Perth at night

Darian has been here in Australia for almost 9 years and hasn't seen our beautiful city at night, so while his parents are here I said It was on the list of things we must do...

We first went to the South Perth foreshore and looked back over to the city...we didn't have a tripod for the camera so the photos aren't flash but its still pretty....

and then we headed up to kings park for a different angle...it was quite late, about 9pm and there were heaps of people out sight seeing...

we didn't get any photos of the city but this one of the war memorial did turn out....

More Family Photos

Time is going quick and the weather has been very nice for us, we decided to make the most of the sunshine and have a bbq and some more family photos

 

 

 

Joel's new haircut.....

I got out the hair clippers as Matthew needed a hair cut...it only takes a few minutes to run the clippers over and its heaps cheaper than the $25 a hair dresser charges.

Darian was moaning that Joel was looking a little fluffy around the ears and to cut it...I didn't want to lose the curls.

So I took a deep breath and started...

Before his hair cut...I didn't think it looked that bad, apart from the runny nose and dirty bib..

clippers at the ready...

Mum what are you doing????

How about a Mohawk mum?

All done....

Now just to get used to it....

Photos of the kids

I keep forgetting to take photos of the kids together so today after taking these cute photos of Joel....poor baby has a cold I got the 5 kids together and took some happy snaps..

 

no he is still not crawling, however he is getting up on his hands and knees now and rocking..

Mum I'm sick

But I can still give you a gorgeous smile

Megan and Joel

 

 

All the kids

 

By golly they are all smiling...

A Saturday Potjie

The weather here in Perth has been perfect...mid to late 20s during the day and low teens at night. We are taking advantage of this perfect weather by spending lots of time out side and using the BBQ. Today we are making  a beef potjie...

Nana and Gompa enjoying the afternoon

The potjie pot on the BBQ

Nana and Joel

The end result.....yummy even the kids thought so....

Joel's 1st Birthday Party

Today Darian's parents arrived from South Africa, so this afternoon we are having a few friends over for a BBQ to celebrate both Darian's and Joel Birthday..

It was a great night that ended in the wee small hours...

Birthday boy

opening pressies with aunty Jo

Joels cake...mummy made it..

Birthday boys

singing happy birthday

yummy cake...

My baby is ONE....

Joel turned one today...where has the time gone????

Unfortunately he is feeling a little under the weather with a fever and just feeling blah.

Darian bought Megan over after work so she could say happy birthday, she stayed for dinner and he took her back home.

we didn't have cake or anything, we are however going to have a small BBQ come cake, presents thing on Sunday afternoon...

I had him weighed and his length taken

So at 12 months he is 76 cm long and weighs 8.7 kg

the nurse also took a print of his feet for mothers day and they turned out really nice

To the park again....

School holidays are almost over, they have gone to quick. The weather has been kind to us and today we went to the park again. Jacquie and the kids met us there and we had a picnic, play and cake. The kids fed the birds, played heaps and even caught some frogs. They had a lovely day apart from an incident with a child that Talia is having problems at school with...but I wont go into it.

Here are some great photos from today

 

Ashley and Joel on the see saw...

Joel playing with the grass and blanket

A happy Talia before trouble came

Eloise not really wanting her photo taken...but tough

Matthew going down the slide, he is even strong enough to climb back up

Ashley and Matthew feeding the birds.

It was such a nice afternoon which ended quickly. We went home and the father of the child who caused problems at the park came to my door  and started to become quite aggressive...Lets say if he steps on my property again, the police will be rung...I will not put up with bullies....children or adults.

At the park

Eloise had her cast taken off this morning and apart from the arm looking thin and white all is good, once the muscle goes back to normal and she grows a bit it will look normal again. While we were there I had my flu shot and I also got Matthew done as well, he needs to go back in a month to have another.

Talia had to walk out of the room as she couldn't bare to watch...I spoke  to the doctor about Joel and it looks like he cant have the flu vaccine as he had a reaction to egg white, I made a pav the other night and gave him some, he came out with red dots around his eyes and mouth, I gave him some more the next morning  to see if it was the pav and it happened again.

So after the doctor I took the kids to the park to run off some energy, we are supposed to have thunderstorms tonight and rain...

We badly need some rain.....

Once we left the park we went and got Eloise's hair cut. It needed a good wash and trim.

...she looks cute

Daddy and Joel

here are some photos of daddy and Joel

The kids in April

I try and take a photo of the kids every month. Sometimes I can remember and other times the month goes by quickly and I forget...

I made a conscious effort today to take photos of the kids

 

So here is Talia

Eloise

and Matthew

My goodness you can half tell they are related...LOL

I have some of Joel that I have to blog and I also need to get some of Megan....

My head is spinning and I am sick to the stomach......

and it is still well over a year and a half away....I am talking about High School.

Talia is only in year 6 so she still has this year and next before going into high school. I never really thought about it before, yeah sure it was in the back of my mind but I didn't have to sit down and really think about it.

I am not scared about her growing up or any of that is bigger...which school to put her in.

It wouldn't be  a problem if we had a good public high school near us to put her in

Its the good ol public v's private debate.....I never really planned for my kids to go to private school, the public schools here are pretty good...depending on where you live and the catchment areas...

We moved out of our old suburb as I didn't want Talia going to Clarkson High which is the only High school north of Ocean Reef and South of Butler.....so we moved and the Public High School here is Wanneroo.....over crowded, under resourced and just plain bad news....There are plans of building another Public High School near us in the next suburb but that's not due to open for year 8 until 2013....Fine for Eloise but not for Talia...so the only other option is private which is what everyone else is doing...St Stephens has a wait list and year 8 is full for 2011... and we are talking $5500 a year just for fees....

The other option is Lake Joondalup Baptist.....fees aren't much cheaper at $4800 a year and letters are going out now for placement for 2011....

Realistically this is way out of our budget....

There is also Quinns Baptist College and they are charging $3800

or Peter Moynes Anglican School and they charge $4200

So I really don't know what we are going to do...I feel sick and I am constantly worrying about it.

Do we just send her to Wanneroo and hope for the best.....

Big Boy Bath

I have been bathing Joel on his own in the big bath but it was doing my back in leaning over. Now that he is sitting up on his own the girls can now bath with him.....I can stay and supervise but I don't have to bend over all the time...

He loves being in the bath with Talia, Eloise isn't strong enough to hold him plus she has her cast on...

Here are some photos from tonight

Fun 8 things Meme

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. Darian's  parents coming to visit in 3 weeks
2. Getting my house decluttered - I live in hope!
3. Taking Joel to South Africa to meet his family there
4. Seeing my kids growing up before my eyes, they are extraordinary
5. Finishing a crochet blanket I started for Matthew 4 years ago
6. Sitting down and scrapping
7. Getting out into the garden
8. Growing old and happy with my hubby

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Started to read Twilight again after seeing the movie....trying to decide which is better

2. Watching the one day game between Australia and South Africa then allowing Darian to gloat cause South Africa won

3. Caught up with my blog reading and did a couple of entries

4. Played on face book for way too long

5. read the sat paper for the first time in months

6. did 5 loads of washing, folded and put away

7. Had a bath......me time

8. Watched the biggest loser elimination......not happy Jan

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. keep my house uncluttered with stuff
2. take Darian on a trip to all my favourite places in Australia
3. Fly / Drive holiday of New Zealand with Darian
4. read more books
5. Buy our own house
6. stop eating chocolate
7. keep up with the house work.....
8. Sit down and have a conversation with Matthew and find out what he is thinking...I know this is a few years away but he is improving

8 Shows I Watch:

Well I watch too much and I know it is brain dead stuff but here goes

1. The biggest loser....as long as Sam or Cameron don't win
2. Criminal Minds
3. Dexter - waiting for series 3.....
4. Lie to me
5. CSI and CSI Miami
6. One day cricket.....
7. Life on Mars
8. The Mentalist

8 People I Tag:

I don't know 8 people in blog world so feel free to consider yourself tagged and just pop a note in the comments .

Happy Easter

We had a few friends over for a BBQ last night and the kids didn't get to bed until quite late so I was hoping that they would have a bit of a sleep in...ha ha ha

Joel was up at 6 am and the rest of the kids came in at 7 saying that the Easter bunny had bought them each an egg....the 3 little ones got a Humpty Dumpty egg and Talia got an elegant rabbit as she wrote a note to the Easter bunny saying that she does not like smarties and could she please have something else....

Joel got a large green egg

Later in the morning the kids had a egg hunt, Matthew thought it was the funniest thing..he kept giggling every time he found an egg...

Then this afternoon while the kids we playing out side and we were enjoying the afternoon Miss and Al made a surprise visit with more eggs....

Everyone had an early night.

Joel 11 months

Here are some photos of Joel at 11 months

He is sooooo cute, still not crawling yet but is such a character.

He loves watching the kids play, here he was watching his brother and sisters in the jumping castle