Having a rest

Well this weekend we are having a rest, after an eventful few weeks. The girls are not feeling 100% today, they are tired from a week of late night dance practices, and two concert performances, which didn't finish until 11:00pm both nights. They went to bed last night with snuffed up noses and headaches, the poor things! I really loved seeing them dance, but sometimes I think the practice leading up to the performances is a little over the top for little kidlets. Looking forward to cooking them a nice nutritious meal tonight, after they have lived on carrot sticks, plain bread rolls, fruit and snacks for the last week!

So what have we been doing for the last month -

- a 40th birthday, or school friend's wife, Janene just turned 40. One of her friends got a very special cake made (the girls didn't know what to think about this one! The expression on Eliza's face is priceless!). It was a lovely evening - Eliza spent almost all the time in their swimming pool and looked like a prune afterwards.



- Crazy hair day at school



- A weekend at Wyangalla Dam watering skiing for Julie's birthday, we made her a special dragonfly birthday cake. Dave got up on a knee board, the girls enjoyed playing with all the other kids and paddling around the lake, and Eliza especially liked going out on the tube. They also loved hanging out and zooming around in the Speedboat. We hired a cabin there for the night as well. Fantastic weekend!






- Robert's birthday - a friend of the family who is also my sister Hellie's Godfather.



- Visits to friends places for dinner and afternoon teas. Eliza had to help make cupcakes of course - her favourite bit is licking out the bowl of course!



- Jazz has been hard at work painting three paintings for school for a project, where she could pick to do anything that she liked. As she wants to go to Paris one day - she painted 3 paintings of the Eiffel Tower at different times of day. I've told her that I am having all three paintings - here are two of them:





- The girls decorated the house and the Christmas Tree on the 1st of December. It's great - I just drag the box with the tree in it, and the box of ornaments and they construct and decorate the tree - I just sit back and relax (and take a couple of snaps!). I also got out the advent calendar I made 2 years ago, and filled it with lollies, which the girls have been enjoying every day since.





- Kieran's 18th birthday party in Sydney. We have had the pleasure of seeing Kieran grow from a little baby to the young man he is today. Only seems like yesterday that he was a little boy - now look at him - has just completed his HSC and has a lovely quirky girlfriend. Joshua also has a girl friend - amazing how much these boys have grown!





- I needed new glasses and finally went to the Optomitrist to get some, Eliza had her regular appointment with the eye doctor (still doesn't need glasses Thank Goodness), Eliza also had an MRI to check to see if they could find anything in her inner ear or brain which causes the high frequency hearing loss. They all came back clear, which the specialist tells me is indicative of a congenital hearing loss, and it should be stable (so won't get worse with time). We have another appointment with Hearing Australia next week, to get her fitted with a permanent FM system for the class room, so that she doesn't have to borrow one.

- Dave has been back and forth to the doctors and pathologists for testing, turns out he has diabetes. He has to loose weight, change his diet (which basically just means cutting out the high sugar foods), and exercising. He shouldn't need medication until later in life, and has done really well loosing 6kg in the first 2 weeks after he found out he had diabetes (nothing like a good kick in the pants by the doctor). On the plus side he had perfect cholesterol!

- Have only managed a little scrapbooking over the last month or so - I think I just needed a little break to get my mojo back! Here are a couple of my layouts:






- Have managed to read lots of books still, I'm now up to the sixth book of the Saga of the Seven Suns. Well worth reading if you like Sci-Fi Sagas. Have read a few more Anita Blake books - I think I need a break from these, feel like they are getting a little same-same. Read "Forever" the last book of The Wolves of Mercy Falls, also a couple of Jasper Fforde books. I am reading the latest Vampire Academy book, and also "Dead or Alive" by Tom Clancy. Have read 63 books now for the year, will probably get to 65 by the end of the year. So many books, not enough time to read them in.

Well it's time for bed now - has taken all day to post the pictures into the post, may have to start compressing before I upload! Goodnight all...