It was NOT the cakes!

I have two sick kids - and before you say it , it was not the high dose of bright food colouring, preservatives and sugar they each ingested yesterday! Both woke at 5am with temps of 39, so I'd say it's the nasty virus everyone else seems to have had - OH JOY! Last year, Lauren missed Patrick's party at Kids Paradise, and Patrick was sick on his actual birthday, and for a week in total! That would be lovely, as the holiday's start next week, so we'd have 3 weeks at home - YIPPEE! When WE have parties, we don't just send home party bags - we send home nasty bugs!

They are both still asleep so Shhhhh! Hopefully they will not be feeling too bad when they do wake up... ....unlike the Wallabies! So much for my brilliant theory that when the Hawks and the Wallabies play on the same night it's a good thing!

To you Brad - "NO COMMENT"!

Woo-Hoo Buddy!

Buddy got his 100 tonight

and the

Mighty Hawks

won by

78

Bring on the finals!

On a sadder note, isn't it a shame that Fevola didn't get his 100???

Colourful Cakes

Yes, the are Lego bricks! Bright enough???

Lol's donut and marshmallow masterpiece!

All partied out!

Well, the Lego cakes weren't that bad in the end - scarily bright and packed with all the good colouring, but at least the kids knew what they were! Lauren is not keen on cake, but loves donuts, so I decided to make her a donut cake. I was going to go to Donut King, but soon realised how expensive that would be, so I asked Shayne to ask the bakers at Woolies how much they'd be. The baker decided he felt like a challenge, and made it for us! It wasn't quite as I would have made it, but Lol and the other kids loved it (and one or two of the adults just quietly!)

The party went well, and by then end of it, I was glad we decided to have a combined one this year - especially after all the "fun" I had with the cakes! We will be having trifle for the next month with all the left over cake (the one that I prepared earlier!!!)

I know someone who'll sleep well tonight - ME!!! Everyone else will be bouncing off the walls after all that colouring!

S.O.S. to Linda!

CALLING LINDA, COME IN COUSIN LINDA!

THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!!

My cake making ability is sorely lacking tonight. If I pay for your airfare, would you get on the midnight horror and be here in time to make Paddy's cake for tomorrow? I heard you make great kids cakes.

HELP!!!!

Hint of the day

I have just been making Patrick's birthday cake for the party tomorrow and came up with an easy way of making even sized cupcakes or muffins without the mess - an ice cream scoop! It holds the perfect amount to fill a muffin or cupcake tray, and the mixture slides off easily allowing you to make all the cakes the same size! I hate the fiddlyness (is that a word???) of using two spoons, and trying to get the same amount in each tin without it dripping, but the scoop worked really well!

I have made a rectangle party cake in a baking dish, and eight cupcakes for the top - hopefully to resemble a Lego brick - simple, yet relevant to Paddy's major interest at the moment (and preferable to making a Wii cake!!!).

Lauren's cake is going to be a masterpiece - fortunately I am not the master piecing it together! That's all I'll say, but hopefully there will be photos of both here tomorrow! If not, the Cheesecake Shop is just down the road!!!

58 today!

Today was my 58th

blood donation!

I have been donating blood regularly since I was about 18, and Mum "encouraged" me, by letting me see her donating, and not crying, screaming or passing out! Back in the "good old days" the mobile blood bank even used to come to Campbell Town - way back when they gave you a beer! Now it's milkshakes, juice or a hot drink, and a yummy selection of biscuits! (That's really why I go!)

Until today, I hadn't been for nearly 18months. I was "rested" for 6 months in March last year as my haemoglobin stores were too low - I am often just borderline at 120g/L (grams per litre). Since then I have had colds, viruses, headaches or had just not been feeling 100%, so delayed donating. That's obviously helped, as my levels were back up to 131g/L - very good for me. I'm also on the bone marrow donor registry, but have only ever been called up once for the second round of testing, and didn't match closely enough to go any further.

If you've ever thought about it, but just haven't got around to it - now's the time! Supplies are desperately low Australia wide, and a single blood donation can save up to 3 lives! It doesn't hurt (and I hate having vaccinations), and takes less than 45 minutes all up (that includes your "rest" and drink). The actual donation usually takes around 10-15 minutes - I was 7mins today, so was out of there within 1/2 an hour!

Mostly you can donate every 12 weeks if you become a regular donor, but as a "frequent donor" I go every 10 weeks - especially as I have the rare 0-, which only 9% of the population have. As you'd know from All Saints (don't go there - I'm still upset about Dan!!!) or Shortland Street for you Kiwis, 0- can be used for all other blood groups until cross matching is done to find out a patient's own blood type.

If you are interested, click the link below for more info., or visit your local Red Cross Blood Service ( I don't think they like being called the "blood bank" anymore - not PC!)

http://www.donateblood.com.au/

Spring has Sprung...or has it?

Spring - bring it on!

I love Spring - that and Autumn are my favourite seasons here in Tassie. Probably Spring more though, because of the promise of "what's to come" that it brings!

For the last two days we've had 17 degrees - and though it may not seem like much to you guys in the West, Queensland, and other warmer climates, for the end of Winter - it's perfect! It's the kind of weather where you can go for a walk in a tee shirt (if you are brave enough) and not get frostbite, or get too hot and uncomfortable. I like Summer - but days of 25 -27 are my limit. 30+ is OK on the odd occasion, or if we go swimming, but not day after day.

I think mentioning the "S" words (Spring and Summer) is a bit ambitious though, as we who live here know only too well that it can all change in a day (or a minute some days!). I know from previous tomato growing experience that the frost season is often around until mid-October or later, and two years ago we had hail on Christmas day! Let's hope this year, when Spring begins, it stays, and leads us into a nice long Summer (not too hot though!)

Tassie still has the 4 distinct seasons - although less so than in the past, and I love that. I hope our climate stays the same here and doesn't even out, and blur into two seasons as other places seem to have. There's nothing like those first Spring buds and blooms, or the sight of the Autumn leaves, or even a crisp white frost on a sunny day. Let's hope we never lose that!

More favourite photos

The zoo was one of our favourite places on our recent trip to New Zealand. Some of the animals were real characters and seemed to pose for us.

Auckland Zoo - June 2008Reminds me of King Julien from " Madagascar"!

Napping

We got to feed the giraffes - very cool!

My favourite - one of the Kiwi relatives!

Scary meerkats!

They had to crawl along a tunnel, and popped up in the Meerkat enclosure!

My favourite photos.

Today I finally went through all my photo folders, got rid of all the copies (they seem to multiply on this computer!), the blurry ones, and the ones that you wonder why you ever took!

Here are some of my favourite photos...

Snug as a bug!

July 2006 - nearly 6

Trevallyn Reserve

October 2006 - 6 and 7 years old

Kids Paradise

June 2007 - nearly 8

Bicheno

February 2008 - 81/2 and 71/2

Waiwera Hot Pools New Zealand

June 2008

Loose ends.

I have some "unfinished business" from previous posts I wanted to follow up. Two products I trialled - Aveeno moisturiser (see July 28th post) and Blackmore's Cold Combat (August 7th) have proven excellent, and I would recommend them both! (No - I don't get paid to say that!) I also mentioned my "Hairy Quiche" incident on July 28th, but unfortunately that wasn't such a successful experience! I did however, get an email from the company that make them, and they had an extra "hair net training" session when they received my email! I could have received a refund, but no longer had the receipt, but at least they looked into ensuring it doesn't happen again. I'm actually surprised it doesn't happen more often - or do we just eat a lot of other people's hair and don't know it??? Lovely thought isn't it? The last thing I wanted to mention, is that Lauren got the closest with her Aussie Gold medal guess (August 12th). Lol said 19, and Australia got 14 Gold - which is great. We over estimated a bit - but there is nothing wrong with high expectations - unless of course you are a Kiwi! How many did you guys get?

Winners x 2!

The Wallabies beat the Springboks for the first time in South Africa in 8 years yesterday

27-15

and the Mighty

thrashed the WEagles 133 to 62

To those of you in the West, a national day of mourning has been called tomorrow due to another absolute thrashing!!!

GO HAWKS!!!

A Wii bit of fun.

We gave the kids the Wii today for their birthdays. Both their birthdays are on Thursday's this year, and that's our computer and TV free day, so I waited until today when we were home all day to practice for the party next week!

Lauren is excellent at tennis Some of Lol's moves are very good! Paddy with Mario and Sonic in Beijing! Blurry from the action - not my photography!!

Wii've all had fun on the Wii today! Lauren is very good with Wii Sports, and Patrick has been helping Australia with their medal tally at the Olympics. Shayne is the funniest - they should have Masters Wii games for seniors like him!

I know one thing for sure, my bowling arm is going to be a Wii bit sore tomorrow!!!

Shhh!

Can you hear that??? Me either! No kids! Patrick and Lauren have gone snow hunting with Tracey, Aaron and Quinn, so it's very quiet here! I'm going to make the most of it - no interruptions- and go and... ....vacuum, hang out more washing, clean out the kitty litter, tidy up, maybe even DUST something!

Meerkat?

Sassy loves boxes... She was into Paddy's new Lego box within minutes! She's supposed to be a purebred British Blue... ....but we are beginning to think ... ....she's part Meerkat!!!

Birthday Bounty

Birthday Boy Half asleep! What could it be? Lego City Police Command Centre Making cupcakes to share at Cubs,

and as part of his cooking badge - YUM!

More presents at Nanna and Pa's

This year, we are having a combined party on the 30th, as with so many of us, it's getting harder to get everyone together - especially twice in two weeks (bad planning on my part)! We had pizza and cake tonight before Cubs, and will have family and a few friends around next weekend. Patrick and Lauren are getting a Wii as a combined present, so we're having a Wii party! Shhh - they think they didn't get one, and are asking Santa for Christmas!!!

On This Day...

The City Of Hobart was founded in 1842

The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911

It is Spumoni Ice Cream Day in the US

(Yum- Italian Ice cream - let's celebrate that!)

But, most importantly...

Patrick William was born at 4.59a.m

Weighing 8lb 8oz (3.85kg)

and 51cm long

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY PATRICK!

81lb 4oz!

(37kg) 142cm

Patrick and Lauren were both due on August 28th - one year apart! Thankfully Patrick was 1 week early, and Lauren was 1 week late, so they have 1 year and 2 weeks between them. It's nice to have the 2 weeks between their birthdays so they can really celebrate their own day.

Paddy was very nearly born in the hospital car park - we arrived after 4am, and he was born less than an hour later!

I can't believe that was 9 years ago!

Eight Excellent Experiences

Patrick's 8th Party Last year

"The Hub" Kids Paradise

(not a great photo but he was sick for a week after this

and we didn't take many photos)

Patrick is 9 tomorrow, and we've been talking about the highlights of his year, and came up with these...

January

The first time we knew which kitten was ours - the lovely Sassy! We had "met" her before, but weren't sure at that stage which one was ours. Patrick loves Sassy, and she loves him - they are very cute together!
February
Patrick started Scouts and Grade Three on the same day. Guess which one he loves??
March
Patrick began drumming with the Esk Band in March, and loves the hour and a half lesson every Tuesday - doesn't love the practise though!!!
April
This month was very exciting as Patrick was invested at Cubs, and also went in his first march - the ANZAC Day Parade - with his Pack.
May
Patrick began school swimming lessons at Grammar every day for 2 weeks. There were Grade 3 and 4's, and he made it into the top group - and stayed there!
June
We went to New Zealand, and although Paddy lived their briefly as a baby, it was the first time he remembered meeting all his sisters together, and his Grandad. We had a fantastic time!
July
Tracey and Quinn came back with us from New Zealand in June, and Patrick has spend time in July getting to know his nephew!
August
August has been a busy month with lots of things happening. A fantastic new billy cart, the Olympics, meeting Andy Griffiths, getting his Bronze Boomerang, playing in the snow for the first time, and of course - the big day tomorrow!

HAPPY LAST DAY BEING 8 PATRICK!

XXXX XXXX

Confused Kiwi

I was going through some photos for Lauren's "Student Of The Week" project, and found this! I thought you all deserved a laugh! For Kimberley's 18th birthday, you had to go as something starting with the same letter as your name. Shayne surprised her by being in New Zealand for the party, and also with his outfit!

It was a surprise for all of us!!!

My Kind Of Cookie!

Smartie Peanut Butter Butternut!

Patrick has been experimenting with culinary creations lately. "Peanut butter butternut's" are a favourite - and are very nice! A bit like a Kingston with a peanut butter twist. Today he added a new dimension to his creativity - smarties! Not sure that I'd like that one, but he loved it!

Apparently it tastes "really good!" Feel free to request the recipe!!!

Don't eat the yellow snow David!

Delicious!

It came to my attention that I had not included a photo of David on my blog. David is Georgina's brother, and Patrick and Lauren's cousin. David is 11months older than Lauren, or six weeks younger than Paddy - depends how you want to look at it! (9 in October)

David and Georgina had been at Poatina the day before us, and we didn't even know, although we did notice some yellow snow David!!!

*Photo credit to Georgina and her flash new camera!

Snow Business.

Let the fights begin!

Ready for action! The beginning of something big... hmmm...this is harder than it looks! Looks a bit like Bart Simpson! The finished product - Jarryd Roughead??? Not a happy snow bunny! Lauren does not like having her photo taken!Run Lol - RUN!!! The view from Poatina looking across to Ben Lomond

We've been meaning to get to the snow all Winter, and finally got there today. We went up past Poatina to the Great Lakes, stopping when we saw enough snow to play in, away from all the other people with the same idea!

It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day, with enough snow on the ground to have a good play, a snow fight or two, and to build a snowman. On the way back down, we saw it snowing across the lakes.

I remember going to Poatina as a kid, playing in the snow and going into the power station back when you could have tours of it. I even have a photo of me as a baby in our old VW Beetle in the snow - back before the whole snow experience was ruined for me by a fiercely competitive snowballer pelting me in the eye with a rock-solid snow ball - you know who you are - Mark!

Poor Lol wasn't keen on the snow down her back, and I have some great video for their 21sts, with lots of screaming and crying! Not unlike me after the game today! I named the snowman Jarryd Roughead as they both spent a lot of time standing still, on their own, in the cold today!!! I'm just glad we made the most of the snow, and didn't rush home to watch the game!!!