A little of our story

giving the "baby" a bath

2012-02-06T13:05:00.003+11:00

Since Sam was in hospital for so long, which required me to be there pretty much all day everyday, the kids spent a lot of time at my parents house so Matt could also come into the hospital. While Zack was staying there one afternoon he asked aunty Erin if he could give the baby a bath. The baby which was Ariel. he is so facinated with bathing Sam and always has to get a chair to "help" me bath.

Samuel Murray Jury

2012-02-06T12:21:00.009+11:00

A month ago yesterday we welcomed the last member of our family. Little Samuel Murray Jury on the 5th January 2012 at 9:13am via C-Section weighing 4080g. He was a big boy but not my biggest!. All our boys have family names as their middle names and he is named after my grandpa ( Docking). He came out looking very chubby but so gorgeous. It was by far the most relaxing of all my c-sections. The anethesist was awesome. I didnt even feel the spinal go in....his supervisor on the other hand was not so good and I felt every try he made of trying to get my canular in.....it only took 5 goes and left my hand very sore and bruised.

The boys were very excited to visit and meet their little brother....and very happy to have another boy and not a sister as it means the big boys will get their own rooms when we do some minor renovatng !

unfortunately on day 3 doctors decided that Sam had dropped too much weight. He dropped a third of his weight and was admitted to the special care unit to have a feeding tube inserted. Sam was tube fed and breast fed for 5 days. We then got weekend leave however on returning to the hospital on the monday he had lost more weight so he had to stay.

Sam was also born with a condition called Bilateral Hydronephrosis. Which essentially means water on the kidneys. through out my pregnancy we were monitored very closely not knowing when he may need to be born, and unsure what the outcome would be. we were given so many different scenarios of what may happen. Only 2-3 hours after he was born he had his first renal ultrasound. over the next 3 weeks he endured endless blood test, ultra sounds and invasive test to determine what kidney function and what damage he had. From the test we found out that he had grade 5 bladder reflux on his right kidney, and that kidney only has 25 % fuction, and the left kidney had whats called a PUJ obstruction in his ureter with 75% function in that kidney. The Damage in both kidneys is irreversable. His Surgeon decided from these test that he needed surgery to try stop any further damage to his "good" kidney and on January 25th he had surgery to place a stent in his ureter. this is a stop gap to allow him to grow a little before he has major surgery to repair the ureter in the next few months. That day was certainly not how i expected to be spending my wedding anniversary. Ive never had any of my kids go under a general so I was more then a little worried. Thankfully that Surgery has been successful and 2 days later he was FINALLY discharged from hospital with what felt like half a pharmacy as he has been on antibiotics since birth and will continue to be possibly for the rest of his life and he also has to take sodium ( which taste like liquid playdough).

a big birthday

2011-12-21T07:57:00.005+11:00

back in october we got to celebrate my Grandpas 85th birthday. We had a special family party for him with all but 2 grandkids making it for the occasion. It was the first time in a long time that the family had all been together, and it was a lovely night to catch up especially with those that I dont get to see very often. And the kids got the opportunity to meet some of there second cousins for the first time and they had a great time playing. Grandpa has dementia and doesnt remember us now but he was very aware that everyone in the room that night loved him and that he had created a beautiful family.

2 weeks to go

2011-12-21T06:50:00.003+11:00

only 2 more weeks to go until this little person arrives in our family. It has by far been the longest pregnancy ( im sure it has been more then 9 months!). I also had forgotten how hard it can be being pregnant with a toddler, and a high maitenance toddler at that.
It has been fun though trying to help Zack understand what is happening and setting up his little room so that we can fit a cot and a bed in there. Thankfully they wont be sharing for long as Zacks room is SO small, but for the first month or so they will. all I can say is bring on January 5th.

Our Weekend In Melbourne

2011-09-01T10:47:00.005+10:00

I have fallen a little behind this year with the blogging. I just cant seem to find the time to sit down on the computer, So I am playing a little catch up at the moment.

Back in June I took the older 2 boys to melbourne for a couple of nights.It was their first trip back since we moved 4 1/2 years ago. When I first decided to do it it seemed like a fun adventure ( which is was) however very tiring as by the time we went I was well into my first trimester and very tired.

We stayed at Plum hotel and apartments in Southbank and got an awesome deal thanks to Auntie Leah who works there. The first full day we had there we went to the Aquarium which the boys just loved. I had never been myself and loved it also. after the Aquarium we headed to the outlets to do some shopping ( the boys were very keen to spend their hard earned money). the boys bought themselves all sorts of bits and pieces. For the sports mad Daniel the highlight of his day was riding the train with all the football fans on it heading to a game. they werent even Collingwood supporters but he got into the spirit of football chatting with the supporters.

The next day we headed off to the Zoo taking the tram ( I learned at the end of the day the train would have been easier!) The zoo was a lot of fun and Daniel had a huge facination with the apes. By the time we had walked around the zoo, had lunch and bought half the gift shop it was time to head back to the hotel to grab our bags and head to the airport home....or so we thought.

at the airport we found out that our flight had been cancelled ( thanks Tiger) and that due to the back log of flights that had been cancelled the previous week due to the ash cloud there were no flights on any airline for days. So off we went to a new hotel that tiger was putting us up in ( although yet to get my refund for that still). We stayed at the Mantra hotel in conjoined rooms. IT was probably the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. the cleanest , nicest bathroom, and nothing like a king bed all to myself , watching tv and eating chocolate. It was a nice relaxing night.

Thanks to Tiger we had an extra day and we got to spend the day with auntie Kelly and the cousins ( auntie kelly took them out of school for the day). it was so nice to just relax and let the kids play together as they dont get to do that very often.

That night after saying goodbye to our cousins we headed back into the city and down to port Melbourne to catch the boat home. I wish I could say i love the boat but I dont, especially when it is rough.

When we arrived in Devonport we caught about our billionth taxi to mcdonalds to wait for Matt and Zack to come and pick us up. We were all very tired and relieved when they arrived and eager to start the drive home.
It was a great weekend, although next time I think i will take matt with me if I am taking kids.

Our traditional photo at Ross Bridge. Matt makes us stop there every time we pass and take a photo. It was very wet and cold that day

Race Day

2011-03-09T18:11:00.004+11:00

Today was the boys School Athletics carnival. I think it was the first day of the year I havent had to drag Daniel out of bed and push him to get ready for school. He was SO excited. Being that the school is my old primary school Daniel had hoped to be placed into the same house that I had been in ( as well as all 3 Docking families) however the boys were placed into another house so we spent the day going for Sherwood ( the green house). Although being back there and hearing the shouts of my old team (Gordon) bought back a lot of childhood memories....its nice to be taken back there sometimes!.
The boys did really well. They ran in every race they could and although they didnt win any races they had a great day. Zack was happy to be able just to run around outside for hours. playing in the trees and having fun with Grandma Jury who came along to watch.
It was a great day , but by 3pm there were 3 tired worn out boys and a worn out mum!

School Time

2011-02-25T10:31:00.005+11:00

The First day of school this year was a little tougher then most with the start of a new school. WE made a decision to move schools a couple of years ago as we were really happy with their old school and finally made the move this year. From the day we collected the school uniforms I could tell that we had made the right decision. It s a much nicer school in a much better area and has a much better feel for it. It was the school that I went to as a kids along with my brothers and all my Docking cousins so it has been nice being able to show the kids around.
I was so greatful in both the kids classes this year that they werent the only new kids which has made the transition easier. AFter. only a week at school Daniel has already come home with his first birthday party invite for the year! It is such a relief that they have started making friends and settling in well.

Russell Falls

2011-02-25T09:58:00.003+11:00

During the School Holidays we didnt get to go away this time but we did manage a few small day trips. One of them was up to Mt Field National Park to see Russell Falls. The kids just love the falls. All 3 loved walking along the track looking for platypus and other animals. Zack loved being free to run around outside ( and the challenge was to keep him out of the water.)

bits and pieces

2011-02-01T16:25:00.003+11:00

These are just some random shots over the past few months. I have been very slack with my blog. It seems I just don't have much time at the moment. But my goal is to get back into it this year as it is a great way to record bits and pieces that we get up to. We haven't been up to much these holidays as we have had so much sickness ( including out car).

my little man

2011-02-01T16:18:00.003+11:00

My Little ratbag. He is only a few months off being two and definately my biggest handful yet. This little guy loves to climb and do everything he knows he shouldn't do! He loves to take his clothes off and loves to show everyone his buttone (nipples)!. Yet no matter what he does it is so hard to get annoyed or angry with him when he flashes his gorgeous grin. I just love having a little person in the house again. It is so much fun.

a not quite right family home evening

2010-10-22T20:00:00.003+11:00

About a month ago Matt and I decided to head up to Mt Wellington and then head to Mures for tea with the kids for Family home evening. The kids were dying to go up the Mountain and we had had the best snow fall all winter. We packed the kids in the car and headed up towards the mountain. when we were almost at the turn off onto the mountain road our car decided to overheat making us have to pull over. While we were waiting for the car to cool down there was games of I spy, drawing on the windows as they fogged up, a little whining that it was taking too long and some climbing over seats. When the car had finally cooled down we decided it was best not to risk going up the mountain and headed back down to the city. We Landed at Mures and got take away and headed home. While the kids were disappointed that we didnt make it to the snow. We still had a fun family activity probably spending more time talking and playing then if we had made it to the top.

45 Waverley Street

2010-09-08T16:58:00.003+10:00

My Parents moved out of the house that they have lived in for the past 20 years (or so) this week. While I don't get overly attached to homes, it is a little sad to know someone else lives there now. But also wondering if their kids will realise that as they get older that they can sneak in and out of the down stairs bathroom window ( yes it just wiggles open), wondering if the new new owners will paint the hideous laundry a colour other then the yellow that has been there since before mum and dad moved in, and how long before they realise that the house floods downstairs with every hard rain. Sad to see it go. It has a lot of memories there, But I am also glad that mum and dad's new drive way is flat and I will be able to walk it in heels or slippery shoes and not worry I will fall.
So goodbye 45 Waverley street, Bellerive.

Happy Birth Daniel

2010-07-27T11:50:00.003+10:00

My super sweet loving angel who with the blink of an eye turns into Mr disobedience turned 7 last week. His birthday fell on a school day and he was torn from wanting to go to school to be the birthday boy to staying home and wearing his supercool masterchef gear and cooking. of course he didnt have a choice and off to school he went! I stayed home and struggled with another birthday cake ( I have since found someone who will hopefully make my future cakes for me). this cake was just terrible. but it tasted good and that is what counts!
We went out for tea for our traditional Hogs breath birthday dinner and auntie Erin came along.

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Bonorong Park

2010-07-26T12:42:00.003+10:00

A little behind in the posting. But during the school holidays I took Ethan and Daniel to Bonorong Wildlife Park. The kids had been asking to go for such a long time and each holidays something came up . So this time I made sure we went. I hadnt been since I was about 8 and wasnt sure what it would be like, but it was so much fun. The kids loved it. They werent quite brave enough to feed a kangaroo but they enjoyed watching me do it. fo an outing that I though would be about 40 minutes we were there well over 2 hours!. we only live 5 minutes from this place and drive past it all the time and cant believe it took 3 1/2 years to get there. but definately will go back....maybe next time I will take Zack as well as i know he will love it.

Road Trip

2010-06-07T11:17:00.005+10:00

LAst week we took a road trip up the east coast. It was just a day trip so we only went as far as Swansea but it was lots of fun. We went up to Orford to the beach there where Zack went to the beach for the first time and he definately did not like it. As soon as he saw the water he started and screaming in a panic and did not settle until Matt took him back to the car. So much for my great idea of playing in the sand with him! At least other boys had fun. They loved looking for shells and took home a collection. At Swansea we all went for a walk along the beach. Zack in the pram where he felt safe. The boys had a great time. Ethan was adventurous climbing the rocks and wanting to climb higher then I was comfortable. Daniel Loved the water and ended up quite wet. The water was gorgeous. I forget how nice it is on these east coast beaches. The water was freezing but lets face it, it was only 15 degrees that day. Not exactly a warm beach day. but It was beautiful to look out towards coles bay. definately want to head up there next time. The boys were awesome driving as it was a LOT of driving in one day. Zack slept a lot and the boys sat in the very back of the car watching a movie on the way home.

Looking Back

2010-06-06T22:55:00.003+10:00

I love looking back at old photos from when we were kids, and tonight I came across this photo of the 'Docking' grandkids with Grandpa. I love how young we all look ( even Grandpa). I love the bad clothes, boofy hair ( of some) and Joel's pose! The thing I love most of this picture is going back to a time when we used to get together fairly often and have fun. It's been a long time since we have been together like this

farewell Auntie Loulah

2010-05-25T23:15:00.002+10:00

Last week Leah (or auntie Loulah as she has been known) left the nest to fly north...Not far away , but far enough that we need a plane or a boat to visit. Leah moved to Melbourne. Feeling a little jealous that she is there and I am not as I just LOVED living in Melbourne and do miss it. The boys have already been asking me why she had to go and when is she coming back. I didnt have the heart to tell them that apart from visits I bet she wont come back.! I am certain she will fall inlove with melbourne like I did and she will stay for good! I would probably still be there if it wasnt for a husband a 2 little boys who only want to live in Tasmania ( which I love too !)

Jury Cousins

2010-04-16T11:18:00.003+10:00

Its not very often when all the cousins can get together. Its been about a year since the last time. But when they do get together they have so much fun. However trying to get a nice group shot of this many kids for Grandma is next to impossible with too many cameras going at once and lots of kids that just cant sit still without pulling a face, a baby crying or someone with their eyes closed :)

Growing So Fast ( 3 post below)

2010-04-09T11:23:00.003+10:00

My gorgeous Little Man . He loves to be outside and to crawl around on the grass.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-09T11:03:00.004+10:00

(Little Mia Margaret Richardson)

Our Easter weekend has been quite a busy weekend. We had a lovely BBQ lunch at our place on Good friday with the Jury family. It was the first time in months ( probably since christmas) since we had got together, and it was also great because Kelly and the kids had come down from Melbourne. Kelly being down meant that I have been able to meet my newest niece little Mia.
Easter morning was an early one with the boys wanting to rush outside to see if easter bunny had left any eggs outside. after making sure that they had warm clothes on they were off checking every where to find where the eggs were hidden. Before we knew it it was time to get ready for church. Church for me ended after the first hour with Zack just suffering badly from his teeth coming in and lack of sleep. So I took him home ( screaming) to put to sleep. That evening was Dinner with the Docking side which was a welcome home dinner for Brett.( Scott came home a few days later) Zack pretty much cried the whole time so no photos were taken.
Thankfully by monday Zack seemed to be feeling better and with matt home for a few dayswe spent some time with the kids.

TURNING ONE

2010-04-09T10:40:00.004+10:00

On Easter Saturday my little baby turned 1. I can't believe it has been a whole year. It has gone way too fast. We had a fairly low key day. Being that his birthday fell over easter I wasnt able to get my usual saturday morning shift off at work since everyone got in before me...So we just had a nice quiet day at home which was much more relaxing then trying to stress over a party. Zack ( not understanding birthdays) was more then happy to comply with this. He spent most of the day in bed sleeping and when he was up he was pretty miserable due to a few teeth coming in. But despite him not feeling well he enjoyed his presents and enjoyed eating his birthday cake....this boy really loves his sugar! It was a lovely queit day with some visitors in the afternoon, including his uncle Brett who he met for the first time on Saturday( he returned from his mission that morning) and spent a lot of time watching him from a distance making sure that Brett was ok! All kids were in bed by 7pm and then it was time to start getting ready for the easter bunny.

10 YEARS

2010-01-27T10:15:00.004+11:00

This week marks Matt and my 10 year wedding anniversary. I can still remember when we first got married and would talk about things we would do on our 10 year anniversary and how far away it seemed, and now here it is. Infact looking back to when we first got married and those "early years" feels like another life time ago. Its cool to look back and see where we started as poor newlyweds with matt at uni and living in a rat infested unit to now where we have 3 kids, great incomes and buying a home.
In all the reflecting in recent weeks over our marriage I have come to realise a few things over the last 10 years :
1. Matt and I have not had any time away together just the 2 of us since our honeymoon
2. All our family holidays have been to visit family. We havent had a big family holiday just for us( other then weekend local trips)
3. We have moved 6 times, 3 have been interstate, been members of 4 different wards and have had 5 cars.
4. Within our family we have had 4 weddings and a funeral ( isnt that a movie??)
5. apart from the first 2 months of marriage we have surivied with only one car for 10 years.
and
6. Matt hasnt worn a wedding ring for 9 years and 9 months ( he lost it after only 3 months!)

I have decided that this year during our 10th year Matt and I are going to get away just the 2 of us even if only for a weekend and even if it is only to melbourne.(and try to do that at least once a year) I look forward to some non kid time....and we need to take a nice family holiday (probably next year).

(I was trying to find wedding photos however my scanner does not work so i just took a few photos!)

First Happy bath ever

2010-01-27T10:09:00.002+11:00

Last night was the first time since he was born that he didnt cry. He actually loved the bath. He spent time splashing and touching bubbles.It was so good to see and such a relief that bath time is now going to be much easier

Morning at Richmond

2010-01-20T12:46:00.003+11:00

This Morning I took the kids to Richmond. They have been stuck t home a lot of the holidays so i thought a morning out would help with their cabin fever. WE went to a few fav shops. I mean you can't go to richmond without heading to the lolly shop. There is SO much to chose from the kids took ages! Then off we went to the bakery ( which I think is one of the best bakerys around) and they kids had lamingtons and biscuits. After which we walked down to the river and walked along the track. The boys still love seeing the ducks..especially the baby ducks. We forgot to take bread so they just had fun watching some random cat chase them. Zack also got to experience grass for the first time and wasnt real sure about it.! I didnt get too many smiles from him while he was on it.! With lots of racing each other on the grass they are thankfully warn out and have said this is the BEST day of their holidays

Baby Grace

2010-01-18T13:21:00.003+11:00

This is my beautiful niece Grace Belinda Docking. Isnt she just adorable. I got to visit Belle (and Shaun) in hospital on Saturday afternoon and have the longest hugs!. Holding her certainly makes Zack seem SO big. She is tiny. The photos aren't the greatest quality as I took them on my phone.

Turning 9

2010-01-14T11:07:00.003+11:00

Last week we had our first family birthday of the year with Ethan turning 9. (I still cant believe how old he is ). Normally we have had a big family birthday party /bbq thing on his birthday but this year I was ready for something a little more quiet. Thankfully as he had recently had a lot of the family up after his baptism a few months ago he was happy. Ethan chose to go out to Hogs Breath for tea. This a definate family favourite. The boys LOVE going there. WE took along both sets of Grandparents along with Auntie Erin ( who has earned the title as Fav auntie!) We ate way too much and went home feeling sick, but it was a nice relaxing night. We then went home to blow out the candles. However we were all too full to eat any cake.

Ethan is one of the most greatful kids I have ever known. All day he kept thanking me for his presents and telling me that this was the best birthday ever. He is so sweet.

The best bit for me however is that I had no dishes to clean at the end of the day :) The perfect birthday in my opinion!

A christmas Wedding

2009-12-24T12:47:00.002+11:00

Last Saturday I got a new sister inlaw which is very exciting. Unfortunaely I didnt get to go to the wedding as it was a last minute wedding very close to christmas ( In Melbourne). However Matt got to and I have got to enjoy all the photos and a wedding video!

Christmas Tree

2009-12-11T11:57:00.006+11:00

This year putting the tree up was definately more of a chore then fun. We had been sick all week and I had no motivation, But after much nagging from the boys I agreed. This year the scene for putting the tree up was much differentthen in past years with matt lying in the recliner with a blanket sleeping off his sickness, and So not to disturb Matt or annoy me too much the boys watch a christmas movie while I put the tree together on my own...once the tree was up I told the boys to go for it with the decorations. Ethan ever so eager was putting up all the decorations, especially excited to put up the homemade items ones.

Daniel on the other hand decided he would just play in the tinsel like a 2 year old!. During the decorating of the tree I stepped back and trod of my camera which I had stupidly placed on the floor and broke it!.So the only photos I have in on my phone which didnt turn out that great...(need to add a new camera to my christmas shopping!). Thankfully once the tree was up the excitement of Christmas started. I just love Christmas. I love the lame Christmas movies on TV, I love Christmas carols, Christmas cooking, Turkey, Tinsel and wrapping presents. The only thing that is missing from the perfect christmas is snow....but I am not holding my breath for that!

what to buy for a 14 year old boy

2009-12-09T16:45:00.001+11:00

I have been thinking all week and I still cant figure out what to buy for my Nephew for christmas. Teen boys are way to hard to buy for.

Is santa real???

2009-12-07T09:52:00.004+11:00

That is the question that I was asked last night by Ethan. In the past I had always said to him just "if you dont believe santa wont come". But he was full of technical questions of santa last night so I had to break the bad news to him who Santa REALLY was! It was heartbreaking to break that news only weeks before Christmas. I was really hoping for him to one more magical christmas before reality set in....But I did try to soften the blow by telling him that now he was a big boy he was allowed to know the special secret about Santa that he needs to help keep from others so he was a little excited about having a special secret to keep.....but I couldnt miss the disappointment on his face....then he asked about easter bunny. So in one night he lost Santa and Easter Bunny. I didnt have the heart to tell him about the tooth fairy also :)

A Hard working Missionary :)

2009-11-05T10:43:00.004+11:00

I was browsing blogs this morning in attempt to put off house work, when i accidently clicked on a random blog instead of the one I actually wanted to visit. When the page flicked up of this random blog I was presented with photos of Elder Scott Docking working hard on his misson :) Here is what I found....( yes I stole the photos!)

( Maybe a way to get people to listen to his message ??? !!)

7 MONTHS TODAY

2009-11-03T07:12:00.002+11:00

Today we have reached 7 months. Zack Is still a super easy baby. At 7 Months Zack has his first tooth , which came through last week and another very close. He is eating solids now and LOVES his food. His little legs are becoming quite chubby! every day he is getting closer to rolling over but apart from sliding around a little on his back he is still stationary which is kind of nice. Unlike his Cousin Levi who is such the little mover and shaker Zack is quite content just lying there!

All Things Harry Potter

2009-10-16T16:06:00.004+11:00

( if you look carefully you can see all Daniel's Harry Potter scars. You may need to click on the photo to see it as the pen doesnt show up well)

Recently the boys have become Harry Potter obsessed. It all started when some of the older kids at school started calling him Harry Potter because of his scar on his forehead. he got quite upset until I told him that HP was cool (but really what would I know I HATE HP!). I bought Ethan the first DVD and both boys begged daily from that day forward to watch it. Daniel's obsession has grown however as he draws the HP scar on his forehead. He also draws it all over his body, all over his bed sheets, the walls, books. He often will draw ethans scar on his head as well and asks me why he doesnt have a cool scar like Ethan's. Last week Daniel fell over and hit his head on his bed and the first thing he asked when he stopped crying was to go to the hospital to have his head stitched to get a scar and was terribly dissappointed when I told him all he needed was some frozen peas for his head.

The School Bully - a mothers fight

2009-10-16T11:37:00.003+11:00

All year Ethan has been battling a kid at school .This kid has not only spent the year teasing him but also kicking, punching, shoving, throwing mud and getting his gang of little friends to chase, circle and trap Ethan as they try to scare and hurt him. For a long time Ethan didn't tell me about this, but as soon as he did I marched down to his school angry that this had been allowed to happen. I went to see his teacher who played dumb to all this ( come on some of this was happening in her classroom). She is either lying or really does not pay attention to the kids. However I did eventually get a call from the schools vice principal advising that the issue was being dealt with and that I was not the first parent to complain about this child.
Things seemed to settle down for a while until yesterday when Ethan advised that it was happening again. So this morning I went in to see the teacher again who then turned to me and told that Ethan needed to stay out of his way, and what was Ethan doing to provoke it and that she couldnt do anything unless she saw it with her own eyes. As I left school this morning I was mad. I hopped in the car and all the way home I was fuming at this condesending teacher. How dare she blame Ethan who is the worlds nicest kid and NEVER intentionally is mean to anyone ( other then his brother!).
I got so mad that I rang the school and demanded to speak to the vice principal.. I made my complaint about the boy and then made my complaint against that horrible teacher. I very firmly advised the school that they had a duty of care to protect my child and that if it was an adult doing these things it would be a police matter. I then Advised that I would go to whatever lengths to protect him, stepping on whoever I needed to in the process.......

Now hoping there will be changes. I think the school has got the message... I am one mother not to be messed with.

Our Trip To Launceston

2009-10-11T15:03:00.004+11:00

Visiting the Gorge. The first time for me and the boys. The boys loved it. Especially since it had recently flooded so the water was very high. I have to say I can't believe I have lived in TAssie almost all my life and never been there before. It was beautiful and look forward to going back there again and walking around the rocks (without the kids).

The boys were a bit nervous on the bridge , especially as it was a little windy!

We stayed at Grindelwald in a gorgeous Spa Villa. IT was brand new and SO nice. It had a massive spa which I enjoyed! I have always wanted to stay at Grindelwald ever since I was a kids and I use to see the ads for it on TV....but being from a family of 9 kids our holidays were camping in a tent...not nice hotels! Its just a shame it was wet the whole time we were there...

Ethan and Daniel shared a double bed which meant it took forever for them to go to sleep.

We took the boys the "monkey" park before we left and they thought it was awesome. Daniel tried to make friends with some of the monkey's and they spent probably 30 minutes just watching and laughing at the monkey's getting up to "monkey business"! One Monkey was feeling quite frisky and the boys thought it was great that he kept "hugging" the other monkey's!

I have only been to Launceston a few times in my life and each time I am not overly impressed. But I did love the gorge. But Hobart is definately the better place to be :) Matt hated driving around Launceston and kepted muttering how he hated it! I think he got more frustrated driving there then he ever did in Melbourne. WE were definately glad to get back to Hobart and its sunshine as Launceston was just wet the entire time we were there.

Footy Colours Day

2009-09-04T19:37:00.002+10:00

Today was footy colours day at school. The boys were so excited to get involved this year. Last year Ethan was too shy to wear anything but his school uniform ( which is collingwoods colours anyway!) Last night I bought them Collingwood tops as that is the team they were born into. Some kids are born into royalty, ours are born into collingwood! About 8.30pm last night I went to check on Daniel and there he was in bed with his t-shirt on, magpies beanie and scarf. Terribly disappointed that he couldnt sleep in them he was up first thing this morning to get dressed. This morning I tried to get some pics but Daniel was too hyped for senisble picture. The more I asked him for one nice smile the crazier he got. When we arrived at school the grade 3 girls were all dressed in collingwood colours from head to toe singing the the collingwood song over and over to everyone in the car park which the boys thought was fantastic.....seems their school is a high percentage of collingwood supporters with the song even being played over the PA today :)

3 new post....a catch up

2009-08-06T11:21:00.001+10:00

I bought Zack a jolly Jumper last week. He is now over 4 months old and does get bored on the floor and the rocker. He wasnt so sure about it at first but now loves to just spin himself around and will bop on it to the wiggles.

Daniels actual birthday (22 July)

2009-08-06T11:08:00.003+10:00

Playing deal or no deal at last!

Daniel's "woolworths cake"

Daniel transformed into Bumblebee

For Daniel's actual birthday since it fell during the week and I dont like going out on school nights with the kids we stayed home and had home made pizza for tea ( daniel's choice) and cake and icecream for dessert. I refused to do another fancy cake but Daniel didnt mind he was happy with a mud cake from woolworths. Matt had found some basketball candles which decorated it up a little....Daniel loves basketball at the moment after becoming a little obsessed with some family movie called Like Mike....Lame movie but he loves it. Daniel's hightlights of the day was at school getting to wear the Birthday sticker. Getting the Bumblebee (transformers) dressup outfit and of course getting the game Deal or no deal. Daniel is completely obsessed with the show and watches it everynight. He wants us to move back to Melbourne just so he can go on the show! He has been asking for the game for so long.

Daniel's 6th Birthday

2009-08-06T10:50:00.012+10:00

We had to move the sails of the ship so it didnt go up in flames as he lit it!. had that happen once before

lots of smoke after he has blown out the candles

Livy looking gorgeous with her hair in pig tails!

having fun together on the trampoline

Zack and Levi behaving nicely together

So I am a little behind on the blogging ( thanks to a week tonsilitis). So playing catch up here. Daniel had his 6th birthday the other week. We had a family BBQ lunch the Saturday before his birthday with mostly my side of the family. It was a nice quiet afternoon with no stress and hassle and plenty of food. The kids had fun playing outside and eating food. All Daniel cared about for his party was that cousin Levi was there. You would think that having his own baby brother at home would mean he didnt care too much for any other babies but he is always wanting to see baby Levi so he was very excited that Levi was there. He also had a great afternoon playing with Livy. She is at a really good age now where her and Daniel play really well together. Daniel chose a pirate ship cake as his birthday cake. Not my best cake I have ever done but I have certainly done worse!

3 1/2 months

2009-07-14T10:33:00.004+10:00

Zack loves lying on the floor and playing with his new toys that daddy bought him

Zack had his first cold / ear infection/ bad cough this past week resulting in his first lot of antibiotics. Despite being sick (and still is) he has been so good.

zack at 3 months is now

*Sleeping through the night ( from about 9.30pm to 7.30am)

*putting himself to sleep (most of the time )

* smiling and talking heaps

* moves head first along the floor while lying on his back

*loves to play with his toys

*still hates his baths and lets us know about it

*loves to "play" with his older brothers

*LOVES to be cuddled

He has become such an easy baby. Hardly ever cries and is so happy all the time.

A catch Up

2009-07-14T10:09:00.004+10:00

The last couple of weeks have been lots of fun as Auntie Kelly , Jessica, Ella and Noah came to visit. The boys have loved having their "melbourne" cousin around has it had been a LONG time since we had last seen them. Daniel Especially loved playing with Noah this time as he is all grown up and no longer a little toddler so they were able to play cars together.

Zack has learned a new trick in his rocker as you can see by lying sideways at the bottom and then of course he isnt comfy so he cries! Seems it is now time to belt him in

Daniel has suddenly got into dress ups. He found this old wizard outfit that Auntie Kelly gave him a few years ago but never used...now he wears it all the time and is hanging out to get the transformer outfits.

The Holidays would have been more fun if it hadnt rained but we still had fun!

2009-06-17T12:25:00.004+10:00

Daniel and I did some cooking when Ethan went to auntie Lou's for the weekend.

Ethan having fun playing Guitar Hero

Eating Icecream (auntie Erin's treat) at Mures after fish and chips for lunch

At the museum

and I did get to buy myself a funky new bag these holidays ( made by Lisa Yost).

The boys were unimpressed with the weather these holidays. We had planned a lot of out door activities and lets just say we didnt get to do any of them due to all the rain. We did still find stuff to indoors but after 2 weeks indoors they were busting to go to school. Ethan did get to spend a few days at Auntie Lou's where he got to go to the movies and play in the bush with Connor, and we made it to the museum followed by lunch at mures...but we had lots of dvd's and ethan was even 'allowed' to play guitar hero on the nintendo WII which he loves...but normally only gets to have a go when Matt is playing as I dont like the idea of playstations etc. ( we have both nintendo and playstation but not one kids game....I guess I am a mean mum!).

a few more.....much more of an improvment!!!!

2009-06-10T15:54:00.002+10:00

Docking family ( those who were living in Tassie at the time)

Zack in the bath... he is still yet to love the bath

Digital Scrapbooking

2009-06-06T21:30:00.003+10:00

Tonight I finally got a chance to start trying some digital scrapbooking. this is my first effort. not overly exciting and it is done using all freebies. once I feel confident to do it i will purchase some nice packs etc. but at the moment I am just trying to get the hang of photoshop...which I have found SO frustrating!

On the first day of school holidays this is what happens

2009-06-01T11:57:00.005+10:00

A visit from Grandma and Grandad Jury and cousin Connor. 30 minutes later a trip to the after hours doctors and 4 stitches. A result of running up and down the hall way ( despite repeatedly being told to stop running) and colliding with a door.

Ethan and Connor eating pizza after his return from the doctors.

After watching Ethan have his stitches I now know that if I had gone ahead to study nursing in UNI like I had always wanted I would not have last more then 5 minutes. I was definately quirmish! But the good to come out of this is now the boys are listening to me when I tell them not to run.... Lets hope no more dramas these holidays!

Up to no good

2009-05-28T12:16:00.002+10:00

I figured that since Daniel was nearly six that Daniel was old enough to have his old textas as in the past he had drawn lines on the walls and all over himself. Well boy was I wrong. He hadnt had the textas for more then a couple of days before temptation got the better of him. And instead of a few lines we got a mural with his signature and all!!!! Well gone are the textas and he is back to pencils again. Maybe I will trust him again when he is 16! At least it was in the playroom in a spot I dont have to look at everyday!

7 1/2 weeks

2009-05-27T07:45:00.004+10:00

Now 7 1/2 weeks old. Some days it seems a lot longer then that! He is a fairly easy baby during the day. his "off days" are not nearly as bad as I have experience in the past, and even nights aren't really that bad. I have just been spoiled in the past with 2 babies that sleep through the night pretty much from day one. Zack on average wakes up once a night . occasionally he provides me with the gift of sleep and will sleep all night. other nights he choses to take that away and is up many times! I can only hope it will settle down soon. He has also started smiling this past week, and while we don't get smiles all the time yet I was able to capture one of his first on sunday night.

A Mother's Day Off

2009-05-22T18:02:00.001+10:00

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door.As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?' She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?' 'Yes,' was his incredulous reply?

She answered,

'Well, today I didn't do it.'

My Little Men

2009-05-12T12:07:00.002+10:00

Daniel loves to lie next to Zack on the floor and just chat with him. It is SO cute to watch. He also ALWAYS wants his photo taken with Zack. He is always asking me to get a photo! ( note the quilt Zack is lying on ws started when I was pregnant with Ethan and was finished just before Zack was born...only 8 years of work!)

Zack's First Bath

2009-04-24T10:47:00.002+10:00

Not a fan of the bath!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-24T10:29:00.002+10:00

Zack's first easter egg from Easter Bunny

Easter morning began with an early egg hunt outside in the freezing cold

Over the weekend the boys bought new toys with their money and spent hours playing and fighting

the night before easter the boys sat on the deck like old men and ate their favourite food. sausages on a stick

Zachary Ernest Jury

2009-04-10T17:05:00.002+10:00

Zack with his very own Loopey the Dog.

My helper. Every night Ethan made Zack's bed

A very proud big brother

An even prouder big brother

Born April 3rd 2009 at 9.27 am

8 pounds 6oz. 51 cm long.

Well I must say that I have been a little slack with photos since I got home from hospital, but blogging has been the last thing on my mind. Zack's birth went really well despite it taking an hour for them to put in my Spinal. It was definately one of the most painful hours of my life as they pushed that large needle in and out of my back trying to find the right spot.( leaving me with some rather impressive brusing on my back, and now on going back pain), but other then that all went so smoothly. I had no reaction to the spinal this time which was my biggest fear going in.

A few hours after he was born auntie Erin brought the boys in to see him. They were very excited ( especially Daniel). Infact they were so excited that they made Matt bring them back in that evening. When they came back in the evening they had bought Zack his own Loopey Dog. Now for those not knowing what a Loopey dog is...Loopey is the name Ethan gave to a stuffed Dog when he was 4 and it has become his best friend coming everywhere we go. Daniel last year decided he wanted a dog just like Loopey and we happen to find a baby size Loopey for him and even Uncle Andrew has a Loopey that the boys gave him ( only he named his dog smooch). So it was only fair in the boys eyes that Zack get his own Loopey too!

Anyway after 4 1/2 days I was so over hospital and ready to come home. As soon as I got home I felt SO much better. My back isnt nearly as sore sleeping in my own bed as it was on those horrible hospital beds, and it is so nice not having midwives coming in constantly checking on everything. We have even ventured out a couple of times to do a little pre-easter shopping. Thankfully Zack seems to be sleeping really well and only is waking once during the night. So far he is a really easy baby, and certainly the best feeder out of all of them. He attaches really well which has meant minimal damage this time. However with my milk still yet to settle I am very sore at the moment, hoping it will change soon.

Sports Carnival

2009-04-01T09:57:00.003+11:00

I am a couple of weeks late with this post, but it is a very important one! The boys had their school running carnival a couple of weeks ago and got their first ever ribbons. amongst the "participation" ribbons Ethan got a 2nd and Daniel got a 3rd place. They have been so excited about them and even asked if I would put them on the blog! I didnt get any photos at the carnival as I was having a bad pregnant day and didnt end up going so we took some pics when we got home.. They were very proud of their achievements!

almost over

2009-03-30T11:23:00.004+11:00

I had my final antenatal appointment this morning and was please to know that I am 3 cm dialated! I know this doesnt actually mean a lot as with Ethan I was 3cm for 5 days then induced but it is nice to know that my body is getting ready . Even though I am booked in for my C- section on friday and shouldnt really be hoping to go into labour... I can't help but hope a little as I am SO over it all. I am hating being uncomfortable and not being able to relax and sick of the constant backache. And I know when I go and visit Nikki and little Levi today that I am going to be wanting my baby even more!!!! But I guess no matter what in 3 1/2 days it will be all over and in a non - pregnant world 3 days isn't long.

Brotherly Love

2009-03-25T13:28:00.004+11:00

Ethan was actually getting ready to tickle Daniel in this shot.

lots of hugs and kisses

This is Daniel and "baby teddy". Baby Teddy was Ethan's best friend for his first 4 years of life and came everywhere with us. So it was only fitting that Baby Teddy had his on little "baby outfit" to match Baby Daniel.

With the baby only a week away I have been thinking a lot about the last baby nearly 6 years ago and how Ethan just loved his new baby brother and wondering how both the boys will react this time around to a new little person. I found some pics today of when Ethan first met Daniel and thought I would add them. they are a few of my favourite pictures.

ONLY ..........

2009-03-18T15:51:00.001+11:00

16 Days to go. April 3rd is the day!

Today is a Great Day Because......

2009-03-17T10:11:00.003+11:00

Today is the first day of my maternity leave. For the next six months I dont have to think about or talk about bank accounts, interest rates, homeloans, etc ( except my own of course!). I loved leaving the bank last night ( with a cool bag of goodies for the baby from everyone) knowing that I dont have to return for some time. While I will miss the great pay each fortnight I definately wont miss the pressure and politics of work , and will enjoy being home all the time.

The Second reason why today is so good is because today I will find out the baby's birth date. I am being booked in for my c-section today. It will be so good to know when it's coming so I can feel more orgainsed. I love knowing the day I am going in, and love even more knowing I dont have to worry about going overdue! They are the few positives to having to have a c-section, as even though it will be my third the nerves and the stress over it arent any less third time around!
And finally the third reason why today has become so good is that I received a 15% discount voucher for pumpkin patch today in the mail so I am off to buy some final baby things before my doctors appointment, as I cant let any discount voucher for pumpking patch go to waste!!!!

The proper way to eat cereal

2009-02-17T13:25:00.004+11:00

A spoon just slows you down!

First Day of School

2009-02-11T11:08:00.002+11:00

Well today being the first day of school is a bit of a sad day for 2 reasons. The first reason being that holidays are over and I have to get back to a routine, get up early again and travel back and spend an hour travelling a day back and forth to school. The second reason is I no longer have any children at home ( Yes I do realise it is only temporary for another 8 weeks). I dropped Daniel off for his first day of prep today. Helped him find his hook for is bag and put his books ( that I spent hours covering last night) in his tub. Then I told him I would stay until he was settled as it was a little daunting with what seemed like more parents then children in the room. But he just turned to me and said "I want you to go" and ran off without a goodbye! Now I should have expected it as he was very much the same in Kinder but a hug would have been nice! But at least he was happy and comfortable to be there. Ethan was a little more hesitant when we dropped him off but I think that was more because he is in a 2/3 class ( ethan grade 2) and was a little nervous around the older kids. But he was still happy to be there and when Daniel and I left him he yelled to Daniel that he would see him and recess. So it seems I once again was the only one with first day jitters :)

Painting

2009-02-03T12:30:00.002+11:00

With less then 10 weeks to go until the baby arrives ( baby Violet as Daniel has named it... hoping by giving it a girls name that it will be born a girl!) I have been busy painting the baby's room. This is the first time we have had our own house when having a baby so I am enjoying being able to create a room how I like and paint etc. I have spent the last week pulling shelves down that had been nailed to the wall by the previous owner, painting walls , window sills and some old furniture that I will be using. I have gone for a yellow colour for the walls with white furniture and trimmings.. I have got my new white cot all set up and my new change table ( a very generous gift from Erin) set up and it is actually starting to feel like a room for a baby. The boys have gotten so excited over the past week for the baby, now that they can see a room on its way to being finished for the baby. They love to walk in and just stand there looking at everything. There is still a little bit to go but it is certainly starting to look good. I cant wait until I have finished all the painting so I can start washing clothes, bedding and getting everything made up. I will have to post some pictures when I am done and get some new batteries for the camera!

Happy 8TH Birthday

2009-01-08T13:46:00.006+11:00

IT took Ethan about 5 blows to get the candles out including some help from Daniel
Ethan chose the echinda Icecream cake. My first time trying to any type of icecream cake. Not as easy to decorate as I had anticipated! But he was happy :)

Ethan showing his Police lego truck that he has been wanting for months. He asked Santa for it and was a little disappointed that he didnt get it then but was so excited to get it yesterday.

Yesterday was Ethan's 8th birthday. He was so excited to finally be turning 8. He loved the entire day, even though i said no big party ( or even a large family party) as I was too tired this year. But he had so much fun with all his presents and playing all day. He got way too many presents from everyone and had Auntie Erin and Some of his Jury family come for a Birthday Dinner.

Christmas Day

2009-01-08T13:17:00.005+11:00

Ethan playing outside christmas morning with his new $2.00 water gun from santa. The boys loved their cheap stocking fillers!

Daniel was SUPER excited about christmas. He loved this christmas so much and has now started asking when will christmas be again.

I didnt take many photos this Christmas so I only captured a bit of Christmas morning

Moving Day

2008-11-23T10:59:00.003+11:00

(after a long days work the boys had our local f friendly ducks pay them a visit!)

( actually excited to go to bed)

With the baby on the way we are starting to have to make some changes to our sleeping arrangements to ensure we all fit. Even though we have a 4 bedroom house, Matt has to have a study. He has SO much junk and I hate having a computer in the living areas so the only option was to have the boys share a room. This option is not one Ethan has been very excited about. But yesterday we finally got the bunk beds we had been waiting for to arrive in stock. Matt and Sean spent the morning putting the beds together ( a job I am glad i did not have to assist in and that Sean came and helped instead!). By the time the beds were up both boys were so excited that they moved Daniel's bedding in straight away and set up the beds and there soft toys that sit on their beds. I did however ask them not to move any toys in and that i would work out how to fit all there stuff in during the week......But during my afternoon nap on the couch i wake up to matt informing me that Ethan was creating room for Daniel and most of his stuff had been moved!!! I would have been annoyed but the fact that Ethan was so willing to make room for Daniel overshadowed any frustrations I had.

So this week I get to sort out the boys room and set it up and finish cleaning out Daniel's room for matt to move his study into there. I have decided that I want to study for the nursery so matt gets a new room too :) I am actually looking forward to all the moving being done with so I can start painting and setting up the baby's room.

Dinosaur Day

2008-11-19T10:20:00.003+11:00

Ethan's class has been learning this term about dinosaurs, fossils etc. He has absolutely loved it and spends so much time at home learning about them, drawing them etc. Last Friday his class had a dress up day and they had to dress up as a dinosaur, dragon, princess etc. Ethan is normally not into any kind of dress up, and this time he still didnt want to wear a costume and I thought that once again he was going to miss out on something fun as he never participates in anything like this. But He was happy to have a dinosaur "back". So we spent Thursday night cutting out the "plates" for the back ( not spikes as i was calling them!) and made him a dinosaur back. He was so thrilled with dressing like a dinosaur that he wore it all day!!!

I was so pleased that he actually made an effort to participate :)

Hard Done By

2008-11-17T10:09:00.003+11:00

Daniel is feeling a bit hard done by at the moment. Everyday he and I have the conversation of "why was Ethan born first". As he ask the question his eyes are filling with tears and no answer satisfies him. He is starting to feel like Ethan gets to do all the "fun" stuff and he misses out. And it all started a few weeks ago at school when in assembly Ethan had to go to the stage to receive a certificate for his nomination for Aussie of the Month. Daniel was sitting watching and by the time I picked Daniel up from school he was a little teary. Those tears welling in his eyes broke on the way home and he cried (hard) for the next hour!!! Since then everything Ethan does or has that Daniel doesnt have it starts again.!!! I have tried to tell him that he is lucky because he gets to be a big brother and a little brother which Ethan doesnt get....but his responses is just "I wanted to be born first".........I am just hoping that this phase will end soon as it is one i just cant win!

First scan

2008-10-13T12:41:00.004+11:00

Today I had my first scan which was really exciting. Daniel got to come with me however he was a little confused. I had told him we were going to see the baby in my tummy today. So as they lady is doing the scan Daniel is looking closely to see when my stomach is going to open up so he can take a peak! It was very cute and he just didnt get that the baby was on the screen as it didnt look like a baby!
But baby (or Blob as Daniel has named it) is all good. Got all his (or her) parts. It was such a relief to finally see the baby and actually see the reason for why I have been so sick. And even better was I also got to enjoy the scan. Today is the first day in 4 weeks that I am headache free which is so nice. I feel SO normal today.

( and for those who asked due early April)

I'm still alive

2008-09-20T12:15:00.004+10:00

Well it has been over a month since I have blogged which has been my longest break since I started.Now my absent blogging has not been because I have lost the desire to blog but more because I have been SO sick, tired etc that I have struggle just to get up and keep the kids alive. But now that I am coming to the end of my first trimester I am hoping the energy levels will pick up and the sickness will continue to slow down and I can go back to wasting many hours where I should be doing housework (or something else more productive) posting blogs and catching up on everyone elses!

Catch Up

2008-08-15T10:41:00.002+10:00

I havent blogged for weeks sickness running through the family so i will just do a bit of a catch up. Since we have been sick we havent been doing much but we did last sunday get to celebrate Olivia's 2nd birthday at Corey and Nikki's. That was heaps of fun. Livy is so funny to watch. She is SO animated and LOVES the attention. Even now almost a week later the boys still laugh at how "funny" they thought she was!!!!

The Week before the boys and I went around to meet Aunty Erins new pet. She bought a rabbit and the boys had been dying to see it. they loved it although not brave enough to actually hold the rabbit. but were happy to touch it and thought it was extremely funny when the rabbit peed all over aunty Erin!!!!

Impulse Buying

2008-07-25T07:58:00.003+10:00

So i'm sure we all impulse buy from time to time and I am certainly no exception. Infact i find it hard to not impulse buy. I am not a good saver and figure if I have money then i should spend it. Normally my impulse buying is the usual pair of shoes or a top etc. Nothing too expensive, but it does happen fairly often. Matt on the other hand is not so impulsive with his buying and rethinks buying something until in most cases he usually talks himself out.

The other Day however Matt had lunch with Drew and I get a call to say he is buying a new TV and when he told me the price my jaw nearly dropped! Now dont get me wrong we did need a new tv. As you can see from the pictures that our old TV was small, and it was starting to crackle. I dont know how old it was but we got it second hand from Nan Docking when she died and that was about 6 1/2 years ago. who knows how long she had owned it for.

Matt really seems to go all out when impulse buying! But at least it was something that the whole family can enjoy.

Happy 5th Birthday Daniel

2008-07-23T11:41:00.002+10:00

Yesterday was Daniel's 5th birthday. he has been eagerly counting down the months, weeks and days until this day arrived. all we have heard for months is "how long till my birthday". According to Daniel the age of 4 is "little" and 5 is "big". He has constantly told me that when he is 5 he will be able to do the things he couldnt do as a 4 year old...the main this being that he would always say " I cant stop pooing my pants because I am only 4. I will when I turn 5". So sure enough i put this to the test yesterday and yes he happily went to the toilet and we had no "accidents" yesterday. So hopefully we will continue to have no pooed pants because i am so over cleaning pants on a daily basis.

Anyway Daniel had a lovely day. the kids at kinder sung happy birthday to him and he got some cool lego stuff that he had been asking for for months. And for me the best thing was that he didnt want a fancy cake he just wanted a mud cake from woolworths with kinder suprises on top and smarties...EASY!!!

I've been tagged ( thanks Melissa)

2008-07-21T11:13:00.002+10:00

10 YEARS AGO - I was 18 and working at My goodness Health foods for the Ross's. When I wasnt working i was getting up to all sorts of no good with Melissa.

5 YEARS AGO - Five years ago today i was living in Canberra and was preparing to go to the hospital to have Daniel ( his birthday is tomorrow!) I was feeling very nervous (about the c-section) and SO exhausted.

5 MONTHS AGO - I sent my baby off to school :(. But apart from that 5 months on not much has changed busy living life, working, kids being a wife etc.

5 THINGS ON MY LIST TO DO TOMORROW

1) Make Daniel's birthday cake.
2) Clean up the house for Daniel's party
3) cook a bunch of food
4) post letters to Brett , Scott and Melissa as they have been sitting here for ages!
5) washing, washing and more washing

5 BAD HABITS

1) putting off doing things
2) impulse buying
3) daily chocolate fix
4) not getting enough sleep due to very late nights!
5) using my lack of sleep as an excuse not to clean up!

5 PLACES I HAVE LIVED

1) Hobart
2) Elizabeth Town ( or somewhere up that way!)
3) Canberra
4) Melbourne
5) havent live anywhere else!

5 THINGS PEOPLE MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME

1) I have kicked my coke addiction ( that is the drink not the drug!!!!!)
2) The CD I listen to the most is The Osmonds
3) My first ever concert was Young Talent Time when I was 9
4) I HATE sausages
5) my biggest pet peeve (literally) is cats pooping in my garden, on my lawn , on my deck. If i wanted that i would buy a cat.

5 people i tag

-Nikki
-Hannah
-Ashlee
-Claire
-Erin

Welcome Home Aunty Erin

2008-07-07T11:15:00.004+10:00

I stole these pics from Erin of her awesome trip. Top one of one the gorgeous beaches she went to in Hawaii and below St George Temple. Have to say a little jealous of the trip she has just taken and cant wait to do it myself one day!!!!! to see more pics of Erin's trip check out her blog .

Well Erin ( and Leah) finally came home yesterday after her big trip to America. They boys were very excited to see her as it had been so long and for them seemed even longer then it actually had been. Daniel actually though Erin had moved to DisneyLand!!!! They were even more excited to see aunty Erin when they saw all the cool gifts she had brought back for them. They were very spoilt. Infact we all were very spoilt. It was like christmas! But we are glad Erin is back ( especially as she is our chief babysitter!).

Best Friends

2008-06-27T16:42:00.003+10:00

Last night the boys and I were sitting in the lounge room recovering from our drive home from mums ( where Ethan vomited in the car), when Ethan looks at me and says "I am the luckiest to have Daniel as my brother". Daniel didnt say anything but looked at me with a big grin.... I love that these two love each other so much. Don't get me wrong they fight all the time, annoy each other, hit each other. But I love how they play so well together, and always miss each other when the other isn't around.

( and yes Erin if you are reading this it was your car that Ethan puked in!!!!!)

Risdon Prison

2008-06-26T10:17:00.004+10:00

Yes that is Risdon Prison in the background, and from memory on this day the boys were a little disappointed as there were no prisoners in the yard!!!!!

Well the holidays are definately over and life has returned to being busy. Before the end of the holidays we managed to get to a couple of parks. One being Risdom Brook Dam. Now the reason the boys chose this park is because they have an obsession with Risdon Prison at the moment. The love to drive past it, and even more so they love to go up to Risdom Brook Dam and look into the prison yards and check to see if there are any prisoners in the yards. Ethan also wanted to get his photo taken with the prison in the backgroung so that he could take it to school for "show and tell"!!!

Also during the holidays Grandad Docking came to finish of the cubby house he started at christmas time so now the roof is leak free, and no longer any sharp edges.

Worth a Look

2008-06-15T15:33:00.003+10:00

For anyone having a baby, had a baby or just likes babies! check out this website. Lisa Yost has just started a business of making baby clothes. They are the cutest clothes and of course modelled by the very cute Ripley

http://www.bearbumz.com.au/

elder docking

2008-06-09T13:51:00.003+10:00

Scott sent me a photo this morning so i thought i would add it here. He seems to be doing well ( as well as you can gather from his 2 line emails!). Also i just wanted to add that we are now FINALLY a nappy free home. Daniel has now moved from night nappies to pants... and 4 days on and no major dramas. It has been a LONG time coming. He just did not want to give them up.

Grandad Jury's Birthday

2008-06-06T08:37:00.002+10:00

Grandma letting Holly blow out a candle after Grandad had!
Lou and Amber looking as beautiful as always
Daniel deciding whether he likes the cake or not. after one bite he decided that he didn't and went to play.

The ever so checky Holly looking her very best!!!!!

Last night we got together for Grandad Jury's birthday at Grandma and Grandad's house. It was nice to get together with all the family (the Tassie family!). The boys were looking forward to it all day as they hadn't seen there cousins for a while. It was a nice night. The kids were all really well behaved. It is so nice to have a great family that is enjoyable to be around.

A Year On

2008-06-05T12:13:00.000+10:00

Today i just want to remember my dear friend Kylie who passed away a year ago today.

Wood Stacking.

2008-06-03T11:32:00.000+10:00

This morning we were up early as we had to take matt to work. On our way home I saw some really cheap wood on the side of the road, so i called up the number and 10 minutes later the guy is at my house with the wood. So my morning was suddenly devoted to stacking wood. something that I really did not want to do. But I couldn't leave it for Matt to stack later as one of the cars was stuck in the drive and we needed both today! Ethan was really excited about stacking wood and helped right to the end. His goal was to stack more wood then me! Daniel on the other hand took 2 very small pieces of wood and then declared that he was too tired and went to bounce on the trampoline. But thanks to Ethan's help all wood was stacked and our wood supply now looks a lot more healthy.

Mastering Photoshop

2008-05-27T11:08:00.000+10:00

I've decided that i am not happy with the layout of my blog so i have decided to play around with some blog backgrounds and next week when the kids are on holidays and i finally have more time to sit and play around instead of spending 1 1/2 each day running kids back and forth to school i am going to learn how to use photoshop and maybe even igital scrapbooking to see if i can come up with a page i am happy with. as i have never used either before i am sure it will take a while!!! but i am up for the challenge.

Bribe Chart

2008-05-22T16:54:00.000+10:00

We have started using a reward chart to encourage the boys the behave better and help out more (especially with cleaning up). We are also using it to help encourage then to try in areas where they are struggling a bit. For example Daniel with his toilet training ( which is an ongoing battle) and even little things like getting Ethan to wait outside his classroom for me after school instead of waiting inside and looking out the window. They absolutely love the "train chart" and actually now try to do these things that they normally dont try. It's also become a great bribe when i am totally frustrated with them and they just aren't doing what i ask! hopefully the excitement with the chart will continue as it has been a great week.

The last Bit

2008-05-09T07:52:00.000+10:00

After Anders chocolate factory we took a detour through Dunorlan/Weegena area. I love this area. Some of the best country side around. I would love to live here ( however wont happen as matt is all City!!!).

and our last stop before we arrived home which was matt's choice of the old historic bridge at Ross. It was a fun Family trip and glad we took it as we haven't done anything like it for SO long. But very glad to be home in my own bed and to have the internet again!

Leaving Burnie

2008-05-09T07:14:00.000+10:00

We had a few hours to kill on wed morning while matt was finishing off so we found a "really cool park" to play at!
We also went and had a look at the boats at Winyard warf.
On our trip back to Hobart we made a few stops. One was at Anvers Chocolate Factory. We had lunch there and some Yummy chocolates. I think next time we will just have dessert there as they looked SO good, and main menu is a little fancy for our taste and we just arent fancy eaters!

The grounds were absolutely beautiful at Anvers, and well worth a visit if you are passing by.

Burnie continues

2008-05-08T10:41:00.000+10:00

The boys loved the beach and would have love to have spent more time there. It was a shame it rained so much.
The lighthouse at Wynyard. as you can probably tell by looking at the boys the weather was aweful, windy , wet and cold. but they still loved the lighthouse.
apparently at this park there were meant to be platypus in the river but we didn't see any. but it was a beautiful fern park which would be a great picnic place on a warm day!
One of the beaches along Burnies coastline. taken at sunset. we were waiting to see the penguins come home. and after a lot of patience of standing in the cold we finally spotted on which came and burrowed right under feet which was great!

Family Road Trip

2008-05-08T10:25:00.000+10:00

Last week Matt told me that he had to go away for work, which is does every now and then. Normally to Melb or ACT but this time it was to Burnie and did i want to come with him,...Now to say that I wasn't very excited about Burine is an understatement but since i had to take time off work i figured we may as well go and have a little famliy trip. The boys were so excited about going on a "holiday" and staying in a hotel! WE left on Monday afternoon and of course had to stop at the park which has the trees cut into animals which the boys thought was really cool. Then with a few other toilet trips we got to burnie before dark and found our hotel and some food to eat (yes it was 3 days of take away!). I must say that my only memory of going to Burnie was with my Nan when i was about 11 and i remebered it as industrial and mucky brown water and a pretty ordinary place. Now years later i still dont think of it as a place that i would choose to take the family (except when the tax office is paying) it wasn't as bad as i remembered. The beaches and the water were beautiful and the water SO blue.

The Neglected Child

2008-05-02T19:10:00.000+10:00

Daniel loves to show his muscles at the moment!
this is what happens when a mother neglects her children for 1/2 hour to check email and of course catch up on others blogs! ( i had only cleaned the room a short time before !!!). Clearly he and Ethan had way too much fun

Bath Time

2008-04-11T10:52:00.000+10:00

Now i wouldnt normally take bath photos. But i had to take this photo the other day to mark the occasion as it is the first time in over 2 years that Daniel has actually sat in the bath. A few years ago he was splashing with Ethan and he slipped under the water. He was under for a second and then was pulled out but since then he has never sat in the bath. he always stands and i have to wash him down! Bathtime for the past couple of years has been a real chore. It has always taken both Matt and I to wash his hair together as one of us had to hold him while the other washed! but the other day Daniel was standing and i asked him to sit. of course he said no. I got a little frustrated at him , but he seemed to ignore me. Then all of a sudden he is sitting and playing and having a great time. infact he asked if he gets really dirty could he have another bath!!! So finally bathtime is not so stressful.

"Elder Dockings"

2008-04-03T08:04:00.000+11:00

Aunty Erin all dressed for the cold windy wintery morning
off to maccas after the boys left for an early breakfast
Livy very excited to have her drink!

Brett and Scott with matts parents who were the boys mission prep teachers

Brett
about to leave early mornings seem to agree with Livy and she was even more excited and hyped then usual :) Shaun and Belle looking as bright as you can at that time of the morning ( yes it was before 6am!)

Brett and Scott left for there missions this morning. Both headed off to New Zealand for the MTC. (scott is staying in NZ while brett is going to Perth). They could not have had a worse morning to leave on. We have had a major wind storm all night and it was definately continuing as the plane left. I can only imagine what the turbulance would have been like !

Glued Together

2008-03-30T15:37:00.000+11:00

This pic was taken a little over a year ago at Shaun and Belle's wedding. While I realise that it is terrible lighting in this pic i thought i would add it today as Shaun and Belle yesterday got sealed in the sydney temple. Or as Shaun would call it they were glued together! I am really proud of them for going as soon as they could and not putting it off and waiting until they had "money"! I wish I could have been there but I am sure they had a beautiful day.

School Holidays.

2008-03-28T08:37:00.000+11:00

I love School holidays. I love not having to stick to a routine and of course sleeping in. The boys are really good at letting me sleep in. The one down side to holidays is usually the boys start to get sick of each other and start fighting about every little thing which normally drives me insane. But this week has been pure bliss. Not only am i sleeping in the boys have been true angels playing beautifully all week. Even though it is has been really cold they are bringing out all there old toys that they haven't played with all summer. This morning i woke up and went into the playroom and found that they had built up a massive train track and that they were sharing ! Sharing and that train track is almost unheard of !

PICS

2008-03-25T08:47:00.000+11:00

Well I have been able to temporarily get my camera working enough to upload a few photos that i was able to take over the weekend before it decided to stop working. These were pics from friday. We actually spent the entire day at home without even a small trip out (in the car)....so rare these days! We just hung out at home and walked up to the park and of course matt played his new toy all afternoon . The Nintendo WII.

Easter Fun

2008-03-24T23:17:00.000+11:00

We have had a nice Easter weekend. I wont say "holiday" as i still had to work over the weekend, but it was great having Matt home for a few days. The kids love having dad around as he lets them get away with more! Easter morning was the most fun i have ever had. This year Easter Bunny left eggs not only in the house but some were hidden in the garden. The boys thought this was great ( especially Ethan). Ethan still over a day later is talking about how "sneaky" Easter Bunny was this year. I have always wanted to have a easter egg hunt on easter morning with the boys but for some reason have never done it. It was so cool to see there excited little faces though. definately a tradition to carry on next year.
Today we went down to the Huon to have a Jury get together. It was a great evening followed by some entertainment from the guys when Steve, Matt, Ben and Connor decided to hurd an "escaped" calf into the right paddock. They certainly spent more time chasing the calf around the paddock or in Ben's case sprinting away from the calf as it bolted towards him (Matt and Ben Definately City Boys!)Highly amusing to watch and all caught on camera. Definately You Tube worthy!
Now i would love to put some pics up of the evening however my new digital camera i have just bought has decided to not work. So unfortunately i missed many photo opportunities this weekend. I think i need to go and study the instruction manual properly this time.

Daniels 1st Hand Painting

2008-03-06T12:28:00.000+11:00

Daniel came home after his first day of kinder very excited that he had painted with his hands! Daniel is one of those few children who has made it to the age of 4 and never finger painted! He finally today brought his picture home, very proud of his "hard work" as he calls it!.

The Jetty

2008-03-01T20:21:00.000+11:00

We are really lucky to live practically on the water. ( we are on the wrong side of the street to get water frontage!). One of the kids favourite things to do is to walk down to the jetty which is down the street. They love to feed the ducks and collect rocks. While they have liked the jetty since we moved here only recently have they actually wanted to go on it as it is pretty old and often looks like it is about to colapse at any moment. but the day i took this picture ( last wednesday) i swear Daniel nearly ran right off the end of it as he was so excited to be at the jetty!!! The Jetty is such a favourite that i can use it to bribe the kids when i need a good bribe. It almost always works when i say "if you do this we can go to the jetty tomorrow"!

PICS FROM DANIELS FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.

2008-03-01T19:36:00.000+11:00

One of the coldest days of summer, yet he had to wear his big floppy
hat to school. Loves wearing his uniform. I have trouble getting it
off him after school.

With his cars back pack on. ( he LOVES the Cars Movie!)

Daniel and Ethan. ( I am lucky to get one decent photo

of Ethan is in roll of 24. he just cant look at the camera

or smile nicely!!!!i get so frustrated with him sometimes)

I really seem to have trouble scanning a photo straight.... I think this week i will definately have to start my digital camera shopping.

Cold Season Has Begun.

2008-02-29T10:40:00.000+11:00

I am really not a summer person. I hate the hot weather. Love it if i am away on a holiday, but for day to day living would much prefer the winter months. Infact i spend most of summer counting down until it ends. I love the feel of woodfires and being rugged up. However it is only just the end of summer and I have been struck down with this hideous cold. I can't breathe properly, can't smell anything, i ache all over and i can't even taste that yummy creamy delicious taste of cadbury chocolate. I had some before and due to lack of taste could not enjoy it so i figured it was just wasted calories! I just hope this cold isn't the beginning of a long winter of colds....and even more hope that the boys dont get sick. The one thing worse then being sick yourself is looking after a sick male of any age!

My baby's grown up

2008-02-22T09:43:00.000+11:00

So I have just taken Daniel to his first day of Kinder. I could see this morning he was a little nervous amongst the excitement of getting his lunch made and putting on his uniform, so i figured as his first day he would probably want me to stay to help him get settled , even if it was for only 5 minutes. But no! We went in met his teacher. He found his name tag to wear and his hook for his bag and then he went off to play without even looking back. Infact he only turned to say goodbye when his teacher could see me watching him ( with a hint of a tear!!!) and told him to say goodbye. He then Turned waved and said goodbye and then turned straight back to his task!! While I am very releaved that I dont have one of those children who cry and scream and dont want to leave there mums at all.... i was hoping for at least a hug! Oh well, i guess my baby is all grown up now!

Now the question is what to do for 3 hours! My trip to the supermarket was a lot quicker then usual and did not entail the constant question from the minute we walk into the shop of "can I have"! Normally i would love a supermarket trip with no kids, but today was a little lonely knowing that today marks the beginning of a new chapter.... No more kids at home :( Maybe it's time for child number 3!!!!! ( only kidding). I will post some pics of Daniel when i get them developed ( yes i am still one of the few who have not moved up with technology and bought myself a digital camera!. Although with my new hobby of blogging i think its now probably time to make that purchase! )

The Holidays

2008-02-15T11:30:00.000+11:00

These holidays we also celebrated Ethans 7th birthday. His cake was a spooky house and i must say my worst effort yet! But despite its look he was very happy with it until he blew the candles out and the cake caught fire!!!!

We also got to spend some time with out "Jury" cousins which was great fun. Especially since we don't get to see Jessica, Ella and Noah very much. (Daniel, Maddy, Ella and Ethan in sandpit.)

The boys have also had SO much fun playing in the cubby house That Grandad Docking has been building them.It's great having a handy Grandad. No doubt we'll be calling on his handy work again soon! The boys have spent many hours each day in there which is great as it reduces the amount of mess inside my house! (pic; Ethan, Daniel & Holly).

Trip to Richmond

2008-02-15T10:49:00.000+11:00

The boys heading into the maze

at the park having a snack afterwards!

This morning I got some photos developed from a couple of our family day trips we took this summer. While Matt had a couple of weeks of work we made sure we fit in some fun family days including heading up to Russell Falls and going to Richmond. Ethan loved the Maze at Richmond. Daniel thought the maze was cool at first until he realised just how long it took to get to the middle of the maze and wore out pretty fast. But once they finished they got head over to the Richmond bakery and get some treats to eat at the park :)

2008-02-15T10:39:00.000+11:00

Ethan After his first day of school. Loved every second of it!!!