On holidays...

I've decided that I'm taking a short holiday from the blog. :) Yeap. The Olympics are on!!! So, between family, work, activities, friends, and now the Olympics...there is no time for computers! I'm going to do a quick catch up on my emails and then take a little holiday from the computer.

To make time even tighter, I started a new book the weekend the Olympics started. Not very smart! Now I'm hooked up the book and can't find enough time for that either!

A quick update before my holiday from the computer:
- Shamus is doing really well at school and had his first play date, without parents! He went to a friends after school on Tuesday and Darryl picked him up after supper. He did really well.
- Breagha is enjoying daycare but still not too happy about Shamus going to school...she wants to go too!
- We've been able to have some days on the beach with friends but will be glad when the humidity goes away!! Ccccraaazy!
- Darryl and I are busy with work but squeezing in time together to watch the Olympics!! Love IT!
- We are sad to see Nick and Mariana back in California but hope everything is going well for them...I will post pics of our last BBQ together after my holidays!
- And now we're just waiting for Rej and Clo's bundle of joy to arrive. Any hour now! We had the chance to meet Rej's Mom and I think she's very excited for her first grandchild to arrive. :) Love the quilt she made for baby Gabriel.
- And we have another busy weekend planned so no time for computers!!
- Lastly, I'm super excited for my cousin, Allister to arrive!!!! He and his friend, Shawn are arriving in a couple of days and I can't wait! Oh yeah!

Ok, I have to go now! Time to read a few emails, write a few emails, watch the Olympics, and read my book! Damn, I don't think I'll get it all done tonight!!!!!

Eh, Oh, Canada Go!!!!

If you want to have a real catch up, you'll have to call or write! :)

Mabou in Kraft Hockeyville 2010!!

Hmm, did you know that it was 2 years on January 29 since we left Canada for the land down under? It's true! I don't know where the time has gone but it has been a wonderful experience.

I am starting to get excited to see home again though!!!!

And then my brother, Duane, sent me this YouTube clip on Mabou...and it realllllllllllllllllllly made me homesick!

I can't wait to play ringette and hockey again. I can't wait to see family and friends!

I can't wait to eat Pizza Delight garlic fingers and a Tim Horton's chocolate chip muffin!

I have come to the conclusion over the last month - I will forever be a true Canadian. I can't substitute anything for my love for home.

Until I get home again, I'll have to keep watching this clip on my hometown, Mabou. Population of about 1000 people and I wouldn't have it any other way! Seeing the video, with my old teachers, and old school mates, and Aunt Margie (Hockey Mom for 26years!!!), has just reminded me of how wonderful Nova Scotia is!

If you're not familiar with "Kraft Hockeyville", check it out.

And check out the short video on

"Orange Pucks in Mabou".

(the little boy they are talking about (Alec Angus) is my cousin's little boy. He was born blind but has slowly started to see....a happy ending!

Some of you that read our blog were able to visit Mabou when you came to our wedding (The Halifax crew trying to square dance will always be a fond memory! :) but the rest of you will have to plan a visit some day!

Happy 5th Birthday Shamus!!

It was Shamus' birthday on Friday so we had a nice family dinner.

Shamus' choice - tacos!!

And then we had a small cake and let Shamus open a couple of gifts. It was a really nice night and a great way to finish off his first few days of school!

We had planned a birthday party at New Market Pool but had to cancel on Sunday morning due to bad weather. A total bummer but Shamus didn't seem too concerned. I think I was more bummed out because Darryl had done up the cake (great job Babe!) and we had lots of food and the loot bags all ready! We did decide to ask a couple of Shamus' close friends to come over to our place and have a play date instead which was a great idea. We did some quick decorating and 3 of Shamus' friends arrived around 10am. It was the first time Shamus had any friends over without their parents. The boys had lots of fun together as they hadn't seen each other since they started school. And we still got to do the big cake/ice cream and gifts! Shamus was very pleased with the day and we were all exhausted by 230pm...when the last boy left! :)

The boys were really cute when they saw each other - very hyper!!! They are all in different schools around Brisbane so I guess there will be more play dates to come!

Luke, Bhayva (Shamus' best buddy), Shamus, and Alexander

I'm not sure why Shamus wanted an alien...but that was his pick for the cake. I think Darryl did a great job! The responsibility of the cake will forever lay in Darryl's capable hands - not I!

Breagha is starting to become a typical "girly girl". But, I think she'll always have a tomboy side (like her Mama) as she still enjoys all the boy stuff! She was pretty impressed with Shamus' new Optimus Prime.

Some tattoos for the boys. :) They love them for some reason!

And I think the best gift was a SpiderMan and IronMan Transformer. I didn't even know they existed!! But, the boys were pumped!

And pool Darryl is the Transformer King so it was up to him to figure out how they transform and to show the boys...

"And then you flip SpiderMan's arm down like this guys"...

Happy Birthday Shamus!

I took Monday off work so Breagha and I had the day together. Shamus was not impressed that he had to go to school while Breagha stayed home with me. But, he did well at drop off. He had his first swimming class at school today (it's mandatory to participate in the swimming class which I think is great) and really liked it. He also made a new friend so that was pretty cute - he showed me the new friend yesterday at pick up. And then next week he starts after school care. We swung by today to see how many kids were there and there were 2 from Shamus' class. So, it's nice that he'll know someone there.

Now, I think I've covered it all. - Starting school and the birthday!!!

Now, I may need at least a week off from the blog! :)

And so it begins...

Last day of daycare and first day of school.

It's been hectic! But great.

Miss Andrea is the director at the ABC Daycare. She loves the kids and they love her. Shamus spent most of his last day close to her side. She was great and took some pics for us with the camera.

The kids had a wonderful last day. Lots of games and junk food!! There was a birthday party, the cupcakes I brought in, and Miss Andrea picked up tons of treats and games. I thought I would top the cupcakes with a few different things - you can never go wrong with Smarties. And I crumbled some Mint Slices...so yummy (Mint Slices are our favorite Aussie cookie!), crumbled some Aero Cookies...yes, they have them here too, and then a few with good ol' traditional sprinkles. Well, Shamus only ate the ones with sprinkles! He loves them for some reason.

Simple, yet good.

Friday was Breagha's last day in the Junior Kindy room as she moved up today to the Senior Kindy room! Did you know that this means she is almost going to school?!!! Well, that is what it means to Miss B! She isn't happy that she can't start school yet but she likes that she is one of the "big kids" at daycare now. She has actually been moved up a bit early but she holds her own with the older kids and we think she is ready. :)

Mr Tane is Breagha's new teacher.

Miss Vanessa hanging with B and Shamus.

And so we have it...

The big day has arrived...

And I didn't shed a tear!!

Shamus getting ready this morning for New Farm State School. The hat down to the black shoes. He was looking very cute!

And we can't forget little Breagha!!!!

She couldn't wait to drop Shamus off as she loves to see the school.

School starts at 845am and we got there a bit early...didn't want to be late the first day! Shamus wasn't nervous at all and seemed quite content about the whole thing. It's really nice as there are 4 other kids from daycare that are at the same school.

Elyse is the girl that Shamus plans to marry. He told me this about 2 months ago. :) Cute. She's very sweet and coming to Shamus' party on Sunday.

Syd also went to daycare with Shamus and is a good buddy. So, I think it made a very big difference that he already knows a couple of the kids.

You know, I was making Shamus' lunch last night and getting his backpack ready, and said to Darryl, "This is it. I am officially a Mom. Everything else was a warm up. It's the real thing now. Make lunches, sending the kids off to school, driving them to practice and lessons. This is it."

I'm sending them out into the real world. It was sort of strange but that is how it felt. I hope we teach them well! And I hope they love it.

Happy Australia Day everyone!!

Happy Australia Day!

We're just heading off to South Bank for the day. We don't want to venture too far from home as Shamus starts school tomorrow morning. sniff sniff. (Yeah, I'm going to be emotional!) So, we're going to enjoy South Bank but plan to be home before dinner so we can get ready for our big day tomorrow. I'm sure we'll enjoy South Bank, as we always do. And hopefully tomorrow will go really well!!

We'll keep you posted. :)

Can't forget about the Noosa camping trip!

Last weekend we went camping in Noosa with Rej, Clo, Amy, Kate, and Morgan. Too bad for Dan - he was stuck at work...sorry Dan!! We did miss you. And of course we missed not having Steve and Cari with us. But, they're enjoying the Melbourne heat right now! :)

Anyhoot, we went to Noosa last Friday with the gang and had the best weather. We were in the water a lot of the time because it was quite hot - the sun is crazy strong here!!!!! We're very lucky that Kate can set us up with such an amazing spot. It is truly perfect there.

We started Saturday morning with Clo climbing up on the picnic table. Keep in mind she is about 37 weeks into her pregnancy! It doesn't seem to be slowing her down!

Rej and Clo made a yummy brekky for everyone and then we rested our bellies before hitting the beach.

Rej also brought some flutes...that he made from bamboo sticks. It was quite impressive! He and Darryl were a bit obsessed with this music making and spent most of their free time whittling away on a piece of bamboo! Of course Rej made a flute for Shamus and Breagha...which I hid for the drive back!

The ocean water has been AMAZING the last few weeks. Perfect temperature.

And the waves were great too!

I think the kids are finally getting used to the Aussie beaches because they spent a lot of time in the water this trip. It was very nice to see.

Baby Gabriel's tent was put to good use last weekend! It is a nice break from the sun. I don't know how we have done 2 years here without a beach tent!

Shamus did a great job riding the waves in. And when he fell off, he didn't panic. I think swimming class is starting to pay off!

Saturday night Kate taught Breagha how to properly start a campfire. Breagha did very well until it was time to let go of the lit match. She didn't let go. :( A bit of a burnt finger!

Morgan brought his kite board and equipment. I was really surprised to see how big the kite was. I've seen kiteboarders in Montreal (Pointe Claire Village) and here, but I didn't realize the kite was so big.

Unfortunately the wind didn't want to cooperate so Morgan lost that battle.

Another flute? Coming up! Rej even managed to make a saxophone out of the bamboo! I think Rej is the new McGyver!!! Just give him a match and thread and he could make a booby trap! I do have to say it was quite impressive.

And no trip to Noosa is complete without seeing camels on the beach.

As usually, we've been quite busy. It seems like there is always lots to do/get done. This weekend is a 4 day weekend for me...off on Monday, it's Australia Day on Tuesday, and I do half a day on Wednesday as it's Shamus' first day of school! Darryl and I are both going to take him to school on Wednesday, and pick him up. And then we're taking turns doing half days for the next week and a half...to ease him into school before he goes to After School Care.

Then it's Shamus' birthday on Friday/Jan 29. I haven't decided if I'll do anything at school for his birthday. We are having his party on Sunday/Jan 31 so that may be enough for me to plan!! And he already celebrated at daycare on Friday. He's last day at daycare was one big party! The director went all out. The kids had a blast. So, I think we have enough going on!

A little bit of this and that

We're super behind with the blog! It's just been so busy since before Christmas. I can't believe January is almost over!

WHERE DID IT GO???

Well, either way, I'm here to catch up!

I've been really enjoying my Monday's off. Each week the kids and I are off doing something different. We've tried out a couple of new parks, spent hours at the South Bank beach/pools, and play dates with friends. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep my Monday's off after mid February so I'm making the most of them for now. It really makes a difference having that extra day.

So, a couple of weeks ago we had a surprise baby shower for Clo. Amy suggested high tea and I thought this was a great idea as I haven't done the "Aussie high tea" yet!! For the Canadians - high tea is basically a morning or afternoon of eating fancy little sandwiches, biscuits with cream and jam, and yummy deserts. With tea of course! (No, I haven't started drinking tea - I stuck to the orange juice) It was too bad that some of the girls couldn't make it but we were happy to have surprised Clo!!!!

We had a great spot outside along the Brisbane River. It was very nice.

Clo got a beach tent from a couple of the girls....Kate and Clo decided to see how easily it could be set up.

Very easy.

It did take some help from Christie to get it back in the bag though!!! :)

And a little belly comparing going on....Kiri is due about 4 weeks after Clo. But, the bellies are darn close in size! Good luck to Kiri and her new baby.

We had a great time and Clo received some wonderful gifts. I think her and Rej are almost ready for their little baby boy!!! Only a couple of weeks to go!!!

...i can't wait...

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I thought I would include a couple of pics of Shamus and Breagha enjoying a new park we checked out last week. It was really big and it also had a little wildlife park so we spent the whole afternoon here.

Shamus and Breagha are typically siblings - they fight. But, I have to say that most of the time they enjoy each others company. It will be sad to see Shamus off to school and Breagha on her own at daycare. sniff sniff. Let's not think about that right now. sniff sniff. Even though it's next week. sniff sniff. Isn't Shamus too young for school????

They both loved the ZipLine. Oops, I was corrected by a little girl at the park when I called it a ZipLine. Apparently it is called the Flying Fox...which is what the Aussies call bats. Either way, the kids loved it. I took a couple of videos. Again, we will post some videos some day!!

We've started to let Shamus take a couple of pictures here and there. He's getting the hang of it! At least there is some proof that I actually live here! There aren't too many pictures of me lately. I actually have to tell Darryl to take a picture of me sometimes or I wouldn't be in any!

One last little picture of beautiful Breagha.

That's my one quick update. I'll post some pics of our camping trip next. I have the house to myself right now. Darryl is out with the guys, the kiddies are in bed, and as usually this is when I get most of my stuff done! :) I'm going to make some cupcakes for Shamus to take to daycare tomorrow. Sort of to celebrate his birthday...it's not until next week but tomorrow is his last day EVER at daycare. sniff sniff. Let's not get into this again. It's too hard for me! Anyway, I'm making some, "It's my birthday and last day at daycare" cupcakes. So, lot's to do!!!!