School is in!!

Back to normal programming this week. It all went quite smoothly, no worries about new teachers or classmates at all. They are all stoked with their teachers and even though it has only been a couple of days, Thomas is keen to improve his reading already which is a huge milestone for him.
Here they are on their first day back:
Joseph is going into year 3

 Thomas is going into year 5

 And Miss Audrey is going into Year 1!

 I know this is blurry, but they all were...it got really cloudy really quickly and I forgot to change my settings!

I will do a holiday post tomorrow.

Queensland Floods

Hi there everyone! I just wanted to pop by and document everythng that has been happening here in Brisbane and the surrounding area over th past week. It has been a very harrowing time for many people and we are so lucky to have escaped the drama unaffected. It has definately opened our eyes to the sheer power of Mother Nature and made us realise how small we are as individuals, but as a united group we can perservere and survive.
I was able to get a few photos on the Tuesday but as the sewerage had gotten into the water I was not going anywhere near it to get any other images! I love photography but not enough to end up with Giardia! lol!

Jindalee Gold Course

Centenary Highway Jindalee on ramp

Centenary Highway - to Ipswich - Jindalee on ramp

One the overpass at Jindalee

At the entrance to the highway at Jindalee...Annie was a little scared! Kids were just fascinated

On ramp to the city at Jindalee

Skate Park at Windamere

Edenbrooke Park where kids play...

The 'high' path around our lake...it is about 1.5 metres about the water level usually!

Unfortunately Gary and Kerensa's (Greg's sister and hubby) house went under. Although the water reached almost to their top level on the outside there was only 20cm of water inside...small blessing but one to hold onto none the less. He is in Brisbane helping out where he can. I have come up the coast to get out of the way of emergency crews and to not use up the small about of resources that are still available there. I am looking forward to staying here a while until things calm down a bit and all the roads reopen so more supplies can be brought in.

I know a lot of my friends and their families homes have been innundated with water and I am constantly thinking of them and their loss. Take care everyone!

Hello 2011!

Well hello there! What a great couple of weeks we have had! I have been relaxing with the family, Greg has had a bit of time off and we have replenished the stores ready for part two of the summer holidays!
Christmas came and went with the usual fanfare! I love all the lead up to Christmas so we have lots of fun traditions we do together. Somehow we managed to miss out on watching the Polar Express this year though...don't know how that happened!
So celebration wise, first up we had Christmas with my side of the family. A delicious ham was enjoyed for mains and I made a baked white chocolate and mango cheesecake for dessert to go with the traditional pudding and trifle! Yummo!!!

The kids were terribly spoiled and loved playing with all their new gifts a week early! Here are some of the cousins...Annie and Bradley were napping!

My dad playing Santa...the light is awful in this room but I love these pics!

And finally a stair shot for my mum to love! We have been meaning to do one for about eleven years, since mum and dad moved to Indooroopilly...all good things come to those who wait...I think it was a family shot worth waiting for!

The it was back to the beach for a couple more days for us. We fit in a few more trips to the water and swims in the pool and then we came home on the 23rd. I went shopping until midnight that night, because I could! Then Christmas Eve we went to church and got rained on, drove around looking at a few lights and put out the reindeer food. We let the children give each other their gifts on Christmas eve too...have to space out these toys or they will be overlooked!

An awful photo...I was tired already...and still had the gift wrapping and sorting marathon to go! Greg and I try to be organised each year but somehow Christmas Eve arrives and there is always so much to do! Luckily the kids leave it until 6:30 to wake up and open gifts so we get a couple of hours sleep before we have a massive day!

Annie was most excited by the ball pit Santa bought her!

We had brunch at mums which was very nice. A huge spread that kept us going until dinner at the O'Neales.

We went home and rested then went off for our traditional roast at the O'Neales. Kids were perfect and thoroughly enjoyed all their pressies and giving gifts as well. We played a game of Trivial Pursuit into the late evening and slept over there.

Mads was not in the mood for this pic!

More another time...Annie is pinching me to stop already!