Note to self…. always check the ISO settings before attempting family photos..

* here is a post I wrote ages ago, and didnt publish! Im doing it now, just because I love these photos. Also note we DID get flooded in after i had written this!*

 

Because there were some I absolutely loved

and some that were oh-so-cute

( the boys, loving on their baby sister, is just too cute for words!)

 

but mostly, they were way too bright ( obviously the first sunny day in a while, we didnt get flooded in (close!) but it has been a wet miserable Christmas) So, i guess thats a reminder, its not like ive ruined a whole photoshoot and had to do the whole thing again  ever done that before so surely ill never do it again ( cue laughter here)

I was a little bummed out, I love how they looked with the new wagon (Grandmas present to the boys) out of 156 photos, there was not a single one of all 6 kids I liked! And now, it being school holidays ( another reason to hate the rain, 6 kids stuck inside because the grass is too long because its too wet to mow, and the yard is all wet and muddy, and there is a tent and a Slip n Slide just waiting by the  back door –still in their boxes! I shouldnt complain, last year we were in a drought, and plenty of poor Queenslanders are flooded in, and being evacuated. Sigh. Queensland. Crazy weather!!) all the kids are gone or going out ( Cara is at the beach with her mate, Dakota, Rani and Jai are going to their grandmas) so I wont get to try again until the end of the week.

I am planning a surprise picnic on Friday, rain or shine. Ill be up all night cooking, luckily I got lots of practice over Christmas! Wanna know what we ate for Christmas lunch (remember, 19 people!!!)

pickled onions, cheese, kabana, chocolates, marinated peppers,olives,corn relish dip, chocolate balls (my mums speciality lol)….

Ham,turkey, roast pork, prawns, watermelon salad, tomato salad, normal salad (haha you know what I mean!) potato salad, pasta salad…..

Mango cheesecake, pavlova cheesecake, tiramisu, raspberry cheesecake, pavlova with mango and cherries and plum pudding…

Yep, thats why i put on 3kgs…. 

We started straw bale gardens! I saw it on MckMamas site, and the kids are loving it. The poor veggie patch was completely flooded, it was a total swamp for about a week, so Thursday we will replace the dirt and try it a bit higher up! In the meantime Rani and I got our straw bales going. We have radishes, beans, marigolds and watermelons. The radishes and beans have just begun to sprout, even the boys are excited!

( yay!! See our shed!!! Yay!!! –sorry but it sat in our garage in the box for exactly 14 months, so, again, YAY!!! and you can see the garden too, we dug it out, when we should have built it up, told you I am no gardener! All it has is a few hopeful beans, a rotten Pomato, and a dying pea)

We also have , out the front in big tubs, peas, basil, tomatoes, sunflowers and butter beans. And…. the kids and I are going to try a salad tower on the weekend so ill let you know how that goes!

Eden will be one in just a few weeks.

One

in a few weeks.

WHERE did the year go!! Unreal to think that this time last year, I had no idea she would arrive so soon.

This time last year she was safe (well kind of she didnt have the most relaxed time in there!) inside me.

This time last year i looked like

This time last year she was  The Bean

Now…

( damn ISO)

I know, you cant see her face, but come on! How cute is that!

Life has changed so much in a year.

Our family became 8.

And that tiny little girl with the head the size of an apple (really, ill have to photograph her first beanie, and the jumper she wore home from hospital – i got it at Pumpkin Patch. In the teddy bear clothes section!) showed us the important things.

The entire family is so in love with this girl.

Our tiny precious miracle

So ill be back, with her birth story (FINALLY!) and a letter to my precious daughter on her first birthday.

Woody, he’s part of the family

The absolute best Christmas present I bought last year was Woody.

Even though he is obsessed with Ben 10( and got the much coveted Omnitrix from Santa), Luka and Woody have been inseparable since Christmas morning.

Woody comes shopping with us, watches tv with us, sleeps with Luka, gets carted around in the dolly sling I made for that specific purpose, even eats with us

 

Hes looking a little the worse for wear, thats for sure, but  I always want to remember the most loved present Luka ever got, and the love between a little boy and his cowboy

January 2011

January will be forever in my mind.

The first we heard was Towoomba (about 45 minutes from us) had been smashed by a wall of water. In the main street. The water swept downstream, devastating all the towns that lay below. Grantham. My heart breaks.

We werent too worried. A lot of telephone calls between relatives and neighbors, thanking god that i was able to contact everyone, and so far everyone was ok.

We all received the sms from the government/ses telling us to evacuate. But we had 8 kids there, the water was over the road both ways, we werent going anywhere.

The water reached our back fence, and our side fence. Both our neighbours had water through their houses.

After it was over, we tried to get the girls friends home, before the water hit Ipswich. The whole area was just devastated. I have no idea how simon got the wagon over the roads.

Even more devastated when we heard that Jesse, little 4 year old Jesse had been swept away and lost. The kids all knew him. They lived just round the corner. They left when they got the same sms we did. It happened at their school. Broken hearts. So many.

Driving around (we did get the kids home, we ended up meeting some relatives of theirs,very complicated and lots of driving) we were just stunned. Our whole area has just been torn apart.

see that roof? We were just driving around in tears. Sobbing.

Our local shop. See the strip of road? Its from the opposite side of the road.

The school, thankfully opened on time,thanks to awesome blokes with a backhoe!

The kitchen of the house we helped clean. Poor Shell, it was so so awful, just awful.

Jais little mate from over the road moved into his new house with his mum 3 weeks ago. All they have left is the frame of their house.

Please pray people, for the lost, and for what everyone has lost. People have lost so much. I am so thankful we all were ok, and that we live in such an amazing area, everyone has just pulled together to do whatever they can.

So whatever youre doing, please send Queenslanders your love today.

The last few months

You know, I used to think I had a handle on it. But boy oh boy, six kids are hard to keep track of :) So, the end of this year, Christmas included was crazily unorganised for me. But hey, it all got done in the end.

November was Lukas 3rd birthday. I suppose the fact he doestnt cry at Happy Birthday means he is growing up. Obsessed with Toy story and Ben 10, I think he liked his birthday present….

Or maybe not…

( just kidding. Thats the ‘angry face’. He loved his police car)

We started December with school concerts in the church hall, end of year break-ups, and another disappointing raffle (19 prizes and we didnt win one!!!)

I continued to dress Eden in all things pink and frilly.

 

And she retaliated by learning to crawl (just in time to destroy the Christmas tree- which by the way is BLACK oooh new tree and I loved it!!)

Hey, shes learning! And…..

Whats that you can see (apart from the ‘thats enough photos’ face?)

 

Yep, its teeth! Two teeny tiny perfect pearly white baby teeth.

* so, while I am here, and also, posting her birth story soon ( she will be one in just a few weeks!) a health update.

Eden is finally caught up on her immunizations (she was delayed because of a chest infection when she was due for her 4 month needles) She is just over 16 pounds, which is low (off the scale my tiny monkey!) but steadily gaining. The doctor is referring us to a paediatrician at her next visit (12 months) just to check out her weight and development.

Eden also sees a physiotherapist every 6 weeks, she is doing well, reaching all her milestones (she only had trouble with rolling) and she has another appointment in two weeks.

She also sees the hospital doctors once a year until she is 5, she has another appointment in February.*

And then, Christmas! An all time grand total of 19 people fed! And about 1200 photos haha. Edens first Christmas. The kids all were spoilt rotten again, and Luka terrified of Santa, but all in all it was a great day, spent with family and friends, surrounded by children, and a ute load of rubbish!

So, late as usual, but 

Merry  Christmas and Happy New Year

love from everyone at Chapman Crazyhouse xxx

( the crazyhouse also now includes a bird, 2 blue-tongue lizards and soon, something little and fluffy!!)

**as promised, next year I shall return with a vengance! I cant wait to catch up with my over-the-ocean mates ( Kimber watch your mailbox my lovely!) **

A boys gotta do

When its the start of summer,

and stinking hot,

then it starts to storm,

a boys gotta do,

the only thing there is to do.

Whats that you ask?

Why, jump on the trampoline ,

in your underwear,

of course.

What?

Youve never tried it?

Well,

Luka fully recommends it!

 

*the haircut however- i fondly call it the ‘Barney Rubble’- is endorsed by no one in the family. Both boys had killer mohawks, then in the next school newsletter there was a note, “ Mohawks and similar haircuts are not permitted at school… blah blah blah ( yes i know its a wild haircut but come on, Jai is in PREP, and hes a good boy, and we only spiked it up once) so we just let them grow them out, hence the ‘Barney Rubble’… Not a good look, but I still reckon he pulls it off:)

My glorious riot of colour

(12 December 2010)

I am by no means a green thumb. Far from it. In fact, i may have invented the term ‘brown thumb’ just for myself. I kill plants. I dont know how, but no matter how hard i try, I kill them. (Luckily for us, Rani is in charge of the veggie patch). So, you will understand how surprised I was when this popped up in the garden.

Even more surprisingly. I didnt plant it.

 

When it first appeared , i thought it was a weed. Really. Well, come on, like i said, I didnt plant it.

Then it flowered. In September.

I looked at it, and the words ‘glorious riot’  just popped into my head.

Weird.

I thought about it.

Then it hit me.

My glorious riot of colour had appeared right where we buried my precious son. My precious son, who would have turned one in September.

And now I am becoming a , dare I say it, a green thumb. The garden is weed free and thriving,

and  when I am near my glorious riot of colour, I swear I can feel him.

Pulling weeds out from between the flowers feels like I am finally getting to take care of my third son, the son I missed out on.

I know he  sent us Eden, to help us heal, and you know what?

I think that this little bush represents everything my son could have been.

A spectacular, glorious riot.

Smitten

with my almost 11 month old….

And yes, i promised to blog more, and i will. But this year truly was about soaking up this girl.

This beautiful angel. I feel so blessed each and everytime i look at her.

Two teeth,crawling,getting into stuff,still a mamas girl.16 pounds!!!

I miss you guys,i really do. I mean, i really miss you! And next year, I shall return with a vengence.

But for now, its all about them

And her….