I thought I had taken just a short break from blogging so imagine my surprise when I jumped on here and discovered I had not posted anything since November last year!  I have so many blogs to catch up on and so many stories to tell.  But I'm in the mood to read all of your stories first. So I'm going to do that right now.  Back soon....I promise!

Pageants

Pageants have never been huge here in Australia but they are now taking off and my daughters are ecstatic!  I know pageants are quite popular in the US so do any US mums have any advice for me?

Stop crashing around me!

I don't know why but people always seem to crash their cars around me.  There were the 3 at the same intersection while I was standing right there (one even flipped onto its roof).  Or the time I was looking in my rearview mirror as a chick came around the corner and took out a pole.  Or the one who clipped the other one while on the roundabout I was also on.  Now there was a huge prang just outside my house.  5 ambulances were needed.  I don't want to see any more car crashes!  People, stay safe!  Watch where you're going, obey the speed limit and take care out there.

Hurray for Handbags

While being pushed around in my wheelchair the other day I suddenly I realised I was at the perfect height for checking out other people's handbags.  I started to think about how different each bag was and got all giddy looking at all the different designs.  But it made me think, and that's where you come in.  I would like a pic of your handbag along with the reason why you bought it.  Was it the size, convenience, material, or price?  Did you buy it because it was designer or because your favourite celebrity had one?  Or was it love at first sight?  Come on ladies, help a poor invalid out and give me a squizz at your bag.  I am so curious.  And please, be honest!

Oops I did it again...

You may remember I tried out for the roller derby team last year only to wreck my knee on the first night.  Well this time I exceeded all expectations of my clumsiness.  I went to the snow and broke my leg in 3 places.  Not skiing or doing anything fun like that, just walking...now I'm wondering if I have osteoporosis or something equally as sinister.  I probably could have handled it if it were a simple cast job.  But I had to have surgery on it and screws were inserted.  It has been quite painful and a challenge to get around. 

This is a pic of what my foot looked like after the operation but before they put the full cast on.  Please get rid of this page if you are squeamish.

  It looks like that on the other side too.  And because of this I have an important message.  Be grateful for your feet ladies!  You never know when you might not have them anymore.

Brain Overload

I think my brain has overloaded.  I am reading all these lovely posts from fellow bloggers about the great things they are doing and I can't think of a single thing to say. That is why I haven't blogged for a while. I didn't want to bore everyone to tears.  But now I'm doing it anyway in the hope that the sheer act of writing something will unleash a torrent of unbelievably smart and witty content......looks like I've totally failed :(

First Plane Trip

Three out of my four kids went on their first plane trip yesterday.  We had such a great time.  It is so much fun watching their expressions and seeing them so excited.  Miss 13 was a little nervous (not at all helped my Miss 11 constantly pointing out plane crash stories for the last 2 weeks) but she put on a brave face and actually relaxed and enjoyed it after a while.  I am so proud of her.  Of course Mr 8 was the usual bundle of energy but at least he didn't cause too much trouble.  I was half expecting to be escorted from the plane but he was well behaved and had a great time.  He is looking forward to going again!  Unfortunately he seems to have inherited my ears....oh my gosh they were so sore as the plane was descending.  I was chewing gum so hard I thought my teeth might detach from my gums!  If any of you lovely ladies have a tip on how to make your ears behave normally while in a plane, please let me know....and quickly because Mr 8 is bouncing off the walls in anticipation of another trip!

How to Get Your Child to Listen

  For all you overwhelmed parents out there (and I know there are a lot of you), check out this great e-book.

A step-by-step guide to end



defiance, outbursts, lying,


tantrums and bad behaviors!
 
http://6c4326jfw1lo2zdxw90chqf2rn.hop.clickbank.net/

The Action Machine

I'm not one to try to sell things to my fellow bloggers...I rarely even recommend things.  But this product has made such a difference to my life I just wanted to share it with everyone.  It's called the Action Machine and it has totally changed the way I work and get things done.  And I have tried everything!  Day planners, PDA's, software, you name it, I've tried it.  And I still wasn't getting anywhere.  Especially since I am (was) the biggest procrastinator to walk the face of the Earth.  I can't believe how many projects I've finished since I started using the Action Machine.  It's such a valuable resource and I wanted to tell you all about it because some of you may even be bigger procrastinators than me and I would love it if it changed your life for the better too.  So read the paragraph below then check it out.

 Here's a question you may want to ask yourself regularly: What am I doing with my 24 hours? In other words, every day, what do you have to show for burning through another 24 hours of your life? If the answer is, 'next to nothing', or 'not nearly as much as I would like', then I'm happy to tell you that you can change that right now, and in moment, in this email, I'm going to give you a simple system for doing it. If you're ready to put more life and more action into your day, then get a pen and paper and write down this simple system. It consists of 3 basic steps. Here they are: 1. Write down all the tasks you want to get done today 2. Assign a specific block of time for completing each task (like 30 minutes) 3. Select a task, start a timer, and focus on nothing else until that task is complete! That's all there is to it. Simple, yes! Incredibly effective, YES! By itself, this system can put your productivity into high-gear - IF you use it. The challenge for most of us is that in a day and age of technology and automation, writing things down on paper and using something like an egg-timer feels a bit clunky and inefficient. But I've recently discovered an incredible piece of software that not only automates this system in a very unique way, but includes some tools such as simple reports (so you know WHERE you spend your time), as well as a very slick and intuitive interface. I highly recommend you watch the demo video, which shows the software in action, by clicking this link (you'll find it about half-way down the page): Action machine Click Here! Have a great, productive day!

What a Difference a Dream Makes

I am back fellow bloggers and this time I am deliriously happy!  A long time ago I wrote down everything I wanted in my dream home.  It wasn't anything crazy like a bowling alley or tennis courts...it wasn't exactly a two bedroom cottage but I wasn't expecting a mansion.  Here is the list:

• Enough bedrooms that each of my 4 children could have a room of their own
• A pool
• Acreage so my kids could ride dirtbikes and horses
• A dishwasher
• More than one bathroom (anyone with 4 children and one toilet will understand why)
• A study just for me.

And I got it last weekend!  I also opened a photography studio in the city.  I finally feel as though my life is where it is supposed to be and I can't believe that such good has come from such evil.  I wish I had done it a long time ago and I hope that those animals who attacked us realise they did me a favour.

Now I'm going to catch up on all of your posts.  Talk soon.

Nightmare on My Street

Once again I've been gone for too long but this time I have a really good excuse.  Less than a week after I wrote my last post, we were attacked by 4 men who smashed their way into our car and home.  I won't go into detail but we were forced to leave our home of 10 years.  The last month or so has been spent doing all the normal things that come with moving and sleeping with a knife under my pillow.

But as I'd rather think of myself as a survivor rather than a victim, I will be back posting inane stuff real soon.

Shattered Dreams....

As you may remember this is what I was going for......But this is more the look that I got.

Can you believe it?  I waited a whole year to go to training and I hurt my knee on the very first night.  In the first half an hour mind you!  And it wasn't even a huge fall.  I landed on my butt and felt nothing because I sort of slided slowly down onto the floor.  Unfortunately the top of my leg went one way and the bottom of my leg went the other causing quite some damage to my poor knee.  I had to sit out last weeks practice but in 2 days I have to pass a skating skills test to be able to continue on to the derby part of the training and I'm not at all sure my knee is up to it.

But I am going to tape it up and give it my best shot.  And if its not good enough then its not good enough....at least I can say I tried.  Wish me luck!



Me & My Baby

Kind of a blurred photo but it was taken on my phone by someone who is not very adept at picture taking.  Nevertheless, this is what my kids and I have been spending a lot of time doing. Check out my sexy skates with pink toe protectors  8^)

I have shaved 4 seconds off my time already and Mr 7 is loving the extra bike riding time.  You should see him go on that thing!  He is a speed demon!   Scares the hell out of me!

Healers or Money Grabbers?

Mr 7 has had some difficulty in learning to read.  The older 3 never had a problem with reading so this is new territory for me.  I figured if I just read to him all the time and got him to read to me all the time, he would improve.  So we bought the flashcards and the learn to read books and such.  There was a slight improvement but not much.  So I took him to the doctor who thought it might be an eyesight problem.  He referred us to the optometrist who said that Mr 7 doesn't have a problem with his eyes but the reading could be causing eyestrain which would make him not want to read so I should buy $200 reading glasses so he can focus on the words without straining.  So I bought them.  He wore them for a few weeks then lost them.  They didn't improve his reading anyway.

I thought maybe he had ADD because he seemed to lose focus while we were reading together and he always wanted to go off and do something else.  But then I realised who wouldn't want to go off and do something else?  He was already struggling with it and the fact that I can't quite explain how to read words that you can't spell out (ie. boy, love, one etc - I mean you spell out one oh un eh - how can you get one from that?) didn't help matters at all.  I wanted to be somewhere else!

So I took him back to the doctor who referred him to a specialist who said he probably has dyslexia and that will cost $750 to assess him.  Wow!  I should have gone into psychology.

But last night, he read me a book from front to back and got all the words right, words he was having difficulty reading before.  Maybe the solution isn't to throwing money at things....maybe its just taking our time.

Roller Derby Dreams

With roller derby tryouts only two months away, I finally got my skates and pads.  Yesterday I suited up and took off on my gorgeous black skates...then wondered what the hell I was doing!  It was as though I had never skated before!  I wobbled here, there and everywhere, all the while thanking the universe for my pads and wishing I had one for my butt.

But I perservered and it wasn't long before I was zooming all over the netball courts.  It was freezing cold and getting dark and I have never felt more alive.  The best thing was that Miss 12 & Miss 10 were skating along beside me and Mr 7 was lapping us on his bike.  We had so much fun and I've never sweat so much in my life.  I hope that I make the roller derby team in October but if I don't, its a great way to spend time with my kids...and if I don't lose weight doing this, I never will!

Happy 1st Birthday Blog!

My blog turned 1 and I totally missed it!  Apparently it was on the 4th of June.  Oops!  Luckily this thing isn't a kid or I'd never hear the end of it....

I'm Back!

I can't believe its been so long since I've written anything.  And so long since I've read anyone else's blogs (sorry!)  My Google reader still says 1000+ posts but it has started at June 20 so I won't know what any of you have been up to between March and June.  I hope I haven't missed anything major but I'm sure I have.  The world still turns even while I'm being run off my feet.

I have heaps to tell you and I can't wait to catch up on everyone's comings and goings but I will start that all tomorrow.  The whole fam has been sick for a week here.  Vomiting, sneezing, coughing....the whole shebang...and I need one nights sleep before getting back in the swing of things.

Looking forward to catching up all you loyal followers!

Good night!

The Beach

 We didn't get to go to the beach last week because it was quite cool but we went the week before as usual.  It was supposed to be 28 degrees but I'd be surprised if it got out of the teens.  I wrapped myself in a towel on the sand but the kids still went in to splash around. 

The tide was way out that week.  Mr 7 went quite far out and the water was still only up to his knees.  It was actually quite good because there is a sandbank about 50m out and the low tide caused there to be a shallow pool of water between the sand and the rest of the ocean and the kids loved hanging out in their very own 'pool'.

We saw heaps of planes go overhead.  I love to sit and wonder where the people are off to while I'm sitting on a beach in Adelaide.  I hope one day someone is sitting on the beach and watching my plane and wondering where I'm going.

It's amazing how well the kids get along once you get them out of the house. They can get on each other's nerves at home but when they're out they all play together as though they're best friends.  I bought a book to read but I didn't even open it.  I was content to watch my kids run up and down the beach, chase the bodyboards that were blowing away in the wind and squealing their heads off when a crab moved its leg.  When a chip packet blew away and Mr 7 ran after it, I wanted 10 more kids.  I realised that I didn't care if I had no man in my life....my kids are enough for me.

Message to 2Busy

This post is a special message to 2busy.  You evil woman!!!!  Suggesting that I add ice cream to that delicious grape soda, potentially ruining my weight loss dreams.  How could you?

Of course I jest.  It's a great idea. Unfortunately I have neither vanilla ice cream nor grape soda on hand, I do have 4 kids after all.  However, next shopping trip I will grab some and put them both together before the kids get home from school.  I'm sure it will be delicous.

I put Pepsi in with vanilla ice cream all the time.  We call them spiders here. Don't ask me why.  They don't look nor taste like a spider (although I'm only guessing on the taste having never eaten a spider before but I think I can be pretty safe in saying that they do not taste anything like each other).  I was under the impression that Americans called them floats but I could be talking about something totally different.  Fill me in guys!

Where Have You Been All My Life???

On my weekly trip to the speciality fridge at the end of the aisle to get my Cherry Coke, I made a new discovery.  Grape Soda!  I've only heard of Grape Soda about a million times in American tv shows and movies.  Being kind of obsessed with all things American I've always wondered what it tasted like.  And there it was sitting right in front of me.  So of course I bought it.  I took it home and poured it out for me and the kids.  I don't like grapes so I wasn't sure what to expect.  Can you say heaven?  Geez that stuff is so nice!  It was delicious. So now during my weekly bath and read, I am alternating between Cherry Coke and Grape Soda.

As you can see there is not much excitement happening in my life right now.  I am, after all, getting excited over a sugary drink.  I am slowly but surely, making changes in my life according to my style statement.  For starters, the kids and I have made it a weekly tradition to go to the beach every Sunday morning.  We have found a great spot.  It has nice fluffy white sand, the water is warm and clear, not too deep but deep enough, it doesn't have much seaweed and there aren't a lot of people.  Perfect!  Yesterday while we were down there, we saw a sea lion about 5 metres out.  It was just lying on its back and splashing around.  A local man told us that a house on the hill flies the Australian flag when the sealion is there. Apparently its a regular sight.  The locals call him Henry.  Typical that I didn't take my camera and the one on my phone sucks. 

We also saw the shark patrol helicopter fly over.  The kids go wild waving and the guys always wave back.  It's been great.  It's nice to relax and now I look forward to Sunday all week.

As for the other stuff, that is taking a little longer.  I haven't had the time to do anything on the house but fingers crossed I'll do at least one thing this week.  I'm also still at 1000+ blogs to read but I'm working on it.

At least I'm still going to the gym every day even though I'm not noticing any difference on the scales.  Probably too many Cherry Cokes and Grape Sodas :)

Last but not least, I'd like to say hello to my new follower Modern Mom.  It's amazing how getting a new follower and somebody you've never met calling you 'utterly charming' can boost your confidence and make you smile.  All my followers make me smile and I'd like to thank you all for that.  Love ya's!