since my last post:

~ I went on my personal retreat and it was AWESOME! Would love to plan to have one every year.


~ Malakai turned 4 :) He had some cool little friends over and enjoyed his 'Lightning McQueen' party so much he didn't get over it for days! I sewed my first banner out of some Cars fabric and it's now hanging in his room.

~ Ariella toilet trained herself (pretty much). It started the day after Malakai turned 4. And that's that. My last baby toilet trained. I'm excited and kinda sad at the same time (but not THAT sad!!)

~ We played tag team with another bug. It's been a rotten year for all of us catching things :( totally over it

~ Josh's class had their assembly at school. SO PROUD of him :) love smiling and winking at him and making heart shape signs with our hands when he's supposed to be paying attention to his teacher ;) and taking a million photos

~ We celebrated Father's Day - Aaron is such a totally awesome daddy :)

~ Aaron and I celebrated 9 years of marriage!! God is so good :)

~ To celebrate our wedding anniversary and Aaron's birthday ;) we went on a short holiday to the coast between my work days. On one particular morning, we were all on the beach and the weather was PERFECT! the sun was shining and there was no wind...we were building sandcastles and throwing the frisbee around and we were having the best time...it's one of those memories you want to bottle and never EVER forget.

~ I've had a cyst on my right thumb for several months now, the dr wasn't too concerned about it as long as it didn't change. Unfortunately last friday morning 23rd Sept it did change :( it got infected and PAINFUL and swollen :( it's a lot better now, and the unbelievable pain has gone (so grateful for THAT) so now we'll have to see about whether it needs to be removed. Interesting.

~ Mum and I took the kids to the Colin Buchanan concert on saturday (I was dosed up on painkillers and paranoid about people bumping my thumb but it was fine). We had such a good time. I love *most* of his songs and this concert was hilarious.

~ I started the Maximise Your Mornings challenge. Basically, from Sept 15 to Dec 15 you commit to getting up to spend time with God before the day. I've done this for a while now, but never as consistently as I'd like. So I joined the challenge to see if I could push myself just a little further.

So far it's going ok, despite being interrupted by holidays and infected thumbs!! Having a group to sign into each day for accountability is such a blessing and encouragement - makes more of a difference than I could have imagined :)

So now we are looking forward to my birthday (YAY! Love my birthday lol!), Josh's birthday (7!!!), Aaron having a couple of weeks off at the same time as me (which equals lots of things getting done around the house I hope!) and many other things I'm sure.

busy September...Part 1

overnight trip to the coast. absolutely best spontaneous decision ever!

finally found a bookcase I like for the lounge room. it's taking me a long time to figure out what I'm going to put in it...it's got some scrapbook albums and other books in it now

practising braiding Ariella's hair. I find it so hard to do her hair because I'm really unco with the curls!

Ariella raiding my stash of dark chocolate in my bedside drawers. She did it so much that I had to move it back to the pantry

Aaron's birthday :) everyone's been practising saying CHEESE (it's really obvious in this photo) as I continue (in vain) to try and get a good pic of the kids together

lately...

• Josh seems to have just clicked with reading! SO exciting!

• Malakai adjusted to sunday school better than I anticipated - YAY! He seems to really enjoy it...not that he says all that much about it lol.

• I went to our national women's retreat with Mickey Mangun from the POA as the main speaker. I was looking forward to this retreat in a similar way to the previous national retreat, and I wasn't disappointed AT ALL. Praise God, by His mercy I was changed that weekend, and I hope to never be the same again (in a good way lol!)

• While I was away, Aaron did the most FANTASTIC job with the kids. They didn't even miss me :( here he is doing devotions with them, using The Message devotional bible for kids...they drive us nuts with searching for 'manty' the praying mantis throughout this book but it's a lot of fun :) this is what they were doing when I arrived home monday night after shopping in Bowral on the way home ;) nice!

• We've been getting more formal about 'chores' around here too. Josh is a great helper, and often gets upset if I don't let him help. He makes his bed by himself every morning and does such a great job! He also keeps his room really neat and tidy. But other than that, it's been a kind of 'help when mummy asks' thing more than consistent chores. But now that Malakai's 3 (he loves to help too - gets a little obsessive lol!) I'm thinking of using a system. While I figure out which one will work for me (a chart WILL NOT work for me cause I'm hopeless at updating them) they've started with emptying the dishwasher, dustbusting the kitchen floor, feeding the cat, putting the rubbish out...and I'm thinking of more!!

• Aaron went to Bundaberg for our AYM weekend this year (the weekend straight after I was away, which also happened to be Father's Day) and he had an awesome time. I really wish we all could have gone, but it's such a long way :( He took some extra time off work when he got back and we had a mini holiday...and it was SUPER FANTASTICLY AWESOME :)

father's day

I was just listening to Aaron and the boys playing cricket outside. Malakai was given a cricket set for his birthday and we've all been playing a lot of cricket ever since (yep, even me!).

Listening to them all playing outside made me think of the wonderful blessing a father can be. I really can't explain how grateful I am for Aaron. He's such a good father. He understands the importance of training our children to obey, and is consistent and diligent in bringing them to that standard. He loves them so much, and tells them that every day. He makes up cool stories for Josh at bedtime, sings and dances with Malakai, kisses Princess Ella and much, much more.


God truly has blessed me beyond my wildest imagination. According to statistics I shouldn't have married someone like Aaron. But statistics don't matter to God. He intervened in my life and made ALL the difference.

I have two happy memories of my father. One is when I was very little and joined him while he was gardening one day, he was impressed that I pulled out a weed instead of a plant. Another time I was up a tree with my brother and cousin and we were lighting matches (!) the tree caught on fire and the other 2 just jumped out of the tree. I couldn't get down and I looked out to see my dad running toward the tree to rescue me.

I hold on to those 2 memories and thank God for them.

But more important to me now is the legacy that Aaron is building into our children.


God is good.

photo day

She's done it again :) Lisa took some pics of the kids and despite the fact that they weren't all that cooperative, she got this very special one of Ella :) thanks heaps Lisa!

I'm knitting again...finished the beanie and now started a cardigan (it's pink and GREEN Heather!). I love it. I love that I picked it up and could do it especially after feeling so demoralised over not being able to crochet...

After I finished doing my hair this morning, Josh tells me it looks like grass. When I started to look sad, he attempts to make me feel better by saying that it looks nice too. He's such a sweetheart :)

Ella has learned that if you cover your fist in drool and squeeze, it makes a cool squelching sound. mmm...yummo.

Aaron is working on our chook pen. I LOVE the idea of having our own eggs, and being able to do some environmentally friendly stuff like feeding them our scraps. But I've moved FAR FAR away from my farming roots and just don't warm to the idea of cleaning out the pen or actually having to possibly touch the chickens. So we'll see how it all goes ;)

Malakai is obsessed with sitting on the toilet or potty. Doesn't do anything while on there, just loves to be like the rest of us (at least in appearance!)

It's nice watching more of my friends turn 30. I have to say that I'm really enjoying it so far!

hi there :)

in the last 10 days or so i've:

• changed a truckload of nappies and
  
• wiped up lots of drool
• started Ella on the bottle for the 10am and 2pm feeds - and I didn't cry
  
• travelled to sydney and back for our national youth camp - it was great and Aaron was such a darling for looking after the boys and letting me go and have some uninterrupted worship time
• thanked God for the countless blessings He gives me - especially the gift of my wonderful husband who spent the time i was away putting together an awesome powerpoint about our family
• had a wonderful lunch with some old school friends who had baby girls within 6 weeks of Ella
• ordered our new heater
• not blogged ;)
• looked at cross trainers and
• been to 2 pilates classes...was hoping to spend another term at level 1 but my instructor said no (it's starting to feel a bit like hard work)
• not scrapped :(
• felt so busy and want to make more of an effort to 'de-clutter' my days. starting with less time on the computer
• spent time reading the bible and praying with my kids
• taken Kai to his 18 month check. He weighs 13.4kg and Ella weighs 7.7kg :)
• reminisced about ballet when I found my old shoes and leotard in ella's cupboard...i even tried the pointe shoes on again and was amazed at how it all came back to me

• found these cute pics on the camera of the boys that Aaron took while I was away and forgot to tell me about - I especially love how cheeky Kai looks :)

and many other things - life is good

hello friday :)

do you feel like time is flying? can't believe it's april already. can't believe ariella is 3 months old already. can't believe I have to go back to work at the end of this month :( can't believe Shane Long is going to be preaching in my church this weekend...his father was my first pastor from when I came to God in Canada back in 1996. He has since passed away unfortunately. I am good friends with Shane's brother Rick and his wife Laura (who I still have to call Laura Jo - I can't help it!) and SOOOO very happy for them at the arrival of baby Talia :) I still only really remember Shane as a teenager so it's all a bit weird lol. I'm looking forward to hearing him preach on sunday tho!


She's so clever - holding her rattle and even trying to chew it! And she LOVES to poke her tongue out...and smile - A LOT. It's awesome :)

I found some cute paper at spotlight this week (while trying...in vain...to find the 'perfect' curtain fabric for Ariella's blinds) and layered some of the birds/butterflies to make another frame for her room:




Thinking of putting a family pic in the 3rd frame...

Kai has been really sick this week. Puked up all over himself and the floor at spotlight (one of 2 trips out there this week lol) very high temp etc. Seems to be coming good today tho thankfully.

Josh and Aaron had an AWESOME time away fishing for FIVE days. I missed them terribly :( Josh caught his first fish and I'll post up his moment of glory as soon as i get the pic off grandad's camera.

I'm off to have a massage today thanks to my wonderful friend Lisa :) my birthday present from last year and I'm finally using it.

Have an awesome day everyone ;)

We went here for dinner last night :) it was our Feb date night/valentines day thing. It's such a cute place, and it was the perfect night.

We took A with us and they were really helpful about that. She fussed nearly as soon as we got there, and wasn't happy while I was eating my soup. Then when our steak arrived (friday nights are steak nights, isn't that cute?!) a grandma that was sitting behind us with her family just came over and said, 'give her to me - eat your dinner'. It could have been quite confrontational, but it wasn't. She was actually really lovely and her granddaughter was delighted with Ariella. She finally got A off to sleep after about half and hour of cuddles! Ariella didn't cry with her tho, just sat there with her eyes wide open taking everything in.

What could have been a bit frustrating (trying to eat steak in a lovely quiet restaurant with a crying baby) ended up being such a nice night. The food was great - chicken & veg soup, salad, steak, mudcake and cheese/fruit platter AND it was a bargain!! lol, that's always nice hey :)

Oh and I've just gotta say I'm so proud of Aaron - yesterday he completed quite a difficult 3 day course for work and passed (lots of people don't pass this course apparently - he knows that cause of his last job where he had to organise for them to re-sit the exams). He studied really hard both nights and thru his lunchtime and well - I just think he's awesome :)

Happy saturday everyone - I'm getting out into the garden now!

sharing a few pics

My first attempt at getting a nice shot of Aaron and the kids...except they don't all co-operate and smile at the camera at the same time! oh well...something to work on :)

...ok...confession time.

'My name is Kylee, and I like to take pictures - A LOT'. (And i'm a bit of a dag as well...but you already knew that!)

And you know how I was shocked earlier this week that I had about 500 pictures to print?...well I underestimated that a little (like by about 500...yep...I've just finished editing and printing about 1000 photo's. Disgusting eh?!)

(Kai's favourite thing to do when Ella's around)

So with that many pics sitting here on my computer, you'd think I'd post a few more often on my blog hey?! Well, here's some today to try and make up for my kinda recent slackness

(Daddy's girl in the making?)

I have to admit, I'm liking Josh's shaggy hair. I don't think he's all that thrilled with the way it gets in his eyes now tho...poor kid. I love the way he got the cutest tan while we were away in Forster too. He's got such nice skin. And does he love his little sister or what. I keep hearing him tell people about her. Like yesterday we were at Brand Depot and he tells this kid he met in the play area, 'that's my baby sister over there'.

Ella passed her 6wk check up with flying colours. Even slept while we were there and impressed the Dr.
I, on the other hand, let the Dr weigh me (what was I thinking?!) and now know exactly how much I need to lose in order to REALLY get back to my ideal weight (instead of just appearing like I have because it's all very evenly distributed and not easily visible to the unqualified eye lol).

still haven't finished decorating her room...both the boys slept in their bassinette in our room til they were at least 3 months old, so I'm kinda giving myself her 3 month birthday as my deadline for getting it finished. That's less than 6wks. Yikes.

I'm going to revisit my goals in the next couple of weeks to see how I'm doing. A little accountability might give me a little more motivation ;)

P.S. Michelle, I really liked what you did with your last post - walking thru your house just taking pics of what you saw. (And since I've nagged you enough, I'm not going to point out that I've had to resort to posting a comment here!)

mid-week ponderings

We took Kai to swimming with us this morning. I had a feeling he'd probably like it, but he LOVED IT!! All thru Josh's lesson he wanted to get in, and when we finally got in the baby pool he splashed us both til we were soaked thru :) isn't it wonderful getting to 're-experience' all these kinds of things with your kids?

I haven't had the energy to get creative this week. BUT i have been sorting through photo's and getting some groundwork done for pages when I do have more energy. Aaron's been so knocked out by this bug, hopefully with the antibiotics he'll feel a lot better by tomorrow. The boys are much better but have been quite demanding at times, and I just I said I'm looking forward to going to work tomorrow - it'll feel a bit like a holiday ;)

Has anybody heard anything about the plastic baby bottle issue? Someone mentioned to me they'd seen something on maybe a current affair about how some baby's bottles had this toxin (bisphenol-A) in them that could be harmful to humans. Well, I've been rather slack about checking up on it, but finally today I googled it and found that altho there's no conclusive evidence that the chemical will cause cancer in humans, that it seems reasonable for parents to replace any questionable bottles as there is evidence in animals that it causes cancer and other not so pleasant stuff. So, we got some new bottles, and altho they're not cheap (neither were the avent ones we bought when Josh was a baby either!) I figure I'd rather not have to think about whether or not what I'm feeding my baby with is safe. I thought it was interesting that Canada had banned all bottles containing that chemical. I couldn't find any info about what Australia thinks about it tho.

Any thoughts? Anybody use glass bottles? I found the happy baby ones but they don't fit any other teat and they don't have lids...anyway, it's certainly an interesting topic.

and a quote for myself in this crazy-out of whack-befuddled week:

When we are motivated by goals that have eternal meaning, by dreams that need completing, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life.

lately...

• doing a major clean up outside - filling up one of those skippy bin things. When it arrived it looked too big, but it's pretty much full now :)

• reading thru my latest 'simple scrapbooks' mag...so many pages I want to scraplift...so little time/motivation to do anything :(

• celebrating Malakai's 1st birthday very quietly (thanks to all who gave us such thoughtful gifts) we had to cancel the party cause we really weren't well enough around here to have it, especially Kai :( I was so disappointed. Not because he'll miss it now, he didn't. But there won't be any '1st birthday party' photo's/layout for him to look back on. BUT today we have something else planned while Aaron is on break before his new job starts :)

• tidying up and re-organising the toys again. We had to move the bookcase out of the play area cause not only did Kai like pulling everything off it, he pulled the whole thing on himself last week.

• getting new phones :)

• thinking about how to celebrate my 30th birthday...morning tea at the Hyatt? I love how nice it is there and that you can eat as much or as little as you like ;) and we all know I like to get my money's worth!!

• enjoying white tea

• discussing with Aaron about whether we should have chooks...and maybe a dog
  

• loving the feel of my baby's kicks as they get stronger

• looking forward to spring so very much this year

My wonderful husband...

...surprised me with chocolates from Darrell Lea yesterday...and said he got them just because he wanted to get me something special cause i'm special :) how's that to make me feel better after my kinda yuk couple of days!

AND

He's started his own blog :)

Holding On

This time next week my baby will be a 1 yr old. I can't believe how fast the time has flown. I don't want him to grow up, I've SO enjoyed him as a baby!

ahhh time, why must you fly past so quick?

probably a long update...

we just used some old apples to make this new recipe called 'almost apple pie cake'...it hasn't finished cooking yet so I don't know if it's a winner or not, but if the smell is any indication it's gonna be delicious. apple and cinnamon just smell so GOOD :)

so...i ended up not going to work last thurs - Josh got another ear infection (praise the Lord for carer's leave!). the grommets are still in his ears so i'm a little concerned and we'll be visiting the specialist again soon. one dr we saw said that he has enlarged (but not infected) tonsils, which apparently can be part of the reason the eustachian tube doesn't drain the ear properly and he's had such chronic ear infections...poor fella :(

friday was a great/busy day at work and then straight to Shellharbour for the AYM weekend. we took Josh on AYM back when he was less than 12 months old and it was good but we decided we probably wouldn't do it again...esp not with 2 kids. But the original leaders of the team to Shellharbour couldn't go...so we did! We stayed with the Pastor and his wife - Bill and Robyn Morris - whom we knew from when they used to attend our church here in Canberra a few years ago. They were fantastic with the kids and really made the weekend stress free for us. Another family in their church had sent over a huge box of fantastic toys that kept both boys occupied really well the few times we actually had time at home.

Friday night we arrived just in time for the youth get together at church, sang a few songs and shared some testimonies. Then of course we went to the favourite supper venue for a lot of pentecostals - MCDONALD'S :) Josh was very happy to get to play in the play area and even got me into part of it (altho I nearly got stuck!).

Saturday we had a church picnic in Kiama - I have never been there before and thought it was a lovely venue. We saw the blow hole - very cool! After lunch nearly everyone got into throwing rocks across the water, trying to skip them :) it was a nice, relaxed and fun time.

Saturday night was youth service. The three of us girls on the team all gave a 10min exhortation after Aaron led worship. I spoke about fear...I think I might even put up a condensed version of what I said on here for my own future reference. It was a great night. The church was very supportive of the kids and really took the pressure off me feeling like i had to keep them perfectly quiet and still.

Sunday morning I didn't do anything in church :) and Josh went out to sunday school so it was great!! lol, I'm such a slacker. The other girls sang and it was lovely. Aaron preached such a good message, really allowing God to speak thru him. We followed all that up with wonderful food at the church fellowship luncheon. The kids at church were wonderful, really took Josh in and he had the best time.

We packed up that afternoon to head back straight after the evening service. It was great too, and I testified briefly and sang. But the boys were SO tired...they really just couldn't sit still thru that service :( so I pretty much missed the preaching...it was a relief to get them in the car eventually (10pm) and they fell asleep pretty quick.

So yeah. that's the shortest run-down I could give!! We had a wonderful time and it was a LOT easier than I was anticipating :) love that!

not a whole lot new around here

just a quiet monday at home. So nice to have Aaron home. It's my turn this weekend, heading off for ladies camp :)

So...today I am grateful for:

~ the sunshine (being inside helped me not to notice the freezing wind etc - looked really good from this side of the window!)

~ Aaron raving over my spaghetti bolognese cooked from SCRATCH!! lol, I am a bottled sauce girl all the way normally. But thanks to Jamie and Dave, I've been inspired and it makes all the difference when someone shows appreciation.

~ Malakai's ADORABLE laugh and how easy it comes

~ Josh's wacky sense of humour

~ A bit of dancing with the boys tonight - to Nicole C. Mullen's 'Talk About It'. We should definitely do it more often

~ the stack of photo's to be put away that symbolise the first half of 2008

~ that as of today, baby no.3 is due in exactly 5 months!! oh man that sounds like AGES!! lol

have a great week everyone

so glad it's nearly the weekend...

What a week! Didn't finish work til nearly 6pm tonight. We've slightly (ok, MAJORLY) changed our outlook on programming within our year 5 team, including a lot more of our own regular standardised assessment items etc and with the extra change over to incorporating ELA's (from the government, we're actually not 'required' to have it included yet, but we've turned into crazy people lately) it's been a lengthy process this term. We're still not finished (well, can I be naughty and boast and say I am finished my part??!)...since I'm the fussy one (with formatting etc) I've done some extra work on other people's programs too :) lol, it feels good but I'm exhausted and don't want to go ANYWHERE near work til next thurs morning!!

So Aaron's gone off to men's camp this weekend. Poor guy came down with a cold during the week and isn't feeling all that great but I think he'll end up having a good time away (altho I'll miss him heaps, as I always do...). Malakai woke up with a pretty revolting case of conjunctivitis today and isn't feeling great either!! I feel a little like Aaron's tried to be generous and share his cold with me but am really wanting to avoid that :( I think we'll be having a quiet weekend here.

Thank God for mum, she's been such a help this week while I've been crazy busy with work. Thanks Mum :)

Am thinking about our 'excursion' for next week...haven't decided yet. Has to be basically free cause we've tightened the budget belt lately (love that rising cost of living lol) perhaps a visit to the library for story time? or the national museum...I love that about Canberra, there really are a lot of options for relatively cheap outings.

I think I'll go head off to bed! ha ha...pretty funny when going to bed at 8.30 is so very appealing

my holidays are nearly over :(

Aaron's second day at home was such a blessing - he is really so good to me. I was having one of those exhausted days that you sometimes have when you're pregnant, and he let me go back to bed and sleep while Kai was having his morning nap. But not only that, he also vacuumed downstairs :) Later in the day he spent time with Joshy making a banana cake and some more banana choc chip muffins. They had such a great time and Josh is getting really good at helping in the kitchen.

On wednesday we had a big day planned out at Gold Creek with Pam and the kids visiting the Reptile Centre and checking out the shops (and possibly the Dinosaur museum, altho we didn't make it there). Unfortunately Josh got bitten by a kid at the play area outside Cafe Injoy :( and then both boys just totally got over the whole shopping idea by the time we got to The Style Emporium so our day was cut short. But they really enjoyed checking out the display of snakes and lizards etc at the reptile centre. Here's some great pics Pam took cause I seem to be incapable of taking pictures of anything at the moment!

The boys in front of a T-Rex jaw

The boys and I checking out the blue tongue lizard

Josh with what I *think* is a diamond python...

...and again

The bearded dragon. I couldn't see him in the enclosure until the guy there pointed him out to me (the enclosure was bigger than it looks in this photo, I've cropped it! So I wasn't that blind!! lol)

So today is pretty much the second last day of the holidays :( I've got lunch planned with an old school friend and coffee with another friend tomorrow so definitely keeping busy. I really wanted to get some scrapping done...maybe tonight.

After home group (which was really good!) last night we checked out Jamie Oliver's 'Eat to save your life'. I really got a lot out of it despite the fact that we only caught the last hr or so. God has really been dealing with me about the stewardship of my body (and the other bodies in this family) lately...so with His help, some changes in store.

happenings

Josh is here in the study with me, singing 'Lance the Turtle' and drawing pictures of grass for Nicholas. Very sweet. He wants to write a message to Nicholas to tell him he loves him, and also for Matthew (who's getting a picture of grass too). I'm not sure what the fascination is with grass right now, but he's said it's like our grass here at home. And when I asked him why he's drawing grass, he just says, 'Cause I am' with a slight inflection on the am that sounds really cute, as if everyone draws pictures of grass for their friends. Then he became the postie, folded up the 'letters' and asked for an elastic band to go round them all like the postie does. I love his pretend play.

We've had a relatively quiet yet productive day at home. Aaron has today and tomorrow off and I LOVE having him home when we can just potter around together, spending time with the boys and enjoying each other's company. We left the boys with mum this morning and went grocery shopping together. We used to shop together all the time before we had kids :) we make a good team, especially in Aldi!! lol

We went away to Tumut over the weekend for our local youth camp. We were anticipating snow up there but it actually seemed like nicer weather than what we'd left behind in Canberra!! Josh spent as much time outside playing as possible, TOTALLY loved the trampoline (which gets me thinking about Christmas...altho they're so expensive) and I enjoyed just relaxing a little and not constantly checking on him. I can't believe my baby is at the age where I can pretty much trust him to play outside without running off or doing *too much* crazy stuff. He did get on the trampoline with 'big Josh' after I'd told him not to (cause Josh was jumping everyone really high and I had thoughts of broken bones...) and came running inside scared of how high Josh had jumped him. But that was pretty much it for dramas, praise God!

We had a good time overall, enjoyed the preaching, fellowship and a little time away. We took both the camera and the video camera, and didn't take a single photo or video!! Unbelievable for me :( Then we missed the turnoff on the way home and added almost an hour to our return trip!! lol, we were both so cranky about it, especially with petrol prices right now and we ended up being late to church too. Oh well, just one of those things that happen sometimes I guess...

A nice week ahead for us, including another whole day with Aaron home and a visit to the reptile centre out at gold creek (with a little drop in to the scrapbooking shop and other shops out there too of course...!).

and, I'm very proud of mum who also just got a promotion - to level 2 on her ward at the hospital. Cool huh?!

ok, so I thought I was excited

yesterday...but TODAY beats it hands down!!

AARON GOT THE NEW JOB!!!!!!!!

PRAISE GOD!!

I JUST WANT TO TYPE EVERYTHING IN CAPITALS!!!

lol, but that can be tiring to read ;)

He applied for a level 5 (the next level up in the Australian Public Service to where he started last year) Business Analyst position a little while ago and I was just happy exclaiming my excitement over the fact that he got to interview level a couple of weeks ago. After all, he doesn't have any training or experience in this area, so we really didn't know what to expect. And after the seeming innumerable applications etc before this job last year, we probably prefer not to get our hopes up too high with all this sort of stuff...

ANYWAY

So he got the call today that he was successful!!! WOO HOO!! Praise God - He always takes care of us and provides at the perfect time.

So yeah, I'm really really excited :) and so proud of Aaron. He's had to overcome more than most people realise to get to where he's got and that just makes it all the more special.

(Hopefully we'll get to go somewhere nice for dinner to celebrate now too!!! LOVE THAT!)

busy productive day

we got out in the garden today, seeing as it's been the nicest day in a little while (and we didn't have to be anywhere). Aaron got VERY enthusiastic about the little patch of garden at the end of the pergola that was under siege by weeds and had a very unattractive dead tree stump in it. We want to plant something nice there...have to do some research to find out what will do best. anyway so he weeded the whole thing and then chopped out the tree stump! he didn't think he'd get it all done today, but it turned out to be a little quicker than we thought :)

I pruned a few rose bushes that had already lost their leaves. I have no idea if it's still too early to prune them, but honestly don't care either cause around here it has to kinda get done when it gets done!

as soon as we'd finished in the garden we needed to head off and help pack up the treasury. since then we've been just trying to wind down from a really long, busy week - spend some time together etc.

aaron's been flat out at work this week and my two days were possibly the worst 2 of the year so far!! lol, sometimes things get to the point where you really have to laugh or you'll cry. I did a lot of laughing on thurs/fri! My class is beautiful. Seriously, they are a delight. I don't have ANY major behaviour issues at all this year. It's a huge blessing, especially when I'm tired from growing this baby ;)

my 'laughing' was caused by other issues actually, and I am learning quite a bit thru it all. I'm also grateful for the support I know I have from our exec team and the wonderful friends I've made at school that are helpful 'sounding boards' when I desperately need it!

Josh has also been sick with some random thing, mostly at night. During the day he hasn't seemed sick at all. But then around dinner time he'll get this fever and be completely lethargic and...just really sick. It's been awful for him. It seems to be over now...very strange. Seems to be tho, that if either of the boys is going to be sick it's always on a thurs or fri??

but now i am on school holidays for a couple of weeks and that's AWESOME. It's one of the first holiday times that I haven't planned lots of extra stuff into. Lovin that ;)

Just a few exciting things:

• I've felt the baby move. I told my midwife I thought I had but wasn't sure ( you know how at this early stage you can still mistake it for other lovely things like gas!) but she said it was more than likely the baby. COOL!
  
• Malakai is giving KISSES!!! He's done it before, but it was kinda random and i wasn't sure. But now he has been giving them for a few days. They are so sloppy and totally open-mouthed but REALLY adorable! And he claps now too. ahhhhh...so proud! lol
  
• I heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time on wednesday. Always love that.
• Josh has gone back to wanting kisses to 'make it better' when he hurts himself. He's been thru the longest phase of not wanting that :(
  

wow, long post! hope everyone is having a great weekend.

tired day

I am beginning to accept that (for the next 6 or so months at least!) things aren't always going to get done as quickly or completely as I'd like. Today could have been frustrating, I was so tired that after the boys had breakfast etc and Kai went down for his nap at 9.30ish...I had to go back for a nap myself. I actually found that I'd fallen asleep while trying to sneak in some prayer time. How's that to make you feel guilty and frustrated!!

But I am learning that it's best for me to accept the fact that this is a season of my life, not the state of my life forever. And I want to enjoy this time that everyone says goes by so quick. So I will allow myself a nap while my baby sleeps and my preschooler is at bunnings with my mum. And not feel guilty about the million other things that could/should have been done at that time. (and even try to just enjoy that Aaron did the fortnightly dinners menu and shopping for me - awesome hey?! - without getting all precious about it possibly not being done just the way I like it)

Tonight Aaron headed off the the trivia night at church while I kept the boys home. The idea is then that they've both had a good night's sleep and will be good in church in the morning. All day Malakai's breath has been smelling progressively worse though, not to mention his snotty nose and cough so he'll be coming for prayer in the morning - I'll be praying it's not an ear/throat infection :(

So I then thought...hmmm...what shall I do with myself tonight? My first inclination was to find an old chick flick and veg with some popcorn. But mum suggested scrapping...and although I felt as far from inspired as possible, I forced myself to scrap. With the goal of getting one page completed.

I DID IT!!! (for those of you who might have the june creating keepsakes mag I used the pattern on page 80 - can't believe I haven't used any of these patterns before! I LOVED using it!)


not the best photo of it cause it's taken at night but I'd never post it if I put it in the album without a pic first. the background looks grey but it's actually brown. anyway, I'm all excited and might even get another page set up to finish sometime this week.