Weekend over already?!

3 word Sunday...
My wonderful relaxing weekend is over already?!! We had some very good friend's over for tea last night. And Mr Ts sister over this arvo... so it feels like I didn't really have a weekend at all?!! Back to work tomorrow... joy.

I'm still searching for my next car. I think I've settled on the Hon.da Ody.ssey. Every one I've enquired about, has already been sold... must be good cars, right?! I've had enquiries on my car, so hopefully that'll be gone in the next week or so. I'm starting to think, I may as well wait til we're back from China before buying another one.

Did I mention, there's just 22 days til we leave, for China?!! I'm pretty sure, I'm all booked now. I ended up booking tours, train and plane tickets and airport transfers, all online. I'd like to think, I'm a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl... but I'm not!!! I like to be organised, and booked. I hope they all turn up when they're sposed too!!! I got all worried about a week ago, that we'd be stranded at airports and no-one would speak english, and we'd never get to our hotel etc!!!

Our passports are being "visa'ed" as we speak. Should have them back this week. Then we're all good to go! Yikes!!! 22 days!!! H-man still hasn't quite "got" that we're not bringing home his sister. It'll be interesting while we're there, whether he befriends any little girls and convinces them to come home with him?!! It's funny when I mention to people we're going to China in 3 weeks; I can see them all thinking "for the baby?", I jump in real quick with "no, not for our child... just a holiday"!!! Trust me... EVERYONE will know, when we finally see our daughter's (son's?!!) face!!!

Happy Sunday All!

Amazing Zoei?!

I saw this on Fliss' blog and just had to share - OH MY GOODNESS! How cute is this little girl?!! And she remembers all the words - to all 3 verses!!! I don't even know if I could do that?!!!

Easter 2008

A great time was had by all ~ although I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked! I didn't take one of our trailer/tent. It was fantastic! It all packs up into a 4x4 trailer, and you open it up, and pull out and enormous tent with 2 double beds, that end up being on top of the trailer! You can visit the trailer company's site here. A big thank you to my brother, for lending it to us for the weekend! Poor thing had to clean it all up, after we left, because it poured with rain the last night, and we had to pack it up, muddy and wet! Sorry D!

The kids went swimming at Queenscliffe, and H-man nearly drowned! We can laugh about it now, because he certainly didn't think he was drowning; and when one of my brother's friends, dived in to save him, he calmly asked "Who are you?"!!! 10 points H-man for remembering stranger danger!!! He wasn't actually drowning, but was very quickly heading out past his depth, in a part of the beach, well known for "rips".

Since being home, I've been flat-chat! We got home early Tues evening, after sitting in the car for 8 looooong hours. Wednesday, we hit the ground running! Up early for basketball practice, then straight into the Uniform Shop at school. Processed and paid our employees wages. Back to pick kids up and straight off to a Basketball game. Finished off pays that evening. Thursday, bounced out of bed, and off on excursion with 18 Grade Ones. Joy. We visited the Airport for a 90 min tour (which was very informative... but failed to hold 5 & 6 year olds interest for longer than 90 seconds!!!) The kids just wanted to see the planes! We were very lucky and had a pilot and co-pilot, who'd just landed, come and talk with us. Back on the bus, and off to the railway museum. Once again, very interesting... but the kids just wanted to jump in and out of all the trains! (not moving trains! they have all the old models in big garages). 40 min bus trip back to school... and I was ready for a triple scotch!!! As soon as we got back to school, I had to go into the uniform shop again, all the Mum's are in a mad panic to get Winter Uniforms. And today, Friday, I drove about 40 mins away, to catch up with a couple of friends, one of which has an oh-so-cute 4 month old baby, named Ruby! I love the name, but am glad we've changed our mind again!!! (yes, our Mini was Ruby for a little while!!!) Drove 40 mins back to school... back in the uniform shop again, this time unpacking stock. Grocery shopping on the way home from school, (yes... with the kids... joy.) That's my week in a nutshell... and it was only 3 days!!!

Ahhhh.... am sooooo looking forward to a sleep in tomorrow!

*EDIT: "flat-chat" is slang for flat-out, crazy busy, can't stop, etc.*... sorry!

I'm baaaaack!

We travelled in excess of 1500kms (932 miles), used more than 400 litres of fuel (=$596+...due to the ridiculous Easter fuel price hikes!) and got to see lots of rellies! And because Murphy and his law, are a thorn in my side, a city that hasn't seen rain for months... was rained upon, our last night there - just to make it really easy (*note: huge amounts of sarcasm here*) to pack up the tent!!!


We had a great time interstate ~ and I'm always amazed at how, sitting on your bum, travelling for hours on end, can leave you exhausted, when you get home!!! The kids started the "are we there yet" about 5 hours from home!!! We broke the news to them, that when we go to China (only 3 more weeks!!!) it'll be about 13 hours in the plane!!! They looked less than thrilled!!!


I still haven't come across my camera (not that I took heaps of photos, anyway) - but when I do, I'll post a few pics! Hope everyone had a fantastic Easter, gobbling up lots of chocolate!

**EDIT: Sorry... "rellies" are relatives!**

25

months logged in.

I'm a wee bit early, but I know I'm going to be flat-chat the next few days, and didn't want to miss, our 1/4 century! I was going to do a $20 note & $5 note, but as usual, I have way more receipts than money, in my purse!!! Hasn't this last month FLOWN! WooHoo!

We have a 4 day long weekend for Easter, but we're making ours a 5 day long weekend! Looking forward to some relaxation, family fun and... CHOCOLATE!!!

Have a very happy and safe Easter!

And if you didn't know, Jesus Christ died so you can be free. Take a minute to reflect on Christ's sacrifice for you... it will change your life, and certainly your eternal life.

Birthday Fun!

Holy Cow! What a jam-packed weekend! I WAS totally spoilt - and thank you so much for all your well-wishes!

Sunday saw us up early, to go to an early Church Service, to see our friend's "miracle baby" (they were told they'd never be able to concieve children!), Amelie, dedicated (like a "naming service"). Back to their place for a quick drink & bite to eat. Then off to the Hil.ton Adelaide, to check in, and let the kids swim in the Hil.ton pool! We dropped the kids back home, where our folks were going to babysit, and we were off to Gold Class Movies, with 2 other couples! I wish I could've taken a photo of the "Double Icecream Sundae" that we ordered, but it was dark in the cinema! It was enormous - we reckon it had close to 2 litres of icecream in it!!! We saw "Run Fat Boy Run" which had some hilarious moments in it - I had tears pouring down my face at one stage!!! It was my kind of humour... immature humour! It also had the nice "feel good" story line. After the movie, we all went out for dinner - not that we were very hungry after gourging ourselves with the huge icecream! We said goodbye to our friends, and cruised, with the windows down, and the music thumping - back to the Hil.ton Hotel. I hardly got any sleep.... the pillows were crunchy (among other things!). We had a yummy buffet breakfast, the next morning... and then my birthday was officially over. Went home to do washing, ironing, cleaning up and cooking!!!

I got great pressies, but the thing I loved the most, was I spent my day with the people that matter the most. (besides, a few family member that I didn't get to see... of course!) My kids gave me a variety of things, they dug up from under their beds! I got a CD holder for the car (from Miss M's showbag last year), she made a big poster for me, and a teddy bear made out of harma beads. H-man made me a bookmark. I also got chocolate, a Bea.nie kids lanyard, a pen (from our company!) and a bali watch, that was too big for Miss M!!! My wonderful friends gave me - the biggest chocolate frog I've ever seen, a China Story on DVD, an organic bath soap and my other friends gave me a Wil.low Tree firgurine called "With Affection - I love our friendship"... awww! My in-laws bought me a ginormous bottle of perfume. And my spunky husband gave me a wonderful day, and 2 great CDs!

I am so blessed.

3 word Sunday

I was going to say "Its all about me"... but that was 4 words!!!

Week of Wilderness & Water!

Yes... it's still stinking hot! So we've been hanging out at local "waterholes", in an effort to keep cool ~ and have loads of fun!

First few pics are from a local Swim Centre, with a waterslide.

Next few are at a friend's pool.

Then we're on excursion with Miss M's class, to Warrawong Sanctuary. The kids got to hold a few lizards, pat a possum and snake (ewww!) and we went for a 1 hour walk through the huge native park... in the 40 degreeC heat (104F)!!! Nice. And I was very lucky and got to carry an 11 year old girl up an enormous hill, because she was on crutches, got down the bottom, but couldn't get back up. Lucky me.

The beach pics were taken last night. It was still about 36 degreesC (96F) after dinner, so we took the kids and Chewy to the beach for an hour. It was absolutely beautiful. The water was lovely. The temperature was just perfect. All up, we all had a splendid time!

There is no end in sight, from this heat wave. It's the longest heat wave, for this time of year, ever recorded. It hasn't dropped under 36 degreesC (96F) for 2 weeks (except at night!) ~ most days have been around 38+ (101F)!!!

Are you up for a laugh?

I received these little "children speak" funnies, in an email today - FAROUT! They cracked me up - so thought I'd share the love:

KIDS IN CHURCH
3-year-old Reese : 'Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen.' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little boy was overheard praying: 'Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am.' ~ possibly from the mouth of my own 6 yr old son!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, 'That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One particular four-year-old prayed, 'And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they were on the way to church service, 'And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?' One bright little girl replied, 'Because people are sleeping.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. 'If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.' Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, ' Ryan , you be Jesus !' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. 'Daddy, what happened to him?' the son asked. 'He died and went to Heaven,' the Dad replied. The boy thought a moment and then said, 'Did God throw him back down?' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, 'Would you like to say the blessing?' 'I wouldn't know what to say,' the girl replied. 'Just say what you hear Mommy say,' the wife answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, 'Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Been busy on long weekend & school excursion... photos coming... when I stop being so busy!**

3 Word Sunday

Here are my 3 words for the week =

Yeah, sorry, it's pretty much the same as the last post, but it's pretty much what my entire week has revolved around!!! Thanks for all your words of sympathy, my wonderful frozen American and Canadian "friends"!!!

I went out the back, faced the camera up to the sky and pushed the button... I had no idea if the sun even got into the shot, as I had my eyes closed! When my eyes had recovered from the glare, I saw the sun was in the shot, along with a phantom purple thing! Any guesses as to what the purple thing may be?!!! (of course, ridiculous answers are the best... but if you have a scientifically proven answer, that would be acceptable too.)

HOT Stuff!

Phew! Its been stinkin' hot here for the past week, and no relief in sight for at least another week. Most days it's been hovering around 38C (100F) and creeping up to 40C+ (104F) next week.

It's a long weekend here, so Sunday & Monday, we're going to places that have a swimming pool! Today, we're going to a friend's place for a bar-be-que, and will be packing the water pistols! I don't mind the hot weather... as long as I have air conditioning!!! We should make the most of it. Now that Autumn is here, it will start to get chilly :(

Ooo! I've got itchy "steering wheel" palms again. Translates to = it's time to get a different car!!! I do looove my Subaru, but when it comes to ferrying children around (including several that don't belong to me!) the car is all a bit small. So... I'm looking for a 7 seater. It's a toss up between these two:

The Hon.da Odys.sey and the Hol.den Cap.tiva Both around the same money. The Odys.sey is more of a people mover and the Cap.tiva, more of a 4wd (or SVU). I'm leaning toward the Odys.sey, because there is more leg room in the rear seats and has a bigger cargo area ~ and gets better fuel economy. Where as the Cap.tiva the back seats fold into the floor (handy if you need the extra cargo space) but when the seats are out, the seats are at the floor level ~ meaning if you have long legs, your knees will be up around your ears!!! And when the back seats are out, there is next to no cargo space. You might get 3 shopping bags in there?!! I'll need to put in a pram, about 30 shopping bags and 2 large school bags.... Maybe I should just invest in a trailer?!! I'm not in a hurry to buy, I'll just keep perusing the market, til I find the right one!

China Nerves...

This News Report has got us a little concerned about our up and coming trip!

On a friendlier note: I caught up with a fellow adopting Mum today, who is not only a wealth of information & BTDT ~ she's one of the most creative people I've ever met! Far out, the quilts, the scrapbooks, the bows and other clothes!!! Absolutely amazing. AND I've met another Mum who is just as passionate about shopping as me!!! Who ever thought, that would happen?!! It was quite funny, going through the Gymb.oree purchases... we nearly have all the same gear!!!

So a BIG THANK YOU! (I know you're reading hehehe!!!) I so appreciated you sharing with me, today. I hope your wait-time passes quickly!!!

I can't believe we are under 50 Logged In days now! I do have tingles of anticipation ~ and I know we still have a while to wait yet! I'm just SO happy CC.AA are finally allocating 2006 files!

Achievement

Here is the long awaited video. I worked out why it wasn't downloading. I've filmed for 2 mins and 14 seconds... apparently 14 seconds too long! I couldn't work out how to edit the video, so I just filmed it off my laptop! Hence the horrible picture quality and sound. But I wanted to share H-Man's achievement, which I think is great, even in a grainy dodgey film!!!

Yes, H-man is 6 and only just learning to ride a 2 wheeler. We've tried and tried to get him to have a go, but he falls off, then won't get back on! FINALLY he did it! Yay!!!!

3 words

I did have a great little video for you, but bl0gga doesn't want to upload it, and dr0p.shots says I haven't got any videos - after I've uploaded it twice?!! So... hopefully that'll be showing later.

So, all I have to offer is my 3 little words, for the week.

And this photo doesn't even show the 3 garbage bags, stuffed full of gorgeous, cutsie girlie clothes, on the top shelf!!!

Cracked it!

WOO HOO!

Looks like CC.AA have finally CRACKED 2006!

The cut-off is rumoured to be either the 4th or 5th of January 2006.

As we don't have the "box" to check anymore... I guess we'll just have to believe the rumours?!!

The 4th means the CC.AA got through 6 days worth of files ~ that is beyond my expectation! I thought with Chinese New Year, consuming a good part of this month, that we'd only see 2 or 3 days allocated! People logged in on or before 4th Jan should be seeing their sweet baby's faces next week! (*disclaimer: of course... this is just rumour?!)

We're in 2006, Baby!

49 more days til our LID.