Big Decisions

Well it's decision time! Lacey has decided that she really doesn't want to wait to join the Navy, she wants to do it as soon as she turns 17! This, as you can imagine, has freaked us out quite a bit. Never in my wildest dreams has the thought of any of my kids not finishing year 12 even crossed my mind, but she is very passionate about it and we feel that we at least owe it to her to listen to her arguments and put some thought into her plan. I will keep you posted as to what happens!LOL

Nineteen!

We had a great day yesterday! Arlie turned nineteen and we spent the day on the Gold Coast celebrating. We ended up having to take two cars as far as Deagon as Lacey had cricket and we had to pick up Mum and Dad who were coming with us, so I drove Lace to cricket and John met me there after picking Mum and Dad up. We left the Astina at Deagon so Lacey could sit in there and listen to the radio in some sort of safety if we were a bit late in getting back, and headed to the Coast in the Pajero.
First stop was Arlie's townhouse. She was very excited about having us all there and being able to show Mum and Dad the place she is now living in. She has her room looking really nice and she has certainly made a lovely home for herself.
After Arlie opened her presents (we bought her a fish tank), we all headed down to a park on the Boradwater at Southport for a picnic. Wendy met us there, along with Hayley and Adam, and Lee, some friends of Arlie's who came to visit her for her birthday.
We all stood around and chatted for a while, then we served lunch of BBQ chicken and salad rolls. John went for a drive to pick up his Mum who was visiting with Uncle Danny and Aunty June for the weekend.

After John got back with his Mum, we tried to light the candles on Arlie's cake, but the wind had picked up which made it impossible to keep them going so she had to fake it just so we could get a photo!LOLIt was getting pretty late by this stage and Arlie wanted to take Hayley and Adam back to her place for a while so we started packing up while John took Elsie back. We then headed back to Brisbane to pick up Lacey from cricket. We got there at about 5pm to find Lacey in the Astin with the radio on and the chair laid right back reading a book! Her team had had another win, so she was pretty happy with the day, even though she missed out on the party.

Saturday!

Today has been spent planning and organising our day out down the coast tomorrow for Arlie's Birthday. It looks like Mum, Dad and Wendy are joining us for the day which will be great. They haven't seen Arlie's new place yet, so it will be a good opportunity for her to show it off.

We also unpacked the camping trailer ready to top things up and get organised for the next trip to Inskip on the 22nd. I am sooo looking forward to getting away for a few days! I just love it up there, it's so peaceful and relaxing, nothing to do but spend the day watching the kids swim or fish! The trailer has leaked just a little so a few things needed drying out in the sun, but considering the amount of rain we have had, it wasn't too bad. John is starting to get the solar panel ready to take with us this time and it looks like the only thing we need to buy to add to our camping gear is a regulator so that the panel can trickle feed the batteries.

I meant to add this photo a couple of weeks ago, but kept forgetting, so here it is. This is how long Lacey's hair is now!! It is just gorgeous and I would kill to have it, but like most people with curly hair, she hates it! Its so long, thick and curly and she just has so much of it!LOL I think she has well and truly won her bet with Renee, Christie and Arlie, she just now has to convince them to pay up.

Plodding Along

Not a lot to report on at the moment, things are plodding along pretty much as normal (well as normal as they can be in our house that is!LOL). We've had storms every night since Sunday and although they haven't done any damage around here, some other parts of the shire have been hit pretty badly. Morgan got caught up in a pretty fierce hail Storm while waiting for the bus as school yesterday afternoon and actually has a bump on her head from being hit by a hail stone.

We had a visit yesterday from the Inspector of Police for the Caboolture District in regards to the letter I sent asking questions about how Sarah was dealt with on the night she got hurt. It's been a bit of a saga, but it seems we've had a win or sorts with the Inspector letting me know that the officer in charge here in Woodford has been given some retraining as to how to handle incidents involving minors. I am not completely happy with what he was able to tell me, but I think that under the circumstances and after such a long drawn out process, we can now put the matter to rest.

I got a phone call from Arlie today who was very excited as she served Paul "Fatty" Vautin last night! She has decided that living on the coast and getting to meet celebrities is pretty good value!

Spoke to Mum and Dad for a while tonight and it looks like we will be all going down to the Gold Coast on Sunday to celebrate Arlie's 19th birthday. It should be a really good day and it will be good for Arlie to be able to show off her new home to Mum and Dad.

Back to School

Well, I made it through the holidays! The kids all went back to school today and so it was back into the daily trip to Caboolture and back to drop Lacey, Morgan and Sarah at Tullawong. Made it back by just after 8am with just enough time to hang out a load of washing before taking Kaydon to school here in Woodford. Arlie decided to stay for another night since she doesn't have to start work until 2pm tomorrow, so we had a very peaceful day here just the two of us.
It was a stinking hot day, got to about 34c but we did get a storm come through at about 6.30pm which managed to cool things down a bit. I don't know what happened to spring! It has gone from winter to summer in a matter of a few weeks!
I don't have any photos of the storm to share, but I do have a couple of cute photos of Morgan that were taken when she was dressed up to go to a party. She is dressed up as a "Fairy" and I think they are really cute! She made the wings herself using some old stockings and a couple of coat hangers. The close up shot is one she took herself.

A Nice Surprise!

I woke up this morning to find Arlie had come home for a visit! It was great to see her and she is looks so well. She seems to have found a new sense of herself and is enjoying life. She is very much looking forward to her interview with the Air Force on the 17th of this month and has been working hard on losing some weight and getting fit.


Renee, Troy and the girls headed back home just after lunch. We all really enjoyed having them here and look forward to catching up with them again soon.

Lacey had her first game of out door cricket since her operation today and although she said she didn't have a very good bowling result, she really enjoyed getting back out on a cricket pitch. It's been nearly two years since she played a game of out door, so it's probably not surprising she is a bit rusty, but I'm sure it won't take her long to get back into the swing of things. Arlie was kind enough to pick her up from cricket so that John could stay home and watch the finish of the Bathurst race. He was pretty disappointed that a Ford won, but since it was Craig Loundes, and he is now classed as a local (he lives out at Mount Kilcoy) he said it wasn't all bad!LOL

Baby Sitting

We have had a lovely day today looking after Hannah and Sharlette. I had forgotten just how exhausing it can be enteraining two little kids, but thanks to Sarah, Morgan and Kaydon, we made it through the day without too many problems.
Renee and Troy got back at about 6pm and we all sat down to a BBQ dinner. Troy laid down with the Hannah and Sharlette to try and get them to go to sleep and the next thing we knew, he was the one that was fast asleep!

Poor Felix!

He had his little visit to the vet today and, much to his disgust, he is no longer a Tom Cat! He seems to be doing ok, although he is finding it hard to get comfortable but I guess that's to be expected!LOL Hopefully he will be much better by tomorrow and will stop trying to beat up Sootie!LOL

Not much fun!

Well I'm not having a very good day today! I think I have managed to pick up the virus that the kids have been sharing with each other over the past few weeks and I am feeling yucky! I have the aches, a very sore throat and a slight temp.
It's a good thing that the kids are on holidays and Lacey didn't have to work today so I have been able to rest most of the day. Kaydon is pretty crook with the same virus at the moment but he also has a really nasty cough so I am hoping to avoid that!
I thought this might be a good opportunity to share a photo that Dad took the morning after the wedding! Wendy and I had a great time listening to Suzie Quatro and various other CD's while downing a few champagnes but I paid for it in the morning. I guess I need to do this every now and then just to remind myself why I don't do it very often!LOL I think the picture says it all!

More Wedding Pics

Ashley and Annemieke

On Saturday we were very privileged to attend the Wedding of my Nephew Ashley and the beautiful Annemieke. It was held in Captain Bourke Park which is located directly under the Story Bridge right next to the Brisbane River, an absolutely beautiful setting for a wedding. The Bride looked STUNNING and the Groom scrubed up pretty well too!LOL
I have lots more photos to share so will be adding more over the next few days!