Argh Schoolies!!!!

Okay so do you want to know one thing that scares me more than Wet n Wild (you can read about that crazy phobia here)....it is SCHOOLIES.......aaarggghh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you familiar with Schoolies.....it is generally considered by year 12 students as their rite of passage as they descend on Surfers Paradise, and other locations, to begin their ultimate summer vacation with friends before starting their post school lives.

Sounds okay in theory hey!

But to me as a mum that translates to something like letting your daughter travel some 850 kilometers from home to spend a week of days at the beach and nights at parties fueled by alcohol and possibly drugs and attended by thousands of virile young men with no parental supervision!!

Now it is not sounding so good hey!

I dread the day that one of the girls tells us she wants to go to schoolies week....I dread it so much that I may have to ground each of them once their final HSC exams are done!


I will hope and pray...and even bribe them not to go if I have to !!!!

I can trust my girls to the moon and back but that doesn't remove all possibility of something terrible happening to them....and when you put tens of thousands of teenagers together, throw in alcohol, testosterone, mind altering substances...well then you have one 'shit scared' mumma sitting at home counting down the days, minutes, hours, seconds until her child returns home safely....and if you have multiple children then you face it all again a few years later.

So I don't mean to rain on your parade schoolies....I just don't want my kiddies to go to the parade!!!!

Argh it's gunna be hard to let go one day!!!!  Are you a fan of schoolies?  Did you go and survive to tell the tale??

I know it is completely illogical but....

...I am convinced that something terrible will happen if I let my girls go to Wet and Wild...there you go I've as good as said it out loud now....


So yeah I know that this makes me a little bit crazy, neurotic even...but I can't help it...hear me out here...

For one thing Wet and Wild is man made...to a deadline....what if in a mad rush to meet that deadline they didn't quite tighten every nut and bolt, what if there is a bolt jiggling its way loose as we speak...yes see... it is possible yes?

source

Oh and what about heat stroke...waiting in those never ending queues to even reach the rides there is a risk of dehydration, sun stroke...heat stroke is a medical emergency people!

source

And another thing....there is water there ...it is everywhere....high risk of drowning when there is water....what if one of the girls hits their head and plummets below the waters surface...unconscious...and they are unseen by the crowds....yes what if...

source

Yes see I am not sounding so crazy now am I !!!!  Well maybe just a tad!  You can't blame me though...I'm a western suburbs girl through and through...water just isn't my thing...and don't even get me started on sand and the beach (I'll save that for another blog!!).

Sadly though Miss 13 has plans to venture out to Wet and Wild with her friends on the weekend and no matter what slightly ridiculous and unfounded phobias and fears that I may harbour I guess I'm just going to have to let her go....after I give her the talk about reapplying sunscreen every hour, drinking plenty of water, wearing her rash vest at all times, not speaking to any strangers, not going in the water for two hours after she eats...yeah you know that talk...and I think I'll throw in a phone call to the supervising mum to casually ask her to make sure my daughter doesn't drown at Wet and Wild....I might phrase it a bit more subtly than that though...what do you think?

It's going to be a long day waiting for her to return home safely that day!

(Just to be clear this post is more about my neuroticism brought on by parenting than it is about any real dangers that exist at Wet and Wild.....I know that thousands of people go there and have a really good time...in fact friends of ours go there all the time and absolutely love it...you should go check it out some time...it caters for all ages with different levels of rides and it even has a beach...with waves!!!  I simply tend to feel the same away about all amusement parks, shopping malls, cinemas, restaurants, the beach.....yeah pretty much anywhere that one of my girls can go!!!....there's that crazy mumma coming out again!)

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has a few slightly crazy fears when it comes to our kids...please, pretty please......

My Liebster Blog Award

One of the great things about blogging is 'virtually' meeting so many wonderful people along the way.  Victoria from Boiled Eggs and Soldiers is one such lovely lady.  If you are a busy mum or just someone in need of dinner inspiration then you should definitely check out her blog for some fabulous quick dinner ideas...and a whole lot more.  Anyways, Victoria nominated me for a 'Liebster Blog Award' which is essentially an award given by bloggers to fellow bloggers as a way of recognizing each others blogs.  


So today I am going to answer the 10 questions that Victoria gave me..a few weeks back now...oops....here goes!


If you could be anywhere in the world right now where would it be?
South of France....my dream would be to run away from the day-to-day for a year or two (or maybe forever!!) with hubby and the girls and live in a lovely little villa in France.

When I grow up I want to...
see the world

What is your favourite thing to eat?
As  infrequent as it is...lobster mornay....yum!

What is the best gift that you have ever been given?
Of course all of those precious handmade gifts from the girls would have to get a mention here!!  But really it was those gorgeous earrings from hubby!!

What colours would we find inside your wardrobe?
Red and black

Since you've started blogging what are the top 3 things you have learned?
To be yourself, to enjoy what you are doing and to be consistent....oops has it really been two weeks since I blogged..again!!

What were you doing a decade ago?
I thought I had my hands full back then being mum to 3 daughters and pregnant with my 4th!

Describe your perfect day....
Would it be wrong to say 'child-free'????

A picture says 1000 words, but in 3 words how would you describe you
Argh this is so hard!  I guess....wanna be 'creative'....'funny' well I always laugh at my jokes even if no one else does and a little 'shy'!!

What is one random thing that most people don't know about you?
Well not one of my family or friends know about this little blogging adventure of mine!  It is my little secret...sssshhhh !!



Oh my gosh, who knew that answering 10 little questions about yourself could be so hard!!

Thank you so much for sharing the Liebster Blog Awards love Victoria !  I will do some research and hopefully find some new blogs to share the love with real soon!

6 Years Ago Today...

Six years ago today hubby and I had planned to sit back, put our feet up and enjoy a day of racing on the tv...maybe even pick the Melbourne Cup winner  It was going to be our last chance for a restful day before bub number 5 came along in two weeks time.

Hubby arranged to take the girls to school so that I could have a sleep in...gotta love that man!  

6am came around, I got up to go to the loo...as you do when you are 38 weeks pregnant!! Then I returned to bed to make the most of this sleepin...god knows it would probably be the last for quite some time!!  For fear of telling you too much information I couldn't get back to sleep due to a weird 'trickling'...down there :-0

Eventually I got up and decided to have a shower.  I suspected that this baby was not going to wait til her due date....now to break the news to hubby that his day of relaxation might be slightly interrupted!!

When he got back from school drop off I mentioned the possibility...his first question was would we still be home for the Melbourne Cup...haha isn't he adorable!  Rethinking his comment he then asked if there was a tv or radio at the hospital...better question darling!!

Even though this was bub number 5 I was pretty confident that we had a fair bit of time up our sleeves...let's just say that I will never be the mum caught out giving birth on the side of the road because it all happened so quickly that she couldn't make it to hospital....long labours here!

Around lunch time we called my sister to come over and mind the then miss 4 and to pick up the other girls after school.  With regular contractions we went to the hospital around 1pm. And once checked in and settled into my room..well then it all slowed down didn't it!  But it was confirmed that that mystery 'trickling' in the morning was probably my waters so things were underway...slowly!

Well let's cut a long story short and just skip a lot of monitoring and checking and jump a few hours ahead to when I decided an epidural would be advantageous!  After it was all administered the midwife came in and said that this baby was ready to come....it was about 9pm by this time!!  At this point she said that we'd wait until the epidural wore off to start pushing...what the..??!  Wait for the pain relief to wear off then push....no, no,no....I think I'll start pushing now thanks!

I remember the anesthetist saying that the epidural would wear off in about 50 minutes...so I was determined to push this bub out within that time frame!!  I watched the clock continuously!

So approx. 10pm that night...bub number 5 was born...two weeks before her due date but definitely not in too much of a hurry that day!!

Now I might not be able to tell you her exact weight or length at birth...but I can tell you that the Melbourne Cup winner that day was Number 10...viewed!!

Now this is the part where I should have a beautiful newborn image of my now miss 6, perhaps a collage of cute moments over the last six years...but yeah when I say I am disorganized...I mean it lol !!!  So watch this space...maybe I will come back and update it with a photo...hopefully before she turns 7 lol !!

But here is a picture of the birthday girl this morning !!

Happy Birthday Miss 6!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Race that Stops the Nation....

source

Yes tomorrow is the big day....'the race that stops the nation".  I will admit that I do love the Melbourne Cup...hubby tries to take the day off work when he can and we spend the day watching the races and eating cheese and crackers!!  So much better than housework!!

I love the feel, the atmosphere, the excitement, the fashions, the horses.....albeit all through my television screen!!

You could study the form guide for hours and still have no idea which horse to back...or is that just me!!??  So that takes me to the million dollar question....how do you go about picking your horse?

Well here's a few methods that might bring you some luck in the big race...


LUCKY NUMBER

If you don't have a lucky number of your own then saddle cloth numbers 4 and 12 have been the luckiest over the history of the cup.  So perhaps Red Cadeaux or Who Shot The Barman are in with a chance this year!

source

JOCKEY COLOURS

Most often the Cup has been won by a jockey wearing blue, followed by black and then yellow/gold.

So perhaps there is a good chance for Admire Rakti whose jockey Zac Purton will be wearing blue tomorrow!!

source

HORSE COLOURS

It seems that Bay coloured horses are most likely to win the Cup, probably because that is the most common colour of horse!   This is then followed by brown and chestnut.
Did you know that there have only been six grey horses to win the cup..so perhaps it is Fawkners time to shine tomorrow!!

source

BARRIER NUMBER

If your horse has drawn barrier 5 or 11 then perhaps you are in with a chance as these barriers have produced the most Cup winners.  So Unchain My Heart and Protectionist might have a dream run!

If your horse has drawn barrier 18...then my condolences!!  No horses have won from barrier 18 to date...!! 

source

ODDS

Only 3 horses have won at 3 figure odds with the last time being in 1940...so just maybe we are due for a big win!  So although the lady at the TAB might give a chuckle when you put your money down on Mr O'Ceirin, it will be you laughing all the way to the bank if he somehow manages to "do a Bradbury"....never say never !!

source

And if all that fails then I guess there is eenie meenie miney mo !!


Here are my current picks...though there is still plenty of time to change my mind lol !!

#8     Junoob....because it's a funny name!
#3     Fawkner....go grey horse!!
#17   Mr O'Ceirin....because he is currently 201/1 and if he won we could go out to dinner!!
#10   Gatewood....because tomorrow is my daughters birthday and on that day 6 years ago            #10 won the cup!
#1     Admire Rakti....because everybody is talking him and I don't want to miss out!!

So yeah as you can see I have really put some serious thought into my selections !!!!!

Do you love or loathe the Melbourne Cup?  Do you use any of the methods above to choose your horse?  Would you care to share your hot tips?

The information above was obtained from the following websites
http://www.races.com.au/melbourne-cup/melbourne-cup-history/facts-and-statistics/
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-03/melbourne-cup-horses-results-interactive/5862140
and is all just a bit of fun.  Make sure you gamble responsibly.

Appendicitis Stole My Weekend!

On Friday night Miss 13 developed pains in her side.  Now Miss 13 thinks a paper cut is worthy of urgent medical attention so trying to assess the level of pain was difficult but allegedly the pain was getting worse.

I considered taking a ‘let’s wait and see’ approach which I have done with various ailments in the past…but I have also paid the price for this approach with a few middle of the night trips to the hospital so I reconsidered and decided to to hit the afterhours gp with Miss 13 at the reasonable hour of 7.30pm.

Two hours later we returned home with a probable diagnosis of appendicitis...no immediate action required unless the pain worsened.

I went to bed Friday night praying that the pain did not worsen and I was overjoyed when I awoke to a bright Saturday morning.  Stupidly I went to check on Miss 13 only to hear tales of how she had been unable to sleep and the pain was like an 11 out of 10...

I left other family members in charge of Miss 13 and took Miss 5 to a birthday party.

I returned home with the usual headache that inflicts you after spending two hours with a room full of 5 year olds and since Miss 13's pain had not improved I took her to our local gp.  Same diagnosis but he thought it best that we go for scans...and as it was Saturday afternoon our only choice was to head up to Emergency….argh!!

That was the point where I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that my weekend was about to be stolen away from me!!

Six hours after arriving at Emergency Miss 13 was admitted to the children's ward for observation. The first time that one of my girls has had to stay overnight in hospital....eeek !!!   I left the hospital full of mummy guilt that perhaps I should be staying with her....but also yearning to get home to my bed!!

Up early the next day....which is oh so wrong for a Sunday!!....I showered, dressed and returned to the hospital just in time for the surgeon to assess Miss 13 and decide that they would schedule her for an operation to insert a camera and have a look around...with the most likely result being that her appendix would be removed.

With the surgery not looking likely until late afternoon I returned home for two hours to wash the school uniforms, find the black ink cartridge that nobody else seemed to be able to find, prepare lunches for the next day and leave hubby a nice long note of things to do (though I am pretty sure he delegated most items to the older girls!!)

Back to the hospital armed with a magazine the wait continued....and continued....and continued!!  Given that Miss 13 had not eaten for some 48 hours her thoughts were consumed with food and when she was finally called to theater at 7pm she kept the staff entertained with her stories of how she wanted a sausage sandwich and some icecream lol !!

Two hours later she returned to the ward minus her appendix....let’s just hope that that was the cause of the pain in the first place!!  After settling her in I returned home once again.

After getting everyone off to school on Monday I returned to the hospital.  Now despite Miss 13's passion for food the previous night her post-op self was far from interested in sausage sandwiches!  The best she managed was a lemonade iceblock!

Finally on Monday afternoon Miss 13 was discharged and is now home resting...feeling a wee bit sorry for herself!!  I think I even heard her say that she would rather be at school than be feeling like this….now that’s something you don’t hear her say….ever!!

So that was the weekend that was stolen by appendicitis!!  I hope your weekend was a bit better than ours….!!

The sleepover that ended....in hospital !!!

Yesterday I was reminiscing with my sister about our girls and their many sleepovers when they were younger.

With my sisters 2 girls and my 3 at the time, between us we had 5 girls aged 6, 4 and a half, 4, 2 and a half and 1.....so sleepovers were pretty full on...probably more so for my sister who when my girls slept over at her place went from 2 children to 5...a dramatic difference !

There was always lots of laughs to be had over the years....well into the night when they were supposed to sleeping.....and lots of precious memories were made!

We remembered one time when the girls were a bit older and her two daughters slept over at our place with our then 4 girls...the ages were roughly 12, 10 and a half, 10, 8 and a half and 4.  The night had been the usual muffled laughs and giggles well into the night.

The next morning when they awoke my eldest niece who was almost 12 was a little bit wheezy.  She had had asthma since she was young and being asthmatic myself we weren't too panicked ...she seemed okay.  She took some ventolin and sat down to rest.

After a little while the ventolin seemed to not be making her breathing any easier so I got ready to take her down to our local GP when he opened up at 8am.  

I rang my sister before she left for work and said that Miss 12 was a little bit wheezy so I was taking her to see Dr Greg and grabbed her medicare number to make proceedings easier...all good!

Well we got ready and headed off to the doctors so that we would arrive before 8am...as I didn't have an appointment so wanted to be early.

The doctors surgery opened just before 8am and whilst my niece took a seat I spoke to the receptionist, described the situation and asked to be seen by Dr Greg when he came in.

During the 5-10 minutes that we waited for Dr Greg to arrive my niece deteriorated and was now laying on the seats, feeling hot and feint.

I will never forget picturing Dr Gregs morning....in my mind he was probably sitting at home enjoying a cup of coffee and a bite of toast whilst reading the morning paper.  Then it was time for him to make the short drive to work...he was probably thinking that there'd be a few people waiting with coughs and cold, flu injections to be given, probably a baby or two to see...  Just your usual day!!  Then in he walks...

Dr Greg walked into the surgery..surveyed the waiting room....and a look of concern came over his face.  The receptionist told him what was happening and he called my niece and I in.

When he saw her state he assisted her into his room and got her to lay down.  He asked a few questions to assess the situation and next thing I know he is telling me I should park my car in the surgery car park, he is calling an ambulance to take her to hospital.

I go out to move my car and by the time I walk back in, probably some 3 minutes, he has my niece in another of the doctors rooms, he has her on oxygen with a foil blanket covering her. The rapid response ambulance arrives and as the ambulance officer walks into the room where my niece is he is surprised by the lengths Dr Greg has gone to. ...he was like well there's nothing left for me to do lol !!!

Now Miss 12 is a little bit more stabilized the ambulance arrives and it is time to call my sister who was by now on her way to work...the call went a little like this..."oh hey it's just me...yeah it's all good, we've been to the doctor, looks like an asthma attack...oh and yeah we are just going to Westmead hospital so hey maybe you wanna meet us there....yeah no I'm not driving we kinda going in an ambulance.  But don't worry it's all good!  Righto I'll see you soon ...bye!"

Thankfully hubby was at home to look after the other four girls while we went off to hospital in the ambulance.

We arrived there, met up with my sister and miss 12 was kept in for the day for monitoring to try to ease the asthma attack.

She went home that night and rested up for a few days and then she was fine!

Well that was probably the most eventful result of a sleepover that either of us can remember haha!!

Have you had any sleepovers that didn't quite go to plan?  Did they involve an ambulance trip by chance!!

Working the Night Shift...

Hubby is a tradie who gets up before the rest of us most days, travels the congested motorway to the city each day does at least 8-10 hours of work and battles the traffic home again....sometimes even making it in time for dinner.

That's pretty much how it goes most of the time...but this week he is working nights...all week!

Okay I'll admit that my first thought when he told me was 'oh yes tinned spaghetti and two minute noodles for dinner'.  Don't get me wrong, hubby is not like some kinda dinner nazi, but I do like to put an effort into providing a nourishing dinner when he is around after all the effort he puts into providing for us each day.

So with him being at work each night this week I feel like I've been given a mini dinner sabbatical...and I am totally going to take advantage of that!

Give me a break, I'm not going to let the children starve.  There is salad cut up in the fridge, a selection of cold meats there too, there is soup, ravioli, noodles and pasta.  It will just be a case of 'come and get it....yourself'!!  Given that they range in age from 16 to 5 it is well within their capabilities to do so...I'll even go so far as to say that I am fostering independence...now that's gotta be good parenting hasn't it!

After the excitement of relaxed dinners subsided I realized that hubby's working nights also meant that the remote control was mine....all mine...hehehehe!!  What's the bet that I can't find anything decent to watch now that I have that freedom!

But it didn't take long before the realization set in that hubby working nights meant that he would be here in the mornings to witness what can only be referred to as our morning mayhem!  No amount of pre-planning seems to be able to eliminate morning disasters....there is always something...from a school shoe that went missing overnight to a library book that has vanished to a sick child...!!

Then I realized that hubby would also be here...all day...every day....for the whole week! Now once again don't get me wrong...I love hubby's days off...here and there...when we go out to lunch or see a movie or go op shopping...but him being home every day...well it kinda cramps my style....coz to be honest I sometimes get a little bit caught up in the world of Facebook and Pinterest and Instagram...and pretty much anything else that lets me escape the daily grind of washing, cooking, cleaning, more washing, more cooking, more cleaning.  So with hubby being home I will be trying hard to emulate a 50's housewife.  I'll be washing the morning dishes whilst wearing my little apron, I'll be dusting and hoovering each day...all with my hair done and my lipstick applied.....haha that's never going to happen!!!!

Oh well....it's only for like 5 days....it can't be that hard to abstain from regular and repeated social media updates for 5 days now can it.....

5 days and counting hehe!  I really do love him though!!!

So tell me...which do you prefer...hubby home in the mornings, during the days, or at night?  Does your hubby cramp your at home alone style too?

Happy Birthday Dear Cat....Happy Birthday to you...

Last year our cat Oreo had to go to the vet for a check up and Miss 13 wanted her to have a Santa photo at the vet....Miss 16 decided that she wanted to come to watch Oreo have her photo taken and that was when it happened...

There in a cage at the vets was an 8 week old kitten for sale....and Miss 16 fell in love with her immediately.

Now pets were never really on the agenda and Oreo came along under the pretense that she would only be here until her owners found her a home....after a few weeks we knew that we had been sucked in there!!

A second cat was definitely not in the equation.  But Miss 16 begged and pleaded and presented her case to hubby and I and to my surprise hubby gave in....

So fast forward 10 months and according to Miss 16 today is Kikah's birthday...she is turning one...and yes Miss 16 made us sing Happy Birthday and then we had to watch Kikah open her presents....

 Kikah reading her card

Kikah opening her presents

Oh yay a ball with a bell inside so you can keep us awake all night when you play like crazy!

So there you have it....the birthday girl!!

By the way...we did get that Santa photo that we originally went to the vet for that day!!

Please tell me that we are not the only ones...do other people celebrate their pets birthdays too?

Year 12 ... here we come...

It is hard to believe that this term marks the start of year 12 for miss 16.  I still remember her first day of kindergarten like it was yesterday!

Today she is packed up and off to the year 12 retreat for the next three days.  Even though she is almost 17 and has been at school for some 12 years now it can still be a little bit sad to send her off on these camps and retreats etc...  The reason for that is not everybody has been taught to play nice.

The school may see it as a lovely time of reflection spent with peers.  But in reality it will no doubt be a time for girls to judge what other girls are wearing, what brand luggage they have, how much or how little they have packed, what lollies they have brought...and on and on it will go.

Miss 16 is not really into all of that and has packed her bag based on comfort given that they will be sitting around 'reflecting' for the best part of three days....and good on her for doing so.

Here's hoping that they are kept busy so that there is no time for idle gossip, lets hope the food is edible (or else that is all we will hear about when she returns home!!) and lets hope everyone has their playing nice smiles on!

Argh I hate school more as a parent than I did as a child !!!

Cabin Fever Cure...

These school holidays have seen us a bit more housebound than usual as myself and a few of the girls succumbed to a debilitating stomach bug.  Thankfully we have all recovered now but with the recovery came a strong sense of cabin fever...like get me out of here...now !!!!!!

The cure for that was to take the girls out to ride their bikes for the day.....something we haven't done for way too long.

So on Thursday hubby checked all the bikes, pumped up the tyres, loaded up the trailer...and we set off for Wentworth Common at Homebush....a place we used to frequent years ago.

The weather was especially kind to us and once we arrived the girls we off riding.  Miss 5 hadn't ridden a bike before so she was a little hesitant...but seriously withing 5  minutes she had the hang of it and she was off.

Before too long the girls were riding up the hill together.  Hubby and I walked up to meet them at the top and survey the views of Homebush and beyond.

The girls continued to ride...and ride....and ride!  We used the barbeque facilities to have a late lunch and then had a play at the playground.

Then the girls did a few final laps whilst hubby and I packed up our stuff and we head home....hopeful that some five hours of bike riding and playing would have worn the girls out.  We were wrong!  

A day out in the sunshine was exactly what was needed to cure that cabin fever though.....and hopefully we can make it back to Wentworth Common again in the near future.

I hope you all survived the school holidays...did you manage to get out and about and enjoy some of the glorious weather?

My Sleep Deprived Stupor

With the baby and toddler stages well behind me (lets hope I didn't just jinx myself there!!!) sleepless nights are few and far between here.  Well except for the last two nights that is....and let's just say that I am not coping well with this broken sleep.

It started when I was about to go to bed around 10.30pm on Tuesday night.  One of the perils of sleeping on the fold out sofa in the lounge room is that sometimes you catch a glimpse of some late night television and although you know you should just turn the television off, roll over and go to sleep....you just can't!!  That is exactly what happened when hubby and I started watching a program where parents spied on their unsuspecting teenagers at a festival....it was tragic but we just had to watch!

At 11.30pm I was already regretting having watched the program....but there is something so sweet about being awake when all the girls are asleep!

By now it was 11.40pm...time for a quick mental calculation of the maximum amount of sleep that I could get.  I could still get 6 hours and 40 minutes....I needed to go to sleep stat!!

A few minutes later hubby's snoring filled the room.  Then the cats decided that a game of chasings was in order.  Can cats get bruises....because I am sure that our two would be covered in them from head to tail.....they were running into walls, racing under our bed, wrestling and fighting for what seemed like forever.

I was close to dozing off when Miss 5 cried out.  On auto pilot I made my way out to her. And she was fast asleep....arrrghh !!!  I waited a little while and she seemed to settle so back to bed I went.  Now I lay there awake in anticipation of Miss 5 crying out again...like you do!

By now I was refusing to even look at the time because I knew that my maximum hours had crept below 5....and for someone who doesn't function too well on less than 8 hours sleep that was devastating!!

I think somewhere between 2.00am and 4.00am I fell asleep....only to be woken by the heavy rain on the carport roof.  Then my thoughts turned to how I would get everyone to school in the rain, from there my thoughts jumped to mentally running through my to-do list for the day....then the things that I had to do next week, then to Christmas holidays...and on and on and on!

At 5.00am I was still hopeful that I could perhaps get an hours sleep in....perhaps like a power nap from which I wold wake up refreshed for the day.  

But no....basically I laid there feeling sorry for myself...very, very sorry!

The day didn't get much better from there either.

Having an important meeting to go to I showered and dressed, even brushed my hair....only to then discover that Miss 5 had woken up with conjunctivitis...just great!  

Leaving her with hubby and Miss 16 I got all the girls to school and then drove 3 minutes down the road to Woolworths.....I walked into the store and stood there, my mind a complete blank.....I had no idea what I was there for....eventually I remembered....MILK!!

At the chemist I dropped my car keys on the floor when trying to pay for the saline for Miss 5's eyes.

Off to the important meeting at primary school and my tiredness really set in.  Being interviewed by a panel of three people to answer questions that they asked about various aspects of our school I just willed myself to formulate intelligent answers.  Although when they asked what I would change at our school if I had a magic wand absolutely nothing intelligible was coming!!  My mind was jumping from fairy wands to Barnaby the Busy Buzzy Bee...with all eyes on me I think I mumbled something like 'that's a tough one...I think I need more sleep'.  I hope they didn't write that down!

Came home from that and managed a nap...well if you can call it that when Miss 5 is with you!

Got lost on the way to physiotherapy because rather than trusting my instincts I listened to navman lady and she sent me the wrong way!!!

I was glad when dinner was served and the dishes were done.  A bit of television and off to bed....hopeful for a good night sleep!

40 minutes later Miss 5 was crying with a stomach ache.  Thankfully that settled within 15 minutes and I was back in bed.

50 minutes later Miss 5 was screaming in pain....the middle of the night ear infection....argh one of my all time most hated ailments!!!  Miss 5 has never been a fan of medicine so painstop was out of the question, but with quite a lot of bribing and convincing we managed a bit of Nurofen and a warm face washer over her ear and half an hour and a lot of tears later she finally fell asleep.

I stumbled back to bed, lay down now anticipating further disruptions.  Next thing I knew there was some sort of air raid taking place....oh wait that was  my alarm...seriously it can't be morning already?? 

And so another day dawns, my eyes are heavy, my head aches....I am useless on broken sleep!!  Miss 5 on the other hand has found some energy from somewhere and is keeping my on my toes!  Fingers crossed for a full nights sleep tonight....please!!!!!!!!!!

(source)

Do you cope well when you are sleep deprived...tell me I'm not the only one...please!!!

The Best Bad Luck!!!!

On Boxing Day last year we headed off for a two week family holiday up the coast.  We had scoured the internet and booked a little house on a lagoon which was just a short walk to the beach as well...perfect!!

Family holidays have been few and far between in recent years so we were more than excited.  (I totally love holidays!!!!!)

Although we did manage a bit of down time here and there on the holiday, keeping watch of and keeping up with five children is pretty exhausting in itself!  So at the end of the holiday hubby and I discussed returning to the same place at the end of this year but extending our stay to three weeks....hoping to get a bit more relaxing in this time!!

When I contacted the home owner in April he informed me that they had already taken a booking on the house for part of the time that we wanted.  No!!! I was devastated!!  And in disbelief that somebody was already booking an end of year holiday even earlier than I was!!!

Not one to be beaten I just figured that if I had found one holiday house that I could find another!  

Well...okay that proved a lot harder than I originally thought when my budget was taken into account!

The house that we had stayed in was very basic and in original condition and thankfully they charged accordingly which was great for us!

Phone calls and emails soon highlighted the fact that the other holiday houses on the lagoon were being rented out for more than double, some more than triple, what this house was going for and there was no way that we could afford that.

Eventually I stumbled upon another house, this one beach front, that was also in original condition and thankfully being rented out at a reasonable figure (well as reasonable as 100m from the beach can get!!)  

But....of course there has to be a but!!!  The beach house was only available for some of the dates that we wanted to stay!

Amazingly though it wasn't all bad luck!!  It actually works out that we can get our three weeks away....one week at the beach house where we will celebrate Christmas and Boxing Day and enjoy all that the beach has to offer...

Our view for the first week!!!!!!

...then we will pack up and move about three minutes down the road to our trusty lagoon house to spend the next two weeks enjoying windsurfing, fishing and all the other good stuff the lagoon has to offer as well as sparklers and toasted marshmallow on New Years Eve!!

Our view for the second and third week!!!

Now I might just make these pictures the wallpaper on my phone so I can see them every day and get through the next four months will all of its school activities, dance concerts, drama performances, Christmas functions etc.. etc... etc...

Let the countdown begin!!!

The Perfect Weekend....

By about Wednesday or Thursday of last week I began dreaming about the perfect weekend.  

We were down to only 1 sporting activity and that was Miss 10's netball semi final which was at 9am Saturday morning...so by 10am Saturday we would be sport free....!!

Hubby was not working...huge bonus!!

So I let my mind race with ideas of a family outing...I even had access to a free family pass to The One Fine Baby Fair in Sydney...it was looking good!!

I was excited by the prospect of a fun family weekend for the first time since winter sport started.....not that dragging sleeping kids out of bed to drive up the mountains to be at soccer at 8.30am on a wintry Sunday morning isn't fun !!!

But then reality struck and I was informed that Miss 16 had to be at school from 10am til 3pm on Saturday to work on a design and tech project, Miss 13 had to be at school from 2pm til 4pm on Sunday to rehearse for this weeks violin concert, Miss 10 got invited for a sleepover on Saturday night, Miss 15 wanted to go to her friends house on Sunday to do their maths homework....

On top of all of that it rained most of the weekend and we have a very, very blocked toilet (waiting for the plumber to come back and dig out pipes this week!!).

Well at least I was able to sneak out to a local market on Saturday before the rain came. And I baked cupcakes on Sunday.  So not all bad I guess.

Wiped Out....

The last few weeks have been exhausting!  With school, sport, training, after school activities, doctors appointments, specialists appointments....oh and the blocked toilet to top it all off!!!

Today I am totally wiped out!  

I don't have anywhere that I have to be today (well except remembering to pick the girls up from school this afternoon!!)...

I don't have anything that I have to do today (hmm that is if you exclude all of the cleaning etc...but hey it will still be there tomorrow!!)

I have contemplated watching a movie, or making a trip to Spotlight, even going back to bed....

Next week is crazy busy so I have decided not to feel guilty if I do absolutely nothing today! I'm not sure what I will do....but I can tell you that it will probably feel like one of the quickest days ever!!!

Oh and I can tell you that having written up my monthly planner for August and having meal planned for this week have definitely helped keep things on track when there would otherwise have been chaos!!  And putting $50 in petrol in the car on Monday has saved so many trips to the petrol station !!!  Tiny steps in the right direction.

And for some crazy reason I decided amongst all of this to give up drinking coke this week...a step towards a healthier me....and to be honest there will never be an ideal time to cut down so this was probably as good a time as any....day 5 of no coke...which essentially means no caffeine and no sugar as I don't drink tea or coffee!!!

Right then off I go to do nothing....it feels so weird !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"one shoe two shoe red shoe blue shoe..."

Well in this case it was one shoe, two shoe, pink shoe, purple shoe....

This morning started the same as every other....repeatedly telling the older girls to get out of bed or they would miss the bus, whipping up some toast for their breakfast, sneaking in for a quick shower once I was convinced that they were out of bed....and eventually they made it to the bus stop on time....win, or so I thought!!

Then I moved on to Miss 10, hoping to leave miss 5 sleeping as she had been sick yesterday and I was planning to let her stay home again today....

But Miss 5 whom I have to poke and prod and beg and bribe to get out of bed on a weekday was today awake of her own accord.....not a win!

So eventually Miss 10 was up, dressed etc... and then she was walking around the house with that all too familiar look....the one where you know they have lost something that is essential for getting to school....

And today the essential item was her shoe....!!!

She had found one runner in the bathroom and was wandering the house looking for the second one.  She looked through the lounge room, under her bed...I'm pretty sure she was even gazing towards the ceiling at some stage...but all to no avail.....the second runner was not to be found!

Given that she had just worn these exact runners to netball training last night I could not fathom how they could be lost only 12 hours later....she may have been told once or twice that if she had put them in her room then she would know where they were.

As the clock ticked at triple speed as it always seems to do on a school morning I started to look for the shoe myself.  First stop bathroom where Miss 10 found the first shoe....and what do I find???

One runner....but sadly it is a runner belonging to Miss 15.  A bit more looking around the bathroom and I am yet to find Miss 10's missing runner....but I am also yet to find the second of Miss 15's runners.....and then the realization......oh no!!!!

Miss 15 has taken runners to school for PE and in her enthusiasm (haha) to get to school she has mistakenly picked up one of her runners and one of Miss 10's....eeeek!!!!

They are both white but one has pink trim and the other has purple trim.  I look at the two shoes and consider the possibility of Miss 10 just wearing them as a pair to school....start a new trend perhaps!!  But.....

they are both left feet....oh my gosh!!!!

By now time was not on our side and we had to get to school....so Miss 10 had to rummage around and find some runners belonging to another of her sisters....thank goodness they have similar sized feet!!

After dropping Miss 10 to primary school I had to take Miss 15's remaining runner to her high school so she could do PE later in the day....so there I am handing over a plastic bag to the school office which clearly contains only ONE shoe....I was like..."sorry it could only happen in my family!!!!"

So finally problem solved....well apart from the fact that Miss 10 is at school wearing Miss 13's Nike runners that she paid for herself :-(

Oh and in all the fuss Miss 10 forgot to pack her lunch and of course only realized when we arrived at school so I had to return to her school office with her lunch.

Seriously....it probably could only happen at our house!!!