My Little Cherrygals

Visit from the Toothfairy...

2010-05-22T08:20:00.003+10:00

Although my baby only turned 5 in Feb, the toothfairy has had to visit for the second time already this year.
I was so shocked when the dentist told me that she had her first wobbly tooth, but I wasn't prepared for the second one to follow so soon. My girlfriend Kelli made Bella a beautiful toothfairy pillow so that Bella had somewhere safe and sound to place her tooth and somewhere for the toothfairy to place the $5 note. (the toothfairy's have gotten very generous over the past few years...lol)
Lets just hope that it is a little while before her next lot get wobbly as the poor toothfairy might go bankrupt.

Till next time.
Caroline xxx

Mothers Day 2010

2010-05-09T19:50:00.002+10:00

Well today was Mothers Day and what an amazing day it has been :)
I was woken this morning by my beautiful girls who were eagerly waiting with an arm full of pressies, which were my gorgeous cherry apron with matching oven gloves and pie maker. Mmmmmm can't wait to give that one a go :-P

The girls did such a great job keeping the pie maker a secret, as a few times Brett had to stop them before the secret was let out. I then received for the first time breakfast in bed and then left in peace for the next hour to read my book. Oh I could so get use to this special treatment. lol

We then had all the family from both sides over for a very relaxing lunch, and definately had no shortage of food.

The weather was devine and the company was perfect and I think it is safe to say that a great day was had by all.

I hope that you all had a very Happy Mothers Day and enjoyed it as much as I xxx

Think PINK...

2010-05-08T17:10:00.003+10:00

She is nobody, yet she is EVERYBODY... This is how a breast cancer survivour last night described the Breast Cancer symbol 'The Pink Lady'.

Last night my mum, sister and I participated in the Melbourne Field of Women at the MCG. It was such and amazing and an emotional evening, but we were all there for just one reason and that was to support a very good cause.

14000 fellow supporters doned the pink ponchos and headed onto the ground which made for such an amazing sight.

It was literally a sea of pink :)

We are just so thankful that the rain held off until the last few people were leaving the ground for the stands, and then the heavens opened.

Don't forget to THINK PINK and donate.

Caroline xxx

Boys and their toys...

2010-05-08T16:54:00.007+10:00

After many years of being stashed away in the top of the cupboard, Brett's slot car track sees the light of day. Once he figured out how to put it together, the test came to see if the cars still worked. Luckily for the girls 1 of the 2 worked, but after a few laps that toowas out of action :(

Now the hunt is on for some new cars but of course they have to be a "particular" type and not just any old car and he has already purchased more track to make it BIGGER and better... lol

Welcome to my new home...

2010-04-30T08:46:00.002+10:00

Well the time has come for a new change and I would like to welcome you all to my new blog home. It still needs a lot of work, but I will get there eventually.
Fingers crossed this new change will inspire me to update more regularly.

Stay tuned...

Little Miss Matilda turns 3...

2010-04-26T01:41:00.000+10:00

Yesterday we headed off to the Scott household to help Little Miss Matilda celebrate her 3rd birthday.

A big Happy Birthday to my favourite little niece xxx... (yes yes I know she is my only niece... lol)

April thus far...

2010-04-26T01:31:00.000+10:00

INTRODUCING.......... HANNAH MONTANA................ lol

This is the outcome of Isabella quietly playing in her room. lol Thank goodness she didn't break out in song ;)

Last week Brett and I decided to introduce the girls to Roller Derby... I know a lot people think that Roller Derby is a bunch of girls on skates trying to beat or trip each other over, and that may well of been the case back in the 60's and 70's, but so not the case now. (although it is still loads of FUN!)

Last Tuesday Cranbourne was hit by a ripper of a storm, and luckily for me I was at work (which didn't recieve a drop of rain), but unfortunatley Brett and the girls at home weren't so lucky. Apparently we received about 40+ mm of rain in half an hour which caused our water tanks to overflow and the lounge room roof to leak yet AGAIN. lol

Since then we have recived another 35mm and fingers crossed there is plenty more to come. Would so love for this drought to be finally over :)

Of course Brett was out amongst the storm trying to get some good photo's with the new camera, but unfortunately we have yet to of bought a tripod so taking photos was a little difficult. This is my favourite! :)

HAPPY EASTER...

2010-04-02T02:23:00.000+11:00

The Baynham family would like to wish all their family and friends a very Happy and Safe Easter.

Take Care

xxx

having a blast...

2010-03-31T20:37:00.000+11:00

Amongst all the running around and the lack of free time, life has been pretty fun recently :) Easter parties, Roller Derby and just hanging out with friends are just a few things, but lets hope we can keep this on a roll cause I am having a blast.

Well the girls had their Easter Bonnet parades for their kinder breakups last week, so Brett and I put our "NON CREATIVE" minds together and this is what we came up with. lol I must say that the girls loved them and Brett and I had a ball making them so I guess that is the main thing.

My baby girl is all grown up now and has lost her first tooth :( From the time the dentist informed me that she had a loose tooth, to the time it fell out was only a matter of weeks. But thanks to a little help from daddy, Bella's tooth fell out on March 26 (and yes i could even tell you the exact time as it was that moment i realised that my baby is no longer a baby :( )

Brett and I headed out on Friday night with a load of friends for a drink and a catch up and had such a great night. Thanks to my darling hubby offering to drive, Myself and my girlfriend Kelli decided it was time to let our hair down a little... lol Hmmmmmmm ended up being quite messing but still an amazing time was had by all. The stupid thing was that I voluntarily put my name down to do the kinder sausage sizzle at 9am. I have since discovered that sausages are the best thing to cure a hangover. LMAO

Well thats all for the mo. Easter is just around the corner so would like to wish all my family and friends a very Happy and Safe Easter.

Take care

Caroline xxx

Catch up...

2010-03-04T19:22:00.000+11:00

Busy Busy Busy is the only way I can describe the past few months. As hard as I try there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day.

We had a very exciting month of February with 2 birthdays, a wedding anniversary and the long awaited arrival of our english rello's (well I class them as family). Glenda and Amy arrived on my birthday and stayed the week with us for the last leg of their Downunder holiday. We had a full packed week of sightseeing and celebrations and we were very sad to see them go. Lets hope they loved it so much that they come out again :)

(Glenda, myself and Amy experienced the "Edge" at Eureka Tower. OMG!!!! lol)

(Happy 5th Birthday Bella xxx)

To add to the chaotic month of Feb, both the girls started kinder this year and absolutely LOVE it. Being that this is Bella's 3rd year she is now a bit of a pro and Piper adjusted without a hitch :)

Brett has been reading up on the new camera and trying to teach himself some new tricks. He took this photo the other night, and I was just so surprised as to how much detail can be seen. AWESOME!!!

Happy Australia Day...

2010-01-25T22:53:00.000+11:00

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi..

Happy Australia Day everyone xxx

bit of this, bit of that...

2010-01-25T22:46:00.000+11:00

Well January is nearly over and this is my first post for the year. OOPS!!!!

Not an awful lot has been happening so far this year. We finally decided on a colour and painted the back room. It's so nice to have the walls all clean and fresh, but not to sure as to how long they will stay that way for. lol

Brett and I for a joint anniversary present bought ourselves a new digital SLR camera. Now we just need to learn how to use it. lol We have a few books which Brett has insisted on reading at least twice, but then he needs to teach me :)

Here are a few pictures taken with the new toy...

The girls are getting very excited with Kinder approaching quickly. Bella is just thrilled to be going back to her old kinder and Piper keeps telling me she is all grown up now cause she to will be going to kinder... lol Hmmmmmm

I am very excited to be getting a couple of English guests very soon :) They leave today and head for Perth, Cairns and then sunny Melbourne (fingers crossed the suns stays in Melbourne for a while). I have the job of "Sightseeing Organising" which is all good, but I think I will need to sit down with the Melways as I have been to all the places before but would have no idea how to get to any of them. lol

Well that's really about it for now. Not much going on :(

Wish you all a fabulous Australia Day xxx

the end is near...

2010-01-01T03:03:00.000+11:00

Well the year is nearly at an end, and the start of another is about to begin... Who knows what 2010 has in store for the Baynham family???

We've had a very busy chrissy break, and being that christmas lunch was at our place this year, I was a little stressed as I wanted everything to be perfect.

I'm glad to say that it went off without a hitch, although it felt like I never left the kitchen... lol The joys of hosting... lol

Brett and I have been enjoying the chrissy break as we both have holidays, and have been trying to get out as much as possible with the girls.

Bella came up to me the other day and said "that she loved to have her daddy home from work." Awwwwwwwww.... I don't think they are going to like it when he has to go back :(

For christmas from Grandma and Opa the girls received a voucher to build-a-bear which OMG i soooo want one... lol

The girls came out with a gorgeous ballerina teddy bear each that they helped to make and dress, and have had them with them every moment since :) Very Cute!

Here are a few pictures of our chaotic christmas...

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that you all have a very Happy and Safe New Year...

Lots of Love

The Baynham Family xxx

BRING ON 2010...

Merry Christmas...

2009-12-27T07:51:00.000+11:00

Myuna Farm...

2009-12-03T23:31:00.000+11:00

Another month down and the busiest month just beginning, and what better way to start it then with a visit to Myuna Farm. This year we finally made it to the City of Casey end of year Playgroup get together, as in the previous years the weather has been stinking hot and I had decided to give it a miss.

The kids ran riot, got their faces painted, cuddled the bunnies and went on a train ride around the grounds and fed the animals.

They all seemed to have a ball although they were a little hyped :)

bubbles bubbles bubbles...

2009-12-03T23:18:00.000+11:00

HOORAY!

I was hoping that the next photo of the spa was with us in it (unfortunately minus the glass of wine :( ) and here it is.

It is so nice to have it back and up and running again :)

Our Beautiful Girls...

2009-11-07T20:28:00.000+11:00

Here are some of the gorgeous photo's Helen took of the girls recently. Who needs to pay for an expensive photo shoot when you have a talented sister with an eye for photography.

Thanks heaps Helen xxx

Please Mr Fix it...

2009-11-07T20:23:00.000+11:00

Among other things over the past few months, Brett and I have been trying to fix up a few things around the house, but unfortunately the list just doesn't seem to end.

The one thing we are trying to concentrate on at the moment is getting our spa repaired. It seemed to work fine for the first 2 years in the house but then it all of a sudden started to lose water from somewhere and as I was about to pop out Miss Isabella, time just got away from us and the poor spa has been sitting there for the past 5 years untouched :(

Finally we decided enough was enough and the darn thing had to either be repaired or pulled out. So out came the rubber gloves and the disinfectant and the spa recieved a fresh new "clean" makeover. The only thing was that unfortunately the problem wasn't quite what we expected and the spa continued to leak water underground and we now have a spa repair man trying to get us a part for a very old spa. Fingers crossed but it should be fixed by the end of next week :)

The spa after it's makeover :)

This is the spa as it stands at the moment. Dad and Brett spent the whole day digging up around the spa to find the leak, and instead of finding 1 leak they found 3 leaks :(

Will keep you all informed and hopefully the next pictures of the spa will be with us in it with a glass of wine :)

xxx

October 2009

2009-11-07T20:06:00.000+11:00

Well another month has passed but I have not alot to report on as October was a pretty cruisie month for us :)

Here are a few things that we got up to :)

1/ The girls and I decided that we would like a picnic so we headed out into the backyard yard where it seemed that we were actually the meal... Darn mozzies!

2/ Mums church had their annual Fete and thought what better way to enjoy a beautiful Saturday morning. The girls just loved the animal farm :)

3/ This is how I found the girls watching TV one morning :) To my surprise Isabella was quite happy with Piper resting on her back... lol

4/ Piper's beautiful flower face painting that she got at the Church Fete :)

5/ The girls headed off to Tayla's 4th Birthday Mermaid Party... Tayla's mum did an awesome job with an "Under the Sea Mermaid" themed party

6/ Just haning out with Mummy xxx

Hong Kong - September 2009

2009-09-22T00:59:00.000+10:00

As most of you know at the start of the month Mum, Helen and I galavanted off to Hong Kong for a "girly" week away of sightseeing and shopping.

Apart from the weather being stinking hot and humid, we had a fantastic time. We arrived on the Wednesday afternoon and started our sightseeing seeing straight away with a visit to Hong Kong Harbour where we waited for night to fall so that we could witness the laser show :) I would hate to see how many "little black balloons" Hong Kong would release in a day but definately worth the wait :).

The following day we headed off on a half day tour of Hong Kong Isalnd and a ride on the cable car upto The Peak. Apart for the slight smog lingering about, the view was absolutely amazing. We then headed off to Stanley Market were unfortunately we only half an hour of shopping before our bus left :( You don't get much shopping done in that time when you have to haggle and barter for every little thing you buy. lol

Friday was the day I secretly had been waiting for with us heading to Hong Kong Disneyland :) The place was a lot smaller then the USA's version, but definately still just as magical. The one thing I loved was that you are never to old for any of the rides with us going on all the usual like the Carousel, Flying Dumbo's and of course It's a Small World. We managed to stay all day and witnessed the amazing firework show over Sleeping Beauty's Castle after dark :) Hmmmm guess I'd better start saving so that I can take Brett and the girls :)

We also headed to Shenzhen in China which was a bit daunting. We were warned by our tour guide that going through customs they have plenty of thermal video recorders testing everyones body temps, and if your temp registered over 37 degrees then they would quaranteen you for 5 days in a hotel... Not the kind of place I wanted to stay against my will. lol We headed to the 5 storey shopping mall which was just full of tiny little stalls, and you couldn't even take a step without women literally grabbing you on the arm and trying to get you to head to their stalls. Grrrrrrrr

With very little meal options in China, we decided to rough it and headed to the busiest authentic Chinese Restaurant we could find. Thankfully they had a menu in English, but we gave our poor waitress the giggles when we asked for a fork to eat our noodles. lol Oh well! it was definately more fun giving the chop sticks a go :) (see Helen's blog for the pics...) The hardest thing I found in China was their toilets. Of course where we were didn't have western toilets, just the porcelan hole in the ground. lol I won't go into too many details, but lets just say it was an experience we just couldn't pass up :)

To top this amazing trip off we discovered that our plane from Hong Kong to Singapore was aboard one of the new A380 jumbos :) WOW what an amazing sight these planes are.

Saving for the next trip now which will hopefully be a family trip to the UK to visit all my relo's :) Hmmmmm Maybe we could take the kids to Euro Disney. lol

Take care

Caroline xxx

P.S - GO CATS GO!!!! - Good luck boys for the up and coming Grand Final on Saturday :) Lets make it 2 out of 3 :)

The past 6 weeks in a nut shell...

2009-08-17T08:30:00.000+10:00

Here it is finally and in a nut shell.

I thought the easiest way to do this being that it has been sooooo long, is to create a few collages of the past 6 weeks. So here we go!

June/July "09"...

1/ Back in June we headed up to Bendigo to go to the EK/FB Nationals. Other then being freezing cold and a little damp, we had an absolute blast.

2/ The girls just love blowing bubbles in the backyard, and I must say that I am pretty impressed by this photo. It's not easy taking a photo through a bubble. lol

3/ At the end of June we headed back upto Chewton/Bendigo to see Mum and Dad Baynham and headed out to the Bendigo Market for stroll. Once again the weather was a little chilly and wet :)

4,5 & 6/ We headed to the Rocket Park with playgroup for a sausage sizzle and a play, and besides the chilly breeze, we had such a perfect day weather wise :)

Piper's 3rd Birthday...

On July 11th Piper celebrated her 3rd birthday. We didn't organise anything too big as they always seem to get a little out of control (the parties that is). So we just headed to McDonalds for dinner and then off to the Melbourne Zoo with all the family :) All the kids (big and small) seemed to have a great time, and it was amazing to see how the zoo had changed in just a few years. The animals enclosures looked amazing and very "natural" looking, and with more renovations underway, I'm sure we will be back in the near future.

Just Stuff...

1/ Bella has been very helpful around the house lately and keeps asking to do chores so that I will pay her money? lol It's quite amusing as we haven't really discussed pocket money just yet. I think this is a sign to start. lol

2/ Now that Piper has turned 3 she has actually moved up to the next level at swimming and swims on her own without daddy in the pool :) She is doing so well and has started swimming without the aid of floaties, and her teacher told me the other day that she is a real water baby :) Lets just hope she keeps up the great work :)

3/ I think the picture says it all... Yes Piper got into my makeup draw and decided that it would be fun to cover her face in my dark eyeshadow. lol She was so proud of herself

4&5/ Last week Brett and I decided to take the girls into the city on the train. In theory this seemed to be a good idea and sounded like lots of fun, but for some reason (maybe an hour train ride of sitting there looking out a window???) they went a little feral and naughty and we ended up cutting our outing short and headed home :( Little buggers....

6/ On Saturday morning the girls decided to get up nice and early around 6am, but daddy and I had other thoughts and fell back asleep for another hour until I woke to the sound of the kitchen cutlery draw closing. We then realised that the house was very quiet and once investigated, we discovered that our "little darlings" managed to get a hold of a large bottle of talcum powder and covered Piper's entire room and had it mixed in bowls with spoons. :( Luckily Brett and I saw the funny side of this and took a few pictures before the clean up and her room smelt nice and fresh. lol

Till next time

Caroline

P.S - Only 16 (nearly 15) more sleeps to go until Helen, Mum and I head off to Hong Kong. Can't wait! :)

The month of June...

2009-06-27T00:18:00.000+10:00

Whoops! Sorry everyone but I've been a little slack with my updates, so here is the month of June in a nut shell.

We started off the month with Bella having crazy hair day at kinder. I'll be honest and say that I forgot for the first day and madly had to take out her pigtails and just randomly replace them, but luckily for me she was happy with that. But thank goodness I remembered for the Wednesday and we were a little more prepared :)

We also headed up to Bendigo for the EK/FB Nationals which was lovely and cold. The kids didn't seem to mind the cold weather which was good and it was great catching up with a load of friends :)

The kids just couldn't help themselves and had to pose with "Axe Man"??? (No questions please because I have no idea who he is??? lol)

This FB wagon turned up just as we were getting ready to leave and it was exactly how we want to do mine (expcept for the colours). We couldn't help but drool all over it. lol

The girls felt the need for a little "Bubble Mania" :)

We were back up at Chewton and Bendigo last weekend for Kate's birthday which was lots of fun. We headed off to Bendigo market in the morning and then to the local RSL were Ma and Pa Baynham kindly shouted us all lunch :) And what a good lunch it was Mmmmmmmm.

Other then this not much else has been happening. Today I am enjoying taking it easy and tinkering on the computer, while doing the odd chore here and there but generally having a slack day. This is my first day where I have had no plans day or night for such a long time. I could get quite use to this. lol

Till next time.

Caroline xxx

I'm glad that's over...

2009-06-05T00:32:00.001+10:00

WOW! what a week last week was. It started off with our usual full on Monday and it just seemed to continue from there. Nothing too fantastic happened but I just never seemed to get a free moment and it didn't seem to stop until this Tuesday. Then to add to it all I ended up having to stay back at work one night and didn't get home until gone 1am, and of course the next morning just so happened to be the morning that Piper thought she needed to wake me up at 6.10am for chat... Grrrrrrrrr.

Also last week we managed to find time to catch up with Tayani who is one of Bella's kinder friends from her old kinder. The girls hadn't seen each other since before Easter and it was so cute to see them both so excited. I think they could have played all day :)

(Tayani, Isabella and Kinder Teddy)

Amoungst the mayhem was Helen's birthday, so it was nice having to stop for a while and head out to lunch and celebrate. We headed off to Kelly's in Cranbourne which I must say was very nice. The food was beautiful except for the little "extra" ingredient dad found in his meal which was a decent sized piece of glass. He was very lucky he didn't swallow it as the size it was it probably would have sliced his throat the entire way down. Anyway all sorted and he got his money back and other then that the time out was great.

(I know I am definately going to get into trouble for this one but so be it :-P)

I'm still undecided on this picture as to who set the toys up for their photo shoot? I thought it was just a general shot that Bella took the other night when she was playing with our camera, but since taking a closer look and seeing what "positions" the toys are in, it kind of reminds me of something that my darling husband would do??? Hmmmmmmmm

If it is the work of Miss Isabella then I know who she takes after in the family and if it was my darling husband then I think he needs a little help. Lol I shall investigate and let you all know who the culprit was.

Hope you all have a great long weekend (I know we will).

Caroline xxx

new addition to the family...

2009-05-27T06:52:00.001+10:00

For the next week The Baynham household has a new addition to the family that goes by the name of "Teddy". I was greeted by a very excited Bella on Monday who was chosen to take the kinder teddy home for the week. He came complete with carry bag and journal, so as you can imagine he is being taken everywhere we go. I just have to remember to take a few photo's so that I can complete my homework over the weekend and create a double page in "Teddy's" journal.

It is very interesting looking through the journal to see how "Pink" Teddy use to be, and did wonder how he would go in the washing machine but decided he is probably best left alone as I don't want to be the one to end Teddy's adventures.

Hong Kong is slowly creeping up on us. I made my final payment over the weekend which was very exciting as it is finally starting to sink in that we are actually going :) I now just have to try and save as much as I can which isn't quite going to plan. Doesn't help that my car had to have a service and that I needed to get 2 new tyres for my car. Oh well, there is always tax money :)

Till next time.

Caroline xxx

What's new?...

2009-04-29T19:20:00.001+10:00

Sorry it's been a while since my last post but I really have no excuses this time. lol

We are trying to get back into the swing of Term 2, but for some reason it's taking a little longer then expected. Bella has started at her new kinder and is loving it which is a huge relief. Her teachers have informed me that she has settled really well with her new environment, and she comes out at the end of the day with a big smile on her face and tells me all about the things she has done. Kids really do adapt to change quite well. It's us parents who have the trouble.

We have had some wild and woolley weather recently which I am just loving. 51mm fell in Cranbourne North over the weekend which was great but the winds were just a little too squally for me. Luckily for us we had all our fences replaced 2 weeks ago and it was so nice not having to worry about the old ones getting blown over. lol As you can see from the picture, the fences were in a pretty terrible state.

THANK YOU Pat and Jeff so so much for the new fences :)

We have also had the unfortunate luck (or should that be fortunate luck) of our oven dying. It has never worked well since the day we moved in but over time I figured out how to get by, and was silently rapped when Brett suggested that we replace it with a new one. We didn't get anything flash but the new oven works like a dream :) It runs so quiet and I can now bake a cake without having to turn it every 10mins and no more burning the top while the centre is still raw. AWESOME!!!

On a much more exciting note Miss Matilda turned 2 on Saturday (I can't believe she is 2 already), and even though Helen didn't organise a party for that day, it seemed that secretly we all wanted to help her celebrate as all the family seemed to visit the birthday girl at the same time. Luckily for Helen she had 2 cakes on standby to feed the tribes. lol

Well, now you are all caught up so until next time :)

Caroline xxx

Easter 2009...

2009-04-15T22:17:00.000+10:00

Well now that the Easter Bunny has been and gone, I am getting a little worried as to what I can now use as bribery on my girls. lol

Me threatening to call the Easter Bunny and telling him not to come was working great but what now?

Other then us all being sick with the cold/cough bug going around, we had a fabulous Easter :)

On Good Friday Brett, the girls and I headed to the Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt at Cruden Farm in Langwarrin. The girls did an awesome job of collecting eggs to the point they collected a total of 243 little cadbury eggs. Way too many for our liking to the point that Brett took a very large container full to work yesterday and tried to off load some as we currently have chocolate coming out of our ears.

On Easter Sunday we headed to an awesome park in Rowville which the kids (big and small) just loved. There are so many different and interactive things for the kids to play on and even though we were there for 5hrs, the kids never seemed to get bored :)

On an even more exciting note. Mum, Helen and I headed to the travel agent on Saturday and booked our trip to Hong Kong :) We head off on September 2nd for 6 nights (2 of these nights are in the air) and have already booked all our days with sightseeing and shopping. Bring on Disneyland :) The only downer is that being that there weren't too many flights available, we are now going to be away for fathers day :( I guess I'd better buy Brett something REALLY special to make up for it. lol

Hope you all had a fab Easter and put on as many kilo's as me.

Caroline xxx

Did someone say it's Easter???

2009-04-11T07:22:00.000+10:00

It's that time of the year yet again where the little white bunny leaves his choccie deposits for all to find. lol Well in our house it certainly feels as if he has already been by :)

It pretty much all started on Bella's last day of term 1 when her class had an Easter party with bonnet parade and all which meant that mummy had to try and find her creative talent (which is pretty hard as I can honestly say that I have very little creative flare.) Thanks to Helen and some of her ideas Bella didn't have to miss out and this was the end result.

Brett thought that I was a little crazy sticking real chocolate eggs on a 4yr old's hat, but hey whats the worst that could happen?

Piper didn't want to be left out so here is her master piece. (As you can see by the small amount of detail, I was a little over it all and was fed up with fighting the hot glue gun. lol)

Last weekend we headed to Nanny and Poppies for a catch up and while there Nanny organised an Easter Egg Hunt for the 3 kids which was loads of fun. By the end they had a goodie bag which was full of choccie eggs and these great little masks that the kids coloured in, and which my kids have worn for about a week straight. lol Very Cute :)

"Is that the Easter Bunny I see hiding?"

Today we headed off to Cruden Farm in Langwarrin for the annual Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt. Unfortunately niether of the girls were feeling 100% so we weren't able to stay too long, but they managed to find enough energy to run around and collect a total of 243 eggs. I feel sick just thinking about that much chocolate. lol

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL.

Drive carefully, have fun and pig out :)

Caroline xxx

In Loving Memory...

2009-03-30T02:47:00.000+11:00

To our 2 beautiful boys,

We love you, we miss you and we will definately never forget you. xxx

Tribute to a Best Friend...

Sunlight streams through window pane
unto a spot on the floor....
then I remember,
it's where you used to lie,
but now you are no more.
Our feet walk down a hall of carpet,
and muted echoes sound....
then I remember,
It's where your paws would joyously abound.
A voice is heard along the road,
and up beyond the hill,
then I remember it can't be yours....
your golden voice is still.
But I'll take that vacant spot of floor
and empty muted hall
and lay them with the absent voice
and unused dish along the wall.
I'll wrap these treasured memorials
in a blanket of my love
and keep them for my best friend
until we meet above.

Our Beautiful Boys...

2009-03-29T08:37:00.000+11:00

Happy Times...

2009-03-28T01:36:00.000+11:00

Lots of little things have been happening over the past few weeks like parties, overseas visitors, bbq's etc and decided what better way to reflect on those few weeks then with a collage of my favourite photos :)

My Uncle John arrived out from England last Friday which was very exciting as it has been at least 12 years since I last saw him. Mind you he was only here for 2 days before Mum and Dad whisked him away to Eden for a week. They arrive back tonight and I am looking forward to catching up with him some more before he heads back in a couple of weeks.

This week Brett and I came to a very hard decision to defer Isabella from 4yr old kinder so that next year she can start off with a lot more confidence. We have been umming and ahhring since last year as to what we should do, but decided to give her the first 2 terms to see how she goes. The thing that made the decision hard was that she absolutely loves going to kinder and has so much fun, but unfortunately she is not quite there socially :( The hard part now is to decide whether or not we pull her out at the end of term 1 or 2? Luckily she has a place in a deferment kinder group so that she will still be at kinder 2 days a week and with kids her own age rather then heading back to 3yr old kinder with all the young ones.

Hope you all have a great weekend :)

Caroline xxx

"Love the Beast"...

2009-03-12T21:19:00.000+11:00

WOW! It's raining again :) It is so nice to hear the sound of constant rain drops and the cars driving through puddles. lol

We have actually had a pretty slow week this week so far. It started off with a quiet long weekend and other then the usual not too much has been happening.

Last night Brett and I headed out to the Coburg Drive-in to see the Premier of Eric Bana's new movie "Love the Beast". I saw the trailer for the movie a few months ago and thought that it looked really good, and it was :) Thanks to a mate of Brett's we managed to get 2 free tickets, so off we trundled in the Hot Rod (my choice in car). As we were driving down the Highway we could see the storm in the distance and decided that now might be a good time to put on the roof, and what a good idea it was as we caught the tail end of the storm with lightening and loads of rain. We got a little damp but that is all part of the fun :)

If you didn't love Eric Bana before you will after seeing this flick. Definately worth a look. LOL

Well off to kinder duty I go :)

Take care

Caroline xxx

Frightening...

2009-03-08T00:58:00.000+11:00

Well Mother Nature striked again last night with a frightening earthquake that measured 4.6 on the richter scale. It doesn't seem like much but when your not use to them it is quite scary.

Brett and I were sitting in our recliners ready to catch up on some TV when we both found ourselves looking out the back window and watching it rattle. I then realised that my chair was shaking and it was actually an earthquake and not a truck about to come through the back fence. We both headed out onto the front porch were it was very eerily still when all our phones started ringing. I suppose we all just wanted to make sure we weren't going mad and need to confirm that everyone else around us felt the same thing. LOL

Anyway no after shocks were felt and nothing damaged. The only thing we found was one of the coats had fallen off the hook by the front door. It made a quiet Friday night a little more interesting. LOL

On some happier news, I would just like to congratulate Dean and Caroline on the birth of their beautiful daughter "Samantha Mae" who was born on Thursday afternoon. After many years and lots of heartache their dreams have finally come true :-)

Take Care

Caroline xxx

Mother Nature...

2009-03-05T02:01:00.000+11:00

I know it isn't much but how lovely is this change of weather? One minute it's 30+ degrees with 100k/h winds and the next it's a chilly 16 and pouring with rain. I know a lot more rain is needed for us to get out of this drought, but lets just hope it's enough to help extinguish these horrible fires that have tormented our state for the past 3.5 weeks, and give our fire fighters, SES and all other volunteers a well earned rest.

It's sad to get excited over 12mm of rain but considering this is our first rainfull for 2009, any amount is worth the excitment :)

Caroline xxx

Time to catch up...

2009-02-26T19:38:00.000+11:00

OK! Time to get back on track...

Well a lot has been happening in the last month with kinder, playgroup, swimming and dancing all starting up again.

Anyway at the start of this month Bella started 4yr old kinder and she absolutely loves it. She was all excited that Piper and I were there for the first day but then on her second day I was told by Bella "that Piper and I had to go home and that we were to pick her up when kinder finished." Now she gives me a kiss and just walks in on her own and I don't even need to set foot into her kinder room which is good :)

The only problem was that for the first 2 weeks Piper threw a tanty every time we left as she to wanted to stay. "Next year Piper"...

Can't say that I am liking this heat much, and either are the birds. This photo was taken on one of the 47 degree days we have had and it started off with just one magpie in the bird bath, then next thing we knew the whole family joined in. The poor things were just so hot that we topped up the bird bath with some cool fresh water and the family were soon back to make the most of it. My poor garden is just burnt to a crisp and everything is just dying or already dead. Unfortunately there is not much we can do :(

The smoke haze from all the fires has been pretty terrible lately as well. Another horrible day has been forcast for tomorrow and lets just hope the weather people have it all wrong and that it won't be as bad as predicted. Strong Northerly winds, low humidity and hot weather aren't good preditions when there is still 5 fires out of control across the state. Fingers crossed and a rain dance is needed by all or a miracle from above. Good luck and I hope everyone is prepared.

On a happier note Isabella celebrated her 4th birthday on the 11th Feb, and as usual she got spoil rotten and had a fab party with all her friends at Hungry Jacks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GORGEOUS GIRL. XXX

As February is the month for celebrations for us, Brett and I also celebrated our 5yr wedding anniversary. WOW! I so can't believe that we have reached 5yrs already :-) Here's to the next 5 wonderful years. Love you hun xxx. We didn't do too much on the day as earlier in the week we headed to Melbourne to see one of our favourite bands "Stray Cats" perform and OMG what a great night it was. The Living End supported them which just topped it off, and what more can you ask for then being surrounded by all your friends, great music and then topping it off by spending the night in the city. The girls also had a ball as Nanny and Poppy came down to stay and looked after the girls for us which I'm sure was entertaining for them LOL. THANK YOU!

The day of our actual anniversary was a little disasterous with me waking up with a touch of gastro, Brett then surprising me by taking me to the local market for my favourite breakfast of Proffitjure thingies (no idea how to spell them) which after all that were not there. We then took the girls to go for a ride on their bikes around the lake and play on the playground were Brett accidently elbowed me in the forehead to the point where I thought I was going to pass out. And then we got home for me to fall asleep on the couch for 2-2.5hrs with what I am guessing was concussion. Oh well, I guess this is one anniversary we aren't going to forget in a hurry and we can now laugh about :)

I will do my best not to leave it so long to update next time.

Caroline xxx

Heatwave...

2009-01-31T00:44:00.000+11:00

OMG! I never thought that I would see the day that the weather in Melbourne would soar to a whopping 47.1 degrees.

It's just way too hot and we so need some kind of cool change. Anybody want to join me on attempting a rain dance??? LOL

CRAZY!!!

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi...

2009-01-29T20:12:00.000+11:00

Well the year is buzzing on by at a great pace already and I can't believe that we are nearly at the end of January.

Everything goes back to normal next week with swimming starting again on Saturday (good-bye sleep ins), Bella starts kinder on Monday and dancing on Tuesday. Not too sure if I am going to like this running around?

Well Monday was Australia Day and what better way to spend it then bumming around and finishing off with an early BBQ dinner on the new barbie.

As you can tell the chief is pretty impressed with his new bbq as I couldn't wipe the grin from off his face. LOL

At the moment I'm struggling to get through this heatwave that Melbourne seems to be having. Yesterday my weather station informed me that outside in the shade was a "cool" 45.9 degrees and at the moment at 10am in the morning it is a lovely (NOT!!!) 38.1 degrees and climbing. The worst part is that we have to go through all this again tomorrow. Let's hope we get some rain soon :(

Hot, Hot, Hot...

2009-01-21T18:41:00.000+11:00

I suppose we can now say that summer has well and truly hit, and I'm not liking it one bit :( I was just getting use to the nice mild temp of approx 27, were is wasn't too hot to have the doors and windows open so that we could at least get a little fresh air through the house.

Anyway, yesterday they forcast a scorcher and that's what it ended up to be. Luckily for us, Jo invited us all around for a swim in her mum's pool (Thanks Auntie Phyllis xxx). It was just so nice and refreshing, and all the kids had an awesome time.

When I got home the thermometer read 40.6 but I'm sure it was hotter earlier on in the day?

Today I have Helen and the kids coming over to have another Wii fest. Mind you the kids don't get much of a play as us adults are hogging it a little too much. Oh well, plenty of other things for the kiddies to do. LOL

Just in case I don't get the chance to do another post before the weekend. I hope you all have a fantastic Australia Day :)

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi

Our Bella is oh so Brave...

2009-01-19T18:33:00.000+11:00

Well I think summer has finally arrived with those few HOT days we had last week. I was just getting use to the nice 27 degree days, then mother nature had to ruin it by adding a couple 38 degree days. YUK!!! Looking at the weather, I think it is meant to be worse this week with no relief until Sunday?

Nothing much to report over the past week as everything went back to normal with Brett starting back at work last Monday :( I was quite enjoying having him home and doing the family outings.

On Thursday we headed up to the shops to grab a few things and we ended up getting Isabella's ears pierced. We always said that she could get them done when she started asking, but we were kind of thinking that this wouldn't happen until she was at least 6yrs? Anyway she asked, I said OK and away we went. Her birthday is coming up so we made it part of her birthday present.

Of course she chose the most expensive studs (but they were the cutest).

We had no tears and she was so excited when the lady turned her around to look in the mirror. She went running out looking for Grandma saying "that she was just like mummy and Maddie." Our only problem is that as soon as Piper saw them, she then started saying that she wanted her's pierced???? Maybe for her birthday in July?

Family Time...

2009-01-12T23:39:00.000+11:00

One place I had always wanted to go to was Werribee Zoo and OMG what an awesome experience it was. I just never imagined that you could get up so close to some of the animals. We headed out on the Safari Bus which was included in the price (I was expecting a little 10min drive around the complex). It started off a little slow with us seeing some emu's and kangaroo's, but then we headed into different regions of the park such as "Africa" and "Asia" and things started to change. All of a sudden you would pass a heard of buffalo and camels (and other animals which I don't know their names?) and then in the next section we parked next to a couple of giraffe's and then the rhino's while some zebra's walked on by. It was amazing! I honestly would have never thought that I would ever get within 3 metres of a white rhino. She was literally just sitting there right in front of us, eyeballing us. It was a little scary as the size of those horns are HUGE!!!

Over the weekend we headed off to Phillip Island for the the annual Kustom Nationals. On saturday Brett and I headed down in the hotrod (no kids as they don't fit) which was loads of fun. I don't often get to go in the rod anymore since the kids came along, and I forgot just how blowey it can be. Yesterday we headed down in the family car (the EK) which is just as much fun. The weather was perfect and it was so nice to drive around the Grand Prix track with such a beautiful view of the ocean. Definately the highlight of the day:)

Well Brett returned to work today, so I guess things will be getting back to normal :(

I promise not to leave it so long till my next post, as my new years resolution was to submit small frequent posts. Let's see how I go from now. LOL

A splash of colour...

2009-01-12T23:12:00.000+11:00

Being that both Brett and I had some time off work over the christmas break, I decided that the house needed a splash of colour and what better place to start with then our bedroom and ensuite. Brett had been pre-warned that I have plans to paint the whole house over the next year, so he wasn't too surprised when I said "lets get started".

The whole house (other then the girls rooms) is a yellowey custard colour and very BORING, so we decided to paint the ensuite a sandy/beige colour and the bedroom a nice sage green colour. Unfortunately we are very limited as to what colours we can use, as our carpet is a dusty pink/red colour and a lot of colours would clash.

I must say that Brett and I are very pleased with the out come. The only problem is that now I want to continue through the house as it looks so good and fresh :)

Christmas and New Year...

2009-01-12T22:57:00.000+11:00

I have been a little slack I know, but just havent had the time or been in the right frame of mind to sit down and do my updates. Now I have to pay the penalty and do them all at once.

Well christmas has been and gone for another year, and what a great christmas we had. The girls are getting to that right age for Santa, which makes it all a little more exciting for us all. As you can see by the pictures they were both spoilt rotten. Now I need to do a ruthless toy kull and make way for all their new equipment.

On boxing Day we headed up to Nanny and Poppy's place for a few days which was lovely. The girls were so excited that they were counting down the days until we went rather then when Santa was arriving. It was so nice to be out of a routine and to spend some quality time with the family. I think a great few days was had by all the Baynham's?

For the first time ever I had a quiet New Years night at home with Brett and Steve (Brett's brother). We had a few drinks followed by a yummy roast dinner, and then followed again by a few more drinks. The girls were in bed asleep by 7.45pm which was nice and us adults just chilled and chatted until the wee hours of the morning. Very relaxing :)

New Years Day was a little drab and windy but perfect for kite flying, so off we headed to Duffy's Lookout to try out the new chrissy presents. Luckily we had SUCCESS :)

Merry Christmas...

2008-12-25T21:20:00.000+11:00

I would just like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Bring on 2009 :)

Lots of Love

The Baynham Family xxx

Santa's No. 1...

2008-12-15T18:52:00.000+11:00

With Christmas fastly approaching, another busy week was had in our household.

It all started with 4.5hrs of shopping at Fountain Gate on Thursday. The place was packed and luckily for me my girls were pretty well behaved considering. The worse part is that I still haven't finished and will have to attempt it again sometime this week :( This photo of the girls with Santa was taken at the start of our shopping adventure, before they started to get cranky and irritable. LOL

I just love this photo. I am so proud of Piper as all our other previous Santa photo's are of her screaming or not in it at all.

On Friday Bella celebrated her end of 3yr old Kinder with a little concert being held for the parents/grandparents and then a party. She was so excited as Brett managed to get the day off work to attend and she was busting to hand out all her chrissy cards to her "kindy friends". (can't wait for her to be old enough to write them all out herself...LOL)

Later that same evening, we had another Christmas party to attend to which just so happened to be held at a play centre. The kids were soooo knackered but some how managed to find the energy to party away until 10pm. As you can imagine they were pretty flat by Saturday, and what a perfect day it was to do absolutely nothing and sit indoors snuggled on the couch.

Unfortunately for me the rest and relaxation was short lived as I dobbed myself in to do an 8hr shift at work yesterday :( Oh well, the extra money will come in handy over the Christmas break.

Tis the season...

2008-12-10T23:58:00.000+11:00

Well, after reading Helen's blog I to decided to change the look of my blog for the festive season. If you wait long enough snow will start to fall across the page. Ahhhhhhh

This is the first time I have changed it in over a year so I thought a change is as good as a holiday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL....

HO HO HO!

Kindy Excursion...

2008-12-10T18:50:00.000+11:00

Better late then never I suppose.

Bella had her first kinder excursion the other week to Tooradin Foreshore, and to top it off they went on a double decker bus. As you could imagine there were a lot of very excited little kiddies, but must say that they were all pretty well behaved. I didn't even realise that Tooradin had a park by the water, and have since been told that the fish n chip shop there is one of the best? Over Christmas I think we might have to take the girls for a play and stay for a spot of dinner. Mmmmmmmmmmmm

This week at kinder we have Bella's final day and a Christmas concert which we are very excited about. I can't believe the year is over and that next year it is the BIG 4yr old kindy. Someone please stop the clock.

Sunday we had some more family photo's taken, which I am glad to say worked out a lot better then the last lot. A few months ago we did the fundraiser photo's through Declan's school and had a lot of trouble with Piper not wanting her photo taken, and when we checked out the photo's there weren't too many that I liked so decided not to get any and to take the risk and try again. Luckily Bella's kinder also had a photo fundraiser so I decided to try again. The lady taking the photo's was awesome and after about 5 mins we couldn't get Piper away from the camera :) Can't wait until the end of the week so that I can see them in full.

This photo is of the girls in their new jackets that they got from Glenda and David in England for Christmas. THANK YOU!

I just love Marks and Spencer clothes as they are always really good quality and the girls get so much wear out of them. I also needed new jumpers and jackets for the girls as this weather has no idea what it is doing, and as it is meant to be "SUMMER", I can't find any anywhere.

Anyway that's about it. Will try to update again before Christmas.

Happy 70th Dad...

2008-11-28T19:21:00.000+11:00

Sorry guys for taking so long to update my blog, but just finding it hard to find time to sit down and do it. Usually I get on computer and have just enough time to check my emails, the weather then off again. Oh well, enough of the complaining.

Firstly I just want to say "HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY DAD". We love you heaps XXX

On Sunday we had a bit of a birthday bash for dad which was loads of fun. Thankfully mother nature decided to give us a break in the weather and provided a beautiful for the celebrations. Loads of food and drink was consumed, but hey! what fun is a party if you can't pig out? LOL

I was going to say that it is hard getting a good photo when you have so many kids to get to look at the camera, but then I had a good look at the photo and ALL the kids are looking and smiling and it is us adults that are off in la la land. Now that would have to be a first? :)

BOO!!!!!

When telling Piper to say "cheese" for the camera, this is what she is now doing??? I have plenty of photo's with this delightful face, but must say that she is still a cutie no matter what kind of face she pulls.

This is the girls latest game to play. "Lets take turns flying around the decking on top of the car???" Hmmmm I get a little nervous every time they do it as I can just see myself ending up at casualty with one of them having broken arm? Spose I should just keep quiet before I jinx myself.

I am off to Tooradin Foreshore today with Bella's kinder which will be plenty of fun????? (I think)

We are getting picked up in a double decker bus and then heading off to Tooradin to explore the foreshore and park . Lets just hope the weather holds off as 23 wet kids is not going to be alot of fun.

Anyway that will do for now.

Until next time - Caroline

My work chrissy party...

2008-11-10T07:53:00.000+11:00

It's coming up to that time of year again, the "WORK CHRISSY PARTIES".

Last night my work held their first christmas party in 5 years, and what a fun night it was. It was a formal event held at the Wheelers Hill International, complete with a 3 course meal and good old karaoke. Brett and I even stayed the night so that we didn't have too far to stumble to bed. LOL

I decided that I wanted to go all out for the night so bought a new dress and got my hair and makeup done. The dress I just happened to stumble across in Jacqui e and fell in love with it straight away. All I need is a few more outings so that I can have the excuse to wear it again. My make up was a complete disaster. I said that I was going for an "Elegant 50's" style, and the girl who did the make up said "Like Marily Monroe"? Lets just say that I don't recall Marilyn having the dark heavy foundation, large black eyes and huge pink/red lips?????? The problem is that when getting the make up done, they don't let you look in the mirror until it is complete and I think I nearly died when I finally looked into the mirror. Nothing like Marilyn at all :(

I pre warned Brett before I got home that I looked like a "Scary Doll" and his facial expression told me that I did as soon as I got out of the car. Piper took one look at me and asked why I had a scary monster mask on, and then when we got home this morning asked where my scary monster mask had gone. Thanks Pipey. Anyway I managed to wipe a lot of the foundation off and tone down my eyes a little and added a darker colour lippy which made a huge difference, and this was the final result...

I hadn't felt this pretty since my wedding day :)

I LOVE this photo of Brett and I. Ahhhhhhhhhhh :)

We had so much fun and drank so much wine and beer that I even did a few karaoke songs (not on my own of course). Last night was the first time that Brett and I had been very drunk together in our whole relationship. I don't know why we waited so long as we had sooooo much fun.

When is the next party?????? LOL :)

Caroline xxx

Cup weekend...

2008-11-10T07:27:00.000+11:00

Sorry for all the photo's but there were just too many to choose from so I thought bugger it and put them all on.

Well as you all know last weekend was the Melbourne Cup long weekend, and for us car lovers out there also means time for the annual John's Rod and Custom car show in Pakenham. Luckily the weather held off for us this year and if anything was a little too hot as some of us (meaning myself) got a little burnt. Piper seemed to have a great day walking with nanny and poppy but Bella had tantrum after tantrum to the point that we lost count, and thankfully nanny and poppy were there to distract her as I was ready to go home and leave her there. (Well maybe not literally...)

* A photo of Bella in a calmer mood on our way home.

* The girls in Poppy's car with Nanny.

I just love this photo of Piper walking with Uncle Steve. Uncle Steve thought it was pretty good as well as this gave him an excuse to dawdle :)

The following Tuesday was cup day which we celebrated with a small family BBQ. Mum and Dad also just got back from Vietnam so it was a good chance to catch up and hear all about there great trip.

* Perfect day for a barbie.

* Miss Tilly thought better to be safe then sorry :)

boring boring boring...

2008-10-31T22:42:00.000+11:00

Well not a lot has been going on over the past few weeks as all us girls have been sick and have just bummed around the house.

Being that I am such a sharing mother (LOL), both the girls came down with terrible colds and coughs (which they got from me. Oops!) but unfortunatley for Isabella, she has now ended up with tonsilitis and an ear infection as well :(

Over the past week and a half we have visited the doctors 5 times and the chemist 3 and still have to go back again on Tuesday. Poor Bella was prescribed Penicillan for her infections which we later discovered she was allergic to as she came out in a nasty rash all over her body. We headed back to the doctors today to get another antibiotic and back their again next week for a check up to see how she is going.

I informed Bella this morning that she can't go to kinder as she would make all her friends sick and she came back with "Bella saw the doctor and is all better now so I can go to kinder and see my friends." Poor thing is just too young to understand :(

Looking forward to Sunday afternoon as Mum and Dad get back from their Vietnam holiday. Can't wait to see some photo's as it definately would be an interesting place to visit.

Well that's about it. Hopefully something more exciting will happen so that my next post won't be so boring.

Caroline xxx

My Garden...

2008-10-20T08:06:00.001+11:00

Well considering I don't have a "Green Thumb" I think my garden is doing pretty darn good at the moment. My motto is "If it needs constant watering or care, then it doesn't belong in my garden" as I am guaranteed to kill it :)

Here are a few samples that my garden is producing at the moment. My weeping blossom tree which I have had for at least 3 years is in full bloom for the very first time and finally I have pink blossom. Yippee!!! Over the years I have purchased a few blossom trees stating that they are "pink", but when the time comes only white blossom appear??? My roses have gone made and are absolutely covered in buds, so looking forward to the next few weeks of colour.

Both Isabella and Piper have been going around the garden telling me the colours of flowers, and I am trying to teach them that not all flowers need to be picked. Their latest is picking all of the buds and then peeling them open and the reason for this is that Nanny bought them the DVD of "Thumberlina" and now they think that inside every bud they will find Thumberlina. It has taken a while but I think I have finally got the message across :)

Not much else has really been happening as both Piper and I have been sick with conjuctivitis and a virus/flu. Today is the best that I have felt for the past week so fingers crossed that this bug has left for good.

Today Brett started on a door for the kids cubby house FINALLY. It has only taken 3 years of asking but now we are halfway there. He got a little side tracked halfway through making the barn style split door and ended up adding a little verandah out the front. It does make it look very cute and will look even better once we add a coat of paint.

Till next time.

Caroline xxx

Jumping Beans...

2008-10-16T18:20:00.000+11:00

Well not a lot to report from the last week or so.

With this fantastic weather we have been having, Brett decided to inflate the girls jumping castle which they thought was great. They bounced on it nearly all afternoon, then after dinner in the PJ's and then Piper even headed out the doggie door at 7am the next morning for a little more jumping action :) It's good for Brett and I as well as all that jumping really wore the girls out which made bedtime hassle free. (Not that they are any hassle getting to bed anyway.)

(Sorry for the dark picture but it was taken in the shade and I think I should have had my flash on?)

Poor Piper was struck down with some bug last week. She was very quiet for a couple of days, had a little chuck but then came good and then got the dreaded conjuctivitis. Nasty daddy nicknamed her "Pinky" after the disease Pink Eye as both her eyes were bloodshot and gunky, but she thought it was funny. I am so proud of my little girl as we had to administer her drops every 3 hours and each time she reminded me, then went and got a tissue and then laid on the floor so that I could drop them in. Such a star paitent :)

The only thing is the sharing little bugger passed it over to mummy who is also suffering from a rotten cold and very husky voice (which for some reason Brett seems to love???Hmmmmm).

Anyway we might try and venture out today as the poor girls have been stuck at home for pretty much over a week and Bella this morning has asked to go to the shops as she wants to buy a baby doll that she found in one of the catalogues. Lucky for her Opa gave them some money and as they have been so well behaved couped up in the house, a treat would be well deserved :)

Take care

Caroline xxx

Busy weekend...

2008-10-06T18:38:00.000+11:00

Well that is another term down and only one more to go for the year. I had so many plans for these school holidays and not one of them was really achieved as we never really seemed to be home long enough to get anything done. Oh well, the big holidays are just around the corner so maybe will have better luck then? :)

On Saturday we headed up to Brett's parents place to help Nanny and Zeke celebrate their birthdays. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you both XXX. The weather was perfect and the kids always have so much fun running around and enjoying the open space.

Nanny did a superb job on the spiderman cake.

Both my girls just loved the trampoline. I think we might have to have a word to Santa for next year as he already had the girls requests for this year. For the last 3 days Bella keeps telling me that she needs to say please to Santa for a new bike. I keep trying to remind her that Santa will only grant her wish if she behaves herself for the rest of the year. I won't hold my breath. LOL

Yesterday was the Cora Lynn Car Show and this time we actually made it. The weather was beyond perfect for a picnic amongst the cars and the place was packed. It's nice that all the car shows are starting up again as this is our chance to catch up with all our friends and spend some family time together.

Isabella saw the camera come out and decided to model with daddy's car. She was striking a pose left, right and centre and unfortunately I just couldn't keep up. Here are a few of her best photo's caught on camera.

Thanks Lisa for the headscarfe. She looks so the part with it on and just loves it to the point that she went to bed with it last night and the first thing she did when she woke this morning was put it back on :)

Happy Term 4 to all. Our next lot of holidays will be Christmas. YAY :)

Melbourne show 2008...

2008-09-26T20:25:00.000+10:00

On Wednesday to help Gracie celebrate her 4th birthday, Joanne, Helen and I along with all the kids headed out by train to the Melbourne Show. The weather was perfect, the crowds were huge and thanks to the kids for being so well behaved, a great day was had by all :)

I can't believe that it has been nearly 10yrs since I last went to the show. Not much has really changed except for the prices of the rides. We actually found one ride that was $15 per person per ride and believe it or not had a queue to get on. CRAZY!!!

Bella wasn't too sure on some of the rides and I can't really blame her. My stomach was doing somersaults just looking at them. LOL (I think I am getting too old for this kind of stuff??)

This was the monster truck show that Riley just loved. There was no way you could wipe the smile off his face :)

They even had some stunt bike riders. One had even riden with the "Crusty Demons" which was pretty awesome.

This was the ride that Bella was looking at in the first picture. Now you can understand why she is trying to hide behind her hands. LOL

Declan, Riley, Gracie and Mitchell just loved the little roller coaster. Bella and Piper weren't so keen.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! On our way home. Considering we caught the 8.22am train and didn't get home till about 4pm, the kids did really well.

Thanks Helen and Jo for a great day. Maybe next year we should leave all the kids at home and all the parents go for a night out to the show????

Caroline xxx

Where has the time gone...

2008-09-26T19:47:00.000+10:00

Sorry to all for me taking so long to updating my blog, but I just can't seem to find the time to sit down (with out being pestered). Anyway all is good and here we go...

I just love this photo that Helen took of all the kids on father's day. They are looking in different directions, have different expressions on their faces and all the colours seem to blend. Definately one of my favourites :)

We headed to mum and dad's for a Father's Day BBQ which was nice and relaxing, well for the dad's anyway. And couldn't go without taking the kids up to the park to lose some of excess energy. Helen thought that it looked like too much fun and didn't want to miss out, so here is an action shot of her attempting to slide down the pole.

I think I am going to be shot for posting this picture but Oh well :)

The other week I witnessed a beautiful sunset, but when I took the photo's the colour of the sky just didn't seem to come out on the camera, then I came across this shot and I just love the way the sky starts off light and then slowly darkens to almost black. The Southern Cross pointer stars just finish the photo off nicely :)

Last week Bella's kinder had the mobile farm pop around which was loads of fun. The kids got to make butter and cuddle all sorts of cute little farm animals. It is so hard to explain to the kids not to squeeze the animals, but I think Bella did a great job for her first time :) It was a shame that the rain started and the fun was short lived but I think all the kids had loads of fun anyway?

The other day Bella wanted to wear her shorts, but as the weather wasn't the warmest this was the closest she got. LOL To top it off they both wanted their "superhero" capes on and as it was blowing a gale outside, had an absolute ball with their capes blowing in the wind. Not too sure what the beanies had to do with it?

My two beautiful little "SUPERHEROES".

Our QLD holiday...

2008-09-10T01:03:00.000+10:00

We're back!

As most of you know we headed off to the Sunshine Coast in QLD last week for a well earned break and had an absolute blast. We managed to find some apartments which were central to everything and only a 5 minute walk to the beach, and the manager so kindly gave us an upgrade to the rooftop apartment which meant 4 flights of stairs, 4 suitcases, 2 strollers and 2 toddlers. We certainly got our daily workout thats for sure :)

The flight up was interesting as Piper started screaming to go home as we started walking up the stairs to board the plane and didn't stop until about 10 minutes in the air. The stewards were great and tried their best to distract her and then had to repeat the process for landing. Luckily for us she wasn't as bad on the journey home as she knew what to expect.

We didn't plan on doing to much while away, just as long as we got to Australia Zoo. I'm not sure who was more excited, me or the girls? The place was amazing. We got to feed an elephant, cuddle a koala (and no he didn't pee or poo on me but gee did he stink.), see the tiger cubs play and yes we saw the Irwin's. Even if it was from a distance it was still very exciting.

The remainder of our time was spent on the beach, strolling the streets and doing the touristy things. But most of all we got to spend alot of time as a family ( Yippeeee!!! :), and neither myself or Brett wanted the holiday to end.

Till next time

Caroline xxx

We love you mum...

2008-08-18T23:18:00.000+10:00

My mother is my lifeline, she is my complete saviour,
She does everything she can for me, and for that I praise her,
She went without when I was younger so I could have nice stuff,
She worked herself to the bone, but never did she give up.

My mother is my lifeline, she is truly my best friend,
she help me through the good and bad, she stayed there till the end,
she pick me up when I was down and wiped the tears away,
she will be there when I need her every night and everyday.

My mother is my lifeline, she’s completely a shining star,

She has never made me feel alone, no distance is too far,

She’ll travel to the moon and back, if I ask her to.

My mother is my lifeline, this poem I wrote for you.

Poem by Jessica Styles

Lots of Love

Caroline xxxXXXxxx

Winter wonderland...

2008-08-11T23:30:00.000+10:00

Wow! What a chilly weekend it was. I must say that I do enjoy this kind of weather when you can lock yourself indoors with the heater going and not do too much. But sometimes it is also nice to get outside amongst the cold and wet and have a little fun :) So on Sunday we decided to have a little family outing and headed up to The Dandenongs hoping for a little snow action, and as you can see The Dandenongs did not disappoint.

The girls have never seen snow before and I was a little curious as to how they would handle it, and they LOVED IT! Bella just couldn't wait to get amongst it and all she wanted to do was "throw and catch snowballs." Which I must say she did very well as both Brett and I coped a few from her. LOL! Piper too enjoyed herself, especially when it came to the puddles. At one stage she was ankle deep (thank goodness for gumboots) in the water and ended up with pools of water in the folds of her jeans. She seemed to be having fun and didn't complain so we decided to leave her to it.

Seeing that both girls loved it so much, I now want to take them to Mt Donna Buang where they can enjoy a little more snow and even go tobogganing. Oh well, we will have to wait and see?

The scenery was beautiful and it's amazing how different everything looked when covered in snow.

A few months ago my sister Helen bought me this small cross stitch from Spotlight as it had cherries on it, and I finally decided to give it a go and this is the outcome. I don't think I did too bad, especially being that I have never done a counted cross stitch (blank canvas) before.

(excuse the photo quality. A bit blurry I know)

Bella has now requested that I do one to hang in her room, but only if I can find one small enough as they are very time consuming and I don't have much spare time :(

Stay warm.

Caroline

look out elle mcpherson...

2008-08-06T19:27:00.000+10:00

Move over Elle there is a new fashion label in town and it's by "Bella B".

This is what happens when Isabella gets to choose what she wants to wear for the day. It's a bit of everything all rolled into one, but at least the colours match :-) I had to take a photo to show Brett as he has this thing about socks and jandals. He "loathes" it. LOL!

It actually took me some convincing to get her to change as I refused to take her to the shops looking like this. (Mean mummy aren't I?)

Not too much has been happening except the usual. We are counting down the days until we go on holidays and I am stressing a bit about the flight as I just have this feeling that Isabella is going to freak out a bit on the plane? Just keep your ears open on the evening news in case you hear a story about a flight having to make an emergency landing due to an out of control, noisy child. That will be my Bella. LOL

We are heading out to Turkish on Saturday night YUM!!!! Finally getting to take my girlfriend Bec out for her birthday dinner :-) It's a shame her birthday was a while ago in May but we are both finding it very hard to have a night off at the same time. Anyway, any excuse will do to have Turkish. Mmmmmmm

My sister came over the other night to motivate me into doing some scrapping and this was the out come. Unfortunatley I always manage to wait until the light is bad to take my photo's so the photo doesn't really give it justice as the colours look pretty bad.

Well hope all are well and until next time.

Caroline

yummy recipes...

2008-07-22T21:51:00.000+10:00

I recently made both these recipes for Piper's birthday and they were a huge and "YUMMY" success, so decided to share them with you all.

BEETROOT DIP...

1 x 450g can baby beetroot, drained and coarsely chopped or pureed depending on you desired texture.

250g (1 cup) Greek-style yoghurt

2 tbs fresh Lemon Juice

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Combine ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve in a bowl with Lavosh crisps or Turkish bread (yum).

HOMEMADE VANILLA SLICE...

2 x Sheets of Puff Pastry

600ml Cream

300ml Milk

2 x Packets Cottee's Vanilla Instant Pudding.

METHOD

Jab pastry with fork all over and cook in a hot oven until light brown.

Mix together cream, milk and pudding mixture with an electric beater until thick.

Spread between 2 layers of pastry and dust with icing sugar. Cut to the size of your choice. (or don't cut at all and have one HUGE vanilla slice. Mmmmm)

Hope you all enjoy, and please let me know what you think.

Take care

Caroline xxx

My baby turns 2...

2008-07-16T19:18:00.000+10:00

It only feels like yesterday that we celebrated Piper's 1st birthday, but another year has gone and my baby is now 2 years old :( We celebrated on her actual birthday with all the family coming over for an "inside" BBQ which was loads of fun. As usual she got spoilt rotten with an abundance of great pressies which I now need to find homes for. LOL

The following day we invited all of Piper's friends to come help her celebrate her birthday once again at Hungry Jack's. Let's just say that alot of food was consumed and that we had to make a little pit stop on the way home as Bella started to go a little pale in the back seat. Luckily for us a little fresh air and a walk around helped her to hang onto her lunch and all was good in the end. Phew!!!

I just love this photo of the cousins.

Until next time.

Caroline xxx

Hi-5 Fun...

2008-07-16T19:01:00.000+10:00

Another school holidays down and half a year gone. Where did that go?

We had a pretty relaxed 2 weeks with staying home as much as possible and using the time to chill out a bit :) Our first week we concentrated on the toilet training which is going better then I could have planned. Isabella is now nappy free (except for nights, but no need to rush) and we have not had one accident :) Yippee!!! At the end of week one we headed off to Warragul to see Hi-5, which was good timing as this ended up being a treat to the girls for a job well done with the toilet training. Little did I know until the night before, but my girlfriend's husband who ordered the tickets for us managed to get centre front row. We were so close that Piper was a little scared with the loud music and bright lights and hung onto me for dear life through out the entire show.

My and my girls just before the show started :)

The next few days weren't so much fun with Piper and Brett getting the "back end" of gastro and then it was my turn again. I can honestly say that I think gastro has hit our house 4 times over the last few months, and am now begging you to PLEASE STAY AWAY!!!

Undies at last...

2008-07-03T20:17:00.000+10:00

Well the reason for me not updating my blog sooner is that not much has gone on over the past few weeks except the usual. Work, cleaning, kindy, playgroup etc etc. And didn't want to bore you all.

The school holidays are here, (Yippee!) which for me meant the perfect time to stay at home and toilet train the girls. Yes I know what your all thinking, Bella is 3 and a half and should already be going and Piper is a week shy of 2 but they are doing it together. :) We haven't had much luck over the past 9 months with training Bella. She started off using the Potty back in October last year and then for some reason decided that she didn't like it and just stopped. Until now we haven't had any luck getting her back on the loo and going, but yesterday that all changed :) Piper on the other hand decided that last weekend was a good time to start and by Tuesday lunchtime was taking herself even for a number 2. (Too much info I know but I am just so proud) Yesterday we had no accidents at all from either, even though I know to expect them, and Piper has even stayed dry through her last 2 day naps as well. YAY!!!!! Lets hope the enthusiasm stays with them and that nappies are a thing of the past.

It's been a very busy week for me. I unfortunatley got stuck with 4 close shifts in a row at work which meant I haven't really seen Brett for more then half an hour a day and am missing him terribly. Last night once I finished work I headed to Fountain Gate with Helen and Jo and attempted the crazyness of the K-mart and Big W toy sales. I hate it every year but know that once it's done that the lead up to Christmas is alot less stressful as ALL the kids are taken care of and even Bella's birthday present is sorted. The only problem is the getting home at 2.45am, not getting to sleep until close to 3.30am, having the girls pull my blankets off at 7.30am and then working until midnight the same night :( I think I might have to invest in some "V" drinks and no-doze just to get thru the day? LOL

Just thought that I would share a few of my favourite pictures taken from my mobile phone.

"Home-Boy Piper" "Nudie Gnome Bath"

"I Hate Bubbles" "Ahhhhh cuddles"

Have a great school holidays to all.

Caroline xxx

QLD here we come...

2008-06-19T01:47:00.000+10:00

Well, all I can say is bring on August. Other then this being Brett's birthday, it is also now the day we leave for our family holiday to the Sunshine Coast in QLD. Yippee!!!

It's a very long story which I will try and cut short for you, but I had booked some really, really cheap flights back in February to Newcastle as a surprise birthday present to Brett to go and visit his Aunt, Uncle and cousins. I had booked everything including accommodation, travel insurance and even car hire so that I was all organised for when the time came to surprise Brett. Well Thusday last week, Tiger Airways so kindly sent me an email telling me that they had cancelled my flights (but gave me no reason why?) and I had the option to either get a full refund (which was $85) or we could change our destination to any one of their destinations within Australia at no extra charge. Anyway long story short, we have changed our flights to Maroochydore QLD where we will be spending 5 exciting nights in Alexandra Headlands 450m from the beach. The most exciting thing will be taking the kids to Australia Zoo as both the girls just love "Bindi the Jungle Girl" and I can't wait to cuddle a koala or feed the elephants.

The only downer to all of this is that I lost my accommodation deposit for Nelson Bay NSW, but then in saying that I am flying our family to QLD for under $85 total. BARGAIN!!!!

Now we just have to play the waiting game until departure and hope that Tiger Airways don't decide to cancel these flights as well. Fingers Crossed X

Not much else really been happening. Bella has her 3yo kinder photo's on Friday which is exciting. I'm not sure if I want to take the risk and put her hair in pig tales as knowing my luck she will pull them out just before they take the photo and I will end up getting a load of pictures of Bella with a "Princess Leia from Star Wars" hairdo.

Take care.

Caz xxx

Lots to show & tell...

2008-06-08T08:09:00.000+10:00

Well I'm not too sure where to start as a bit has happened in the past few weeks. I tried to up date a few days ago but for some reason I was unable to download any pictures and just got very frustrated so decided to leave it for a few days then try again and here we are :)

A couple of weeks ago Brett and a mate headed 635km north to a little town in NSW called Junee to pick up my Holden FB wagon (thanks boys). They left at 5.30am and decided to make the trip in the one day (crazy I know.) They didn't do too bad as Brett actually beat me home as my girlfriend and I headed out to see a Roller Derby Bout which was loads of fun. Anyway that's another story.

Here is a picture of the car on it's way home stopping at the famous Ettamogah Pub. Pretty good picture I thought?

The following day Isabella was busting to get outside and help daddy start to clean the car up. All we have heard since buying the car is "We need to paint mummy's hotrod yellow"? Anyway here is some of the dirt and leaves that they managed to get out. By the time they finished there was a huge pile and I believe there is still a lot more in the car?

Another lot of exciting news is that Piper has upgraded to a "Big Girls Bed". I am so excited to see her grow but at the same time so sad that she is not a baby any more :( We put her bed up before her afternoon nap (bad move), and she didn't want a bar of it. For the first 5 minutes she continuously got out of bed, put on her shoes and tried to open her bedroom door. We think she just didn't want to miss out on all the fun?

I was dreading her going to bed that night but she surprised us all by going to sleep on her own and has done so ever since. Not once has she gotten out of bed and in the mornings she just lies there and calls us to come and get her even though her bedroom door is open. She is such a little cherub.

This is her first night. We are so proud of our big girl :)

The end of May was Helen's birthday which we celebrated with a family dinner at Mum and Dad's place. All the kids had fun playing with each other, which doesn't often happen any more with Declan now in school as they use to catch up mainly during the week after playgroup. It's great to see that they can all get along as cousins and friends :)

Here are my latest 2 scrapping pages. Unfortunately I don't get many chances any more to scrap with working 3-4 nights a week. And when I do have the night off, all I want to do is sit down and vegetate in front of the TV. Not a good thing I know but my energy levels aren't the best at the moment.

Until next time.

Caroline xxx

We shall never forget...

2008-06-03T00:36:00.000+10:00

Sorry to all for the delay since my last post but recently we lost a very close family friend.

I would just like to give Aunty Phyllis, Joanne, Stephen and families my love and to let you all know that you are in my heart and thoughts always. xxx

Just Call On Me

I can’t comprehend just how sad you must feel
For the loss of someone you love.
This sorrowful time must still feel unreal
And you’re looking for strength from above.

I hope, from my heart, that your pain will decrease,
That your spirit will gain strength again,
And I pray that your faith will create inner peace
And that God will send blessings--Amen.

Till then, if you need me to lighten your load,
I’m waiting to come to your aid.
Just call on me, and I’ll walk down that road,
Until the dark times start to fade.

By Karl Fuchs

what a beauty?...

2008-05-18T00:20:00.000+10:00

Well I trust that everyone had a fantastic Mother's Day? Last year Mum and I woke at the crack of dawn (missing out on our brekkie in bed) to catch the city bound train for the "Mother's Day Classic 10km Walk". This year we both opted to sleep in :) Brett attempted to make me egg and bacon for breakfast for the first time, as his excuse has always been that he can't crack an egg? I must say that it was quite amusing watching him try. LOL :) The girls came running down in the morning say "Happy Birthday" but the thought was still there. I got a lovely pair of leather boots and a new car. I thought I was pretty spoilt.

This is my Mother's Day present. My very own Holden FB Wagon :) It doesn't look like much but our plan is to make it a 5yr project. Wait until you see the finished result!

The only problem is that Brett has to go on a 650km road trip next weekend to NSW to retrieve it from a mates place. Happy Driving hun!

Here is our Holden EK which once looked like the wagon above, so I have no fears and just keep thinking of what it will look like once completed. Best of all I get to do it my way :) Yay....

Tonight I am off on a scrapping night with the girls which I hope will be fun. I'm not quite in the mood as I keep thinking of snuggling up on the couch in my PJ's and watching a movie, but at the same time would like the night out. Lets hope the enthusiasm kicks in before 7pm otherwise the night will be a waste of $10.

Have a great "chilly" weekend to all.

Caroline xxx

my 7 simple pleasures...

2008-05-08T23:12:00.000+10:00

Well Helen, here I go.

1/ I just love it when my girls randomly come up to me and plant a wet sloppy kiss on my cheek and tell me "love you" or "night night". My heart just melts :)

2/ A beautiful red sunset. I could stand out there all night and watch the sky change colours.

3/ Curling up on the couch in my PJ's and toasty warm dressing gown watching a really good "feel good" movie eating some yummy chocolate. Mmmmmmmmm

4/ The feeling I get when all my bills are paid and there is still some money left in the bill account.

5/ Seeing my girls play happily and nicely together. I just love the sound of them both giggling :)

6/ The sound of pouring rain hitting our verandahs. I sleep so much better when it is raining outside.

7/ Standing in my backyard and the only noises I can hear is the wind blowing through the trees and the kookaburra's laughing in the background. It makes me proud to be an Aussie.

Well they are my "7 simple pleasures", although I must say that I think I agree with most of Helen's as well.

Caroline xxx

Happy 6th birthday Declan xxx...

2008-05-06T02:00:00.000+10:00

Well yesterday was Declan's 6th birthday and boy hasn't he grown up into a fine young man? He decided at the last minute to have his party at Hungry Jack's which I'm sure Helen was happy with as this meant there wasn't much for her to do or worry about considering she has just done all that with Tilly's birthday last week.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it as I had to work an 8hr shift, but heard all about it from Bella and Piper as soon as I walked in the door. I'm guessing they had a ball?

And obviously enjoyed having lunch with Grandma and Opa? :)

The next kids party on the agenda is Piper's 2nd and I still can't decided what to do? I don't really want to have it at Macca's or Hungry Jack's (although it is a lot easier for me) but at the same time I don't really want it at home and can't justify paying to have it at a play centre? Luckily I still have a few weeks up my sleeve, but need to leave enough time to book something.

Take care.

Caroline xxx

phew!!! back to normal...

2008-05-06T01:46:00.000+10:00

Yay!!!!!! It looks like the gastro bug has finally left our house? It is so nice not to have washing overflowing and the house back to normal, but best of all it is lovely to see my girls happy and full of energy again :) Mind you that means stubborness and tantrum's again, but I would much rather that then seeing my girls unwell.

They had a good weekend out and about with swimming Saturday morning and then we all headed off to Dandenong Market to get some new PJ's and dressing gowns for the girls. As soon as we got home Bella was asking for a bath and jammies, but I must say that there is nothing better then on a cold day to have a hot bubble bath and put on your new warm pair of pj's :) Especially once they have been washed and put in the dryer to make them even fluffier :) :) :)

I finally succeeded in getting some nice pictures of the girls together. I'll tell you what thought, it really is a job and a half as I can never get them both to look at the camera with smiles on their faces, but this time I even got a photo of a kiss. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh how cute!

These are the new jammies that the girls got. "Tickle Elmo"

Why me?...

2008-04-28T20:50:00.000+10:00

I can't believe my luck. Piper gets over the vomiting Thursday night and now Bella wakes up at 12.35am Monday morning vomiting once again. It took me 1.5hrs to clean her and her bed so that she could go back to sleep and then at 9am Piper has her back end happening :( I am still trying to catch up with the washing from Piper being sick and now my laundry trough is over flowing once again. I just hope that SE Water don't send me a nasty letter in the mail for using too much water. What else can I do?

The worse part of all is that Brett and I are just waiting for it to hit us. I have had sick kids in this house since Easter weekend and other then Brett and I getting a cold, we have managed to avoid it? Mind you, now that I have said that I can almost guarantee that one of us will have it by mid week???

Hope you are all keeping well and would advise all to stay clear of our place. Think I might have to get the place fumergated? :)

Caroline xxx

Happy Birthday Tilly...

2008-04-28T20:39:00.000+10:00

Well as most of you were aware it was Tilly's birthday on Friday and who can believe she is already one? It was the most perfect day for celebrations weather wise and loads of fun was had by all. Both my kids managed to attend with Piper pretty much back to her usual self Friday morning and keeping down her breakfast. I just hope none of the other kids that attended ending up getting the gastro bug?

Isn't she just soooo cute? :)

I tried to get some action photo's of the kids jumping of the step in Helen's lounge room, but it is not an easy task to do? Here are some of the better shots. I just love their facial expressions :)

Caroline xxx

Porcupine Meatballs...

2008-04-25T02:03:00.000+10:00

Okay. I have decided that once a month I am going to post a yummy receipe for all to try and today I have decided to start with Porcupine Meatballs as that is what is currently cooking in my oven Mmmmmmm. My mum has been making these for as long as I can remember and they make the best left overs the next day on toast. So if your kids like mince and tomato soup then I am sure that this will be a big success.

Porcupine Meatballs with Mash Potato

420g can tomato soup

500g beef mince

1 brown onion chopped

½ cup uncooked rice

2 cloves of garlic or just use garlic in a tube.

Shake of mixed herbs.

Pre-heat oven to 200.

Boil soup and 1½ cups of water in a large saucepan.

Combine mince, onion, uncooked rice, garlic and herbs in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper.

Using 1 tablespoonful of mixture at a time, roll mixture into balls and place into a casserole dish (one that has a lid).

Pour boiling soup over meatballs.

Cover and cook for 40 minutes.

Serve with mash potato.

I hope you all enjoy.

Caroline xxx

It got us again...

2008-04-24T22:09:00.000+10:00

I have no idea what we have done to deserve it, but my kids have been hit with the cold and gastro bug again :( Bella and I came down with the runny noses a few days ago (which I can handle), but poor Piper woke up this morning at 5.30am vomiting. My poor baby is always so full of energy but at the moment she is struggling to keep her head up right? It is horrible to see them so sick and lifeless. My hat goes off to all the parents out there with seriously ill kids who have to do this every day. I just don't know how they do it?

Well tomorrow Miss Matilda turns 1 and I really hope that we are all there to help her celebrate. Worse case cenario is that Brett will stay home with Piper and Bella and I will party hard, so see most of you then.

Take care and hope you all stay well :)

Caroline xxx

What a beautiful weekend...

2008-04-21T23:51:00.000+10:00

Well I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weather on the weekend as much as we did? It was just so nice to be outside in it even if it was to do a bit of gardening or cleaning the car. Saturday was our run around/chore day which was pretty successful. We finally had a chance to get done all those little annoying jobs that have been waiting for so long :)

Brett headed out to see a band on Saturday which meant that I had the house to myself (once the girls went to bed) which was absolute heaven. I was planning on doing some scrapping but just couldn't be bothered making a mess as this then meant that I would have to clean it up. The kids and I were going to head to a girlsfriends place for dinner but the poor thing came down with gastro at the last minute (which she caught off her 1yr old son), so we didn't quite make it :( Oh well, maybe next time? :)

Yesterday we headed off to a beautiful park in Narre Warren South to help the McVicar family celebrate little Elizabeth's Naming Day which was just perfect. Along with the great weather, it was a good chance to catch up with everyone and all the kids had a great time on the playground near by. We literally had to peel them off so that we could all head back to Elizabeth's house to party!!!

Piper just loved the see saw :)

Looking forward to a short week this week with Anzac Day falling on a Friday. Lucky for us as this is also Matilda's birthday and we are all looking forward to helping her celebrate the BIG 1. (WOW that year went so quick?)

Take Care

Caroline xxx

U23D Awesome!!!

2008-04-14T23:51:00.000+10:00

I reckon I must be the most boring person in the world at the moment as I am having problems thinking of things to write on my blog. Absolutely nothing has been happening other then recovering from illness and working except for last night when a group of friends and I headed out to see the U23D show at iMax and OMG it was so awesome :) I am a fan of U2 but not quite as much as the girls I went with and I had butterflies in my belly the whole time as you honestly fell like you are up on stage with the boys. My feet couldn't stop tappin and you just can't help but to sing. (hopefully I wasn't too loud?) I would have been happy if the show went for another 2 hours. A must see for all U2 fans. You won't be disappointed :) :)

I

Take care.

Caroline xxx

Sick kids...

2008-04-04T21:00:00.000+11:00

Well the first lot of school holidays are nearly over and I can't say that I am sad to see them go as I have spent the whole holidays with sick kids. Poor Piper got an ear and throat infection over the Easter weekend and then both girls have had runny noses and coughs for the entire holidays and now Bella has gastro. The poor thing hasn't really eaten since Wednesday lunch time, but it's strange that she is really bad in the mornings waking up with a fever and vomiting, but by about 10am she starts to come good and then goes back down hill in the evening not eating dinner and asking to go to bed at 6.45pm?

These photo's were taken yesterday morning once Bella started to come good in which she insisted on playing outside. It was short lived as it was so cold and her energy levels didn't last too long. Fingers crossed she is on the mend and ready for playgroup on Monday?

Have a great weekend to all.

Caroline xxx

Note: I am soooo glad that I don't have to work tonight or tomorrow :) I have just worked 5 days straight and 4 of those being nights finishing at 11pm. I haven't done that in over 3 years.

Nothing to report...

2008-04-03T18:18:00.000+11:00

Sorry to all that it has been so long since my last post. I picked up a few extra shifts at work over the past week and haven't really had much time to do much else. On Tuesday we headed to a park in Berwick with Helen (and clan) and Jo (and clan) which was great. The weather was absolutely perfect and the kids had a so much fun playing together. I think my girls really enjoyed getting out of the house and getting rid of some energy. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera so I have no picks, but I'm sure both Jo and Helen will post some soon.

Just thought that I would share some collages that I have recently done for when I get a chance to scrap a page.

Brett and Isabella...

Brett and Piper...

Ahhhhhhhhh how cute are they?

Take care.

Caroline xxx

Mr Snail...

2008-03-25T20:48:00.000+11:00

I don't know why but I have this fascination at the moment for taking pictures of bugs? I think it's because I can take such a close up picture and have a really good look at them??? Don't worry Helen I shouldn't be posting any pictures of spiders as I don't think I could get this close to them? lol

Thank you Easter Bunny...

2008-03-25T20:35:00.000+11:00

Well I hope everyone had a fab Easter? Easter for us was a chance to catch up on all the things that needed to be done that had so far been a bit neglected like housework and gardening. Friday and Saturday was spent cleaning inside and out but then had to take Piper to the doctors Saturday arvo as she had a terrible cough. Friday night she managed to get her temp DOWN to 34.3, so rang Nurse on Call who informed me that if we couldn't get her temp up to at least 35 with in the next 30mins that we had to go straight to the hospital. Luckily we eventually got it up to 35.4 by putting extra clothing on her and rugging her up in a blanket but by Saturday afternoon she had the complete opposite with a temp of 38.5??? The doctor on Saturday informed us that all was clear and just to give her Panadol and Dimetapp, but by Monday morning she went down hill and we headed back to the doctors to be informed that it has now turned into an ear infection and that her glands were quite swollen. Oh well, at least we can now treat the problem and happy to say that she is getting back to her naughty, cheeky self.

Well the easter bunny obviously came bright and early Sunday morning as he left a chocolate trail for the girls and even surprised them with a skipping rope each. How did he know that this is what Isabella has wanted for the past few weeks??? lol :) Once that egg hunt was completed we then had another to do as Pat organises one for me every year, but as the girls are now old enough I dare say that this will change to be "their" egg hunt :(

On Saturday night we let Isabella sleep in her sleeping bag which she thought was loads of fun. She insisted that the sleeping bag go on the bedroom floor and NOT on her bed which was fine by us. I was kind of expecting to find her back in her bed on Sunday morning, but she must of enjoyed herself as this wasn't the case.

Happy chocolate eating to all.

Caroline xxx

what do I do???

2008-03-19T20:08:00.000+11:00

Well not too much has been happening in the past week except trying to keep cool from this yucky hot weather. I so can't wait for winter to arrive :)

On Sunday we headed to Cooper's 1st birthday who's clever mum had the great idea of having his party at the local kinder. Apparently it didn't cost very much and they had access to the kitchen, all the toys and the outside area. It's a shame it was so hot but the kids didn't seem to mind and had a ball any way. On the way home Piper found the the half melted freddo frog in her goodie bag and thought that it was too good to go to waste. All I was worried about was the mess in the new car.

On a more serious note, I have a problem with a 20 month old child who keeps biting her older sister and just don't know what to do next? I have spoken to maternal health who tell me I am doing the right thing by placing her in her cot for 2 minutes and then getting her to say sorry to her sister with a big kiss and hug, but she just seems to be getting worse? She now breaks the skin and leaves the biggest bruises and these are the 2 latest bites that poor Isabella has received in the last 2 days. I would really appreciate any suggestions as this is really starting to worry me and everything I have tried is not working and I don't want her to go to kinder being known as the "bitey child". HELP!!!

Also I would just like to wish my sister Helen all the best for her surgery tomorrow. Just keep thinking positive as it is nearly over. Love ya. xxx

Talk soon.

Caroline

Wow! what a drawing...

2008-03-14T21:21:00.000+11:00

I came home from work last night to find this master piece waiting for me on the kitchen bench. I think it is an absolute work of art! She has been drawing faces for a while now but this is the first time she has added such detail as an eye ball (even if it is just the one. lol) and an open mouth. I'm so proud of my Bella :) xxx

Caroline xxx

Busy week it was...

2008-03-13T19:38:00.000+11:00

Well I'm glad last week is over! It all started with me having to wait until Tuesday (as advised by the bank) to receive my car money, but surprise surprise there was nothing there by 5pm Tuesday and as you can imagine I was pretty upset :( I thought that I would do the right thing and give them until Wednesday lunch time, which once again surprise surprise still no money? I rang the bank for the fourth time in 2 weeks and was told that it should be in by friday, and that was all I needed for the yelling, tears and frustration to pour out. To cut a long story short, I rang and left a complaint with the bank a week earlier as I was sick of getting different information every time I rang, and then the supervisor that took the complaint did exactly that again. I was soooooooo mad and couldn't help myself but to just let it all out. Oops! To end on a happy note, the bank managed to have the money in my account with in 2 hours and the car was collected by 4pm the same day???? I so hate banks at the moment....

The new addition to the Baynham family :)

Isabella has decided that she is a big enough girl now to choose her own clothes. The only problem is that this is the outcome???? Hmmmm new fashion trend maybe????? (She does have a small pair of shorts on under her top, but not that it makes the out fit any better. LOL :)

Isabella is always going on about "how scary the ice-cream truck is" and thought that being it was a warm day I would treat the girls to an ice-cream hoping that it would help Bella over come her "ice-cream truck" fears? They got themselves in such a sticky mess and god only knows what the ice-cream is made of but it has left a lot of lovely stains on our front verandah?

To top off a busy week I ended up finishing work at 12.30am Thursday night and then was back there by 9.30am Friday morning as they were short staffed and needed the extra hand. Friday night was so nice to just sit down and do nothing, but then it all started again with swimming at 8am Saturday morning. Looking forward to the school holidays so that we might have a chance of a sleep in???

Sunday was a nice change with a trip to Brett's parents in the country. We thought that this would be a good opportunity to give the car a good run and a chance for the girls to have a good run around, but unfortunately the weather was too hot for them to venture outside :( So instead they had a slumber party in front of the TV as the girls insisted on taking their sleeping bags with them?

So far this week is a little calmer, and fingers crossed it stays that way.

Caroline xxx

Update...

2008-03-04T18:45:00.000+11:00

Well another week down. Who can believe that we are nearly already a quarter of the year gone? It will be christmas again before we know it. Anyway, things are starting to get back to normal now that my cold/flu has pretty much gone. I still have a thumping headache but not sure if that is because of the cold or because I have starting taking my multi vitamins again? Long story but I think they are giving me headaches??? I thought that mutli vitamins were meant to make you feel better, not worse?

Here is a picture of Brett and the girls flying their kite on one of those windy days last week. Being that the poor girls were stuck in the house for 4 days and were getting very bored, daddy came home from work and took them out to the reserve behind our house to give them a little fresh air. Apparently Piper loved flying the kite but when she had had enough she just let the kite go and off it flew over to the golf course. Luckily for Bella the fence caught it and it wasn't lost for ever.

On Sunday we helped Nick celebrate his 1st birthday and here is Piper already to PARTY!!!! Isn't she just sooooo cute? :)

In regards to my new car, we are still waiting on the money to hit the account so that we can go and pick the car up. I am so angry with the bank and am so sick of getting different information every time I ring that I blew my stack with them last week and was promised that is SHOULD be in my account today? Let me tell you that if it's not, poop is going to hit the fan?????? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (Do I sound scary?) lol

Then to top off an already bad start to the week, I got into work last night after having a week off to find that I am in the Printworks department (I have recently been moved from register to Printworks) all by myself for 3 whole hours on their busiest night of the week with Uni's going back to school and shitty customers. I was "NOT happy Jan". I have probably had a total of 15 hours in this area and even then I haven't really learned much as they are just too busy to really show me where everything is. So you can imagine that I was a little stressed trying to work out how to use these massive laser printers, complete binding jobs, dealing with irrate customers wanting to know where there orders are etc etc etc. I missed out on a break and ate my dinner at 11.30pm last night while on my way home. As you can tell, I was soooooo not impressed.

Gee that post was a bit whingey? At least I now feel better getting it all off my chest.

Caroline xxx

Not a lot going on...

2008-02-28T20:19:00.000+11:00

Well once again not alot has been happening. To be honest, I have had the most lazy week for a very long time. It started on Saturday when we got home from a birthday party and the weather was cold and miserable, Brett was out and both the girls were in bed asleep and I decided to sit down all rugged up with the open fire going and started to watch Viva la Bam on DVD (That is Bam Margera's own TV show. Mmmmm Bam) Luckily for me the girls slept for 2.5 hours and Brett didn't come home till late afternoon and it was soooo nice just to sit there and do nothing. Being that we didn't have anything planned on Sunday, we decided that this would be our "Do what ever day", nothing planned and just plod along as the last time we had a chance to do this was sometime before christmas.

On Monday morning we headed off to playgroup and that was pretty much the last time we left the house as I came down with a cold/flu and haven't had any energy since. I was kind of hoping that the cold would have disappeared by now, but it just seems to be getting worse each day. Today my back and teeth are aching along with my head so this means that the poor girls are stuck in the house once again. Luckily it is off to kinder tomorrow for Bella, so at least she has a chance to lose some energy.

Yesterday I decided to get the paints and stamps out for the girls to have a play with. They had so much fun and got into such a mess but at least they enjoyed themselves.

This little "dead" critter (well actually he was quite big...) was found by Piper in the back yard. All I could hear was Piper yelling "Beetle Beetle Beetle", so I ran outside almost expecting it to be a cockroach as they seem to be everywhere at the moment and found this monster lying next to the sand pit. I'm not sure as too what kind of beetle it is but look at the size of the horn on it's head? I'm kind of glad he was dead :)

How cute is this picture? Mind you Bella did manage to break one of the straps on the pram doing this. Hmmmmmmmmmm

Anyway that's it for the moment so until next time.

Caroline xxx

The past week...

2008-02-20T19:01:00.000+11:00

Not too much to report on from the last week except the usual. Bella had her first day at kinder last Friday all on her own and absolutely loved it. As soon as we walked through the kinder doors she was off and I had to call her back to give me a kiss and a cuddle and then she was off again :( I shouldn't really complain as I would rather her do that then cry for me to stay. The main problem I had was Piper. Being that Bella is always around, I had to leave carrying Piper who was screaming for her big sister and didn't stop for at least 20mins until she finally fell asleep. It was very heartbreaking to listen to :(

On Thursday I headed out to Werribee with a girlfriend of mine and bought a new car. Yippee!!!!!!!! We originally wanted a Ford Territory (as this is what I have wanted since the day they came out) but have heard alot of bad reports on them and have even had mechanic friends advise against them so we decided to stick with the old faithful Holden Commodore 2006 VZ Executive MY06 wagon. I think Brett wanted me to get a Falcon wagon, but I just don't like the square back ends on them??? I am hoping to get it next weekend and it is having an RACV check done on it today so fingers crossed it is all good news.

Friday night I headed out for dinner with my girlfriend and her sister to our favourite Turkish Restaurant in Mentone for my birthday. Mmmmmmmm turkish.... Every year at our birthdays we take each other out for "turkish birthday dinner". They even have bellie dancers every Friday night which was very interesting as this time they had a duo (boy and girl) and it almost resembled a strip show with audience participation???? Quite amusing....

On Sunday while I was at work, Brett and the girls headed to Flemington for the annual All Holden's Day. Despite the heat apparently a good day was had by all and the girls were pretty well behaved. As you can see they had loads of fun on the kiddie train and they also had a jumping castle free of charge.

The other morning the girls decided that it would be fun to have their beanies on and we got some really cute photo's of them. Let's just hope it's that easy to get them to wear them in winter???

This is my favourite. Isabella calls it "Bella squishing daddy." Ahhhhhhh how cute.

Till next time.

Caroline xxx

Bella turns the big 3......

2008-02-15T21:55:00.000+11:00

Sorry to all that it has taken so long for me to update my blog, but with me not getting home from work until 12.45-1.00am 3 nights a week and getting up at 7-7.30am, I don't seem to be getting much time to sit down at the computer.

Well my baby made it to 3 years of age. Yay!!!!!!! (mind you sometimes I didn't think she would. lol) We celebrated last weekend with a small gathering at Duffy's Lookout picnic ground, and other then it being a little chilly, I think it was a great day had by all? I tried to make sure that the kids had plenty of things to do like Totem tennis, cricket, footy, kite flying (when or if you could get the kite off Isabella without her screaming) and of course the Baynham tradition of having a Pinjata.

Sorry about the blury picture but this was the best one we have of her blowing out the candles. Blame the photographer. (Brett!!!!!!!!!!)

It really is a lovely picnic spot with loads of wildlife and plenty of open space for the kids to run around. Just hang onto your sandwiches tightly as the kookaburra's are definately not scared to snatch a feed. Just ask my father....lol

Bella's actual birthday was on the Monday 11th and by then the poor thing was so full of cold that we had to miss playgroup, which means she missed out on birthday cake and the chance to sing happy birthday again. :( And then to top it off I had to work the evening of her birthday but managed to squeeze in singing happy birthday and having some chocolate cake before I headed off after dinner.

As you can see by the picture she got a 6 volt quad bike which she has been zooming around the house with since Monday, but I must say that she is doing an excellent job of steering it through the smallest of spaces.

Till next time.

Caroline xxx

My little water baby...

2008-02-04T08:45:00.000+11:00

Our busy weekend continued with Isabella starting back at swimming and Piper's 1st swimming lesson which started at a crazy time of 8am on Saturday morning. Silly time I know but it was unfortunately the only time we could get both the girls in the pool at the same time to save us having to make 2 trips a week. Isabella is now in the pool by herself and is doing really well while Piper took to the water like a fish in a pond.

Then at lunch time we headed off to Mitchell's 5th birthday party which just so happened to be a pool party, so the girls were at it again spending the next couple of hours in the pool. As you can tell by the photo, fun was had by all.

We then headed home with enough time to get changed and then out the door we went again heading to the Dandy Drive-in Cruise Night. Unfortunately due to the busy day the girls were tired and out of control, mummy and daddy didn't have much patience so it wasn't too enjoyable until the movie started and both the girls fell asleep in the back of the car. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh peace at last! We ended up watching "Alvin and the Chipmunks" which was quite a funny movie and all the laughing was such a great stress release.

This afternoon we headed off again to help Isabella's friend Johnnie celebrate his 3rd birthday. I think after this weekend we are all partied out and I am looking forward to having a slightly more relaxing week next week.

Talk soon.

Caroline xxx

1st day at kinder...

2008-02-04T08:18:00.000+11:00

WOW! What a busy week and weekend we have had. It all started on Friday when Isabella had her first day at 3yo kinder. It was so exciting for both of us to the point that Isabella was all dressed and ready to go by 9.30am, which wasn't a good thing as the next 3 hours seemed to be some of the slowest ever. Mind you this could be due to the fact that she wasn't due to start until 12.30pm??? Anyway we were the first ones there as I was pretty much pushed out of the house by Isabella at around 12.10pm, but never mind as she was just as excited to sit in the car park and wait. Being that it was day 1 and that she is under 3 (only for a few more days...), I had to stay with her but pretty much didn't see her the whole hour as she was busy painting, climbing, playing in the sandpit and meeting Bert and Ernie (2 x pet blue tongue lizards) and Henny and Penny (2 x pet chickens that roam the playground). We are back again this Friday for 2 hours and then the following week she will be there on her own for the full 2.5 hours.

Where has my baby gone :(

Caroline xxx

Let the fun begin...

2008-01-29T19:41:00.000+11:00

Well the time has come for the year to really begin and I'm looking forward to getting going. Mind you this week is only a half week for us as we don't have playgroup but as of Friday the fun begins. Isabella's first day of 3yo starts Friday afternoon which I think we are both really looking forward to. We have now started to count down the sleeps until the first day and for the past few days she has been running around the house with her new kinder bag on her back. I don't think I will have any problems getting her there or even leaving her at kindy? We then have swimming Saturday mornings, Playgroup on Monday mornings and between work and housework won't have much spare time left. Oh well, the joys of parenthood.

Work has been very busy as I'm sure you can all imagine working in a stationary shop. The back to school craze looks like it should now be over with most of the kids heading back to school today. I worked both Sunday and yesterday and gees was it busy with everyone leaving it to the last minute. I got home last night and my legs were just aching. I think I need to invest in a foot spa??? LOL

I managed to get a scrappin page finished on Sunday night but not too sure if I need to add anything to the top of the page? I don't want it to look unfinished but at the same time I don't want to over do it? What do you think? Really looking forward to the Scrappin night in Mornington on the 16th of Feb. Hopefully will get some really good ideas?

Caroline xxx

nothing too exciting happening...

2008-01-24T02:16:00.000+11:00

Well not too much has been happening in our neck of the woods lately other then the usual stuff like work and chores. I thought I would post this picture of Isabella and Piper as it is not often that I get a photo of them both with smiles on their faces. It's a shame their not both looking at the camera :( The girls were sitting on the coffee table watching Playschool on TV and obviously having fun joining in with the singing?

I have made it a rule of mine that before I go to bed every night I make sure that I check on the girls, and was quite amused when I found Piper sleeping on "Harry the Hippo". The poor thing looked so uncomfortable lying there, so I did the right thing and removed Harry from under her bottom and gave him back to her to cuddle. Luckily for us she was none the wiser and remained asleep. Poor Harry though....

Both my girls lately have been getting up to some mischief while I have been having my showers in the morning to the point that I may have to start locking them in the bathroom with me just to keep the house safe. (There goes any chance of a peaceful shower.) Last week I came out of the bathroom to find my kitchen hutch decorated with some lovely artwork inspired by Piper which was luckily only chalk. Phew!!! And then this morning I came out to Isabella covered quite thickly from head to belly with my hand cream which she also managed to get all over my bed and down the hall on some other furniture. I was quite annoyed as they have been told numerous times to leave it alone, and knew that from this point my day was going to be a s*#t of a day. Well I suppose I should be thankful that this was the extent of my terrible day as it certainly isn't as bad as some like poor Matilda Ledger or the Ledger family who today lost Heath :( Why is it always the good guys/gals that things like this happen to and not the evil people in the world? RIP Heath...

On a happier note, I would like to congratulate Stephen and Nofi on their "surprise" marriage on the 21st January, and would like to wish them both the world of happiness and hope to hear the sound of tiny "Woodsie" foot steps in the not so distant future :)

Till next time.

Caroline xxx

Lets go cruizing...

2008-01-17T07:33:00.000+11:00

Well not too much has been happening lately as things have started to slowly whind down which is nice. Last Saturday afternoon we attended a Hot Rod Cruise which went from Mordialloc to Williamstown which was lots of fun. The weather was great and we finished the cruise at an old boat house and Pier which was really the perfect setting as just over the other side of the bay was the city skyline, and they had the whole length of the pier filled with Hot Rods and cars. It looked so amazing.

The girls had a ball running around and dancing to the music, and even won themselves a lollipop by playing a little card game that they held for all the kids. Then they thought it would be fun playing in the car. They took it in turns steering while the other was the passenger, then hanging out the window talking to everyone that passed. On the way home we stopped off at Macca's for some dinner (as they ran out of sausages and hamburgers on the run.), and the girls thought it was so much fun playing on the playground with a friend of ours Jason. Mind you he really is a kid at heart :)

This morning my baby girl Piper surprised me by counting to 4 while watching Sesame Street. They were counting on the show but she just blurted out 1 to 4 before the person on the show was even upto number 2. As proud as I am, I am also very sad that she is growing so fast. Where have the past 18 months gone? :( She has also lately been going through her animals and their noises and her favourite at the moment is "Ellie" (obviously short for elephant) and the trumpet noise. She is my clever little cookie who is growing way too fast :(

Until next time.

Caroline xxx

scrappin time...

2008-01-12T17:14:00.000+11:00

It's been a while since my last page but last night I finally had some spare time to sit down and scrap. I started this page before christmas and didn't really like what I had done, but when I pulled it out again I thought that there is no point wasting the paper so lets just continue. It was almost a complete disaster before I even started as when I opened my bottle of craft glue, it decided to pour out like a volcano? Luckily for me I had a piece of paper close by as one drop hit my kitchen table and ate away the varnish. Oops!.....

Yesterday while Piper was sleeping, Isabella decided to do some colouring in. For christmas she got a "no mess" colouring book and texta pack which are great as you don't need to worry what they might colour in as the colour only comes out on the special colouring book. This is really the first time she has sat down and tried to really colour in the lines, and I must say she did a fantastic job and was so proud of her self.

Yesterday we headed up to the shops and bought Isabella a new kinder bag. I was so proud of her when she got home as the first thing she did was get her smaller Hi-5 backpack and gave it to Piper saying "This is Piper's backpack now". It's nice to know that she can share even if it is a hand me down.

Both the girls decided it would be nice to get up at 5.50am this morning. I tried to get them both to go back to bed, but really who am I kidding? I let them get into our bed but they both just tossed and turned and then started chatting to the point that I couldn't take it any more and decided that I should just get up while I am awake. Not good considering they are going to have a late night tonight and the fact that I didn't get to bed until 12.30am :(

Have a great weekend to all.

Luv Caz xxx

Morning at the beach...

2008-01-11T00:13:00.000+11:00

This morning at 8.30am my girlfriend Kelli and I packed up the kids and headed to the beach before the heat set in. It was so quiet with not too many people out yet and the water was just so refreshing. At first Piper didn't like the feel of the sand on her feet and started screaming and then the same thing happened when we hit the water, but then she calmed down and realised that it was nice and cool and lots of fun. Kelli's little boy Nick wasn't too keen of the water either, but was quite happy to sit on the sand with Piper and have the water splashing up onto their feet and legs. I didn't have any trouble with Isabella until it came time to go home. She is such a little water baby, and spent most of her time with Kelli's older son Jake trying to catch all the little fish. :) Oh well, she had fun and it tired her out to the point that she fell asleep in the car on the way home and is now having another nap in bed. Woo Hoo! It's not often that this happens...

On the way back from the beach I took a little detour past mine and Brett's old house in Chelsea Heights which made me feel a little home sick :( I only lived there for approx 1 - 1.5 years, but when the time came to move out I didn't want to part from the old house and got quite upset. The latest owner was outside when we arrived so I had a little chat with her and she informed me that they are going to renovate it into a 4brm home, but the small changes they have already made looks fantastic. She invited me back in a few months time when the renovations are complete so that we can have a look in side which will be exciting and very sad :(

Last of all, I would like to congratulate my girlfriend Kelli and her new fiance Paul on getting engaged last night. "Yay, woo hoo, you bloody butey, ripper rita". We wish you both all the happiness in the world. Mmmmmmwwwwwwaaaaaaaaa

Till next time.

Caroline xxx

kustom nationals...

2008-01-08T00:46:00.000+11:00

Yesterday we were off to Phillip Island for the annual Kustom Nationals. As you can see by the picture, the girls were all ready to go sporting their new eye wear. Thanks Kelli :) We were very lucky with the weather as it would have been way too hot if the change didn't hit when it did, as there isn't really much shade about the grounds. As it was we all got a little sunburnt even with 2 applications of sunscreen??? We walked around looking at hundred's and hundred's of cars and caught up with a few friends which was nice, but as the girls had their first early morning for the past 2 weeks, you can imagine how grumpy they both were. Lucky for us they slept pretty much the whole way home and were both in bed and asleep by 8pm last night. Yippee. For the first time in a week I actually had a chance to sit down after dinner and watch a little TV with my feet up. Ahhhhhhhhh it was bliss. Mind you I was feeling a little guilty as I have 2 over flowing baskets of washing that needs folding. But then as a friend told me, the washing will still be there tomorrow.

Brett went back to work today and without fail, both the girls were up at 7am :( I knew the sleep ins weren't going to last . I decided that today would be a good day to do absolutely nothing (until I have to work tonight) and being that we have a few days of cooler weather, I would try and get the girls to go outside and play on their new swing set before the heat returns later week.

Till next time

Caroline xxx

oh what fun we've had...

2008-01-04T22:38:00.000+11:00

With the holidays nearly over and Brett heading back to work on Monday, I thought that I would recap the past 2 weeks. Even with Christmas being so busy we managed to fit alot of fun times into the holidays. We have been to birthday parties, christmas parties, NYE parties, swimming, playing with cousins etc . We had christmas lunch at Helen's place which was lots of fun. The weather was perfect and the kids played with all their new toys. We then celebrated christmas the following day at Brett's parents in the country, and once again the weather was perfect. Piper and I came home from shopping the other day to find Brett and Isabella in the kids little pool. Piper wasn't too sure to start with, but once she saw Isabella having so much fun, it didn't take her long to follow in her sisters footsteps and start putting her face under the water.

We were hoping to make it to either Werribee Zoo or Healsville Sanctuary over the holidays but decided that with the hot weather and the time of year, that we might leave it until Feb or March as the crowds might be a little smaller with everybody back at work and the holidays all over? We were also trying to get to the beach sometime as well, but the girls haven't been doing too well staying up past 7.30pm, and thought that this would really be the best time to go as it is just too hot during the days. Oh well, will see how we go over the next few weeks.

The one thing I will really miss is the sleep ins. For some reason the girls have been sleeping in until 8-8.30am each morning and have been going to bed and a sleep by 7.30pm? I am just assuming that they are catching up on sleep from the late nights over christmas and new year and this won't last too much longer? :(

Well I hope that everyone else has had as much fun as we have had over the past 2 weeks, and good luck to all with getting back into "Routine".

Take care,

Caroline xxx

Happy new year 2008...

2008-01-01T20:18:00.000+11:00

Well another year gone but I have no idea where it went as it just went by way to fast? On that note though, I am really looking forward to seeing what the year 2008 holds for us? Isabella will be starting 3 year old kinder which is very exciting, and Piper will be starting swimming. I wasn't sure as to how she would go in the pool as I think she has only been in once before, but last night we celebrated New Year's with some friends who had a pool, and even though she wasn't too sure to start with, she ended up having so much fun. Phew I think? Will let you all know how her first lesson goes?

Today I have the fun job of packing away the christmas tree and decorations :( Mind you I am looking forward to having my lounge room back, but it is still a little sad as this makes the end of christmas offical. Oh well, I'm sure next christmas will be here before I know it.

Well I hope everyone had a fun, safe and Happy New Year and we wish you all the very best for the new year ahead.

Love The Baynham Family xxx

That was Christmas...

2007-12-29T04:15:00.000+11:00

Well another year down with another Christmas gone :( As hectic as it is, it would have to be my favourite time of year. We started our festivities with 2 parties on Christmas Eve (once I got home from work at 7pm), and didn't stop until the swing set was put together which took until 1am. It was safe to say that my head hit the pillow and I was out like a light until 6.30 when I woke all excited because the girls were due to wake at any moment. But of course the one morning they decided to sleep in until 7.50am and 8.20 would have to be Christmas morning. It got to the point that I started to make lots of noise hoping to wake them as I just couldn't wait any longer.

Of course we all got spoilt (especially the girls), and then headed to Helen's for Christmas lunch and more pressies (where we all got spoilt again). Boxing Day we headed to Brett's parents for a Christmas BBQ (and even more pressies) which was lovely. The weather was perfect and the kids had a ball running around playing with their new toys.

I can't say I am looking forward to New Year's Eve as I have just heard that the weather is going to be a scorching 41 degrees with it only getting down to 25 during the night. It kind of spoils our plans for New Year's Day as we usually head to Mornington in the EK, but I think it is just going to be too hot and who knows, I have heard that my work may be open so maybe I will earn a little extra cash and be in a cool building all day?

Anyway I hope everyone had a fab Chrissy and that you all have a fun filled and safe New Year.

Luv Caroline XXX

2 sleeps til santa...

2007-12-24T09:18:00.000+11:00

Who can believe that it is nearly Christmas yet again? The presents are wrapped and Brett is in the garage assembling a swing set so let the festivities begin. At least this year the weather is on our side and with the next few days being nice, the ground may have a chance to dry out a little? Not that I am complaining about our 140+ ml of rain in 3 days. My tree out the front hasn't looked so green and healthy in quite a while.

Last weekend Piper had her first haircut. I am trying to grow both the girls hair but it is just taking so long? Isabella has only had 3 trims in her life and I only let my girlfriend take the smallest amount off, but it just won't grow??? As you can tell by the photo, Piper doesn't mind one bit.

Wow what a busy week we are about to have. It started today with us helping Lee celebrate his 1st birthday with a Tigger themed party which was loads of fun, and then heading home to tidy up as we had some friends pop over to do the "Present exchange" for the kids and a BBQ dinner. Mmmmmmm. Tomorrow I am working until 6pm :( which is a bit of a bummer as we have 2 Christmas parties to attend tomorrow night and poor Brett will be left to get everything organised so that when I get home we can just leave. We are then heading to Helen's place for lunch on Christmas Day, to my parent in-laws for a Christmas BBQ on Boxing Day, and then back to work for a rest on the Thursday. Gee I'm getting tired just thinking about all that eating, drinking and driving.

Well on that note, I would like to wish EVERYONE a very Merry Christmas and a safe and exciting New Year in 2008.

Lots of Love

Caroline xxx

My gingerbread house...

2007-12-15T18:12:00.000+11:00

Yay, it's finally complete! After having the box (yes I cheated and bought a DIY ready cooked, flat packed gingerbread house.) cluttering my kitchen and getting moved from one place to another for the past 2 weeks, I finally pulled my finger out and got creative. What do you think? A few years ago my mum made me a beautiful gingerbread house which came out for a few christmas's, but unfortunately it got eaten and no we didn't get to enjoy it but the mice did! It use to get wrapped up in a towel and placed up the top of Piper's bedroom cupboard until the summer of 2005-6 when we had an invasion of mice (we can only assume they were looking for water?) It took me a while to trigger that the smell of the gingerbread house probably attracted them in the first place, and by the time I remembered that it was up there in the cupboard it was too late. Over half the house had been eaten which would explain why the mice we did catch were so fat. I'm pretty proud of my efforts but now that I think about it, I should have taken a photo of the mess in my kitchen as I had royal icing stuck all over my kitchen bench, lollies everywhere and those little silver sugar beads all over the floor :) I do have one tip for those thinking of making a gingerbread house in the future. DO NOT attempt to make it on a hot day as the icing doesn't want to set and you have to stand there for at least 10mins holding it all together and then you still end up having the 2 roof pieces slide off. Lots of swearing and cursing believe me.

Here is a picture of Piper who obviously enjoyed her bowl of ice cream as she had to lick the bowl clean. Hmmmmm, don't know where she learnt that one from??? Oops :)

Well I should probably get going as it is 12.45am and no such thing as a sleep in.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.

Caroline xxx

my funny names...

2007-12-09T08:14:00.001+11:00

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)

- Scratchy Falcon (I sound like a bird with lice??? LOL)

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavour, favourite cookie)

- Caramello Tim Tam (Oooooo nasty!)

3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)

- C-Bay

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)

- Red Dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)

Jane Dandenong (gee that's a bit boring)

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)

- Bayca

7. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink)
- The Pink Moscato (how exotic...)

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)
- Lesley Richard (pretty normal)

9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy)
- Jasmine Twirl (mmmmmmm yum)

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names )
- Wendy Joseph (I could live with that)

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher's last name, a major city that starts with the same letter)
- Cook Canberra (Mmmmmm???)

12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL: (your favorite season/holiday, flower)
- Winter Rose (I like it.)

13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you're wearing right now + "ie" or "y")
- Banana Trackie

14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree)
- Jam Blossom (yeah man...)

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: ("The" + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + "Tour")
- The Sleeping Snow Tour (Gee that's sounds like fun. NOT?)