The List

Well over the summer Uni break (which I have one week left cause I'm starting early) I had a long list of jobs to do. Two major ones was to move the garden shed which also involved laying a slab of concrete (thought that would be a good idea but...) and with the shed moved cut and stack the pile of wood.

Shed: sweat easily and it was As you may have noticed on Christmas day, for those who were here - it was moved! Although a tip for people laying concrete on a hot day is to read the instructions first. As I tent to degrees when I was flatening it, I didn't do the greatest of jobs, so the slab isn't quite level and has some air bubbles/gaps within the slab. Also as we went away soon after I didn't cure it properly so the water dried out thus leaving those bubbles etc. Oh well things about 28your learn! Lucky it's just the garden shed and not the granny flat (opps sorry Nanna's!).








Wood: Yep so now there is er was a space were the shed was and now....after some early cool mornings, help from Jacob and some daylight savings we have a nice lot of stacked wood.

Re-training

After speaking to some people at church yesterday who had some issues with their child and going to sleep, we thought we'd give it ago - that is to re-train Jacob. As most of you know we have been sitting in with Jacob when we first put him to bed until he is asleep and we can 'escape' and when we wakes at night.

Last night after sitting with him for a while I explained that he was a big boy now and didn't need mum or dad to stay with him until he went to sleep (i.e. sit on couch). I suggested that I put on the radio and he listen to that. He agreed so on went the radio and out of the room I went....Jacob fell asleep.

He woke once during the night so I did the same thing - told him he was a big boy put on the radio gave him a kiss and a goodnight. All was well and he slept until 8am Yeh!!!

TONIGHT: Well once yoiu change a habit (if it's a good one) then stick with it. So we did the same thing we had to close the door twice and we had tears but he got the message and the door stayed open, radio on, Jacob went to sleep without Dad.

The down side was that with Jacob's tears and screams poor same couldn't get to sleep so he was very confused but as it didn't last long (20-30 min), Sam soon went to sleep also. Short pain for long term gain - we hope

Hopefully tonight will be a good night.

UPDATE" Yep it was, Jacob slept right through until 6.30am! Yeh but I didn't slep that well.

Bother (bloggin)

Well most others blog more than I do but are people still using their old blogger accounts when commenting or adding new posts. If so try logging in with your Google account. I know it say's you can do both but maybe Google logins are working better with the new blogger.

Although it is a computer application :-)

Australia Day!

Happy Australia Day everyone (or invasion day, however you see it)! We celebrated the day doing what we thought would be a good thing, seeing this great country of ours. At first we were going to go away for the weekend, but we couldnt decide where. Mount Gambier was an option, so was Horsham, Port Augusta, Wilpena Pound, Cape Jervis, Coonawarra, and then it was 11.30am and we figured eh bugger it lets just go for a drive! And drive we did! 300kms in a big circle! We headed off to Clarendon for lunch and had lunch from the bakery there (if you are ever there go to the one on the main road, we have been going for years and its superb). We then trekked off to Kangarilla, Meadows, Euchunga, Hahndorf (didnt realise how close it was the back way!), Woodside, Birdwood, then Mannum. We stopped at Mannum and had a walk along the river, and Michael played on the playground there (this picture is of the boys at Mannum). The Murray Princess was also moored so we had a look at that. We then went to Murray Bridge, where Rob wanted to show Michael the Bunyip. He went to the information bay and located it, drove in the direction of it, noted the large presence of the 'boys in blue', and muscle cars, and thought what is going on?? Some muscle car competition was being run (gee how convenient Rob??!!), and it was right where the Bunyip was. Could have entered our car, and probably would have won, but ended up going back to the freeway instead. We then went home via Mount Barker, Hahndorf, Euchunga, Kangarilla, McLaren Vale, and then deviated to Seaford where Rob's boss owns a car wash, and got a nice bath for Grunt. We then drove along the seafront home, and had a great BBQ for dinner with my parents - including damper buns (most yummy).
Rob and Michael are now at Murray Bridge again as the Speedway is on there tonight. They have gone with Aidian (Michael's best friend), and his dad Rob. I am enjoying some nice peace and quiet after scrubbing my house all day long :)
Have a great evening everyone, and hope you are doing ok Deb.

A good night's Sleep

Well before we start another night, just a quite blog to say Jacob slept right through they night last night. This is the first time since before Christmas. I was very happy cause it meant I also slept all night :-)

Unfortunately for Heth, Sam woke around 4am :-(

Challenge taken - by Rob!

Hey there,
Well here is Rob's attempt at taking photos of the comet, and I think considering he used my cheapie camera, that it turned out pretty good :)
We didnt actually know that there was the comet viewing last night, I happened to look outside to check that the house that was on fire a few streets down was extinguished, I then saw the comet, and we ran outside to have a look.
The photos were taken using the night mode on the camera, and Rob did use a tripod for balance. He also got some very cool shots of the moon and stars also :)
We tried to wake up Michael so that he could see it also (was around 9.30pm), but he was very out of it.

What a lovely little man...

Tuesday night after tea Jacob spent quite a while putting things from the shelf in the dining room into the bag to take to NannaPapa's house... I'm talking everything from the 4 shelves he can reach (all the candles and wooden things and footballs and other bits n pieces). I explained that we weren't going there for a while but he had to do it now and was having such a lovely time. He then got the coloured fabric out of a plastic bag and was trying to wrap it around himself - 'dress up like Natalie'. Very cute!
Last night he even went to sleep without one of us sitting on the couch! He was very tired, and we weren't quite so successful tonight (a bit unfortunate, cos he screamed the house down and very much disturbed his very tired little brother who wanted to sleep!) but we got there in the end. Hooray!

PS - Debbie we miss you! Hope blogger can sort itself out so you can blog here again :)

The Comet

Well, it was an interesting thing to try and capture the comet in a small time frame, and find out how to set the camera up, given that there was a fair bit of ambient light from the town. But here is the best I got.

Morning All!

Thought I should just report in, on yesterday .... what a HUGE day! Dad was a tad anxious, but didn't need to be ... his old teacher Pip (now Cong Sec) gave him a 12 out of 10 for the First Sermon - which of course now puts the pressure on to keep that high standard! But it WAS a good service, and good chats afterwards! Then we went to lunch again, this time with about 20, including 5 Ministers ... 4 retired, some visiting! Back to church for a 50th wedding anniversary "open house" for Alan and Margie, and that was just lovely! Margie is Pip's sister, so he was MC, and there were some funny reminiscences, then Alan and Margie sang a song ... they've both been involved in Choral society things for years, and Alan has an excellent voice! It was a good way for us to get to know a bit more about them! We came home for about half an hour then went to a Church Together celebration in the big marquee. We were both stunned to be greeted warmly (very warmly - hugs n all!) by Rob and Maureen ... caught us a bit off guard! The service was very lively, energetic and pente, and afterwards there was just about a queue of people wanting to talk to us ... Rob Wyatt who knew me years ago and whose daughter is an old friend; a dear old lady who asked were we at Pt B, did Dad used to have hair, and did he remember marrying her and Ernest ... and we did! And she was quite overcome to meet us again, very chatty and really needed a cup of tea!! (Ernest died 5 years ago) ... and then there was Yvonne, who used to own an excellent quilt shop out at Highbury, moved here 6 months ago, and remembered us .... wow! We came home about 9, quite stunned ... and exhausted!
I'm anticipating all Sundays won't be quite like that! We're starting to get dates in the diaries ... so we really know we're here, and this is where we belong ... and it's good!
We're going to see Aunty Gwen this morning - and get BBQ cover, and sand! Love Mum
PS Hope things looking up for all of you .... especially Debbie and Sam!

Poor Sam...

Sam's a bit crook! He's only really kept about 2 feeds down since 6:30 yesterday morning and has been doing ENORMOUS spews! Not quite so bad today (but he did sleep for 4 1/2 hours this arvo!) but yesterday we went through so many clothes... and you know how good this weather is for getting things dry...
So last night after not keeping anything down and not enough wet nappies, I thought I'd better get him checked out. He was still bright and chirpy and didn't appear to be miserable or too flat or anything, but I didn't want him to get dehydrated. I took him to Flinders and we didn't really have to wait too long, we were only there from 9 - 12 (and of course he was awake the whole time). He's ok and there wasn't really much they could tell me! Just one of those things, could be a virus or his teeth (make that tooth cos there's only 1), and keep an eye on him and get him checked out again if it goes on too long. Fun.
I'm very glad he's not been too upset with it. Today I was beyond exhausted and not functioning very well so I had lovely sleep this afternoon as well - still trying to catch up from our short nights away. Al & Jacob are ok (just tired too) and we all hope we all sleep a lot better tonight!

In other news, the dust bowl next door has turned into a mud bowl! Would be so much fun to go play in it :P They're working on the retaining wall and new fence (among other things) which is a very good thing... Al went out tonight to make sure what's left of our fence is still standing, and some of the concrete in the carport is collapsing! The water's eroded the dirt away so there's nothing to support it. He took some photos but I'm too tired to look at them now. Shall keep you informed!

*yawn*

How's things??

Hi Honeys all! I wonder how you're all doing?? ... I hope you're not flooded out, nor had any damage, Debbie n Stu, in the floods there! And I hope Sam is better today, Heth n Al .... I understand you getting him checked out, and I hope you've had a reasonable night after that!
And I hope you're all well n able to enjoy a good weekend, Cherie n Rob!!
Marg H visited yesterday, and hasn't changed .... she mentioned the swatting flies comment and we laughed .... but she doesn't seem to have learned much from it .... 16 years ago now I think! She took me to Ad for my Board meeting last night, and it rained VERY heavily on the way, and there was SO much traffic - lots with bikes on the back! Jill and John gave me a ride home, and it was very strange to drive into the town, with no street lights! Power went off just as Poirot was about to reveal whodunit, so Dad was a bit frustrated! Came back on about 10 past 12, just after I got home, but then off again 5 minutes later, until about 6am .... I'm glad it came back on, as we have no hot water/showers/shutters/garage door, with no power! Actually that's not quite true ... there is a manual over-ride on the garage door! Dad's gone to music practice at church this morning .... 9am Saturday is a bit different!
Hope you're all good, not mouldy, and all have a pleasant weekend! Love Mum

Hope it all went well!

Hey there,

Just wanted to drop a line and wish you guys all the best for the church service this evening. Sorry I didnt get on here earlier to wish you all the best, but I have some gastro bug, and came home early from work today ill :( Thankfully Dad was in the area, and had decided to finish working on site a little early so I got a ride home :)

Hope you all had fun together, and sorry we couldnt make it.

Happy Birthday Calvin!!!

It's our turn to send Calvin BIG birthday greetings... Jacob enjoyed drawing you a picture the other day but this morning Sam just wanted to eat it so this was the best pic we could get! Anyway we are thinking of you lots today and are glad you are doing fun things. A pirate party sounds great! We can't wait to see you this week & we'll give you your pressie then. We love you lots! Love Jacob, Sam, Uncle Al & Aunty Heth

Yippeee!!! Calvin is 'Free!

Happy birthday me hearties!
Happy birthday me hearties!
May you have a wicked party!
Happy birthday me hearties!

Anyway!..

Hope you have a fantastic day Calvin, wow you are certainly growing up! We have left your presents at Grandmas for you, as I dont think we will be lucky enough to see you and Mummy and Daddy and Natalie when you are down this week. But no matter you have a great time, and I will get Michael to post on here a little later on. He is about to go to a birthday party for his friend Bianca!
Love
Aunty Cherie, Uncle Rob and Michael
xxxx

Calvin's birthday

Cos Debbie is doing the updates, they are going to appear on the Cozens blog. (I think Blogger's transition from old to new isn't quite going as smooth as they would have hoped.)

Calvin said: Thanks for remembering my birthday, Nanna, Byee .

Happy "Free" birthday Calvin!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday deeear Calvin, happy birthday to you! Hi Honey! We're thinking of you lots today and hope you have just the best super-fantastic day with lots of lovely celebrations and yummy food! .... and balloons of course! We hope you don't mind waiting until you come and see us, to get your presents ... I didn't get my act together quite enough to post them! It will be SO lovely to see you all in a few days time! Grampa adn I are going to church at Adare this morning, and we'll be able to sit together .... maybe the once and only time!! Have a luvverly day and travel safe and we'll see you soon! Love Nanna n Grampa XXXXXX

Hello Grunt (and everyone else) (from Debbie)

(This is Debbie's post, by the way. Blogger is being stupid.) Hi everyone. Marbrook Rob and Cherie ('Congratulations in Lebanese). The car looks great. Really love the logo photo!
Just thought I'd better write here and let you know that I am reading and looking at the blogs, but for some reason it will not let me leave comments. Annoying!

Calvin and I did make it safely back yesterday, but I'm quite happy to not have to get in the car for a couple of days. Glad we went down. I think it was nice for Daniel to have something a bit different happen for his birthday. It has certainly made me very excited about Calvin's birthday (though we are still working out what we will do). I asked Calvin yesterday who he would like to celebrate his birthday with and (after I explained that it couldn't be Daniel) he told me very definitely that he wanted Tony, dressed as a pirate! Haven't broken the news to Tony yet, but we'll see what we can work out ;)

Meet Grunt!

Rob would have posted this, but he is still out drooling over his new acquistion! I am sure he will keep you up to date of its first milestones, but I will start off by saying that we its now clocked over 100kms today! We took it for a little drive the length of the Expressway and then to Glenelg. Its now safely tucked up in bed (aka garage), and Rob is doing the kitchen, although I swear I hear the kitchen to garage door open and close every now and again ;)

Another hot day, another bushfire...

Hey there,
As I am sure you have heard by now, there is a pretty sizeable bushfire buring in the Mt Bold/Kangarilla district. It started at around 6.30pm this evening, and this is how it looked from our house at around 7ish.
We have had a lot of fire trucks rushing past on Chandlers Hill Road this evening. Here is hoping it is under control soon.
I had a look at the CFS website, and it has burnt 1600 hectares since being reported at 6.30 this evening, guess those strong wings are not helping. There was another fire ignited at Prospect Hill (further south), so it doesnt look all that hopeful that it was 'accidental'.

What we've been doing while Mummy is away

Natalie: Hayden came over to visit me. We played princesses and doctors and kings. We had fun with the doctors toys. Then we did Mr Potato Head. That's all there is. Bye.
Stuart: Debbie left just after 7am this morning to go down to Adelaide to stay with a friend. (The friend moved down just before Christmas, and her husband has just gone on a mission trip to the Philippines, and after being broken into on the weekend, she isn't coping too well.) Debbie took Calvin, to help celebrate Bradley's birthday. The plan is that she will stay overnight and return by lunchtime tomorrow.

Good morning from sunny Victor Harbor!

There's a lot I could tell you but dare say it may be a bit boring so I'll try to cut to the chase, so to speak! I appreciated your comment Rob that we may have heard enough about BOXing .... not wrong! We've made incredible progress tho, I reckon, with all boxes unpacked apart from in the study and sewing room and the pot plants .... but those plant ones will need to be done this morning to make room for our new stuff to be delivered .... we went to Mitre 10 yesterday, to buy a reject door for Dad to use for a desk (on 2 2 drawer filing cabinets, like in Loxton) and got just a little carried away! Today they will deliver our new BBQ, and our new patio heater, and our new outdoor setting of table and 6 chairs .... well I SAID we got carried away!! Oh and they'll bring the door, too! It was kinda fun! Before we went there I also bought a new very nice office chair to replace that dreadful old ripped red vinyl one, and I'm finding it very comfortable here at my computer! Dad decided to leave my old monitor in Ltn for the dump, and my new larger one is so much clearer .... I like it!!

Our new home here is lovely and we'll be very comfortable, once we get some more cupboards! There are lots of lovely bookshelves in the family room, and there are built ins wardrobes in spare rooms, and broom cupboard and linen press, but all only half the size of the ones we had!! And one of the glitches in our moving was that the wardrobe Dad wanted in his study for storing stuff wouldn't fit around the corner into the room! So he's now got the linen press that was my fabric cupbd and the bookshelf that was in the spare room! So I'm hoping we can go this morning and buy the linen press and bookshelf we saw in Victor Furniture yesterday, for my sewing room!

Anyway, that's enough for now! I'm anticipating that we'll have a barbie for tea next Wed, before the Induction Service ..... but dare say you'll hear more before then! It will be good to see you all down here soon!! By the way ..... it's occurred to me that Dad will be starting work Thursday, after the service Wed night, so if those of you who'll be staying wanted to come earlier rather than just Wed, that would be good!! Love you all! Mum

Rising up . . .

Anyone else want a shot at the title? Dave came over last night, and we had some fun throwing punches. I've almost got a black eye, but it just looks like a5mm of black eyeliner at the corner of my eye, so that is pretty disappointing. I'll have to try again later in the week.

I got a few good punches in, but Dave clobbered my more than I clobbered him. I blame my parents - after all, they're responsible for my short stubby arms, aren't they?

Goodbye from Loxton!

Hi All! Stu, if your ears have been burning, I make no apology - Dad 's just spent nearly an hour trying to sort out his new Blogger thingy and I've done a bit of muttering about folk who need to CHANGE things THIS WEEK! However, it seems to be actually allowing me in, and letting me type, so I might calm down in a while!

The computer's being packed up soon, so this is the last entry from here! We can see that we WILL be ready when the truck comes 7.30 tomorrow morning, and part of me can't wait to get going! I enjoyed my last walk here, this morning, and saw Mr Kangaroo at the Village, as well as something I've NEVER seen before ..... there were 6 kangaroos grazing across the river, and I stopped and watched them for quite a while .... it was about 20 to 7, beginning to warm up, and just beautiful and peaceful .... a very special memory for me!

This week I feel a bit as if I've been just sort of pottering .... picking up something and taking it somewhere else ... and putting things in boxes, surprise surprise! I was a bit startled that my pedometer told me I've done over 40,000 steps each of the last two days .... no wonder I'm grumpy, eh?! ... not sleeping much hasn't helped, either!

Anyway, i think Dad's nearly ready to pack this up, so I'll go! Hope you're all well and cool, and not too busy, and very forgiving, and we'll see you all soon - in another place!! Love Mum
PS ... we're gonna be without Broadband for a while as we should have given 7-10 days notice, instead of 3 ... dare say there'll be other things for us to do, and there's always Dial-up if we're desperate for a "fix"!!

Now Cooler than ever!

We already knew that we were cool, but now we are even cooler with a working Air conditioner again. The guys just came and fixed it and just in time for the stinky hot weather on Thursday. Just thought we'd share that because we are VERY happy about it.

Hope that you are all keeping cool too.

Happy New year!

Here is a picture of Michael and his prized glow accessories!
We just had a nice quiet night at home with my parents, and enjoyed watching the fireworks at midnight.

We actually had an extra special treat, as just after midnight whilst all of the fireworks were in full swing, a falling star went right over us, and yes it definately was one, and not a stray firework.

Sometimes the driveway makes it all worthwhile! ;)

I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year :) 

Migrating to New Blogger

You will have noticed (when you log in) that you sometimes have the option of upgrading to New Blogger. (It doesn't appear everytime, because Blogger is staggering the migration.) It would be good if everyone can do this when they get a chance, because if I move the Blog over before people upgrade, then they won't be able to access the blog. I'd like to make this upgrade later in the week, so if you see the option to Switch - please take it up. Happy New Year, btw.

Happy New Year 2007

Happy new year to you all. Last night we got together with some friends to bring in the new year by making a silly movie. We had fun running around all over town filming fight scenes and investigations, and parties and pretty much anything we could string together to make a plot.
Here is a picture of Jo, Naomi, Nadine and Leonie celebrating the new year in style.

It has been lovely that the kids have been able to holiday in Orroroo with Grandma and Grandpa. Stuart and I haven't had quite the amount of rest and sleep that we may have hoped for, but we have been able to do lots of socialising which has been very lovely.
Hope that you were all able to bring in the new year with style and fun. And hope that you are not feeling to stress mum K and that you are feeling better dad K. Stuart has been checking the weather for Loxton vs Victor everyday and has concluded that Thurday will be a very good day to move south!

Love to you all and blessing for the year ahead of us.

Happy New Year!

Hi All! Hope you all enjoyed your NY Eve celebrations, and that you all have a healthy 2007, with wisdom to meet each new challenge!
Dad's packing the study, and keeps coming out with all sorts of "treasures" .... latest was the Waikerie "petition" from '98 .... my goodness! He's shredded lots of stuff! I've washed most of the kitchen cupboards, except for the two shelves that have the things we're still using, and I washed our woollen underlay this morning - and then it rained for the next 3 hours! But it's hanging out now, and the sun's out so it won't take long to dry! We chuckle at the weather forecast - Thurs is sposed to be 40* and thundery here, and 28* in Victor! Kinda funny really!
I have a feeling I shouldn't be sitting here .... there are probably lots of things I should be doing to make sure we really ARE ready when the truck comes early Thursday morning! By the way ....
Dad is fine! He went for his usual 10k run this morning! The little gash on his head is healing nicely, and the patches on his chest (that were shaved for the ECG monitors) are itching!! But he's OK! ..... which is kinda good! Love you all! Mum

Basketball and backyards

Hello everyone, Just wanted to share a few snaps with you, and show you the recent changes in our back garden.

We have now finished off the covered area, so that it now includes some marble chips and looks a little more tidy.

The biggest change of all that you will notice is that Opa and Rob have put up Michael's Christmas present of his basketball backboard.

I think they have done a great job, they have used a cargo net as a ball catcher, and it does a great job! Michael and Rob (and I) have spent a good deal of time 'testing' it ;)

We are now going to focus on retaining the back part of the garden near Michael's swing, and put in a more permanent pathway, and eventually put in a water feature where our pond is.... one day! 

.... sorry

Dear Family! It's been good to see you all, over the last few days, and I apologise for being so grumpy! They reckon moving house is way up on the stress meter, but I'm finding it particularly hard this time - don't reckon it's been this bad before! But I AM sorry, and I hope you can all forgive me! Hopefully things will all be much better soon ..... I'm not thinking how many (few!!) more sleeps now! Love you all! Mum

Seems like we've all been too busy to Blog this week! I can understand that - it IS the silly season, after all! We survived our 5 "parties" in 3 days, and the fellowship ladies startled me yesterday, giving me a lovely little quilt! I'm very happy to be home today! I've made the Pineapple Nut Mould, and the carrot jelly, and fudge ..... just in case there's not enough food! (Ho Ho Ho!)
The packing is continuing - we even finished the china cabinet the other night, so that's good! There's really just the kitchen and study (and shed ... sigh!) to do, so we reckon we'll make it! Can't believe in less than 2 weeks we'll be there! Wow!
It will be good to see you all in the next few days, and the beds are ready for you, Debbie, Stu, Natalie and Calvin! I hope you ALL travel safe, whether long or short trips, and also hope work's easing up a bit etc! Be gentle on yourselves, all of you! See you Monday! (or tomorrow!) (or both!)
Love Mum

WE got a pressie today!

'Dear Families Brocklehurst, Kitto and Badenoch. Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a Peaceful and Loving 2007. All our love Bella, Peter and Rike.'

It's safely under our tree!

well fancy that!

Dad's about to go for a walk with Gary ... around the golf course!! Beats packing!

.... I'm a bit weary ...

Hi All! Well, we've survived today's farewell at church, and are able to say it was an excellent morning! We had a baptism, of 4 month old grandson of a key couple, and that was beautiful - made a balance, between saying goodbye to us, and welcoming Lucas into the church family and looking forward .... and the church was packed, which everyone loved! There were very few speeches, like only one, which was possibly a bit surprising, but that's OK .... lots of folk spoke individually to us, and we felt good about it all! They've given us a voucher for local (VH) hardware shop, and we plan to get the "Loxton Memorial BBQ" ..... it can be a beauty, too, with some left over towards our out-door setting!
We have 5 "parties" between Tues and Thurs this week so I won't be doing much cooking this week!

I haven't been packing this week ... or was it last week? ... I DID get all the christmas mail written (Dad did Granny and Grampa's!) (I did the other 81!), and I wrote on "christmas/goodbye n thanks for all the fish" cards for our lovely local friends, and I wrapped all the grandies' presents ... had to pack the stockings already so i knew what wouldn't fit in, that I had to wrap ... and all in all it was a very draining, tiring week! I do feel good now it's all done, but it's all wrong, not having gifts for Isabelle! .... and that's just Nanna's view ... I can't begin to think what it's like for you, Debbie and Stu!

Grandad came up yesterday, and it's good having him here! I think he enjoyed catching up with some folk at Martha's last night, and church this morning. He's happy with his Hotel room .... has somewhere to retreat to when things get a bit chaotic! I plan to send the presents for Grandad to take to Heth's on Tues, to be one less thing for us to take on Christmas day!
Tonight Martha's is on again, and it's also the Carols by Candlelight, around the rotunda in the main street, so another night out!
.... only 18 sleeps! Love you all! XXX

Results are finally in!

Well I've known for a week the results of two of my subjects but was sweating on my Marine Science results cause it has such a challenging subject full of useful and useless information. So here they are:

Intro to Aboriginal Studies Credit
Marine Sciences 1 Pass
Ways of Explaining Education Distinction

So I'm just wrapped about it!

Thanks to Stu for help with my Education Essay which was worth 55% of mark I got a High Distiction!

My two essay's for Aboriginal Studies I got a Distiction and a Credit.

All in all a good start to Uni studies considering it's been a long time.

Natalie's School Concert

We have just spent the evening sitting in the school watching small children sing HUNDREDS of slightly off key songs! And I might add that I sat in the pram (we only have one folding chair). Despite the hundreds of songs it was of course still very cute. It was not much of a surprise to us that we had to wait 90 minutes brofore Natalie's class performed. AND it was SO worth the wait. Her class was certainly the best. They sung and danced to the 'polar express' song. I took some video - very cute. We were very proud.

Calvin didn't find the evening quite as rivoting as us but he was momentarily distracted by a jet flying over head (thus the telescope looking up). Notice the cute jocks poking over the top of his shorts? He is VERY toliet trained. Today we were in Target and he said he had a poo and I said he had to wait and he did and it was all fine (I'm so happy).

And now we are all tired and grumpy and it is time for bed. Nighty night.

(Still looking forward to hearing about Michael's)

Jacob's Care Photo

Speaks for itself I think ;)

What is happening at Christmas???

Hey there,

Can anyone please tell me what is happening at Christmas? I have my family jumping up and down at me as no one has told me what we are up to! They want to have something here, and I need to organise it quickly, so any input would be most appreciated!

Also there was talk of a Kitto Christmas, is this still going ahead?

Thanks!

Off to process some orders, what a change doing overtime! :(

We are the champions!!!!

Here is a champion with my champion. Work it out either way you like but I am one happy girl!

Go Rick Kelly you good thing :) 

.... moving .... pictures ...

.. and no, it's not quite what you think! Dad has just finished packing his first box (wow ... cheer cheer ... hip hooray!) .... of photos .... from our walls .... boy does it look weird! I've just caught up my diary for over a week (WHY do I get behind?!) and am about to do Friday's ironing, then start our Christmas mail! I think Dad's gonna start packing the study then .... he HAS conceded that he can't get the rest of the slides scanned before we go, so i guess that's something! Hope you're all cool n stress-free!

Bushfire

Here is a picture that was taken at about 7pm, the fire began at about 3pm, so it was still going strong after 4 hours. After this image was taken there was a mass influx of water bombers and choppers (we counted 2 bomber planes, 3 choppers and an Elvis). That dramatically reduced the smoke which is probably just as well considering that the wind got up quite strong at around 8pm 

Our new pergola area

Ok so its a little messy out there still, but this is our new pergola area. Rob and Dad did it in less than 2 days - one day last weekend, and yesterday.

It certainly makes a difference when it comes to shade, and heat entering the house. It was 41C here yesterday and it was like a fridge inside, we actually turned off the aircond. at one stage! Well done to my Dad and Rob for doing a great job :) (will look great once its all finished and tidy!) 

OUCH

About my lip it is OUCH!

OUCH

About my lip it is OUCH!

Update from our world - a little long I am sorry!

There hasnt really been much to tell lately from our neck of the woods until this week, which has been quite umm 'interesting'.
My work load was always going to be terrible this week with 10000 pre-orders in the system, my relief worker leaving Thursday for 4 weeks off on sick leave for a shoulder op, and the fact that its 2 weeks out from Christmas and the daily order count plus the pre-orders would be immense. That was the up side of things. The downside, is that I had to work from home all weekend, as well as EVERY night! I think I have clocked a 60+ hour week thus far. I have a new worker starting Monday that I will need to train, which shall be fun. We had stocktake yesterday in 41C heat - bear in mind I work in a tin shed with no airconditioning, which probably doesnt help the way I feel! The other bad thing is that I am really sick with some sort of flu (and really wishing that it isnt my chronic fatigue rearing its ugly head again). I am quite frankly exhausted. But that is enough on me.

This week saw a quite large bushfire near our home, and it was quite bizzare seeing the "Elvises" go over head very low (not sure if they were filling up at the reservior??), as well as water planes, media choppers etc. It was quite spectacular to see, but a little too close. I will post some images up once I download them. Michael was scared and sadly it reignited some old fears of his, and thus had nightmares about school fires with him there (curse you kids who lit that fire at Braeview, you just dont get it do you?). That was also the same evening that Rob and I were meant to be going to Robbie, which we didnt end up going to on the count that we were both suffering the flu - Rob's remainders and my coming down with. So with the bushfire around it was probably best we were home to keep an eye out. Downside is that, well we missed Robbie, and its something I dont want to dwell on as it doesnt hurt so much! A friend at work went and sent me some amazing pictures. :(

Wednesday night saw a very welcome visit from Grandma and Grandpa (aka Mum and Dad) who saw Michael at the Christmas Carols. Yes we finally located him during the last song! Its very hard locating a kid in a red t shirt and santa hat, when about 300 other kids are wearing the same! It was a lovely night, and yes I will post some photos of that too. Thanks Mum and Dad for staying with us, it was nice to have you here, I am just sorry I was chained to my computer working - damn orders!

Thursday saw Michael get his hair streaked again - he looks great :)

Friday saw Michael get his end of year report, and he has done very well. A few little behaviour glitches probably held him back, but academically he did very well, and is ahead of his years in spelling and reading, and did very well in design/technology and German.

Today saw Michael have a few accidents. Firstly he picked up Stormy, who didnt want to be picked up, and got a scratch on his tummy for his efforts. He then went swimming and bumped his chin on the bottom of the pool whilst doing the end of lesson dive. Then tonight he thought he would try shaving whilst having a spa, and with no idea on how to use a razor, sliced open (quite deeply I might add) his upper lip. Poor kid was totally in shock and really didnt cry all that much considering the amount of blood. And there was lots!!! He is now in bed sleeping - thank you panadol, but I think that it will teach him to ask next time he uses a razor! Needless to say I didnt go to my work Christmas dinner tonight!

I think I need to lie down now!

Ashes and things

Go Aussie!
This morning Al & Sam & I were out and about in the city so went to the Museum and saw the Ashes. It really is tiny (give me the AFL Premiership Cup any day!) but was nice to see a bit of history like that. One of the most beautiful things about the experience was observing the reaction of a well dressed old man wearing a suit and hat who would have been at least in his 80s or more - he was so chuffed, and said he'd been waiting his whole life to see it and it was such a privilege. That was nice :). I thought it was cute that chuffed old man and baby Sam were next to each other to see it!
Jacob's reaction to the Australian win last night was also note worthy. We cheered so he kept on cheering, and looked for his microphone to cheer louder, and hip-hip-hooray-ed it a few times, and was quite excited by it all! Might need to take him to a Twenty20 sometime ;)

Fudge!

No, really!! While Heth was here we (she!) made some delicious very easy yummy fudge and i thought we should share the recipe! Put 500gms choc bits, 60gms butter and 1 tin condensed milk in a dish and microwave Medium 4-6 minutes, stirring twice. Add chopped nuts, fruit, ginger (yum!!) or whatever, pour in tin and set in fridge! Heth Al Jacob Ian and I can all vouch for it being absolutely scrummy!

I've finished packing the lounge, spare room, sewing room (yes really!!), Christmas decorations, and will tackle the teak cupboard in the dining room tonight! We're going to leave about 7 tomorrow morning and spend a few hours with Granny and Grampa before we go to Adelaide for Michael's Carols night at school! I'll be happy to have a non-packing, just-sitting day!

I hope, Rob and Cherie, that you both have a wonderful time at the concert tonight .... I look forward to the Blogs! Take care, all of you! Love Mum XXXX PS What time do the Carols start?

More photos on the Cozens blog

For any one who is interested, there are some back dated pictures on the Cozens blog of sifferent things. Including some others of the kids playing in the mud! As you can see here they don't really know what it means to stay clean while making mud pies.
Hope you are all well.

(oh yeah, Stuart and I only forgot our anniversary for a little bit this year! We'd both remembered and exchanged pleasantries before he left for school!! Nothing exciting planned tonight, maybe just take-out for tea and a quiet drink on the verandah).

Calvin's finger

Here is a picture of Calvin's cut finger that we took last week (Thurs I think).
Owww. He still wearing Wiggles band aids and it still looks yuck.

It is still sore - poor guy.

4 bunnies, 1 owl, and 1 flat tyre...

And that was just on the way TO Loxton! (We didn't hit the bunnies or owl, just saw them). An hour out of Loxton at 11:30pm, in the middle of nowhere, with no mobile coverage, we got a flat tyre that was actually more like shredded than flat - we were very lucky and didn't lose control or anything. It was very bald (i'm talking more than Al-bald, but Dad-bald) so was lovely to get 2 new tyres as a souvenir from our last trip to Loxton. We unloaded the car and changed it (well Al did) and Jacob stayed asleep and got safely to mum and dad's a bit later than anticipated. Jacob did like sleeping in Nanna and Pappa's room and we liked it too! We had a very relaxing few days away, and saw some Christmas things, and had coffee at Berri, and chilled and it was good. Thanks for having us! We had a pretty uneventful trip home on Saturday arvo but was about half an hour too long for the boys. Was certainly lovely that they slept for half of it, but Jacob had had enough by the top of Cross Rd and Sam cried on and off from about Murray Bridge (more off than on really).

We had a busy day yesterday too. Al went to church in the morning (we put up the Christmas tree!) and got home about 1:30, and we got organised and went to Mt Barker for Dan and Bron's engagement party. Jacob went to sleep on the way of course but as soon as he woke up he was excited about the Party. We left there at 4:30 (and hour after I had been hoping to, but we only got there at 3!) and picked up a few things from home and went to our Playgroup Christmas Party. I think we all had a great time, and everyone appreciated Al entertaining the kids! Sam slept very well last night cos he really didn't get much during the day, and after screaming and bashing on the door for 25 minutes Jacob seemed to sleep well too. (It was at the 25min mark that Sam was woken up, so Al sat with Jacob til he went to sleep which was what J wanted in the first place! *sigh*) It's nice to have a quiet at home day today!

Busy weekend in Whyalla (No hospital trips!)

Looking back at the days that have just gone by I can see that we have in fact been quite busy. Friday night Stuart stayed home and got stuck into reports and I went and baby sat Matt and Sharina's boys (Daniel 4 and Bradley 2). After an hour of singing lullabys I then had a relatively easy night, though I didn't get home until after 12, and Stuart was still up reporting. Saturday morning became busier than we had planned with a trip out to the shops and then a dash to church to organise the power point for Sun night's Carol service. (Was not happy as I had been asked to do the power point and then was not given any details and was not told of the practise. Was very glad that I found out as I had some important changes to make). I got home in time for Stuart to run off to school for an hour before returning the car so that I could take Natalie out to a birthday party (at a guess I would stay there were 30+ kids there - crazy). Stuart kept doing reports. Then it was time for cleaning, tea, kids to bed and THEN PIRATE PARTY. We had a few of the guys around to watch Pirates of the Carribean 2 and I had fun dressing up in Calvin's Captain Jack stuff. Of course it was after 3:30am before we got to bed and Dave decided to crash on the couch (so I had fun at 6am keeping the kids entertained and quiet! Though they were very excited about having breakfast with Dave. Natalie is such a big flirt). Then Sunday was church (and more reports for Stuart) and THEN in the evening it was off to the Bethel Christian Centre's Community Carols. Apart from Calvin being sad that the lines for the bouncy castle and pony rides where too long for him to have a go, the night went well (though we had about twice as many people as the church can comfortably hold). The Children's church presentation was SO cute (they sang Colin's 'Christ the King of Christmas') and Natalie was dressed at a candy cane. She did really well, even though she did sing one chorus facing the back of the stage! Towards the end of the service she then joined the big girls for a dance (to Colin's 'Aussie Jingle Bells') and she got many cheers for her solo dance (I was SO proud). It was about 9pm before we got home and Stuart went straight back to reports and I decided to give him his space by going out with a bunch of people. Coming home at 11:30 probably wasn't the smartest thing to do and consequently my three very late nights (and early mornings) have all caught up with me today. Oh well, it is actually quite nice to feel tired as the result of personal choices and a jolly good time rather than an involentary trip to hospital. So that is our weekend. Hope that you are all enjoying the crazy party/service season too. Love and hugs.