easter 2010 ~ part 1 ~

the festivities of Easter this year have been so full on that i am going to have to post about them in parts so as not to bore anyone with endless photos of egg hunts and baskets over flowing.

even before the Easter break began each of the girls had eggs in their baskets...teachers generously allowing the Easter bunny to find his way into the classroom ~_~ Easter Friday was spent in bed until about 8am, even though the fog horn was up much earlier than that. we had a lovely day, each of us doing our own thing. mister managed to finish off 'project day bed' and i cooked up a cupcake feast while the girls played the day away.

the next day we headed off to

not sure why this happens..turn your head or the screen whichever is easier :)

i really wasn't expecting such a glorious spot to spend my Easter Saturday. it is a place that we are sure to revisit very very soon. today i will let you in on the first part of the morning...kite making and flying!

i didn't manage to get any photos of the actual process of making kites because the wind was threatening to blow EVERYTHING away and my hands were needed to hold things down. but Linda made sure that everything was pre cut and ready to go (she is a kindy mum from way back)

love these photos, especially these two.

Linda's youngest and my eldest get on very well together, so much so it is hard to tell them apart at times...

this little hamster loved every minute of the day and kept us all laughing with her good humor and cheeky smile.

i love the way the background is blurry but Alanah is in focus. she had a great time racing around and got along very well with Mia.

and of course Linda had other things to do while you were waiting to make a kite... you could through bean bags into hula hoops or use them for what they were intended...

there were some boys there too but they were too quick for me to get a picture!!

so much fun i tell ya!

anyhoo that is enough for this post, back with my next installment of what came after kite making.

xxrosey

not that sort of tea party...

no mad hatters tea party here sorry... just a party for my little girl who turned 6 last month and 6 of her sweet little friends. but before the day of the party...

it seems to be quickly becoming tradition that we cut cake at my fathers house followed by an afternoon of good laughs, coffee and treats. it is an open invitation to all those that can make it and no matter if it is just us or all of the family we seem to mark the occasion with much love and new memories.

we also follow tradition with a dinner of the birthday girl/boys choice.

Mia chose 'hogs breath cafe' for our meal and we happily headed out the night before her party. we have been to this restaurant 3 times so far this year!! we don't eat out much so i guess it is a bit of an extravagance we can afford :)

here are the girls excited to be all dressed up and ready to go. mick and the girls on one side and Claudia and i on the other. we love this family restaurant, colouring pages for the children, drink, meal and sweets all for just $8.95!

the following morning as early as everyone can bear we open presents on our bed. we buy three presents. one from each sibling and one from us.

here she is with her new favourite toys! littlest pet shop seems to be all the rage around here, they are so cute i can understand why they like them so much.

once all the presents were unwrapped it was time to get the party started...well set up in our case. we put out the little tea cups made by the girls the previous night...

i made fresh fairy bread and iced the cupcakes. mick cut up fruit and made cordial for the tea pots.

and then the little guests arrived. the girls had so much fun. nothing fancy at this party, just good old fashioned fun. while they played on the sings and in the cubby house

here she is with her "bestest buddy" jorja

or jumped on the trampoline

we prepared for some party games...we had pass the tea pot...

wrapped lollies inside the pot made for lots of fun and no messy newspaper to clean up :)

we also played balancing the book on your head and seeing who would walk down the path the furtherest...so much fun and lots of giggles. and we also played pin the cherry on the cupcake...

excuse my crude cupcake...i made it at about 11:30 the night before!

the girls had so much fun, we had hot finger food and still hadn't cut the cake when parents started to arrive to take their children home!

anyhow no birthday is complete without a cake...and our favourite and most requested cake is the raspberry swirl (packet mix of course). i coloured the icing pink and decorated it with flowers made out of marshmallows.

(love that cake plate i got on sale at spotlight for $20!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet curly haired angel! it is hard to believe you are 6! you make us so happy and i love our special cuddles. you are constantly curling up on my lap expecting to be tickled :) you are smart, above average so i am told...you love to ride your bike and you love to play with your sisters.

we love you more than you will ever know and so do all those around you. big smooches your number 1 fan mummy

xx

and if you are still here after that super long post, have a happy Easter and a safe break.

xxrosey

it's all about me

i am slowly getting used to the routine of being a stay at home mum and i am even feeling less guilty as well. i have dropped Claudia down to 2 days at kindy and know that in time i will have to work at least one day to help us stay afloat. all of this happiness tends to make for a happier household and when i am treated to nice things i am even happier... last month one of my dearest friends took me to the movies for my birthday and presented me with this sweet necklace.

great movie, great conversation and great half scotch and ginger ale made us both very happy indeed.

then i had another surprise when my super sweet teaching partner (well technically not anymore) took me out to high tea! that girl really 'gets' me if you know what i mean. she also gifted me a sweet necklace..

told you she gets me!

once again fabulous company, heartfelt conversations, laughs and great to catch up on all of the 'gossip' now that i am out of the loop. the best part of that lunch was Michelle's enthusiasm about her year of relief teaching. after listening to how much fun she had walking in and out of those rooms and not feeling that huge responsibility made me even HAPPIER with my decision.

then when i think my week cannot get any better...this arrives!!

can you believe i won this wonderful wall hanging in a giveaway!?! the lovely Linda has a blog called i see the bridge (some of you would know her from Lilly cottage) and i was the lucky winner. it really is so pretty, i wish you could see it in person.

this will be the centre of our Easter display which i hope to put up soon. aren't i just the luckiest gal in all the world.

i guess i have every reason to be happy. 3 gorgeous gals to love a mister that makes me happy (90% of the time, the other 10% he spends annoying me!)and wonderful family and friends who make me feel worthwhile.

i will be back with a post of Mia's 6th birthday tea party.

9 sleeps till Easter holidays, yippee!

xxrosey

A is for Asthma...

i guess from the title of this post you know that my motherly 'fear'o'meter' was put to the test this past week... my middle child Mia was formerly diagnosed with asthma before her 2nd birthday when she was hospitalised with an acute attack brought on by a chemical nit treatment. ever since then we have been keeping her out of the hospital (although we have had some short stays at the emergency room have over the past 4 years) by being vigilant with her action plan which involves daily preventer, Ventolin when needed and steroids as a last resort. we have done quite well because i am an asthmatic myself and i know what to look for and how to manage her signs. there are the odd times when no matter what i do we have to resort to the last step of the action plan and go to the hospital if she isn't lasting more than 2 hours on the Ventolin.

on Tuesday night at 11:30 pm Mia and i headed into the hospital only to be sent home at 4:30am and told to keep giving her Ventolin when needed. i wish i had insisted on staying because by a few hours later my heart was in my mouth as i watched my girl struggling for air even though she was on the nebuliser...crying and scratching at her throat saying she couldn't breathe. we raced to the local doctor who checked her oxygen levels which were below 90% and were told to go straight back to the hospital. a few hours later they were prepping her to go into ICU!

luckily the oxygen, Ventolin and steroids kicked in and she was admitted to the ward rather than ICU. a chest xray ruled out pneumonia and a snot test came back with no traces of anything tested for. at this stage they suspect she has picked up a virus and unfortunately as an asthmatic she has no chance of fighting it.

it is amazing how much Ventolin a small body can take on average she would have received 6puffs every hour for 2 days then 6 puffs every 2 hours for the next day. once she was able to go for more than 3 hours without needing Ventolin we were able to go home.

while we were in the emergency room we were lucky enough to have these special doctors visit...

Dr kerfuffle and

Dr redee came and entertained Mia. they were very funny and an absolute blessing at such a scary time.

this sort of scare makes you count your blessings...we only had 2 nights of stress and no sleep, others around us had been there for a couple of weeks without knowing what was wrong. the nurses and doctors could not have been faulted (except the first two that sent me home) and they made my Mia feel special and safe. i am glad that it is all over for this time and hope that it is another 2 years before the next stay (we had a short stay in 08).

you really don't understand the depth of your love for your child until their life is threatened, it could have been worse but even that moment when she was struggling for breath made me chill down to my bones.

off to catch up on some 'me time' while i can.

xxrosey

more gifts...

i love the postman, even when he pops bills in the box i don't mind...i know he is just the middle man and i don't hold a grudge against him. i L.O.V.E. it when the lovely post office van stops outside my house and the lovely postal lady walks down my driveway and taps on my door and calls out in her lovely voice, 'DELIVERY'... it is even better when I'm not expecting anything!!

my gorgeous friend Kylie (affectionately known as leichty) who i have known since 1987, sent me a very thoughtful gift to share with my girls.

this might seem like an ordinary cream to you, but to me it is like stepping back in time. we used to lather ourselves in this gorgeous apricot body dew when we were teens and to be perfectly honest the nutri-rich oil has healing powers!! it seems to speed up the healing of abrasions and cuts, very special indeed, and now i have not one but two tubs of it!! perfect for the injury mick sustained a few weeks ago.

and the heart felt note made me smile. old friends never leave your life even if you don't see them for years...

thanks leichty, it means a lot to know that we have your support and that you are thinking of us.

i have wonderful girlfriends, i know that they must think of me cause i think of them all the time.

enjoy the rest of your weekend

%*_*% rosey

the family room

I realised just the other day that i have not blogged about the room my gorgeous mister moo built for us. middle of last year it looked like this..

two roller doors and an open wall

it has been finished since before Christmas and has been furnished for about a month. mick did a wonderful job, it is at least 5 degrees cooler than the rest of the house and it has a really nice feel to it.

we decided to keep the walls neutral and stick to browns creams and pale blues as our decor. we chose 'whisper white for the walls and a crisp white for the trims.

we simply love this ivory leather lounge/chaise. mick conditioned it before the children went anywhere near it :) we have the cleaner handy as well. the brown pod chair is the most comfortable seat to sit in. it swivels around and my favourite pastime is sitting in it with my feet up on the lounge reading :) mick also built a window/storage box on wheels to add a bit more storage and extra seating. i am yet to get cushions for the top... we also bought two 'wing chairs' in chocolate brown and white leather as a special spot for us to sit and have our morning cuppa. just imagine mick and i sitting in those seats and the girls clambering on his window seat chattering away to us...oh the serenity...NOT it has become our favourite place to sit and watch the comings and goings of our street. the bird in a cage on the wall is my only piece of 'art' so far. the colour scheme actually comes from it as it has lovely blues and teals in the picture itself. i do intend on adding some more art when the budget allows. i actually want to put in a floor lamp beside my white wing chair and add some curtains...but i will have to wait a little while for that. (the bird cage hanging came from lilly cottage which is now closed, however her etsy shop is slowly filling up with stock and is worth the while stopping by Linda's blog to see what is on offer) the door is lovely but not exactly what i wanted. i am going to have to find some frosted contact treatment as you can see right into the room. but as i don't have curtains yet it isn't a huge priority.

here's a better look at those chairs. the little step ladder is a perfect height for our cuppa and came from a garage sale...recognise that anyone ??? this is a bit of a mess as we are till adding to the room.. but mick turned this storage cupboard into a spot for the TV and even created some doors to make more storage up the top. i just love our WHITE TV! we are using the old milk tin as an umbrella stand and the hooks were bought from Lilly cottage as well (i think) i do love our bag rack, much better and less understated than the monstrosity we had before it!

mister is working on a very rustic book case which i simply cant wait to decorate with gorgeous trinkets and books of course..and we are in the midst of a secret squirrel project which i think you will all fall in love with and will hopefully finish off the room just perfectly.

we have decided to call it THE FAMILY ROOM :)

anyhow off to do some creating as the house is peaceful at the moment.

xxrosey

p.s. thanks for your prayers and support. we attended a fundraiser put on by Paddy's work mates. it was inspirational to see people come together for the love of friends and life! all proceeds from yesterdays gathering will be given to paddy and jordy to help them fight this cancer.