Sucess and fails

Oh my Lord, I start up this blog again...then abandon it. I am inspired to carry on by other blogs out there that I constantly check (check my side bar for updates). Well, lots has happened since starting school this year.
I enrolled for a Interior decorating course in a college only to get an email a few weeks later saying the course had been canceled. While searching for another course I'm trying to get to the Library during Haydn's nap time to research and read books. That's not really panning out either and I've only actually been able to do it a handful of times. Too many things can go wrong.
I joined a gym and go 3 times a week. Here's hoping I can age gracefully and be fit doing it!
I turned 31 and went dancing with my sisters, had cocktails at home, and a large cake with my whole extended family and thought waaay to much about my life and where it's all going.

I'm looking for part time work as a personal carer. I wanted to get a few hours in about 3-4 days a week during school hours so it won't effect the kids and I'll find a preschool for Haydn. Not sure yet how it will pan out but just wanted to get some experience and beef up our income a little.

The boys are still settling into new school. Alan is finding the work a bit hard to keep up. He could really use your prayers. He's the kind of kids that you really can't put in a box. He's brilliant in his own way but I'm just praying he can settle and not feel so much pressure.
Ok, more later. I have heaps of pix to upload and will get to that shortly. 

Back to school 2010!

The boys are doing so well at their new school! I have to be honest, I was (and still slightly am) nervous about these moves. It was hasty and the last thing I want to do is make a wrong decision about something that affects their life as much as school would. But my first impressions were good! The principle is fantastic and approachable as is the deputy and their class teachers. The school is located on a large grassy block with heaps of trees. The different classes cultivate a vegie patch as part of the horticulture curriculum. They also have a few chooks and bunnies running around and a worm farm! Jay loves the meandering gardens too. 

It has been rated high academically also which brings peace to ones mind. Here are my handsome boys. Alan is wearing the sports uniform and Jay is wearing the regular one.

I'm back

So, I want to get back into blogging. This time I'm not going to pressure myself. Just when the mood strikes me and I'm definitely  not going to try to keep up with Libby! She's cool and sexy and always has something profound to say. My life is not that interesting but who cares, this is for me and to brag about my boys.

Firstly I need to go to Shane's computer and dig for all the best pix from these last few months to post. He upgraded his camera (again) but his shots are superb and I know one day he will make millions off his talent (here's hoping!)

Quick run down of our Christmas and New year. We moved after 6 short months in our own  little cottage in Kings Langley. (People have described it as a cottage) It had a spacious, tree filled yard but in all honesty the house just wasn't big enough for our growing needs. Unexpectedly the opportunity arose to get a place with my long lost big sister Jessica who had returned after 10 years abroad with her South American Husband, Pablo (yes, the talented photographer one) and 4 charming children.

We really only looked at the one place, loved it, applied for it and to make a long story short, got it! If you know the rental market in Australia you will know that it is a miracle! Not only are we 11 people, 7 of whom children but neither of our families had long rental histories and massive money making jobs, both very important in the current financial climate.

So it's a 5 bedroom, plus study, plus rumpus room, formal lounge and massive dining and family room! Large in ground salt water pool and sprawling yard up the back with plenty of space for forts and messing around for the kids.
We moved in 2 weeks before Christmas (not recommended) but managed to have a memorable Christmas and New years and the cleaning and packing is now a distant memory!

The Lord has truly blessed us! The boys are changing schools to the one nearby. They're happy about it. I was nervous about moving them because I could have driven them 20 min to their old school but with traffic etc we just couldn't have know how hectic it would be and  I knew that the drive to school everyday would turn into a pain. Anyway, Jess and I met the principle and deputy who then gave a us a guided tour. They were so welcoming and friendly and the school has a number of programs we are interested in. Since then we have only heard good things about the school.

The last few days have been buying and labeling all their new uniforms and backpack etc. We still have 2 more weeks of holidays. The last of which will be spent down on the south coast for our annual family camping trip. Should be fun!

Housewarming!

Yay! So we moved! Got most of it done in one day thanks to Shane's hard work and Thank you to my Dad, Mike and Marty who all pitched in a did a few loads. Much appreciated! So we are pretty settled now and have just about gotten everything we need. I still want to get a few shots of inside the house but here are a few of the yard. I really love this yard! Even though it's freezing right now we're getting some great sunlight streaming through and making good use of the bbq. Man, Shane can do a mean woodfire chop.
The cubby house is just a bonus and the kids are really enjoying it. They actually painted it since this shot was taken. Shane rebuilt that little front porch and laid the woodchips. We have 13 tall trees in this yard! It's gonna be beautifully cool come summer. We also have quite a nice pergola that we hope to get a good large outdoor setting for , lots more potted and hanging plants. Anyway, I'm chuffed! Hey, what do ya think of my new haircut? Top pic...it's quite short and longer in the front. All the blowdrying of winter makes it easier to handle.

Second week of schoolies

Superheros saving the planet in Blacktown. Jay loved it and especially wanted to meet the Hulk afterwards. Alan was too cool for all that....oh no, "it begins" is all that's going through my mind. So we have survived school holidays and we're coming to the end. I've actually quite enjoyed lazy mornings in bed, wandering the neighbourhood and just spending more quality time with my boys. Shane has had this week off as well so I'm getting some good driving in and we're having good family time too. We miss him when he works a lot. Yesterday Marty and co came over with their PS so between that and our Wii 6 kids and 3 big boys (Nat, Shane and Marty) got in some quality gaming hours. Just as well it was a rainy day and perfect for sitting around. They had fun!

I made myself scarce and hooked up with Lynn and the Buckley girls and their 5 babies over a buffet lunch! Yup, 5 baby boys! Well, Karen has one older one and one baby. When it rains, it pours! It's wonderful, they are all such great women and friends and wonderful mummy's!

We are looking for our own place so send up a prayer for us to find a suitable house nearby. In these times the rental market is tight so we're under no illusions that it will take a miracle but God is in control and knows what's best!

Welcome Jackson!

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Don't ya just love the name?! Congrats Ginny and Andy on the birth! 10 days early and weighing in at just 3.1kgs. He's very tiny and you can really see it right beside Haydn, a bruiser at about 12 kgs (4kgs at birth!)

Catch up

Well, here I am. This week I've felt a bit like I'm chasing my tail. I sign up as an Avon rep a few weeks ago and recently took on a territory. It isn't much money to speak of but I'm happy for the training and was assured I didn't have to do an order every month. It seems like it will be pretty casual, I have my moments when I feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew but we'll see how it goes. Last night my team leader, the lovely Christina, came over and hosted an Avon party. A few girls showed but we ended up having a great time!

Autumn has given us some beautiful days, just sparkling. The kind that make you feel that all is well with the world.
Me and poochie have been having good quality time together while the big boys are in school, I try not to get carried away with daily jobs and endless cleaning projects that could get done. He loves his books and sitting at his little table to colour. I was referred to a sorta playgroup at our little neighbourhood centre. It's more of a time-out for moms and actually called "Time out". Moms can drop their babies and kids for just 5 bux with qualified Childcare workers in a huge hall with toys and stuff while mums go to an adjacent room for up to 2 1/2 hours for a coffee and some arts and crafts or just catch up on some reading and emails....it's terrific! Heidi and I are going together. Not only is it a nice break for me and good for Haydn to play in a group setting but I NEVER get to pull out my scarpbooking stuff. Yay!

I went to school the other day early to catch Alan receiving his excellence award. 1 more to earn for a Principles distinction! He was beaming.

I've been getting some good driving in recently and feel so much more comfortable behind the wheel. Thanks to Lynn who took me for a good couple hours the other day to do her pick ups and shopping. 100 more hours to go!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to Justin and Linda coming in May! You guys are gonna love it and will be sure to get a well deserved break and lotsa love and support! It will be terrific having more cousins around too!

Our weekend

It's kicking in.....I've got 6 weeks to go till our baby boy arrives on the scene and between the heat and not able to get comfortable at night I'm feeling a little zombie-fied these days but the pool is still too icicle cold to jump in though the boys have been taking full advantage of it.

We had a lovely low-key weekend. Saturday was garage sale-ing to look for a baby bed...didn't find one but came home with lots of other great stuff ;) We scouted out a nice new couch set for Mum and Dad, that they ended up getting!

Alan got a beautiful bike. It's a little big but he's taken to it well. It had an $80 sign on it but Shane managed to talk the lady into giving it to him for $50. I don't know how he does it, he can get a discount off anyone. Between that charming smile and personality ....perhaps he flashes a bit of skin?? Snicker. Just wait till he reads this...I'm in trouble.

Alan lost a tooth and I got to play tooth fairy. I was glad we got our pixifoto's done last weekend...heh, the funny thing is he only noticed last night when brushing his teeth that he'd lost another one sometime that day. He's not fooled who the tooth-fairy is but he was a little flustered he might not get anything for it since he had nothing to put under his pillow....anyway, he got his dollar. I forgot to put it under last night but early this morning slipped it under right before his eyes, and he didn't notice.

Nick...well, Katya had her baby girl on Thursday night so we popped in for a visit yesterday too....and it's all Nicks, ha! Congratulations you two! I think they're going with Electra Estelle. A very beautiful, abit racy, but lovely name. I think she'll live up to it.

Catching up

Bizarre -- Today was 15 degrees colder than yesterday, luckily in our house you can't notice the extreme differences. Hanging laundry yesterday was like stepping into a tumble dryer, it was that hot and windy. I would've been a sight trying to get the clothes line to stay still as I hung each piece.

Ruth was over for awhile (and is now driving! yay!) So we were able to be spontaneous and took off to the Waves swimming pool. I love seeing the kids so happy and swimming makes them happy.
School has gotten off to a slow start as Alan has been in pain, please pray for him, one ball is swollen and the doctors have been absolutely useless. He did some tests and the results should be in today, in the meantime he's on antibiotics and painkillers.

Shane is having a week off work and is working on renewing his German passport and other bits and pieces of biz.
We had big plans to go downtown to the Opera House and Botanic gardens, do the ferry to Manly etc but Alan can hardly walk. I really wanted to get down there before baby comes.

Oh, speaking of baby. Did you vote on the name? I'm also interested in hearing suggestions. What's you're favorite boys name (that I can have)? Comment and let me know.
Shane's pretty stuck on Jack-Jack (and roped the kids in because it's the baby's name in the Incredibles movie.) But at the end of the day I write out the birth certificate (nyah nyah nyah!)

Sarah (of Tim Buckley and Anastasia's mum, and one of the nicest people I know!) got me a gift certificate to get my hair done. Tx Sarah! You're a babe.
I got some natural brown streaks put through the blonde that was growing out. They did it a bit darker then I wanted (and asked for) but it's better than before.

The long and the short of it

Where have I been?! There’s been way too much going on …… real and imagined. Shane also sold and bought a camera so my inspiration to blog that comes from the photos was not there for awhile.

We spent another weekend house hunting. The market is so tight right now that we’ll usually arrive at an open house along with up to 50 other people. Not encouraging at all so after another application fell through we rehashed and re prayed and it seems best to move into an existing home. So rather then continuing to invest in a house and furniture, being tied to a lease and all the hidden costs that come with having your own place, we’ll be renting from Lynn, yep, right next door. She has been most welcoming and we hope to be a blessing to her as she is to us.

Shane and I celebrated 7 years of marriage on the 10^th! We had a meal out at a great Chinese restaurant in the Piazza.

Some people have asked whether it was 8 or 7 years of marriage.
Well, we met in Aug. of ’98 at the ripe age of 19 and 20 in Vladivostok, Russia. By early ’99 we got engaged in Nagoya, Japan and a few months later I flew to Durban, South Africa, where he was, to move in together by Aug. of ’99 (shortly after I became with child). It wasn’t until Aug. 2000 that we got legally married in Sydney, Australia. So it is officially 7 years!

That was a very short, unromantic take on our story…some day I’ve got to write it out for you all.

Shane also turned 29 yesterday! He took the day off work to veg.

Ruth gave him a case of beers which will last forever since he hardly drinks so he had a few of those. I had to splash out and got him a big bottle of Hugo Boss cologne.

I’m trying to organize a Leo bash as there are a few around. Next year we’ll go big for his 30^th.

Everybody loves Raymond!

So, I hear Serena has given birth to their baby, I have yet to meet him as JJ has been fevering for the last few days. But Congratulations Zeth and Serena! I'm sure he will bring you so much joy. I can't wait to cuddle him!

House hunting is uh...well put it this way, I'm learning some good "extreme praise" lessons. It's hard to be positive when it's getting frustrating.
It's like our life is on hold but going ahead at breakneck speed simultaneously. I know I'll look back (soon I hope) and wonder what all the fuss was about. Oh, how easy it is to trust the Lord when things are going your way.... well TTL we don't have "real" problems, nobody is dying, we have enough to eat and a roof over our heads. Soon we'll see that the Lord did have a plan, the best one to suit our needs. Thank you to all those who are praying for us, my pregnancy and our needs.

Bits and bobs...

A lot has been going on and I just haven't been able to sit down somewhere where there's internet. Well, we applied for a house and I just found out we were denied....I'm not too cut up about it and trusting the Lord that He knows best.
I am sooooo ready to move though, I'm afraid I'll go for anything. We're still living out of suitcases four months into being here, it's comfortable but nevertheless living in someone else's house is never ideal.
The folks we're staying with are all down with the flu, all 10 of them, so guess who is being left with the lion's share of the cleaning and dishes....? "Rise above!"

We got to go to "Nemo on Ice" over at the Olympic park. That was really fun for the kids. I'm still waiting for the pictures from Nick. Thanks Faith for organizing those tickets before you took off to Taiwan!
Anne and Lizzy are back up visiting from Adelaide. Nice to see Liz and her pink hair. I would post a pic but I look terrible in the only one I took. hee....I'll crop it.
Here's a picture from the latest Big W catalog. That's our very own Anastasia on the far left. What a natural!

School holidays comes to an end.

School holidays has come to an end. We managed to get out of the house to go do some school holidays activities at the mall, eat out and the boys spent a lot of time just outside on our vast property and many hours on the trampoline. They just love it and it looks like a wonderful way to warm up! (I don't dare try it till I'm good and ready for this baby to come out!)
This winter weather is really hitting me hard! I really don't remember such coldness! And this is someone that spent 3 winters in Russia! I've been in 40 below zero in Khabarovsk!! I think I even went out tracting?! ha! Two words: Woollens & layers!
We did come from 18 months straight of summer though in East Africa! We were so spoiled.....but you gotta have some perks on those type of mission fields.

Well, we spent a good deal of these last 2 weeks house hunting as well .....and putting skin on reality as far as that all goes. Looks as if we'll have to wait a few more weeks to get a few more things in order and save a little more for general setting up of a house. Anaik and Mike got a car which was a huge hurdle!

Happy Birthdays to Anaik and Serena!!

First time celebrating their birthdays together for a loooong time too! I organized a rather low key cheese and wine night over at Mum and Dads place and invited a few people in the area over to celebrate. Their were between 15-20 of us and we were a bit of an odd crowd but after a few wines we played some fun games and it went off. Serena has the pix, she'll post soon I'm sure.
And yesterday (Sunday) the family all got together for a meal, Pavlova and cheesecake. It had been a long time since we've been together so it was really nice.

It's been school holidays this last week and we have another to go, yay, so we've been having lazy mornings and getting school for the coming term organized. We've been able to do a spot of house-hunting too which has been exciting. It gets exhausting after looking at a few dumps but we're onto a few that we're interested in. Please pray for that and all the loose ends that need to be tied up with that. It'll be a first for all on us signing leases and putting down bonds but we're more than ready!

Michelle and Steph flew off this morning...sniff, was nice to have them here and they will be missed! Goodbye!

So I’ve had a few good parties, danced the night away, gotten blind drunk (at least once), experienced rural Africa and went away for a kid-free holiday, ….now I’m ready for that other baby! Whoo hoo, I’m about 7 weeks pregnant! I’m happy and even though we totally expected it (we were trying) it happened pretty fast and Shane’s reaction was lovely. He was away at his sisters’ place for the weekend in Joburg when I did the test and then I called him.

We’re hoping for that girl….the defining organs are forming in the next few weeks so pleeeease join us in prayer for that (otherwise we’ll have to start a rock band with our 3 boys!)

So, we’re back in Sydney! It’s been great catching up with everyone and lots of old friends are back in town, I’m jet-lagging pretty badly though on top of early pregnancy. The boys are all snoring soundly through the night.

We’re still not sure what we’ll end up doing here but some great folks have given us a huge room on their large property with a pool and tennis court and next door to the Buckleys. That’s pretty fun!

So far the Lord’s supplying all our needs though. We’re slowly collecting household stuff and in the first day someone gave us a fridge and vacuum cleaner. Garbage collections are going on around this area too so we already picked up a bunk bed and bike for Alan. It’s a bit like Gome’ in Japan, and you find a lot of great unwanted furniture on the side of the road and odds and ends. We’ve furnished whole houses in the past, and it’s not junk.

I just opened up all my boxes and suitcases I had stored last time we left Oz, it’s like Christmas! I'd forgotten I’d saved a lot of nice baby stuff and winter clothes we desperately needed now, tons of my good kids books and puzzles, my doo dads. Shane was berating me for keeping so much stuff but then remembered his full length leather trench coat he’d picked up for 20 bucks a week before we left and stored, he was pleased with himself. And pleased with me when I pulled out our feather doona that night too….ahhhh

Big news (I'm not so good at these title thingy's am I?)

Yesterday I went on outreach. Our current project is getting STEPs programs sponsored for underprivileged schools. We approach any and every business just like DTD and we’ve had a positive response of either partial sponsorship or the full 500 Rand (about 100 bucks). It works out good for us and we’re able to then give these programs to needy institutions in the informal settlements.

We also visited Activated readers to give them their mag of the month and prayed for each one along the way. It was quite an inspiring morning!

In other news

We’re returning to Sydney!

It turns out our missionary visa we wanted to get for South Africa isn’t panning out and we need to go back there to raise funds for it and do business.

Our hearts are in Africa so we are hoping to spend a year there and then return!

By a miracle we were able to get really good tickets that saved us about 10.000 Rand (that’s 2000 AUD!) That was a real special touch from the Lord and encouragement for us as we thought we’d have to go into debt just to get back.

We’ll be flat broke….but not in debt. Haha, we’re not too worried though. The Lord has proven time and again that as long as we’re yielding a following he’ll take care of us and make everything turn out just fine!

We’ll be flying on Jay’s 3^rd birthday so we’ll have to try to do something special in Abu Dhabi where we’ll have a 14 hour stop over. (That’s in United Arab Emirates …I had to look it up) TG the airline will put us up for the night. I actually prefer breaking up the journey like that and any other route (beside direct) is only about 3 extra hours long.

So Sydney here we come!