Cakes, Cats and Butterflys...

My beautiful chubba bubba on Australia Day

Australia day in our town there is a festival at the PCYC with a free breakfast face painting and jumping castle for the kids, Michael was working so we went by ourselves and the kids had a great time, when the face paint lady asked what James wanted, do you think he said anything boyish like monstor or pirate? No he wanted to be a meow meow, and Jack saw a butterfly and that was it I couldn't change his mind for anything. So sweet our boys!

My Sweet boys, Jack told James they have to hold hands when they cross the road.

James the 'meow meow'

Jack the 'flutterby'

When we got home we attempted to make lamingtons which didn't work at all! The boys still ate itt all up though!

Making lamingtons that turned into balls of cake with choc and rolled in coconut, still tasted nice!

Can you tell the flutterby has been eating what he's made? 

Well were having a lot of rain and wind today so the boys have plonked themselves in front of the TV and asked for movies and movie snacks. Who am I to say no? 

I've tried posting this 4 times today and our electricity keeps going off and so I have to start up everything all over again, so I'll leave it at that!

We survived!

Well Wednesday Jack started school.

Was I ready for it? No Was he ready for it? YES!!

He had such a good day, no drama's, no tear's he was shocked when I turned up, he keeps telling me school is for boys and girls not for Mum's and Dad's : ( I got him to spill about his day eventually, but it was a struggle! I can't wait to sign up to be a parent helper : ) It will be so weird to see him in class with his friends and his teachers (yes he has 2 teachers, well 1 teacher and a teachers aid)

What do you have for breakfast on your first day of school?

Well sultana bran of course, to 'fight the fuzzies'

yes he watches and pays attention to way to many ad's!

This is his photo face lately. I don't love it!

Very appropriate for my chatterbox of a child!

I know I'm very sad, but I took a photo of his lunch boxes

All of us ready to go. Take particular notice to my sunflowers my lovely hubby planted for me in the background.

Doing a quick puzzle at school, before the Mum's and Dad's get ushered out.

So we've survived the first week. Even though it was only 3 days. Next week will be a different story when he's there for 5 days and I don't have Michael home to help me get 3 kids and myself dressed breakfasted and ready for school and out the door by 8.25am! Wish me luck!

Sleep Baby Sleep

Please don't yell at me, I know this is NOT what the SIDS awareness people recommend, but I'm  not sure what else to do with him!

He is put in his cot, feet at the bottom on his back nothing in the cot etc etc, but this is how I find him. Of a night Michael rolls him back over before he goes to bed but during the day I leave him like this. All my boys slept like this (Michael and I sleep on our bellies, but not quite like this)

I'm sure thats got to be uncomfortable.

So comfortable, who am I to mess with him?

Books Books and more books!

My boys were very spoilt for Christmas from everyone, my  favorite gifts are always books, they last longer than any truck or noisy toy they get and when they are old like there mumma (26 eep!) hopefully they will still have them to look back on and remember with fondness getting me to read them to death like I did with my mum and anyone else who would put up with me!

My awesome Uncle Dave and Aunty Christine who live in Hobart most of the year except for 6 weeks or so when they take up residence in their favorite European city, Paris (I know I was definatly born to the wrong Owen brother ; ) gave us a gift voucher for Angus & Robertson. So last week when Jack and I went shopping for school stuff we nipped in and managed to get a book for everyone in the whole family!

I got a cook book I have been stealing recipes from for years, and it has been a great way to re-think cooking for my carnivors I call children! Loads of pureed veg in other things, like mac and cheese with sweet potato and cauliflower, I recommend it to any mumma who is having a hard time with dinner and small children!

Michael, who has become nuts about gardening since he stopped drinking, asked me to call him while I was in the book shop so I would definatly get him this book!

We have a trailer load of cow poop in our backyard and it stinks to high heaven, but he keeps telling me that the veggies will taste better and my sunflowers are loving it, I shouldn't complain!

Jack picked a Thomas book which I was very suprised about, I tried to steer him towards something else but he told me he loves Thomas, so thats fine with me!
He helped me pick a Charlie and Lola book for James(who has read it a million times so far) and a touchy feely learning book for Charlie. Perfect picks, I might get him to help me with christmas presents next year!
Thanks very much Dave and Chris!

Black and White Babies

James over watering his herbs, so cute with his little legs and 'big boy pants'

Charlie after a  feed, can you tell by the BIG belly?

Jack and I self portrait.

My rolly polly boy and I. Before his bath.

Not such a happy camper

Yesterday Jack and I went to Rocky all by ourselves we shopped and shopped and ate 'donalds' and saw a beautiful movie called The princess and the frog (Jack's choice not mine) had a lovely talk about how daddy helped put Charlie in my belly (not an easy conersation, especially when we were in the car for 2 hours and had no distractions!) and I was planning on blogging about how nice it was to spend time with 1 child and how much we both enjoyed ourselves, but instead I'm blogging about what happened while we weren't around.

Firstly Charlie had formula all day and kept it all down with no reflux and was very settled. Michael and James made bickies and had fun, but the important thing is Charlie had a lovely unsettled day. Til we got home, my boobs were exploding after 9 hours and so I popped him on only for him to spew half way through all over me, I thought, well considering how full they were I'm not so suprised. Then this morning after his first boob he drenched me and my feeding pillow again, I casually asked Michael if he did it much yesterday, Michaels answer? Not once. Luckily Michael and I have been together long enough for him to know what I'm thinking and he said very nicely 'do you think its the boob?' he knew not to say give up feeding because I so wanted to breastfeed Charlie the longest, this is the last time I will breastfeed and I'm not ready to give up at 4 months, but obviously the boob milk is doing funny things to his little belly so to keep feeding would be only for my selfish reasons not for him.

Michael can tell I'm stewing about it as I just got a cuddle and a quiet whisper in my ear 'your a wonderful mum' and he's taken the big boys for a walk so I can get it out of my system without me snapping their heads off over nothing.

So I'm off to buy a cabbage to stop my boobs from hurting, sigh, I will be ok, but today I am not a happy camper.

Bumble Bee Or Ralph Lauren ??

While I was Op Shopping last week I found this adorable suit for Charlie it says size 7 so I'm assuming its not Australian and has the Ralph Lauren logo on it.
Very trendy aren't we? Just don't tell anyone it was only $2  : 0)

Cluck Cluck Cluck

I know I'm crazy and mad and stupid even, but I am consumed with thought of having another baby.

For starters I am still breast feeding, my baby is only 4 months old, this should be the furtherest thing from my mind, but its not.
I know it would be costly and difficult to have another baby now or anytime in the near future but I am just enjoying having a little baby so much. I feel like I have finally figured it out, I understand what other mums say about there children now. I don't want to have grown up boys in my house (can you imagine the smell when all 3 of them are teenagers??!!) I like having babies!

It's not going to happen though Michael has made it quite clear that Charlie would be our last baby(even though he keeps saying 'if we had another baby can we call it...') and I completly agree, having another baby would be selfish on my part, my time is already split between 4 people (3 kids and Michael) thats enough without adding another mouth to feed.

So I'm trying to picture us in 15 years. (scary I know!) Charlie will be 15, James will be 17, and Jack will be 19. Michael and I will have our lives back, we can travel without them, have nights out without getting a baby sitter, stop spending all our money on them (hopefully) I will be 40, Michael will be 43 we'll still be quite young really! If we were to have another baby when Charlie is say 3 by the time all of them leave home we'll be closer to 50. and not that 50 is old but its older than I want to be when I'm getting my last baby through year 12 (there is no discussion about this, they will ALL be finishing school)

So I have to just soak up the babyness while I can from Charlie, and enjoy the terrible twos with James and try to explain to the best of my ability how everything work's to our little engineer, who by the way is starting school in 13 sleeps!

Let me know if you have any tips on getting past the clucky stage!

10 Things

So I was just reading Danielle's post on Hello Owl about blog games, so I'm joining in.

The aim of the game is to tell you 10 random facts about me. So here goes

1. Although I have a 4yr old a 2yr old and a 4 month old I am feeling very cluck cluck clucky.
2. I used to be a country B'n'S chick, and loved it.
3. I am really glad that we don't live in Orange anymore, although its nice to be close to family, I'm really starting to love being in queensland this time (way more than when we were in Mackay)
4. I love to read cook books and watch cooking shows.
5. My favorite way to eat chocolate is straight out of the freezer.
6. I love pink.
7. I love being by the seaside, but in the 18 months when we lived by the sea we hardly ever went!
8. I would love to have some neices and nephews (no pressure on my one and only sister!)
9. I am a qualified Beautician.
10. This is my newest favorite photo of my Charlie trying to grab at the camera. I could just eat him up I love him so much!

So now its your turn if you have a blog jump on and tell us all 10 random facts about you. If you don't have a blog leave me a comment and tell us!

Love

I am not ashamed to admit I am head over heels in love. With my Chardie (no thats not a typo, thats what he gets called around here)
I could take photos of him and snuggle with him all day, Michael is the same, he loves it when Charlie has finished his first boob of the day so he can have a chat and a cuddle with him. Neither of us were this bad with the older boys, I feel bad for James especially I spent the first 4 months of his life wishing he would hurry up and sleep and grow up. Not that I didn't love him or didn't want to spend time with him but with a 22 month old I was busier than anyone needs to be! I keep telling Michael now that we've had our 3rd baby we have this parenting thing figured out!
We are both in love with his new mobile which is moo cows.

How mesmerised can you be with 4 moo cows and a milking can?

Extremely mesmerised.

Love it.

New or Second hand?

 Things I like buying new.

                                                          The boys in their car seats

Charlie in his playcentre bouncer.

Things I like buying second hand

James Everlast sneakers brand new from Lifeline in Emerald. $4, love it.

Charlie's cot $20 from The Salvation Army in Blackwater, Love it! I think I spent more money buying the paint to repaint it!

My question is what do you like to buy new and what are you happy to have second hand??

New Year New Decade

I love New Years resolutions, I never stick to them but I always find January to be the most motivated month of the whole year. 

So this year I am going to get a job

 I dont care if its at woolworths, the service station, a takeout shop, a mine, whatever as long as I can leave the house without my boys, and contribute to us saving some....

Money, were not doing too bad with Michael's salary but even though he gets paid really well  his wage divided by 5 people makes it seem much less than it actually is. We want to but a house and get out of the mining world within 5 years.

I also NEED to do more

Pampering, I am the only girl in the house and I need to act more like it, I am getting caught up in the world of boys!

I also want to do more with the boys, take them places they haven't been before, expose them to things they haven't done before, teach them some new things.

Thanks to Danielle from Hello Owl for the inspiration for this post, and thanks to Danielle at Danimezza for getting me hooked on her friends blogs!

Christmas in a nutshell

Charlie and I having some giggle time on Christmas morning

The boys so excited to open their fun things from Santa

Jack's Lightening McQueen blow up game, yes the steering wheel plugs into the TV and there is car racing games, spoilt much??

James got a mini Wii type thing(V-Motion V-Tech thingy) but this was so much more interesting!

Grandad and Dad trying out the boys new tennis on a stick

The boys hanging out with "the pretty girl" at Aunty Alice's, can you tell she's an artist?

We had a very quiet day, the boys were spoilt rotten as usual, we had cold meat and salad for lunch, my mother in law and I had nanna naps, there is nothing better in my opinion!

It was Michael's first year with no booze in almost 15 years, very strange for him. His Mum and Dad bought him a art set and thats how he spent his Christmas afternoon, and now I have his artwork hanging on my wall, I'm very happy with that!

 We are still opening presents from Christmas, nanny's presents only arrived yesterday, the boys have so much stuff I don't even know where to begin!

It was a good day but it was nice to be home and we are looking forward to having Christmas at home next year.

 I hope everyone had a good day!

xxx

Merry (belated) Christmas!!

I'm back. We have our computer back, thank heavens! I was going a little nuts with no internet!
So anyway Merry Christmas this is the only photo I'm posting for tonight as its almost midnight and I will be awake in 5 hours by my darling James asking for cartoons and a drink(and probably a clean nappy as well) so I need some sleep before that!
Will post more tomorrow fill you all in on Christmas/new years/events!