My Son The Cook

Spencer baked his first "real" cake the other day , not a packet cake, but from scratch!!! He was so excited and I was so proud of him! He did a really good job and everyone loved the end result....

Spen has been trying really hard with his behaviour and he has been very helpful and a lot happier the last few weeks. I am very proud of him. He has been a real handful the last couple of years, he has had a lot to deal with, moving from New Zealand, away from his family and friends, getting used to having to share his mum, first with David and then Samantha. He has been so used to mum all to himself. But as I said he has started to settle down now and seems a lot happier.

We had hard garbage over here about a month ago, that's when everyone gets to put all their old junk on the roadside and the council guys come and pick it all up to dispose of. It is a great idea and you can find some amazing things in amongst the rubbish. Everyone goes through everyone else's piles to see what they can find! It may sound gross to some people, but the stuff some people throw out is unbelievable!!! David came home with a chest of drawers in the car and all that was wrong with it was one of the drawer bottoms was broken! We fixed it and it looks good as new and we saved ourselves about $350, which is what it would cost to buy a new one!!! And don't they look great in our room....

It looks really good and has given us some very much needed storage.

It has been a quiet few weeks here which is lovely, no major issues or problems (for a change). I have just been plodding along doing little things in prep for our wedding. i made a little drawstring bag for all my make-up an hankie the other day and it turned out better than I expected...

It is made from satin I had left over from making a wrap and I have sewn a flower trim around the top and then single single flowers sprinkled around the bag. I love it!!!!

Our Little Fairy

Samantha has a new favourite thing... The Fairies!!!

She has a couple of dvd's of these girls, they have there own tv programme over here and she LOVES THEM!!!! I have to admit I love them as well LOL.

I have tried to add a little video of her dancing but I haven't been able to make it work so I will try again on a future post.

She loves them so much I decided to make her a fairy dress so she could dance around in it, but I got a bit carried away and ended up making 2 skirts and a dress....

I haven't got a photo of her in my favourite skirt, the one on the right in the above picture, but I will get soon. She is adorable in the dress below but has realised that I have sewn beads onto the bodice and tries to pull them off....


This blue skirt I bought so she could have something to wear while I made the other skirts, as I thought I would take a while, but I ended up making them in one morning..

The wings were bought for her by her Nana Ree, isn't she just adorable! She would watch the dvd's all day long if she had her way, she constantly (well nearly constantly) says "more fairies", but I keep it down to once or twice a day at the most, so that she doesn't get to sick of them. I am definitely planning for a fairy themed party for her 3rd birthday next year!!!

Mother's Day Picnic

Hi everybody. I am feeling much better today! We had a wonderful weekend, and I had the best Mother's Day I think I have ever had!!! Spencer and David started the day by making bacon and corn fritters, one of my childhood foods, and they were YUMMY!!!!! (so much so David wants them for his breakfast in bed for his birthday on Sunday!). Spen and Samantha gave me two necklaces and some bath bombs that I wanted, lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles, exactly what every mum wants and needs.

We headed to the Upper Yarra Dam Reserve for an early picnic lunch at around 11am. This place is one of my favourite places ever! It is so peaceful and serene...

We had a great lunch, carrot and cheese sticks with two dips, mini chocolate doughnuts with whipped cream, choc-dipped strawberries, strawberries and drinks. Simple but oh so YUMMY!!!

The kids ran around and a ball. I also got some lovely photos of everyone, I especially wanted some of me with the kids, as I am usually the one behind the camera, I don't have many of me with anyone so this was my chance...

I even got a nice photo of David and myself taken by my lovely son Spencer.....

A great time was had by all. We came home so that Samantha could have a nap before we headed out again to have an early dinner with David's mum and the other family members. We had pizza at a park down by the Yarra river (dumb me left camera at home!), and I even made amends with Angela!! I said I was sorry, even though I don't feel I have anything to apologize for, but I'm sick of the tension and the silent treatment, I mean we do have a wedding coming up! Any way Angela ended up in tears and said everything was forgotten, David is very relieved, and I feel a bit calmer! It was an amazing mother's day thanks to my gorgeous children and my wonderful partner David xxxx

Oh speaking of wedding, my brother Kelvin and my sister Diane in New Zealand have booked their flights over, yippee, makes it all seem more real now, and makes me feel a tad nervous, but excited!!! I tried my dress, shoes, and jewellery on just before, and Samantha came in and said "cute mummy" which really made my day, I nearly cried!

To finish off with I have to show you the handkerchief that Davids step-mother Maree made me for the wedding, it's gorgeous....

I haven't worked out how one carries a handkerchief as a bride but I will work something out I'm sure. My sister Diane came up with a brilliant idea to do with the "something blue" a bride has to wear, as I don't want to wear a garter (not on my fat leg), she suggested threading blue ribbon through the edging on the hankie, a great idea I thought! So I now have the something old, my dress, something new, my earrings and bracelet, something borrowed, the necklace and something blue.

Still Breathing.. Inhale...Ex-hale

Yes I am still here, taking deep breaths all day to get me through the days. Angela still not talking to me, yet I still found it in myself to be gracious and include my kids in a grandchild photo for her for mother's day tomorrow. I really wanted to say to Kim that "why should I when she isn't even talking to us", but if none of this had happened I would have thought it to be a lovely idea so I took (another) deep breath and said yes, they could even do at my house. This is the photo we ended up with....

From left to right we have Spencer and Samantha, Jessica (the golden one) and Skye. Jessica's mum and dad informed us the other day that they are expecting their 2nd child in December.

Having some serious issues with Spencer at the moment, ok if I'm honest we have had them since we moved here, and slightly milder before I moved over to Australia. He has never really shown me respect and that has gotten worse and now he argues with us, answers back to us, gets very angry indeed and has now started swearing at his teacher!! We have asked his dad if can help us sort him out, not that he can do much from NZ but he is Spen's idol and just knowing that his dad knows exactly what he is up to may curb some of the bad behaviour. It is getting to the point that we fight almost every day and I end up in tears at least once a week. The last couple of weeks have been really bad and I'm desperately fighting some serious depression!!! I don't want to get out of bed in the mornings and feel like I'm walking on tip toes waiting to break down at the slightest thing, not a nice feeling. But as I said I'm fighting it! I'm standing on the edge of the black hole, and hopefully can give it the finger and walk away from it soon. We have planned a picnic tomorrow for Mother's day, just me, David and the kids, Spen helped me prepare most of it this evening, we had a good time together.

I would love to share with you what we are having for picnic but I will wait until my next post so I can include photos as well.

To all mums out there, have a wonderful Mother's Day and love your kids with all your heart because who knows how long we have them for. And to my mum... I miss you so very much and I love you from the bottom of my heart xxx You have made me the person I am today and I thank you for everything you have done for me over the last 36 years.

Let It Snow

Well we had our first dump of snow for the year on the mountain behind us on Monday. We took the kids up for a quick play...

Snow Bunny Samantha

If you look hard you can just see Spen at the top of the tower.

We didn't stay for very long but the kids had a great time, but it was nice to get home to the wood fire and warmth!

David's dad and his partner have been staying with us for a couple of weeks, they are from Bunderberg in Queensland, so the cold weather was tough on them! It was great having them here, the kids love Grandad and Nanny Ree, and it was nice that we could all spend some time together.

And as Angela is still not talking to me and avoiding us, it was nice to have grandparents around for the kids. I have been missing my family so very much the last few weeks!!! I don't know what to do about Angela, and it is stressing me out! No one else seems to be worried it, but I am trying to plan a wedding and that is hard to do when some one as important as the groom's mum is being difficult! David says he doesn't care if she comes to wedding but it worries me and I don't want a wedding if she is going to be spiteful. What really gets me is everyone else in the family thinks the same way about how Angela treats the 3 grand daughters differently (favours Jessica over Sam and Skye), but I was the one who stood up and said something and now no one wants to back me up and say its nothing to do with them, yet they have nagged to me to say something, and moan to me when Angela does it! it really pisses me off!!! Kim and Daniel won't say anything because they have a babysitter when ever they want one and its their daughter who is the "favourite"! Andrew and Ashley ( Skye's parents) won't say anything because they have only just moved down from Queensland and need to borrow money off Angela. It all just makes me so bloody frustrated I want to tell them all to fuck off, but I won't because they are David's family after all. I guess I will just suffer in silence and see what happens.

I will finish on a happy note. I found this hat the other day and had to buy it, it was to cute not to get....

I love it and Samantha looks so damn cute in it!!

Our Baby Girl Turns 2!!!!

Well our baby girl turned last week, how old do I feel!!! We had lunch at our place with David's family. Samantha got all dressed up...

She got very spoilt from everyone. A blackboard/easel, outdoor table and chairs, books, hair clips, play dough, clothes, flowers, bath toys and even $70!!! Her big brother gave her a little toy dog and a cat as well, she loves them, and her dad and I got her a little bracelet, seems she had already got the duvet and wardrobe (see previous blog entry).

It was a good day for our little girl, well not so little girl any more is she! She even managed to blow out one of her candles on her cake all by herself...

A good day was had by all.

We also have good news about Samantha's weight, she has gained a whole kilo in the last four weeks, she is now 10kg! I was very relieved and nearly did a little dance when I read the scales!! Hopefully she will keep putting on weight.

Now for the bad news, I have now alienated the mother-in-law to be!! I went around the other day to have a chat with her about a few issues I have, trust me you don't want me to go into detail, that I have had for a while and it is making stressed and ill. When ever I'm around her now I clam up and fell sick. Well I had a calm discussion with her and lets just say it did not go down well! She is now not talking to me and I think I feel even worse about everything now! It is getting to the point where I am thinking about calling off the wedding. I guess we'll see how things pan out.

Birthday Girl

Our little girl turns 2 on the 15th!!! Where has the time gone??? It just seems like yesterday I was in the hospital having her! Any way David and I went shopping for her present yesterday, we wanted to get her a doona (duvet) for her her bed and a cover for it, and this is what we decided on...

Its not very clear but it has flowers and butterflies and little girls skipping, it is so cute, I love it!

Samantha saw it and kept saying "flowers", I think she likes it

We also finally got her a wardrobe, hers is the only bedroom that didn't have a built in one so we have been looking for one that I like (yes I'm fussy), and we finally found one at a garage sale on the weekend...

It had hideous pine handles on it that I took off and replaced with brass pull handles, much nicer. It has a few scratches and marks on it but it's pointless sanding it and making it perfect when Samantha and her cousins are just going to ride things into it and make more scratches, so I'll wait until she's a bit older then sand and varnish it. And it matches her bed perfectly, which I didn't even think about when we we bought it! Oh yeah the best thing is it only cost $10!!!!!

Having a get together at our place on Sunday for her birthday so will let you know how that goes.