The view from up here!

There is some magnificent country out here. For some time now I have wanted to take a picture of the mountains on the other side of the highway from our town. It is a rather nice sight to see.
Today, DH and I went for a run/walk up what is locally known as 'boot hill'. Aptly named, the tree at the top of the hill holds memories of shoes lost (or mabey worn out!). On our way back down, I made DH stop so I could take this picture.

What a beautiful day to go for a run!

ANZAC Day

What a day!

DH manages proceedings in our little town for the ANZAC dawn ceremony and morning service. I must say, I am very proud of him and the effort he puts in to this day.

Last year was his first try at this, and things went rather well, except the fact he spent most of the day back and forth to our closest town to march in their proceedings, and to attend the breakfast and lunch  the RSL our here put on. Unfortunately in our little town, there were no lunches or anything, so this year we changed that.

So, instead of heading back to town, we organised (with the help of some very special people) a 'rum brekkie', as it is called, for the locals to attend. This seemed to be a big hit, and we very much enjoyed our long and busy morning.

Now that all the ceremonies and services have finished for the day, DH is enjoying a few more drinks down the pub, with Master 6 in tow, while I have a rest with Little Miss 4. You see, there are a few tummy bugs going round, and for some reason last night, while we were out to dinner, Little Miss 4 began throwing up. Once I cleaned her up, we waited for out meals, but she threw up again so we got our dinner to take away (luckily we live in a mining town, and this is common practice for the venues to do this kind of thing).

Now, it did not stop there, she had another go in her sleep on our way home, and then several times throughout the night (into a bucket thank goodness), making it one very long and restless night. She even woke once at midnight and after she settled, asked me if it was morning already! I don't think I got more than 3 hours sleep before the alarm sounded to go get ready for the dawn service :-(

I am so thankful for this hours sleep I have not long woken from, while Little Miss 4 is still down for the count. Soon it is time to go have a celebratory drink with DH for ANZAC day, because I didn't have the stomach to have one at 6am this morning over brekkie with him! So I leave you with this picture of my DH with our proud children.

Tough?

Not necessarily, just very lucky to have a supportive Husband and Family!

DH and I heard about an event last year which we wanted to enter. It was first held in Victoria and Sydney, and this year a date has been set for Queensland. It is an endurance team event covering approximately 20klms and 25 obstacles. It is called Tough Mudder.

January this year (2013), we decided it was crunch time and committed to the event. We have now paid our fees and have been in training since January. I must say, there are only 4 months to go and I am getting a little anxious!

I first saw some of the obstacles and thought I would need a great deal of upper body strength, but seeing videos of the event held in locations across the world, all I need to do is fall into the muddy water and swim to the end!
This is not a competition to see who can cross the finish line first, it is a challenge within ones self to see what you can achieve. DH and I are attempting TM as a team, and have recruited other people to join us. But even if those other people 'chicken' out, we will still attend.

This is completed in teams (unless you are a hard core competitor), because some of the obstacles are a little big to 'get over' by yourself! Needless to say, I am looking forward to facing these challenges, and seeing what I can push my mind to do, because in the end if you tell your body you can't do something, nothing will be your result.

In my training I have lost a little bit of weight, which was ultimately not my goal, but a necessary evil to achieve my desired result. My workouts consist of a variety of weight and interval training, and after this mornings upper body workout, for the first time in my life, I have started to gain definition in my arms! Hopefully, soon, people won't see me as the skinny chick! I will keep you updated with our progress, and will blog about our experience after the event.

To be continued......

Childhood indulgences.

A few days ago, Master 6 decided it was time for his teddy to have a birthday. This teddy, Harry, Master 6 got when he was born from some dear friends, so in my opinion Harry is just as old as Master 6.

Nope, master 6 believes his teddy is 8!

Which promoted Little Miss 4 to have a birthday for her 'Baby' (a soft bodied doll she sleeps with every night).

So, together they discussed when this party would happen, the gifts they would give, the party food, the party decorations etc. Oh my!!!

I value the power of imagination, and don't like to deny my children their little made up games (hence the ongoing saga of the Feather Fairy, which has not visited since I last blogged about it!).

Not one to deny my children their fantasies, I baked a cake today for afternoon tea, with which we would have some simple party food and as such their 'birthday party' for their toys. Unfortunately I forgot about a meeting I wanted to attend this afternoon, got held up on a phone call on my way out to the meeting, and had not cooked dinner before I left so the idea of an afternoon tea party quickly slipped away.

Luckily I am good at compromise and convinced my Children to have the cake for dessert (I did decorate it with sprinkles, so a little more party like!), which kept them happy. And as such, we gave the Harry and Baby their birthday party. I now pray no other teddies need a birthday just yet, I really don't need all those extra calories I get when there is a mixing bowl which needs licking!

Self talk!

I was just contemplating going to bed early because I keep telling myself it would be nice to get up early to do some stuff before the kids wake up.

Who am I kidding?

Seriously.

Me??

Get up early???

Who am I joking?

I don't know why I even waste my time thinking these stupid thoughts!

I have taught my children not to get up until 7am, so I get a decent time to get myself out of bed. And as much as I love it, if I had done things differently, mabey I might just be able to accomplish my personal mission impossible?

Well..............

I highly doubt it! So I am putting to rest any guilt I may have about thinking about getting out of bed early!!!!!

Making your own decisions!

When my daughter was born, she come ready with a head of hair an inch long. And then it got longer, and longer, and longer. Her hair has never stopped growing, and as such she has had many haircuts.

For about the past year, whenever her brother or Dad have had a hair cut, Little Miss 4 has gotten jealous. To the point where she asks for a haircut like Daddy's (short back and sides).

Well, a week ago I noticed a few funny looking hairs on top of Little Miss 4's head. Oh no! I was devestated. Somehow, somewhere, she had a 'haircut'! The more we talk about it, the more details I get of the 'incident'. But it goes something like this.....


"My best friend and I gave each other haircuts, and we cut the babies hair too"

Now, when I heard the last part I got really anxious cause Little Miss 4's best friend has a baby brother!

Luckily the babies she was talking about were pretend, phew!

And today she told me they put the hair they cut off in the bin, (I would think of this as hiding the evidence!). Oh well, carrying on. I asked her what we were going to do about her hair now, and she said she could have a haircut like another little girl she knows, and have it all cut off.

Um, sorry Baby girl, NO WAY!

We talked with Daddy and decided to go with a bob cut, Daddy said shoulders, but I told her she could go a little shorter, and this is what we come out with.

Forgive the rings under her eyes, we had an early start to this day, and a lot of driving. But, she absolutely loves her new hairdo! Hopefully it is easier to maintain and she learns to brush it daily. Needless to say, the short hair is earier to clip back and hide the cut hair, which is in the middle of the top of her head.