of the parents I know have rules that are

1. Homework 
2. Chores
3. Blah blah blah
4. TV or video games.

If there is no #1 it makes it hard to enforce it.  So I'm thinking that there will be limited homework again.  So I want him to make time each day to walk the dogs, do the chores, do some reading which he is really lacking, do any homework and THEN play xbox.


Ryan:

Is 22 months old now, almost 2 years old.  He is a strong willed little fellow, who is a bit whiny and cranky these days.  His main problem (I believe) is his speech, he lack almost all speech, except for MUM and UGH.  He has said "thank you", "I don't know", "football" and others.  But those were one off's. 

His eating is still pretty poor and his ability to drink from a cup (just embarrassing).  But mostly he is a happy guy, likes to kick balls, tap balloons, dance to his favourite song "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO still!

Haven't decided whether to move him into a big boy bed yet.  My heart says NO, so I think I'll listen to my heart.





Ben:

Ben is gorgeous.  He's super happy, barely makes a sound, so much so, that when he does cry, we don't know what to do.  As he is six months old now, we've started him on some solids.  Yesterday was good, he had rice cereal in the morning and mashed pumpkin for dinner.  This morning the cereal didn't go down well.

He's trying to roll, trying to sit and can be quite noisy (which is a contradiction) but its happy noisy, so that doesn't count.  Loves looking at his brothers and when he's allowed to hold a toy, he likes it.

His whole body smiles when he smiles and we all adore him.


BIG NEWS:

We're moving back to our home in Melbourne.  I've resigned from work, last shift on the 13th November.  Jamie is due to resign any day now.  We are moving any day of the week commencing the 5th of December.  So home for Christmas!

It'll be really sad to say goodbye to the friends we've made up here in Newcastle, but it was never supposed to be permanent.  This year became the year to do it.  Very happy with the decision too.

Heating up

Well only sort of...

Today was at least 30 deg and it was warm.  I didn't mind it though, I love wind and it was mighty windy.  It was windy enough for Newcastle City Council to evacuate the Art Gallery because of the fig trees.  

I've had Mark at home for the past two days, he's had a cold and hay-fever.  Its quite nice having him around, but he really needs to go to school.  Driving me freaking nuts... he is highly addicted to his Xbox, Jamie and I are really wishing we didn't buy it for him for his birthday.

The babies are gorgeous.

Turning 38

Saturday was my birthday.

I wasn't expecting much.  Jamie always forgets to prepare.  Mum had been in hospital, so couldn't send a card, Dad wouldn't send a card.  The rest of the family are not "senders" either.  Sure they'll call, but send a card, ahhh no.

Saturday morning, 4am, Ben woke up for a bottle.  I had a pain in my chest, it hurt when I breathed (get it, hurt all the time, but was worse when I breathed in).  The pain went through to my back, I thought it was my back-pain playing up.  Then my mind wandered, the pain when I was breathing, was this a pulmonary embolism?  Best plan... ignore it.

5am Ryan woke up, the pain was worse, I felt I had to "hold my chest" which is not an easy thing to do.  I ummed and ahhed for a bit, by 5:30 I had woken Jamie to ask him what he thought.  I had a pain in my chest, all over my right side, my back, felt nauseas and a bit sweaty.  Jamie consulted his "first aid" book and then we both decided it would be best to call the ambulance.  We did and one was here in about 15 mins.

The worst/ best part was the pain went away - before the ambulance came.  They did an ECG, blood pressure etc, all looked normal, but we decided I'd go to the hospital anyway to be checked over as I had never had any thing like that before.  Plus all the advertisements say "don't wait when you have chest pain"

They took me to the Mater Hospital, and the nurses were sneery at me.  I'm sure the ambo handed over "Here is Christy she had chest pain ***whispered*** but its all in her head ***returned to normal volume*** we've done an ECG" blah blah blah.

The nurse did another ECG (my skin has reacted to the adhesive!).  Within 5 minutes the lovely Dr David arrived and he took my history and some bloods.\

Then Dr Katie (I think) she was an intern on the Renal side when I was largely pregnant with Ben and was completely thorough and wonderful, she remains so.  She came and had a long chat with me, explained that I hadn't had a heart attack, didn't have a blood clot and now I'm thinking it was an anxiety/panic attack.  I was home by 9am.

Good start to one's birthday don't you think?

The fellas picked me up, gave me a lovely card and a Lotto ticket, my real present is a ticket to Dolly Parton for later in the year.

I ended up not going to work, had a snooze in the afternoon as I was feeling *heavy and down.*  We went to the Shortland Pub for dinner with my dearest Terese and her boys.   It was very nice indeed.

So Happy 38th Birthday to me.

Why???

Why do things have to change?  Blogger looks different and I don't like it.

Emails.

Email is a fact of modern life. Different people use it, well, differently.

In our family, email is at the top of the ladder of communication. Emails are read promptly, answered promptly and most definitely kept!

When people ask for help, it is provided, but then they don't respond for two days... why ask for the help unless you actually need it. Then PLEASE say thank you, so we know you have received said help.

Its hard to put yourself in someone else's positon and know their regard for email. I feel everyone should be that same as me... surprise surprise.

What is your email philosophy?
What is your Facebook philosophy?
What about Twitter?

I quit Twitter because it was too constant and far too flirty for my liking. As a lot of your will know, I love Facebook, I feel its my home in a way. I respond to a lot of stuff, and it confuses me when people don't comment on your comments. Maybe I'm craving attention... oh I know I am.

The toddler's baby.

Ryan loves his teddy, Roger. He is quite obsessed with him at the moment. Started about 3 weeks ago. Roger had to be taken everywhere, given super tight cuddles and is really treated as his baby.

Roger has an incontinence problem, so is normally seen wearing a nappy. He is sometimes dressed in a onesie. He is put in the rocker. He is put on his tummy for tummy time. He requires to be wrapped before bed, sometimes he needs a longer sleep than Ryan, so we must creep out of the room, so as not to wake him. Roger likes a drink of pretend milk out of a bottle.

I love that Ryan has this imaginative play. Mark was not big on it. He preferred to push a car around. Ryan is not a "player", he likes to run around, and throw/kick balls. He is also VERY big on playing Daddy to this bear of his. I'll upload a video in another post (from my phone) of this morning play... very cute.

Tuesday Rants.

I feel a rant coming on.

#1. Motorbike insurance.
In NSW you need "Compulsory Third Party" (CTP) insurance, also known as a Green Slip. This is to cover injury in an accident. In Victoria this is a general insurance called Transport Accident Commission *TAC* and it is a part of the cars registration. In NSW, they have privatised the CTP part, so you need to shop around for it as well as your comprehensive insurance. That is the back story!
Jamie rides a motorbike to save money on petrol for going to work. It was up for renewal this week. The Registration costs $111 for the year, CTP is $421 and full insurance is $374. We have to do this for 3 vehicles every year. Jamie shopped around for his CTP, found a better price (our previous company wanted $50 more), but he was informed that the CTP will NOT cover at fault accidents for his own injury (I'm pretty sure that is what he said). So in the very unlikely event that Jamie would cause an accident on his motorbike....

Just read the fine print. Jamie got me in a tizz for nothing. Most of the greenslips are a "no fault" argh.

Coping with a 20 month old.

I think I'm having trouble with the gorgeous Ryan. I have just admitted in writing here that Ryan is hyperactive, aggressive and destructive. Its completely true as well.
It's not all the time. Most of the time he's affectionate and sweet (always hyperactive though). But its the aggression that is worrying me.

Reading what Courtney said in the link above, and I shall quote:

In considering Pudge's behaviors, we could definitely classify most under two categories:
1. Behaviors that occur because she doesn't have the communicative skills to appropriately express herself (i.e. slapping an adult across the bottom or jabbing a peer in the chest to announce her arrival instead of using her voice to do it.)
2. Behaviors that occur because she is sensory seeking. (i.e. emptying toy boxes and laundry baskets and any drawer in the whole blessed house she can reach, tackling her brother, body slamming the shih tzu, etc.)

Pudge is an almost 3 year old girl with Down Syndrome, so her challenges are different. That being said, Ryan is still non verbal, he grabs me by my jeans and pulls or pushes me until I'm where he wants me to be, I know there is a voice in there, just want him to say "come here Mummy". The sensory seeking part is very very true (just wish I knew what it meant), he opens everything, pulls out stuff, goes through any open door, escapes at every opportunity. Ryan is also similar to Pudge in that he has a high pain tolerance. Give him a needle, he'll give you a dirty look. Fall over and get an egg on your head, rub it better and just a little cry. Smacks on the hand are greeted with amusement "why the heck did you do that?"


But onto the aggression. Mark is rough with him. Mark is very rough with him. They "play" constantly, in a throw you around, pretend to hit, trip you over, yell in your face. Mark never (well hardly ever) uses real words when around Ryan, its all "arrrrhhhhhh" and stupid laughing. Whenever Ryan starts to cry because Mark has taken it too far, "I was just trying to make him laugh" Who freaking cares about him laughing. Its teaching a wrong behaviour. Ryan is learning that aggression is ok, because Mark does it. Ryan will then choose his target - Ben. But Mark (sort of) knows when to stop, Ryan is still very young, and doesn't yet possess the skills to say, oh this might hurt Ben.

I seem to be stuck on a record player saying "time to calm down Mark", "stop screaming Mark", "that's enough Mark". What if my younger boys only remember me being angry with Mark?

The hyperactivity is crazy. He runs from the minute he wakes up. If he sits down, he will want a blanket on his knees (its cold here at the moment and we don't use our heater, we put blankies on our laps). Instantly the blanket is pulled up, he is standing up again, spins in a circle, sits down and does it all over again. This can happen 10 times in the space of one minute. The only relief Ryan gets is when he is in his high chair, bed or car. I wish sometimes he would just relax, but he doesn't seem to be able to. I take him outside to run around and kick the ball, but I never do it for long enough, so then there is a tantrum.


At least he still sleeps fantastically. 7:30pm until 7ish. Then a 2-4 hour nap in the day time. PHEW. But last night he woke at 12:30 and was awake until around 2:30am... strange.

Is it because of this challenging behaviour that I'm almost relieved to be going back to work? I feel a bit of a failure as a parent at the moment, I know I'm not. But the lack of talking is really getting me down. Last night our friends daughter said "I love you Daddy". She is about 3 months younger than Ryan! BUT she is a girl, the eldest and her mother is a trainee primary teacher.

Advice is most welcome.

Confused.

Mark, Ryan, Ben. Ryan, Ben, Mark. Ben, Mark, Ryan.

Too many names. Oh there is a good one, "Jame, I mean Mark"

What the heck do you call them??

Gorgeous little boys.

Happy 4 month birthday to my little dude Ben Arthur. Time has gone so quick.

So being 4 months old means he had needles today. He's currently sleeping it off. He was really good about it, so good in fact that Ryan got a lollypop!

Ben is getting quite chunky, his face is filling out, he is full of gorgeous expressions. I just love him to bits.

Ryan is a handful, but then he's 20 months old. He's getting taller (just). But its his understanding that is amazing. As you know, we've restricted dummy usage. Now when he gets out of bed, he hands him dummy to me and we place it on his dresser. He also gets to suck on it during nappy changes (a trick that Roy taught us), this morning I asked for it back after his nappy change and he wouldn't open his mouth. So I said to him, its either give me the dummy or you go to your cot. No handing back of the dummy, so I put him to bed and he fell asleep. Also yesterday, I was sitting on the floor feeding Ben, I asked Ryan "please give mummy the remote" and I pointed to it (it was on the next chair) he walked over, picked it up and handed it to me. Excessive praise given. He's a smart cookie.

Mark is a teenager! He's totally obsessed with war video games, they are very *very* violent, so he spends most of his time killing people! As always, he's great with the little boys, although sometimes a little rough. Food and filling Mark is an issue. I feel I want to say another story, but I can't remember it.

I must find my camera cord, I need to upload photos.

Today

This is a post about the Today show. (I was going to do it on my phone, but I'm at my computer now, so will do it here - quicker)

I spent years hating the Today show, I was a firm fan of GMA (before it was axed) followed by Sunrise. I loved Kochie and Mel and their antics. But then they started to sour on me. I think it was during the coverage of the Christchurch earthquake when Kochie was standing in front of the Grand Chancellor Hotel and you could just see him wishing it would fall down so he could be in the footage.*


Then I saw/read that Karl Stefanovic was up for a Gold Logie. Not that dickhead Karl I thought. Then I switched. He is very funny, I love Georgie and Ben. Lisa is the weakest link I feel, but still think she is great. The things that irk me about the Today show.

• They sit so close together on the couch, I know its so they both get in the shot. But I don't even sit that close to Jamie, let alone someone who isn't my husband.
• What is Richard Reed laughing about all the time?
• Why is Richard Wilkins still on tv?
• Why is the weather readers job the best on tv?
• How come they spend so little time on each topic, surely some things deserve a little longer than three minutes.
• I think its funny when the segment "Girls on the Grill" comes on, Karl starts with a "Good morning to you Lisa and Georgie" yet they have all been talking and sitting together since 5.30am and the segment is at 8.30am

And I shall leave my Today discussions there.






* I don't know whether he was actually wishing that, but it sure looked like it.

Blogging on the go

Now have installed Blogger on my phone. More silly typing on this touch pad.
Sitting here watching Masterchef, once again frustrating the hell out of me. None of them have ever skinned a chook before, but they only give them the bare basic time. Why why why?
I was talking to Jamie yesterday asking about this conflict that "they" say is necessary in reality shows. Who wants conflict? Who wants this stupid pressure? Not me, I'd rather see them do it well and see how to cook the dishes rather than super complicated food.

Today's cooking.

I'm making Beef Stroganoff for dinner (minus the mushrooms).
Dessert is going to be some sort of apple puff/turnover, need to find a recipe for it.

I played secretary for MyNetHost this morning, two of our clients needed some help, so I did phone support and got them through it. Very satisfying that. It also baffles me in this day and age that I rang a client and they gave me their credit card number no questions asked. I still have it written in front of me. If I was another person (ie my evil twin or just plain criminal) I could do some online shopping.

Babies are both asleep. Neither really napped at all yesterday, so I am looking forward to a peaceful day.

I was sick overnight, that was yuck. All better now.

A week in the life.

I'm starting this on Monday!
The idea/suggestion came from here.

The idea is to write down the nitty gritty of day to day life to document it.
Although my life is quite mundane, it'll be interesting in years to come to look back at how I survived the two under two phase (with a teenager).

So I'm putting my *memory joggers* in a display folder with my camera and I'll document it all on here too. Yay, that should be exciting.

Coffee.

We have a Caramali coffee machine. Its pretty awesome and Jamie makes great coffee out of it, (I'm still learning).
Last week whilst it was heating up, there was an awful smell. Plastic melting or something like that. No smoke, so we checked out our downlights but alas, it was the poor coffee machine.
It has since been pulled apart, de-scaled and is currently soaking in hydrochloric acid (eek). Having a LOT of trouble to source the offending part that melted, but in the mean time its getting clean and hopefully put back together.

Post Script.

We've relented a little.

Bed and nappy change ONLY for the dummy.

He has been pretty good with that.

He is a little bit little to be stopping completely at this stage.

**********

I had the best evening with Ryan yesterday. We played "kick to kick" for about half an hour. We had cuddles. He was clearly indicating what he wanted.. alas no words, but I knew what he was after.

The tale of the dummy.

Our dummies (or pacifiers) have always been blue, but this has been the saviour for the past 20 months of our lives. Not just Ryan, but Jamie, Mark and I as well.


Mark never took a dummy. So many of my friends say it too... I'm hearing that phrase belong to first born, healthy children. We have time to rock them to sleep, other "stuff" isn't as important.


Ryan's first day was in NICU (yes only his first day, but the dummy addiction started then). NICU give babies dummies. So from day one he had the blue thing stuck in his mouth. He has had it on a chain (for some reason I call it a dummy catcher), attached to his top 24 hours a day. Over the past 4 months, I guess from just before Ben was born, we started to give it only to him in bed. Take it off him when he got up. But often the little tyke would sneak back into his room, reach into his cot and retrieve the dummy. Two hours later... "where the heck did that thing come from?"


Then Ben was born, Ryan's little life was turned upside down, so I relented and let him have the dummy. The molar teething started, and I relented. Then he got a cold and I relented. Then I just couldn't be bothered, so I relented.


The addiction was entrenched.


Then in the past three weeks, he's been losing it. Taking it off of his own volition. This has been VERY painful, as the latest dummy was essentially clear and difficult to find. He would take the chain off when having a drink, dropping it "wherever". Tossing it when he got angry *which is frequent. The last straw was the biting. He bit holes in the teat, therefore making it a choking hazzard. I've had to buy several new dummies recently due to holes. At $5 a pop, I wasn't going to make a habit of it.


Tonight - 26 July 2011 he bit a hole and then chewed until the teat came off. He looked quite proud of himself. Jamie said "Ok, that's it, dummy is gone" I have to agree, its embarrassing to go out with a toddler who has a dummy. So we prepared. We talked to him, reassured him that although his safety net was gone, that we would still be here and he can go to sleep without it.


He SCREAMED, no make that S---C---R---E---A---M---E---D for a full hour. Threw his blankets away, threw Roger bear away, threw B1 away. Thrashed around the bed. I consoled him, Jamie consoled him. We gave him a drink, then he started screaming again, Jamie went back in, he'd done a big poo. Once cleaned, he lay down calmly with Roger under the blankets and actually drifted off to sleep. He's been asleep for 70 minutes now and I haven't heard a peep out of him. Maybe when he wakes up, he'll be sad. Tomorrow will be another challenge, but its nice to know it can be done - its his first time EVER!

Oh no, I think I could be pregnant!

Well I did just clean the kitchen.

I even lifted everything off the top of the microwave.

There can be no other reason.


I forgot to take my camera yesterday. Hopeless.


Another TV rant:
Why the heck are there three renovation shows on the telly at the moment. Two of them are on the same channel. It makes no sense. Two appear to be completely identical.
The Block on NBN
The Renovators on channel 10
Top Design also on NBN
Madness. Stupid challenges to make "twists and turns" rather than showing people how to renovate. Like I said with Masterchef, use some editing and allow people to do a good job. Completing a dodgy renovation in 24 hrs is silly. Do a good one and take at least a week. What is wrong with quality work rather than speed.

Photos.

I want to do this in my house! Thank you Apartment Therapy for this idea.

I need to print out some photos and make a cool wall. Our house in Melbourne has a black tiled wall in the entrance that is a little bit retro, maybe it could go there. The other idea is if we block off the office/dining room it will make a HUGE wall in the lounge room that could do with a lovely massive piece like that.

Gloria Jeans

I'm going for coffee with Mrs McLennan today. I'm going to take my camera and take some photos cos that's what the cool kids do!

Curries

As a family we are getting mighty addicted to curries. Makes it hard when one of the eating members of the family is a toddler.

Jamie loves his vindaloo... dont' know if he really loves it, or loves the idea of it. I made one from a supermarket vindaloo paste and was told it wasn't right. So I suggested he throw it out, oh the flavour is right, just not hot enough! Surely the flavour is more important and the pain of excess heat is not necessary.

Mark and I are loving butter chicken, had it from a jar tonight and in a word - yuck.

Tonight's vindaloo was made from scratch, I used the mortar and pestle for the first time, he said the heat was "just about right", the flavour was right but the colour wasn't the same as in the shop. One day I'll get it right.

Must attempt the butter chicken from scratch next.

Tomorrow I'm making Margaret Fulton's Meatloaf, which we had at mum's house and it was super delicious.

It must be hard to be a teenager.

I'll admit it, I've just been snooping on Mark's Facebook page. He no longer uses it, but its interesting to see what the "kids" are up to. To be honest, its tragic. Desperation in their posts.

• Like this if you think I'm hot,
  
• inbox me,
  
• would you go to my funeral.
  
• The mild cyber bullying,
  
• lots of name calling and
  
• those cryptic posts which also cry desperation, can someone please ask what I'm talking about.
  
• Kids who are not yet 13 declaring undying love.
  
• You've scarred my heart.
• Bragging about wagging school (apparently its called whopping now)
• Bragging about being in detention!

Reading that, I know I've got a good boy. He runs a little hot and cold, he sometimes doesn't listen good enough. But he's exactly where I know him to be, he isn't obsessed by oversexed girls. I saw one photo that was bordering on a sexting photo. I don't want him to grow up, but I know he will.

Masterchef

I have a strange relationship with this show. I want to like it. I watched the first season with a passion - recorded every ep for when I was on arvo shift. But then wasn't able to watch the final week because we were on a ski holiday and the house only had Foxtel!! So three months of solid viewing to be robbed of the last week.

I didn't watch Celebrity MC because it didn't interest me. Same for Junior MC. Same for series 2. But I wanted to watch this one. Even made a Facebook critique group.

But 7.30 is a bad time for me, channel 10 no longer works in our kitchen where I'm trying to clear up after dinner. Mark has an xbox, so he's in the lounge room where channel 10 does work.

But two weeks with my mum in Melbourne and I got hooked. It was New York week. But it was stupid. One of the challenges was making a 3 course meal, but they had to do a treasure hunt to find what the recipe was within Times Square, then make their way to that restaurant, then to the Four Seasons Restaurant, then cook a very intricate dish all within 3.5hrs. Another challenge was Harlem Soul food that they had to reproduce within a ridiculous time limit and were not given recipes. If someone told me to cook "collared greens" or "gumbo" after one taste I'd be screwed. And I'm 10-15 years older (ie more life experience) than most of the contestants.

Why give them time limits, make it you have a day (like real chefs do - they prepare in the morning, cook at the time) and the producers can do their thing and EDIT the footage. There is no reason that anyone should have undercooked chicken because they spent most of their time peeling potatoes.

In the soul food episode they should have shown us how to make the roux for the Mac & Cheese. Where are the recipes?
Fried chicken, someone should talk us through it.
Ribs... what was in the sauce?

Frustrating!

Food

Have I talked about food recently?

I haven't actually posted recently, so that'd be a no.

I'm roasting some chicken pieces for Mark's sandwiches. A lot of effort for sangas. But to buy a precooked chook is $10 and I got 2kg of frozen chicken pieces for $10
Tonight I shall roast, tomorrow I shall turn them into sandwiches. That being said, I should rescue the bread from the freezer.

I also want to make some vegetable muffins.

The spice mix for my beef vindaloo that Jamie is having.

Also need to make an alternative meal for the rest of us, damnit, should have bought the pork.

Also have choc chip cookies on the menu (to be made).

Off the computer and back to the kitchen.

Illness & Injury

We've not been "right" this week.

Firstly Ryan:
We went to playgroup, there is an outside section with a kids roller coaster (if you have a big back yard, this would be awesome). Ryan loved it, he kept indicating more, I finally got him off it and busied him with something else, but then a little girl hopped on the car. Ryan ran over, tripped on a tricycle and landed on his nose, we have a graze! Later in the day, I picked him up and collided chin with thumbnail and we have a graze! Two days later, other side of the chin collided with my thumbnail and we have a graze!

Mark:
Nothing to report. Just normal puberty stuff and a sore foot. I think that new footy boots might be in order and some good fitting runners. That kid is growing like crazy.

Ben:
He's just delightful in every way. He's so friendly.

Jamie:
Nothing to report.

Me:
As I have talked about previously here, I injured my breast, had some attachment issues and therefore have had a lot of pain. I have been expressing my milk, and all week have been feeling like I was going to get a cold / flu, but it never eventuated. I called the Breast Feeding Support Line yesterday and she felt that might have an infection... after talking about it to 7 different people (Jamie, Mum, Breast feeding lady, receptionist and nurse on the phone of GP Access, nurse at GP access and finally the doctor) I have been given antibiotics and hopefully will feel better soon. So this morning Ben had his first top up feed of formula and took to it so well. The can states for 2-4 month old make up 180ml of formula, I can express 80ml. OMG that is a huge difference.

Must start packing for Melbourne! Leaving between 4 and 6 tomorrow morning.

30 Day Music Challenge

This is a challenge set down by *someone* on Facebook. I've been enjoying other people's music picks, so decided to do it myself. I have found it quite challenging, due to my crappy memory. So have decided to put some effort into it tonight and come up with the lot - that'll make it easier when I'm in Melbourne on my holiday!


day 01 - your favorite song
Lola by The Kinks This is my standard answer to all "what is your favourite song" questions, but truth be told, ever since I made it my ringtone for about a year... well it doesn't hold the same appeal.


day 02 - your least favorite song
TNT by AC/DC - I don't necessarily hate this particular song, but the way its played at my house. Jamie and Mark play it very loud, and often several times over. I feel they think its a boy song, so as boys they must like it. Which stands to reason that I'm a girl, so I must dislike it.


day 03 - a song that makes you happy
The Circle of Life from The Lion King. This reminds me of Mark's toddlerhood. We saw this in imax, stage show and it makes me all goosey.


day 04 - a song that makes you sad
Ironic by Alanis Morrissette. This one (again) doesn't make me sad per se, but is my "go to" some when feeling sad. Yes its pathetic and obvious, but it was played over and over when I broke up with "the first boyfriend" hahaha, so glad we didn't get married like we had planned.


day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone.
Jolene by Dolly Parton. This one is a little stupid and quite topical. My sisters name is Jocelyn Geary and we call her Jo, so Jolene is sort of like Jo. When I asked Jo to come to the Dolly Parton concert, she said only if she sings "Jolene"


day 06 - a song that reminds you of somewhere
Tomorrow by Silverchair. This reminds me of Torquay in 1997. I went to a music festival that changed the course of my life.


day 07 - a song that reminds you of a certain event
Halo Theme Song - this one reminds me of the Boeing Strike that my family was a part of back in 2006. We had a little community all set up and most evenings were spent playing Halo on the linked XBOXs. Of course I didn't play (I can't do video games) but the blokes and the kids sure played it.


day 08 - a song that you know all the words to
You are my sunshine. This is the song I sing to my children. Started off (obviously) with Mark, and felt quite guilty when I sang it to Sheena when she was a baby, felt like I was cheating on Mark. Now I sing it to all three of them and frequently change the words to make it more appropriate for three kids.


day 09 - a song that you can dance to
Telephone by Lady Gaga. For self explanatory reasons... I'm NOT a good dancer.


day 10 - a song that makes you fall asleep
Yellow by Coldplay. Its just so awful, boring and depressing.


day 11 - a song from your favorite band
No Apology by Bon Jovi. I really really like this new song. Jon is still beautiful, I love his voice, I love their show. I'm a die hard fan!


day 12 - a song from a band you hate
Beautiful by Christina Aguilera - Its a nice song, but I can't stand her plastic-ness. She doesn't look like a real person, I dislike warbly singing, eyes closed and hands out in front. ICKY.


day 13 - a song that is a guilty pleasure
Blow by Ke$ha - she's so trashy, but I LOVE this song, I love the film clip especially that Dawson is in it (not a fan of the unicorns though).


day 14 - a song that no one would expect you to love
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. Mainly because I love singing it.


day 15 - a song that describes you
She'll be coming round the mountain. In the version I know, the second verse is "She'll be wearing pink pyjamas when she comes" and I always wear pink pyjamas. I found this one very hard.


day 16 - a song that you used to love but now hate
Sex is on Fire - Kings of Leon. The radio played it far too much and killed it for me.


day 17 - a song that you hear often on the radio
Cows with Guns by Dana Lyons. I listen to the ABC! Every so often they play this as a comedy song. I love it!


day 18 - a song that you wish you heard on the radio
Party Anthem - LMAFO. Same verse same as the first. I listen to the ABC, they don't play this type of music, need to switch to commercial radio and then I'd be well and truly over it. Everybody's shufflin'


day 19 - a song from your favorite album
You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi. Slippery when Wet was one of my first full band albums that I bought. I can still almost sing along completely.


day 20 - a song that you listen to when you’re angry
I don't tend to listen to music when I'm angry. Will keep thinking. I could be typical and chose a song with violent lyrics and one I happen to like. Killing in the Name of by Rage Against the Machine. We listened to this LOUD when Mark was in about year 2 at school and he was horrified, now he likes it too.


day 21 - a song that you listen to when you’re happy
So What by Pink. She's just so cool.


day 22 - a song that you listen to when you’re sad
You Oughta Know by Alanis Morrissette. Hmm. Need to get some other melancholy music. I never plan to break up again, so need advice on general sad songs not relationship sad.


day 23 - a song that you want to play at your wedding
As I'm already married, we did it in a registry office. No music. BUT should we renew our vows.... Throw Your Arms around me by Hunters and Collectors. Its a bit cliche, but I'm cliche. I adore this song.


day 24 - a song that you want to play at your funeral
Its my life by Bon Jovi. That is what I have as my "about me" on my Facebook wall, "I'm a chronic status updater... sorry to those not interested in my life. Its really not that interesting, but in the words of Jon Bon Jovi... "Its my life" But I don't know the lyrics - but I like the title.


day 25 - a song that makes you laugh
White and Nerdy by Weird Al Yankovic. I think he's just hilarious, very very clever. I like his Amish Paradise song too.


day 26 - a song that you can play on an instrument
That'd be nada.


day 27 - a song that you wish you could play
Chopsticks. As I can't play music.. isn't that what people start with???

day 28 - a song that makes you feel guilty
Family Portrait by Pink. I feel guilty (in a way) that I have such a great life. So many people have been hurt and abused by their family, I'm so lucky that my family is awesome.


day 29 - a song from your childhood
Take on Me by A-Ha. I remember this being on the first songs that was "grown up" that I actually liked. Had a crush on Morten as we all did ;)


day 30 - your favorite song at this time last year
Telephone by Lady Gaga - my only repeat!

Against the rules.

Baking rules, or baking blog rules. Everyone raves about Swiss Meringue Butter Cream icing. But I can't stand it. We put it on the rainbow cake that Connie and I made for Jamie's birthday, and I thought it was awful.


I will never make it again, so much more effort than normal butter cream icing. I make a really good butter, milk and icing sugar icing that I will stick with that. One day I'm going to take a course in cake decorating so I can learn to do piping, but until then, my RUSTIC look will have to suffice.


This rainbow cake is so much easier to make than it looks. It takes time, its messy and requires quite a bit of space, but its worth it for the WOW factor that's for sure. I borrowed the recipe from the Whisk Kid, ours again is a bit more rustic, but as I didn't like the icing, I'm sure glad we didn't use as much as the Whisk Kid did!

Frustration.

Oh dear, this seems to be the third time I've written about frustrating situations.

#1. Ryan opening stuff he shouldn't! Well he's a toddler, just have to say no and wait this one out.

#2 Mark doesn't look after himself well enough. He has acne at the moment, he won't Proactiv twice a day as recommended, he won't drink water, he wants energy drinks (the young teen version of alcohol) and McDonald's.

#3. Freaking tenant. I'll leave it at that!

#4. Overwhelming hunger and fatigue. I can't get stuff done, routines are not happening. I'm hungry all the time.

#5 Breastfeeding is very painful at the moment. Quite frightened about the next feed.

#6. I wish I could renovate.




-----------------------------------

A thought that popped into my head which is only slightly related to point number six. The Block is a show putting 4 couples against each other to renovate a house each. One would think the show is about renovations and design... but no. In true reality show stunts its all about creating conflict and stupid games. An entire episode was them running around the sponsors stores looking for little red houses. How am I supposed to learn about renovation if this is what they dish up???

Messes

I know, two posts in two minutes is a little stupid, but I must write these down before I forget. Yesterday was a momentous day in Ryan's life.

#1 HUGE temper tantrum at Jesmond Park. He learned how to twist and project himself over the edge of the pram and SCREAM at the top of his lungs as he wasn't ready to leave the playground. It looked so dangerous the way he was leaning over the pram. He also played a bit in the tanbark dirt and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

#2. I'm letting him have a little more independence, letting him walk from the car to the house by himself. He doesn't go onto the road, he gets up the steps pretty easy. Yesterday he decided to "help" by carrying the empty oil tray to the porch.

The picture above is an empty oil drip tray, but ours does not look like that, ours has dirty, sticky, thick, gluggy, BLACK oil all over it. And that was the tray that Ryan thought would be better moved to the front porch. If I was a good mother, I would have taken a photo, but I put him straight in the bath. Lots of soap later and clothes tossed in the bin, I had a clean boy again. (For the record, he does not like the taste of soap, but must keep checking to make sure)

#3. Later that same day, Mark starts screaming, Mum come quick its an emergency. I was feeding Ben, so was stuck, but Jamie intercepted Mark in the kitchen with Ryan held at arms length. He had gotten into a jar of Sudocrem.

Which I'm currently using on his junior tushie as he's got a mild dose of nappy rash b/c of teething. It is also very thick, sticky and doesn't wipe off easily. Ryan is aware (somehow) that this is nappy rash cream, so he gets it on his finger and wipes it on the side of his leg. I know this because he got a tube of this cream once when I was changing him and as he kept still whilst putting a tiny bit on his finger and wiping it on his leg, I let it continue. BUT this time, it was a huge handful and all over his hand, tracksuit pants,t-shirt arm and face. Emergency strip. Again, we were bad parents and forgot the photo.

Yesterday was a messy day.

Weddings.

I'm sitting here watching "The View" and they are having a wedding special at the moment. Yesterday there was a funny Facebook discussion about weddings and bridesmaids. Which got me thinking about my wedding/marriage.


Jamie and I have been married now for 20 months. We got married at the registry office, only witnessed by the Drane family. I don't regret for a second the way we did it, but do wish our families had have been there.

I never EVER dreamed of a big white fluffy wedding. From early days of thinking about being married it turned my stomach. I didn't like the idea of being the centre of attention, I had a major blushing issue, I can't dance, and the kicker, I take a horrible photo (ie I look dreadful in photos)

I think the main reason Jamie and I took so long to get married was the thought of a wedding. Neither of us liked the idea of it. He's MUCH worse than me for centre of attention issues.

We were very lucky that both of our sisters did the "Big White Wedding". Jocelyn got our side of the family done, Connie did Jamie's side. The aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents all got to see what they needed to see. Ours was not necessary.

We had been together for 9 years, living together for 8. We already had Mark and Ryan was on the way. We didn't need gifts, we don't like parties all that much. We were very happy with our super low key registry office marriage.

When we are about 50, Mark will be 25, Ryan will be 13 and Ben will be 12, I think we can have a second wedding then with all the bells and whistles. We'll be happier in our own skin, it'll be fun. Maybe even do it in Fiji.

CHOCOLATE

Lucky you can't see the toddlers face up close.
Toby and Ryan were given hot chocolates and Jamie makes them the way he'd have them, if he were to drink a hot chocolate. With HEAPS of chocolate. I'm not sure 1.5 and 2 year old boys need that much choc in their hot choc, but if Jamie is a making, I'm a not complaining.


Which reminds me of primary school. Every Wednesday was netball training night, Jocelyn and I went to Clare Owen's house and her mum took us to training (or so I think), we always had afternoon tea there, it was something healthy and a glass of chocolate milk. A middle sized glass with one teaspoon of Quik mixed in. Yes that's right, only one teaspoon, it was never chocolately enough for me. Which is probably why I overdose on Quik now, and why I'm overweight!

Here is a picture of relaxing Ben for your viewing pleasure.

It had to happen.

I got some new lipstick. A beautiful bright red from Nutrimetics, I've always wanted red, so it was on sale, so I got it.

My problem is... looking in the mirror, all I see is my mother. This is not necessarily a bad thing. I think my mother is a nice looking woman...


For 73.



Does this have to happen????

Stacks on.

I'm sure this will be the first of many many of these.
Stacks on Mark.

Concentrating

From what I said a few nights ago, I put a notepad app on my phone for when I get ideas for blog posts, so I don't forget what they are.

#1 Tennis:
Wimbledon has started, its on overnight here in Australia, so if I'm giving Ben a feed overnight, I might put it on. My issue with tennis is serving, their job - their entire job - is hitting a ball over a net. Why do they miss the first serve x% of the time? I'm not entirely sure what x equals, but its high. It is so high that they always take two balls when they are serving. The girls tuck the tennis ball into their undies and try to serve. I think I've just answered my question. The reason they have a fault on the first serve is the fact they have a tennis ball in their undies. The second serve usually goes in, that is because the tennis ball is in their hand and no longer tucked into their undies. So why don't they plan to get the first serve in (not plan for failure by taking two balls), and if they need the second ball, ask a ball kid for one. Ok that is sorted.

#2 is also from my overnight television viewing. From 3:30am, Good Morning America is on. I love this show almost as much as I love the Today show, they have a similar banter. At the moment there is a huge court case of a murder of a young girl in Florida, Caylee Anthony. They are having daily updates about this court case, the mother is on trial for murdering her daughter she is a young woman (born in 1986), reasonably attractive and has a very very strange story as to why her daughter went missing etc. As is sometimes the case, its captured the interest of LOTS of people. One woman I seemed to recognise, she was a character on Boston Legal, well I thought she was a character, until I saw her on Good Morning America. She is a legal commentor called Nancy Grace. I was very very surprised to see she is a real person and the way she was shown on Boston Legal was exactly the same as on GMA.

Thinking...

I want to visit my parents. I'm getting quite keen to do this soonish.

Next week is the last week of school for this term. Mark is going down to Melbourne for the holidays, he's flying down with Jetstar. Now my thoughts are that we change the flight, so the boys and I drive down, Jamie flies down on the middle weekend. Then the boys and I drive back.

I think it is a goer.

Need to convince everyone that this is a good idea.

I am older than I think I am.

I am amazed that I will be 38 years old in 3 months time. That is the age of a mom (yes I must use the American spelling of that, cos 38 is mom-ish).

What???

I am a mum????

Oh yeah, I forgot, I am mother to three boys and one of them is 13 years old.

I wore my favourite duffle coat the other day, every time I wear it I recall how I got it. My boyfriend at the time's step-mother gave it to me as she didn't want it any more. That was 20 years ago. I was given a second hand coat twenty years ago. That BLOWS my mind.

I've been out of high school for 20 years. I don't feel any different.

I still feel that Jamie and I are playing dress ups and our parents are going to tell us to come home.

We have control over the lives of our boys. I have to make decisions that will affect them for ever. Is Mark's playing of Modern Combat 2 going to turn him into a violent criminal and at his trial the prosecution lawyer will say, "his mother let him play M rated games, it was inevitable."

I was talking to Dee on the weekend and her reasoning behind letting 12/13 year old boys play violent video games is that back in our day, Rambo was meant to turn us all into killers, back in ancient Rome, they went to gladiator matches. That famous quote of Socrates shows that kids have always been defiant and should turn out ok

"Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers."

Growing up.

My little man is growing up so much. I can ask him to bring me his socks and will let me put them on.
He lets me know when he's thirsty by pointing to his cup (ok ok, its still his bottle, but we'll move to a cup soon, don't harass me)
When he is given something to eat or drink, he;ll plonk himself down on the floor and wait. Oh and then jumps straight up, but you get the picture.

Problem area is changing the nappy! I know this is a common problem. He won't lie down, he won't be held down. I put him on his back, hold his ankles and then I feel I'll give him a spiral fracture of his leg bones the way he twists and turns. Very frustrating... any tips??

So frustrating.

I really need to carry a notebook with me, especially to the shower. I have all these excellent ideas for blog posts through the night and in the shower, and when I get to sit at the computer, I have nothing, not a single idea.

Little boys are sick. I really wanted to go back to playgroup today, but alas, snotty noses make me stay inside. The BOM says very strong winds coming this afternoon eeek.

Cooking some brownies today. Making one (or two) batches of pumpkin/choc brownies, so had better make plain choc as well.

Injury

Not saying where, but when I was dressing myself today, I scratched a certain part of my body with my engagement ring. No blood was drawn, but this part is getting a real work out for the last couple of months and an injury there is not good. Still hurts an hour later....

Sunday wrap up

Friday was Jamie’s usual day at home. We went to Glendale to pay the tax bill. Now that’s an interesting story. Jamie does his tax late each year, I have no idea why, its one of his quirks. So we have this tax bill, mine is a refund, so it would make sense to do them at the same time, my refund pays his bill… oh well. So Friday I decide to pay the bills. The one for the tax department is there, I look for the POSTBILLPAY code, there is none. There is no website address for paying by credit card. You can not pay your tax bill by credit card, it is not allowed! I did a Facebook update about this to get people’s responses. They ranged from “just to make life difficult” to “you need to pay your taxes with your own money”. In theory I get that, I really do. But Jamie and I have worked our life that our pay stays in the bank for as long as possible to reduce the interest on our home loan. We pay everything by credit card and pay it off in full each month. This has worked for us, it worked for my parents too. Frustrating is the word for it.

I also bought a game. An XBOX game. This is not something that I normally do. I have never had a electronic game (other than my Farmville). I have NEVER played an electronic game. I didn’t realise how much I really didn’t know how to use the controller. When I put the game in (LA Noire for those who want to know), the story was introduced and then a crime was called in and my character had to drive to the crime scene. So I waited for my dude on the screen to go to the crime scene… oops I had to drive the car and take him there. I don’t know how to drive using an Xbox controller. I had to call Jamie in, he taught me and I drove very badly. I think I may have run people over and had several crashes. I got a headache quite quickly, so made Jamie control the game and I told him where I wanted him to go. We have not gotten very far so far.

Mark went to his friends house for the night. The little boys are getting colds and are actually not very happy people. Football was cancelled due to the rain through the week. Flooding inland and to the north of us, but a LOT of rain here. Most the land surrounding us to swamp lands, so it becomes sodden very quickly.

The boat is getting closer to being able to float again, Jamie installed the transom (that is ‘boating’ for back) that for some reason needed replacing.

LIST - a-z.

A

- Available: No.

- Age: 37

- Annoyance: No one helping around the house

- Animal: My dogs, but am NOT an animal lover.

B

- Birthday: 17 September

- Best feeling in the world: Motherhood - is that a feeling though? I do like satisfaction of a job well done.

- Blind or Deaf: Deaf, I think.

- Best weather: 22 deg and a little cloud cover.

- Been in Love: Yep

- Been on stage?: Year 9 play at school, got to hit Reece Brownhill over the head.

- Believe in Magic: Nope

- Believe in Santa: Nope

C

- Candy: Chocolate

- Color: Pink

- Chocolate/Vanilla: Chocolate

- Chinese/Mexican Food: Mexican

- Cake or pie: Cake

- Cheese: Not a huge fan, but do like a good cheese toastie when the cheese oozes out the side.

D

- Day or Night: Night

- Dancing in the rain: Hmm, don't think so.

E

- Eyes: 2.. haha green.

- Everyone's got: umm....

- Ever failed a class?: No, but did get an E for small business, maybe I should tell Jamie about that, might not let me do the books for his business.

- First thoughts waking up: Has Jamie wagged work today?

- Favorite Food: Chocolate

- Greatest Fear: Mice and bridges

- - Goals: To be a happy SAHM.

- Gum: Love it whilst it still has flavour.

Get along with your parents? Sure do.

H

- Hair Color: brown, with a few grey strands.

- Height: 165cm... shorter than Mark

- Happy: 80% of the time.

- Holiday: I would love one, want to go to America.

- How do you want to die: In my sleep of old age.

I

- Ice Cream: Yes please... oh chocolate

- Instrument: I have zero musical ability.

J

- Jewelry: My wedding and engagement rings, a gold necklace that Jamie got me and my gold bracelet that I have no idea who gave me, but have worn it for all of Ben's life so far... found it on the mantelpiece and haven't taken it off yet.

- Job: Registered Nurse on maternity leave.

K

- Kids: I love this answer, I have three boys.

- Kickboxing or karate: Neither thanks.

- Keep a journal?: This blog and my facebook. But nothing on paper

L

- Love: I love the men in my life: Jamie, Mark, Ryan and Ben. I adore my mum too.

- Letter: M - for Mark, as my eldest he and his name hold a special place in my heart.

- Laughed so hard you cried: Hmm... not sure, but I guess so.

M

- Milk flavor: Chocolate (sensing a pattern)

- Movies: Not a huge fan, I prefer a good hour long tv show in preference to a movie

- Motion sickness?: Nope.

- McD’s or BK: Maccas chick I am.

N

- Number: Who cares... 17

O

- One wish: To have enough money not to have to work and Jamie be happy in what he's doing.

P

- Pepsi/Coke: Coke Zero

- Perfect Pizza: Tony Pepperoni

- Piercings:

Q

- Quail:

R

- Reason to cry:

- Reality T.V.:

- Radio Station:

- Roll your tongue in a circle:

- Ring size:

S

- Song:

- Shoe size

- Salad Dressing:

- Sushi:

- Skinny dipped?:

- Shower?:

- Strawberries/Blueberries:

T

- Tattoos?:

- Time for bed:

- Thunderstorms:

U

- Unpredictable:

V

- Vacation spot(s):

W

- Weakness:

- Which one of your friends acts the most like you:

- Worst feeling:

- Wanted to be a model:

- Worst Weather?:

X

- X-Rays:

Y

-Year it is now:

-Yellow:

Z

- Zoo animal: