That's right, i am miserably addicted. I cant ever get enough, and I find myself having more and more every day :(

This is what I live for right now! The cyclone in particular :)





So, I got you for a minute there hey? You were expecting something dreadful weren't you!
Tricked ya!
You gotta try these things, they are so yummy, and nevermind the kids, all that sugar and colouring's probably no good for them anyway, just keep them for yourself lol!

Anyways, this is my vice at the moment I just can't get enough of them in this hot weather. In fact, I may just need to be put on rations, before I spend our fuel money on them ;P

Was lovely!
We left on Friday afternoon, after I took the kids to a Wild Action animal show at my work.
Heaps of fun was had playing mini golf, splashing in the waves at the beach, swimming in the pool and fishing in the ocean. Here are some pics I captured with our old camera, mum took more so I might post some when she sends them to me! The kids had a ball and keep asking if we can go back! It was nice to spend time with my parents and sister, so we're gonna book in again for next year. Sorry for a short post, but i'm a little distracted as a close family friend passed away suddenly last night.

Riley and I (I was tickling him to smile lol!)

The boys climbing rocks at Buchan Caves

Jackson dipping his toes at sunset

It's off to the beach we go!

The boys are so excited. We have only ever been to the beach with them once before, in about April 2007 to Merimbula. This time we're heading to Lakes Entrance, and I have a whole heap of fun stuff lined up to do. We will visit the shell museum, and see the aquarium there. we will spend a day at the amusement/fauna park and we will take a boat ride to see dolphins. We will play mini-golf in the evening, and of course, we will chill at the beach in between!
My parents are coming too which will be lovely.
I am taking them (the kids) to work tomorrow, as we are having a visit from an animal and reptile show in the town where I work, and i'm only working till noon, so my manager said it's fine to bring them. They love coming to my work. They always get heaps of attention, and there is lots for them to do.

We had a nice night last night, I have been feeling guilty cos i've been doing activities and excursions with the kids at work, while mine have been stuck at home with grandparents or at daycare. We decided to take them to the cinema, something we rarely do due to the expense, but i really wanted to have some nice time together. We saw bedtime stories, and It was great, although a little wasted on Ry as he was a bit young. I'd like to take them to Adventure Park Geelong this summer too, as I took kids from work there and It was fantastic, really good for all ages!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend this Australia Day, and I will be back with some pics from out little road trip next week!

Love Charli xoxox

Well, not exactly, but after you see the following photo's you will understand my excitement!

Yep, it's the start of a new paint job. In our bedroom. Was it not just hideous before? Lol, that was the way it was when we bought the house three and a half years ago. I will post a photo of our completed bedroom when it's all finished and furniture replaced!

We have done work on the house, although mostly just tidying up stuff, not proper renovation. It looks 100% compared to then though, and we are getting slowly but surely closer to having changed every room in the house. The colours the previous owner had chosen were awful (as you can see by the bedroom pictured, they were all like this in different colours!) and made the house and rooms feel very small. We have opted for a fresh nuetral colour, and have used it throughout the whole house. Most of the work we have done ourselves, but we are novices, so nothing's perfect lol!

I thought I had some before pics on my computer somewhere, but i can't seem to place where they are so i'll list the things we've done so far. (Not all of them finished completely mind you lol!)

- Re-stumped
This was something we knew had to be done, but didn't plan to do for a few years. However, we decided not long after we moved in, to do it straight away so we could start on other things.

- Polished the floorboards
The hallway and Lounge were already polished, but had gotten very scratched and worn. The kitchen had horrible lino in it, so we pulled that up, as well as carpet in two bedrooms, and polished the lot. It's wonderful to clean, almost as good as tiles, but can get a little dusty so I have to vaccum heaps.

- Tiled the bathroom floor
The bathroom floor was just bare concrete when we moved in, so this was one of the first things we did.

- Re-plastered and painted
This has been a work in progress, and there are some rooms that have been completely replastered and painted, and some that were just too big a job to do it all completely with the kids around, so we just tidied up until we have the money to get a builder to do the job properly.
The kitchen was one such room, where we just replastered the worst of the walls, and painted. It still looks like a bodgy job, but at least it is a lot brighter and fresher than before.

- Carpeted a bedroom
The carpet in the bedrooms was awful and stained when we bought the house, so we opted to polish the existing floorboards. One of the bedrooms was added to the house and didnt have boads, so we re-carpeted.

- Painted the exterior
The house was originally yellow and dark green in colour. I hated it, so we painted it an off white and bluey grey. There is still one side of the house to paint however, as it is the sun side, and needs more work to prepare for painting. That will be a job for Gez before winter.

- Installed a spa, and re-freshed the BBQ area
The pergola area at the back of the house was old looking and really big. We decided to paint the pergola and put a reed fence around, as well as install a spa. We couldn't afford to re-pave, so just had to make do with the original paving.

So, as you can see, in the time we have had our house, we've done quite a bit to it. There is still a fair bit to go, the hallway and lounge both need re-plastering and painting etc, and the whole house needs new blinds on the windows. there are plenty of other things as well!


Until next time,

Charli xoxox

Seeing as I only started this blog recently, I realize that I have not had a chance to share much of our family background. I decided to share some pics of the boys when they were little.

Here's a picture of Jackson at about 28mths. I haven't many of Jack before this as we only had a film camera until Ry was born.
This is Ry as a bubba, his first bath at home with mummy! Hhe was about 10 weeks or so here. Ry was a big baby, he was born a little smaller than Jackson at 8lb4oz (Jack was 8lb7oz) but where Jack grew slowly, Ry was like a little beansprout! He outgrew his 000's within only a couple of months.And here is some of both of them together. It was love at first sight for Jackson, he just adores his little brother, and it is a mutual feeling from Ry (mostly!) They hate being away from each other for long, and they are always off playing together. We have only just started having arguments between them, as they are both particularly strong willed lol, but they will always give each other a cuddle in the end!That's it for tonight. Jackson has gone off to Marissa's for a sleepover very excitedly, and is looking forward to a day with her tomorrow doing craft activities and going to the cinema. Ry is a bit miffed that he missed out, but Missy will pick him up from daycare early tomorrow so he will get some time too!

My best friend and maid of honour at our wedding Marissa ('Aunty Missy' to my boys) is visiting from Western Australia this week. I am disappointed as I am working and cannot spend as much time with her as I'd like, but making the most of the time I do have with her. We spent part of the day together today with the boys, and then had dinner with her mum and grandparents. Tomorrow she is having Jackson for a sleepover at her mum's where she's staying while here, and spending the whole day with him on friday. She is amazing with my boys, absolutely adores them, and they feel the same about her. Jackson has spent more time with her, and he just LOVES Aunty Missy!!! On Friday night my three favourite girls and I are all having a girly night. Charmaine will bring baby Charlee for Marissa to meet, and we will have dinner at a nice restaurant and a movie and drinks after. I am looking forward to it like crazy!

I feel like I have really been blessed in regards to my friends. I can't say I have an awful lot, but a handful of really good friends and a couple of everlasting ones as well. Friends who I could speak with every day, and yet if we don't speak for a fortnight, that's ok and acceptable also. Friends who's kids (those who have them) are almost as dear to me as my own, and friends who know my heart as I know thiers. I think sometimes (often) we overlook or 'take for granted' these amazing people in our lives, who are not related, but are never regarded as not being family. I think we get so wrapped up in our lives and the people we see every day, that we forget about the ones who give us that extra special support and love we need.

My favourite girls, my beautiful sisters, my everlasting friends;

Charmaine, Myself, Rachel (my 'real' little sister) and Marissa (Aunty Missy!)

That's me today. I am being so grumpy, and feeling like the kids are driving me around the bend. It is hot, and I am tired. It is holidays and my boys are home. I.Should.Be.Spending.Quality.Time.With.Them

I will be trying harder this afternoon

We have a new puppy. The boys named her Abbie.
She was a surprise yesterday from Gerard's dad.
She's black with a little white on her neck and paws.
We took her camping last night and she wee'd on Gez's sleeping bag.
The boys are besotted.
We are all besotted
I am sad that Harley isn't here to play with her.

No pic's yet, our camera is being repaired, but I will post a picture of Abbie when it is fixed

Hope you had a nice weekend :)

Charli xox

I'm not sure that I have ever talked here about my desire to adopt a child. It has been something that has just been 'with me' for as long as I can remember. I can recall walking to primary school many years ago, meandering along our dirt track dreaming about the children I would adopt, and how 'right' and 'natural' that was for me to imagine, even in our little rural community which rarely saw children with step parents let alone anything as 'out there' as fostercare or adoption.

The idea never left me, although it has ebbed an flowed over the past few months, and most recently, probably a result of the awakening I had in Thailand has settled on 'flow', and not let up in my mind.
Gez and I had a big d+m the other day, and both discussed our priorities for the next 12 months, and I brought up adoption again. We decided to get some more information, which led to several late nights and lots of information overload.

The result? Well, it is still undecided. There are millions of orphans in countries all over the world. We have a home, a family and loads and loads of love to share. We have the ability to love a child as our own without boundary. However, and this is the most disheartening part, Australia is only offered a certain number of children for adoption each year.

Only a small number of Australians have the opportunity to save a life, and the odds are against Gez and I. Firstly, the number of people wishing to adopt in Australia far outweighs the number of children available to this country. It's not that there are not children who need our families, just that thier countries do not allow any more that a certain number of adoptions here.
Second, Gez and I are not wealthy, just a loving, working class family, and Thirdly, we have two children already, and many countries tend to take preferance to childless couples.

There is, however, a HUGE need for foster and permanant care families, which, for the moment, has forced me to take a step back, and realize that whilst 'my' need tells me to adopt, It would mean that in the three years of waiting, other children who need secure fostercare, could be shifted from temparary home to temparary home instead.

I dont know if I am making any sense, but in the end, for the moment, we feel that the most beneficial thing for the children, is for us to continue with theraputic fostercare, where we can feel perfectly certain that we are making a difference in the lives of chidren in need.

Making the decision has not diminished the desire in me to adopt, but knowing where we are needed most right now certainly makes me feel more committed to the cause, and now, more than ever, I cannot wait to begin again.

Now that Gerard has finished doing the RACV after hours, we can finally start to re-claim our LIFE. Seriously, I realized yesterday that;

1. We have not entertained for friends in our home for at least 2 years (!!!!!)

2. There has rarely been a week in the past 6 months where Gerard hasn't called me while I was driving home from work, to tell me to "hurry up 'cos I've got a call"

3. We have not been away for a weekend with the kids for 3 years.

No wonder we have been stressed and exhausted, we had no 'Life'. In fact, it's probably pretty lucky we still have good friends when I think about it like that.
Hmmm, time for a change I said to myself at this realisation.

So, in remedy to our 'lack of Life' situation, we spontaneously visited our friends the Barkers, who live in the next street last night, and promised a BBQ dinner invitation very soon, and I invited our friends the Kidds and thier 4 children, for dinner tonight! Should be a great night, although Riley will miss out as he's going to Nan and Pop's for a sleepover.

Speaking of which, Jackson has been there since Monday, and I can't begin to tell you the difference in Riley when Jackson is not around. It's a lot unsettling, as Ry is an Angel. We have not had as much as to raise our voices at Ry since Monday, which is making me realize just how much Jackson upsets the harmony between them. I know that sounds awful, but Jackson's behaviour over the past fortnight has been appaling, and I'm a bit worried.

I will definately try the fish oil, as he has always been a VERY demanding child, and maybe it will settle him down enough to expand his attention span a little. I mean, the boy cannot sit and concentrate for more than a few minutes, with the rare acception of a couple of particular craft activities he loves. I am worried about how much that affects him at school, so will make sure to have a regular discussion with his teacher. Poor boy, it sounds like i'm giving him a really bad rap here doesn't it? I don't mean to, he's such a gorgeous, loving kid, but I am worried and a bit frustrated at the moment about his behaviour and attentions span.

Any ideas? The fish oil is the only suggestion I have had for him, but i'm open to other ideas.

Yup, back into it today! Work, that is. I guess it could have been worse, but even so, six weeks off has taken it's toll on my attention span. Guess it's off to the chemist for some fish oil for me. My friend Michelle swears by it, and uses it religiously for her family, and I've been meaning to give it a go for Jackson too. It's hard *impossible even* to come by fresh fish here unless you catch it yourself (and do you get omega 3 in freshwater fish anyway?? maybe thats a silly question, i'll have to google it) I might give it a go.

I've been having trouble sleeping at night lately, going to bed at ridiculous hours, and not being able to wake in the morning. It's even worse if I know I have something the next day ironically, and last night I didnt sleep until about 1.30am, Aaahhhhh! I literally had to sleepwalk into the bathroom this morning, and have a shower to wake myself up. The kids are not good alarm clocks anymore either, as they usually sleep till 7.30-8am, and even when they wake, they tend to amuse themselfves without waking me until they want breakfast. Jackson even woke me up with breakfast in bed one morning, all by himself! Oh well, the alarm s set now, so i'll soon get back into the swing of it.

I really need to work on the way I react to stressful/tense situations at the moment with Gez and the kids. I tend to be getting a bit snappy, and it's not making for a peaceful home. Gez and I both seem to be a lot less tolerant of each others cranky moments recently, so I want to make a concerted effort to be respectful and loving to him, and to spend a bit more time noticing all the really good things my boys do.

I'm sure that kindness leads to kindness, and that spending more time as a family, and concentrating on cherishing and respecting my husband and children will strengthen our family a great deal.

This year I want to;

1. Enjoy more family time - Gez is finished his after hours/weekends job now, after 4yrs which free's up so much more time for us to spend together than we have become accustomed. I plan to spend much more time doing things together, like camping, fishing, taking day trips etc.

2. Increase productivity at work - not that I'm not productive, just that I really want to make this year exceptional at work. I have a lot to accomplish this year, and I want to make sure I can walk out of this new year knowing I have done my best work yet.

3. Begin Therapeutic Foster Care - We will go through the approval process again in Feb, after having been approved only for therapeutic respite last year to to our work commitments. I think we can be confident of our approval, and I'm itching to start! I am beginning to think about getting Jackson's room ready, and putting the bunks up in Riley's room so our boys can share.

4. Make a decision about whether Gez and I want to expand our family of four, to five, and how exactly this might occur - I guess this sounds a little strange, but I have been feeling for a long time that our family is not quite complete. I truly believe that had we not cared for Talia, we would have had another baby in that time, but having her seemed to satisfy any baby cravings I might have otherwise had lol! I am VERY drawn to the idea of international adoption and not particularly clucky to become pregnant...I dont know, it's very complicated, hence the reason for needing a whole year to make a decision lol!

5. Buy a new car - this one is kind of a dream, but I've paid off our personal loan now, and Gez gets a discount on Holden's at his work, so I'm dreaming of a brand new VE Equipe ;) We'll see about that one.

6. Lose some weight - I know that this is almost everyone's goal, but I have noticed the kilo's creeping slowly but surely upward over the past 12mths. I want to keep an eye more firmly on our diet, and some more excersise would not hurt either. My average weight has alsways been about 54kgs for my short frame, and it's up to about 58 at the moment, so nothing alarming, but just something i'd like to keep an eye on lol!

I will be very interested to look back on this the same time next year and see how I went with all this 'not-resolutions' lol!

Wow, its finally here.

I don't mean it hasn't come quickly, every year since having children has seemed to pass at double speed. I am glad it has come though.

2008 was a big year, and has passed quickly, with lots of major events in our family. It was not a particularly spectacular year, just busy and hectic and full of new experiences.
So here, in some kind of order, is a break-down of our 2008.

In January, we were still blessed with the care of princess Talia. We were surprised to have her for Christmas, and even more surprised (and pleased) when she was still with us for her 1st birthday in January. We didn't know how long we would have left with her before she went home to her family, so enjoyed spoiling her and loving her to bits! I was still just working one day a week, and enjoying being home with my children for the last time, before Jackson started school.

In February, our big boy started school. He was in a lovely prep grade, and loved it from the moment he stepped in the door! School is easy for him, and he has breesed through his first year with only a few hiccups. Riley turned 3 on the 23rd of Feb, celebrated with some little friends by a trip to the playcentre in Wangaratta, and a purple snake birthday cake which he chose for himself, for the first time.

In March, the princess went home to here mama. She had been with us for almost 9 months, and it was heartwrenching to have to let her go. We threw ourselves into work, and it was at the same time, that I was offered a full time position as Youth Services Coordinator for the Shire Council where I work. It felt like good timing, (although I insisted upon only working 4 days a week) as I could concentrate on something other than the loss I felt at Talia leaving our family, in contrast to the joy I felt that we had done our job so well until she was finally safe to go home to her mother and siblings. It worked, somewhat, and we were able to concentrate on being a family of four again.

June/July were difficult months, with Riley not enjoying chilcare, and me forced to put him in more often due to Gerard's mum and Dad becoming ill, and being unable to have him so often. We decided to change centres, and are infinately glad that we did this, as he LOVES daycare now. Poor Jackson started having a little trouble with his behaviour at school, not paying attention etc, and I got pretty stressed that I couln't be home to sort out the problem. It was established (after several visits to specialists) that his hearing had deminished.

In August, Jackson had his second ear operation, inserting a second set of grommets, and removing his adenoids. In the same month, Riley was diagnosed with large tonsils causing sleeps apnoea, and we were advised to have them removed...Wow poor boys (and mama!)

In September, we finally got another FC placement, our first since Talia. It was only a respite, but I lapped it up, utterly enjoying 5mth old Mialeigh and Brodie, 3 years.

In October, Jackson turned 6, Celebrated with a big Pirate themed party with many of his friends. Gez and I were getting nervous and excited about out upcoming belated homeymoon to Thailand!

The rest is too recent to repeat, so I will leave it there, but I really am glad that I started this blog. It has been the outlet for me that I hoped when it began, but it has been so much more that that for me also, and for that i am grateful.

With a new year, come new hopes, new dreams, new expectaions, experiences and memories. I am embacing this new year, and while i'm not very traditional, and new years resloutions are not exactly my thing (too much work to keep, and too much guilt when they're broken lol!) In my next post, (in no particular order, will be some of the things I hope to achieve/work on/experience etc.

Welcome to 2009 everyone, I hope that it is a year of wonderful experiences to never forget :) Thanks for being here, and my best wishes to you and yours.

Charli xoxox