No seriously, was this MY idea???????

Did i really say i would make an advent calendar for the boys.....

Oh dear...

Well i only have about a week and a half before it needs to be done.

All i really have left is to put it together and put it up.

Seeing as i don't have anywhere to put it once the little bags are made,

it will be a dash at the end of November to get it done.

As i am not allowed to put anything up before December..

Ben's tradition, i find it real hard to stick by and usually get the Christmas box out a few days (week/s) before Christmas and start visualising in my head what and where everything will go!

So this is what I've done so far, miss shapen star's, check

lopsided tree's, check

stockings, check

1 ghostly looking angel, check

(notice just one of these, not a good choice of cutting shape when I'm not so great at cutting)
I will get there in the end, although i think I've changed my mind on what i will fill them with.

Chocolate will melt, so i might get some lollies instead.

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**Look what i found at the shops yesterday**

We did our fortnightly groceries yesterday at our local Aldi's.

A few weeks ago they had picnic sets (cutlery plates etc) in their catalogue for $29.99.

I have vowed to never go in on the sale start date again. Way to crazy, the story could probably have its own post..

So instead when we do our shopping i keep an eye out for anything left from the scavengers.

I hadn't seen any of these until yesterday!! I was so pleased.

We had been wanting one for ages, but never purchased one.

In our local camping shop they cost $60 upwards.

It has an insulated section in the back, drink cooler on the side,

extra pocket on the front. And a big compartment with all the utensils!


We have the cutest salt and pepper shakers i have ever seen. Bottle opener.
4 plates, 4 serviettes, and a chopping board.

Cutlery and wine cups!!

I am very happy, now my kitchen items will not get lost amongst our camping items! :)

Time Off.

We very rarely go away to stay somewhere as a family, just us or with extended family.

But the last weekend in November, we are going up the road (about 2hours north)

to stay with Ben's dad and step-mum and extended family and friends.

Ben had organised some time off around this weekend.

Turns out his work have also given him this Friday off as well..

So Ben decided to take it anyway, that gives him a 3 day weekend...

He said to me he would like to do something, but it was up to me to decide what and organise it!!

Great, I'm not good at making decisions, and Ben wasn't helping me either *grumble*grumble*

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So finally late last night i had an idea. There are lots of holiday parks quite close to us, about an hour's drive. And they are not to badly priced and have loads of things. Pools, play area's, games room and much more, great fun for a family. And if can get us to one near the beach even more fun!!

The one i really really wanted to go to, had a big jumping pillow thing in the ground and a huge beach like pool, but none of the cabins i wanted were left.. bummer.

So I've found one closer to us at Tewantin. Right near Noosa, so we can also go to the Noosa Farmers market on the way home on Sunday!!

Oh my i actually decided on something yeeehaaa!!

This park doesn't have the jumping pillow, but has 2 pools, one for the littlies and one for the big kids!! And it's not that far from the river or beach, so we can also go fishing.

I have all basis covered for the whole family!

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Then the following weekend its up north with the rest of the family, to go to the the beach yet again, and probably do more fishing. I think this time of year is perfect to get out to the beaches. Way before the Christmas crowds get in and its way to stinkin hot to sit at the beach at Christmas.

From what i can tell, i think we are going to have a busy silly season, so it is also probably good for us to get away early in the season just as our small family and enjoy some quietness before every weekend becomes party weekends! I'm getting exhausted just thinking about it..

This is something like what we will be staying in on the weekend.

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Hope your week is going well, it's very hot here today so we have our air con blasting... Try and Stay cool, we will be ;);)

Golly What a Day!

The hot summer day's are definitely here.

This morning we were talking about our plans for the day.

Our cowboy piped up and said..

"I know lets go to the beach today!"

Unfortunately we had some work planned for the day so no beach :(

Ben purchased some more sheeting to finish some walls off in the bar.

2 new walls YAY.

The corner in the bar is done.

Time to help daddy clean up!

Now it's time for some play time,

Blue eyes in is fave position his frog squat!!

Water time.

Love this photo, its blurry but i love how the water has shown up in it.

And you can see the dog in the background.

He is always near when water is about.

HAHA mum i pulled it out of the tube!

Ahah brother I'm gonna get you!

After a nap in the cool air con,

it was time again to go and play some more.

(frog squat again)

It is finally so nice to see some glimmer of hope

that the boys can

actually play good together.

They had a blast together this weekend.

Even riding the bike was on the agenda.
With some help of course,

little brother can't reach the pedals yet.

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Now to our dinner tonight..... EXPERIMENT TIME!!!!

hahahah and did it work out?????

Good question!

I found these skewers in the cupboard earlier in the week,

and it had me thinking all week.

I finally gave in and decided to stack them full and cook em' up.

Don't they look good???

We didn't have alot to put on.

I marinated the beef in a smokey bbq sauce,

added some onion and tomato to the skewers YUM.

Last this afternoon the batteries ran out on the camera,

BUGGER.

(just when we had a king parrot come and start eating our bird seed too)

So the final result photo was taken on my phone.

Not as good a photo as it could have been!

But very very yummy.

They worked out just like i had imagined... haha

Hope you all had a great weekend like we did.

It's now time for a nice deep sleep (fingers crossed)

to start the week afresh!

Out in the sunshine.

It's a beautiful hot sunny day here today,

so i thought i would take some photo's of our vegies.

They are starting to really power along!

Corn is going great gun's!

The pumpkin grows a few inches everyday!

And has lots of little pumpkins starting!!

This is one of our palm trees out the front. Not sure what it's called.

But it is flowering and every bug wants a piece of the action!

Native bee's as well as the normal kind of bee you see and

ant's are trying to get some sweetness!

Our Beets have settled in and are now starting to take off.

One of the small tomato plants that emerged from our potting mix fell over and

died so we picked the tomatoes and let them ripen at our window.

We ate them today on our lunch and they were delicious!

We purchased a new umbrella for shade over our outdoor area,

seeing as the first storm we had destroyed our gazebo's..

We moved the table up next to the house,

so everything is a little more protected during our wild storms.

We also were not sure how much the wind would pick up through are yard,

especially after getting under the house built, so it can't go straight under anymore!
Now we know we can prepare and buy things like this wonderful umbrella,

that can easily be put down and moved if need be.

We were thinking of moving the sand pit, to under the back stairs.

But after having all the boys toys in the big pit the last few days,

i kinda like the idea of everything being in one spot for them to dig and play!

Although shade is a problem, it's in the middle of the yard away

from all the shade tree's.

I purchased a beach umbrella ($60) and it's not as big as i had hoped,

and doesn't give as much shade as i would like.

So am thinking of getting something else, easy to move incase

of a storm. So they have some shade at either end, and don't have to fight for it lol.

Tonight myself and the boys are out to dinner with my brother for his birthday

(He turns 30 on Sunday old fart hehehe) Shall be a good night.

My brother has 2 kids and a step daughter, so the boys will have a hoot.

And the place we are going has a kids corner (heaven).

Too bad Ben has to work :(, but he is going for some drinks at a workmates

place after work tonight.

He lives just around the corner so not to far away!

Hope you have all had a great week, bring on the weekend!! xo

We have LIGHT!

On the weekend, Ben had the sparky's from his work come and connect the power and the LIGHTS downstairs. So instead of using 1 double power point for, the washing machine, freezer, TV, PlayStation, surround sound and the newly arrived FREE full size bar fridge. We have 3 double power points in the laundry, and 2 fluro lights!! (so happy about them!) And 3 double points in the bar. The bar already had an existing fluro from when downstairs was not built in.

We are on the home straight. Just the walls to finish, we need to put the rest of the sheeting up, plaster and paint. We laid the FREE carpet in the bar last weekend (free from a church house my dad is helping renovate) It looks great. I've forgotten to take a photo of it, I was just a little excited about my lights now working (no more fumbling in the dark or using a torch..)

I'm off to get my hair done tomorrow while the boys are at daycare. Can't wait, I've put it off for far to long! Hope your all having a great week :) xo

Around the house this week.

The boys new paddle pool.

I now think i need to buy a second one

so they can both lay down and swish around without

hitting each other.

Blue eyes trying to turn the water pressure up for daddy,

while daddy was watering.

Daddy getting him to stop, by hosing him down!!

Talking to Bruce thru the fence.

Probably teasing Bruce that he is playing with water

and Bruce isn't!

Playing in the pool together!

Our Vege Garden reno has started. We got some
Timber for the outside from Ben's mum
and Step-dad. Just need to wait
for the vege's at the moment
to finish then we can top it up and screw all the timber
together.







I have no idea what this tree is called, it spends most of the year
without anything on it (it looks dead).
But in spring without fail it gets foliage and flowers and
then it all disappears again!
(oh and its the tree in the middle of the pic that looks more
branchy than leafy)






This is its leaves and flowers. it's very pretty.

I purchased a new bag of bread flour the other day.

It was the last one at the wholesalers.

The lady managed to put 2 holes in the bag

when she picked it up of the pallet..........

So she gave me almost $4 off the normal

price for the damage!!

Hardly any flour leaked out anyway, but i was very pleased

with a saving!

This is all the flour in containers. I had to find some high places to put them

so the boys wouldn't play with them!

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I hope you all have a great weekend, we have a busy one 3 party's to go to, and some more work around the house!! Can't wait!

WHAT is THAT!!!!

While having a sit down today, out of the corner of my eye. I saw something strange in our light shade above our kitchen table.. At first i thought oh crap not a spider..... But upon looking again it had a lizard like shape...

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Can you Tell what it is????

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Its our friendly Gecko!! Normally i only see dead moths sitting in our light shade. And we normally see our little friends outside not inside. But this little fella snuck in through the doorway last night while i was turning the sprinkler off and made himself welcome eating all our dead moths!!

The boys will get a hoot out of this tonight!!