What a week!

It has been a busy week all round. Firstly I have to get up early (4.45am) to get hubby off to work. I get home at 5.22am, the sun is up, the kids asleep, me tired. From that point on I have my two choices, stay awake and do some housework, or go to bed and have a nice sleep. I end up feeling more tired with the extra sleep, but the kids love it. From there I get Miles ready for kindy, and off we all go, the mere less then 2 minute walk to the building. The rest of my day is a blur of breastfeeding, and driving and some housework, before collecting hubby from work.

BUT that is not all that I have been up to. The computer died. More to the point, Windows crashed and somehow removed itself from the computer, so I had to pay another $90 to get it fixed. I cannot complain, as it is now working smoothly and I have a few extras added to it. They even managed to backup my files too, so I dont have to try and remember what was on there.

William is now 12lbs or just over 6kgs! He got his needles and is doing fine. I havent taken any recent photos of the boys, so will have to charge up the batteries for the camera and get snapping!

CROCHET - just about finished the Mystery CAL for Leftovers Monthly Challenge. It turns out to be Dot's little ditty bag. I have also started the Mystery CAL for CrochetX, and it going well. My other CAL for crochetsocks, is progressing slowly, as I want to get these other projects finished first. I then have a few items to make for an exchange, and then I want to start on some other items, and then christmas items for family. I am tossing up the idea of making personal handbags for christmas, but not sure, I will see how I go and then know for sure what I am doing.

New projects

I am doing 2 mystery CALs this month. One with Crochet X, which hasnt been sent out yet, and the other one is with Leftovers Monthly Challenge, which has started and I am working on that right this minute to catch up, as I have not had time.
I am doing a sock, as part of a Sock CAL on Crochetsocks. So far my socks are coming along well. I am using my baby yarn in pink. Since I dont have a girl to make anything for at the moment, I might as well use it, and sock yarn is just so expensive, that I wouldnt buy a ball to make socks, when I can buy a bunch of socks for the amount of one ball.

I'm a sucker...

for my craft! I have just finished a Mystery CAL and now I have signed up for another 2!!! One with Leftovers Monthly Challenge, and the other with CrochetX, which will be a mystery exchange. It will be the first time that I have done one like this, and I'm very excited. Cant wait to get the pattern in the inbox!
Also, I should have started my swatch for the sock CAL that I am hosting on CrochetSocks, so I have to get that yarn out and start the swatch. I am hoping that tomorrow, since I am not going out anywhere that I will be able to get that done (if William always me to have a bit of time).
I am also currently working on a doily, I hope that I can get most of it finished tonight and hopefully tomorrow, as I want to send it out to my partner for an exchange. If not, I will send it to her later on (if I dont frog or forget about it.) It is coming along nicely, but slowly. It has been a while since I have used such small thread, since most of the time I have been using yarn and a 5.5mm hook, nothing like this thin thread and a Boyle 10 hook (not sure of the size but I think it is about a 1.25mm).

Photos, photos and lemon tree blossom

Who is the happier brother? Miles or William???

Close up photo of lemon blossoms from my tree. Not sure if it is normal or not, but it and the orange tree are flowering again, so either they are as confussed as the rest of us about the weather, or it is normal for them to keep flowering after they have fruited for the winter season. I dont remember this happening last year, but I really wasnt paying that much attention to the trees.

Another happy shot of Miles and baby Mickey. He loves my stuffed toys a lot, so much so, that they are now his (by his say, not mine). I will get them back one day...one day!

Here is a butterfly I found laying in the grass the other day when I went to get Miles from Kindy. It must have been on its last legs as it didnt fly away when I picked it up and stuffed it into a little box, and took it with me to kindy for Miles. He was very happy to show off the butterfly to the other children, but he needs to learn that it is OK to show it to some of them. He has a real problem with one of the boys at kindy, I dont know why but he just doesnt like him very much. However, i do think that he does play with him at times. Boys, what can you do!

Killer butterfly as I called it. I left it on the front landing and I am hoping that it flew or blew away, and wasnt eaten by a lizard, but like I said it was on its last legs, and about to die anyway. Very pretty though, I really love the black, yellow and the hint of orange/red. So cute! Cant wait to find some more. All I have to do is add some more plants to the front and do the garden up and i will have some more pretty butterflies flying about the place and a very happy boy (boys) outside trying to catch them.

Leftover Monthly Challenge Mystery CAL #2

Last night finished the final step in the mystery CAL. It turns out that I had this project in my projects folder on ravelry to start it sometime soon. I am so happy that one of my projects is finished. It was the Crochet Flower hot pad!

When animals kind of attack

What a morning it has been. Driving hubby to work (4.45am), a brown owl almost attacked my car! Lucky I was fully awake whilst driving, or I would have missed the large bird swooping across the front of my windshield. I didnt hit it. But that sure did get the heart pumping.
However, that wasnt the end of my adventure with animals...after dropping hubby off at work, I started heading home, only to see another bird, not sure what, as it was kind of a cross between an emu and peacock, but on a miniture scale. It ran in such a weird manner, unbird like, that I was giggling at it. I just wish I knew what it was, I have decided that it must have been a scrub turkey crossing the road.
But it isnt over just yet. Although this isnt an attack of any sort, my mother called me just before 7am this morning all upset. Somehow, during the night or early morning, the aviary cage door opened, and my birds (some of them) escaped. I love 2 female cockatiels, about 7-9 budgies, and 2 plump quails (I wasnt planning on eating them!). So now I have about 7 budgies and a single, horny male cockatiel left. I have to go and find him a woman soon or there could be a bit of a problem in the aviary. Mum is so sad, as the female cockatiels were laying and sitting on eggs, and now they are gone. I am hoping that the male will jump at the job and look after them, but I am not really holding my breath, as he spent most of today sitting on the side of the cage singing out for his women.
But that wasnt the last of my day with animals....when I got home and was walking out of my room to grab something, a quick grey flash of rodent ran past me. This caused me to let out a scream, followed by my mother laughing at me, when she found out what had happened. But I decided that I would have a look at where that evil little creature went to, under the couch, so I tipped the couch on its side, and let out another scream...I know, I knew it was under there...but that didnt stop the automatic reaction of screaming...its more like an EEEEEK~! But he ran near my crocheting that I have sitting in front of the bookcase, from there he ran behind a box of books. I gave that a little kick, and then proceeded to move the box and the binders that are there next to my treadmill. He wasnt there behind the box, so I picked up 1 of 2 binders, and he wasnt there, 3rd time lucky, the little shit was there in the 2nd binder and he jumped out of it onto the treadmill and ran into his hole. Mum is in the other with William still laughing at me, as I screamed yet again when it jumped from the binder. I swear, I could have been attacked by the less then 5cm monster!!! It is no laughing matter, this is dead serious, they are horrible little things that dart across the room at lightening speed and grow and breed more of themselves. So mum asked me if I had any bait, to which I replied that I did and handed it to her, she took it to the holes, where I proceeded to tell her that it was the hole next to her foot that it went into, so she went for the wrong hole anyway until I repeated myself a dozen times about which hole it was. Finally got it, and she shoved it all the way into the little hole. Within 5 minutes, I heard a few squeaks and then a bit of munching...YES the little grey rodent was eating the bait...I only hope it goes some place away from the house to drop dead. I dont like them but I hate their smell worse.
So that was my day with animals...apart from Kitty, and her rubbing against my legs, or Nippy and Hanibal jumping up at me at mum and dad's, or Possum (cat) running out from under my car as I was driving, I have a good day for getting the heart pumping without doing any exercise to get my heartrate up!

Christmas gifts and other projects

With Christmas only a few months away (I think it is about 2 months to go before the big day) I have been giving it a bit of thought about what I would like to do, in terms of gift making. I want to complete atleast 2 or 3 starghans for the kids (Almaaz, Eri, and William) [Miles has one already], a few bags for the ladies, a hat for dad (he has asked me to make him one, and I havent...bad daughter!). Dishclothes, tawashi, and a few other things.

Current projects that I have on my plate are:
Leftover Monthly Challenge Mystery CAL,
CrochetX Secret Pal Exchange,
starting a starghan in pink for Eri (If I can get this finished while my mother in law is here, I can give it to her to give to Eri-chan in Japan.)
Seraphina's Shawl (still working on it when I have a bit of time)
Bookmarks, got to make some bookmarks, I think about 14 in total. (^-^)

My recent finished projects

These are for my secret pal as part of CrochetX secret pal exchange. I hope she likes them.

Butterfly Garden Square

Crunch Stitch Dishcloth (times 2)

Magic Pot holder

Pink Lady

Pentagon dishcloth

My boys and their dad

I thought that I might add a few more photos of my boys. Hubby took them, and I have just come across them on the computer. He saves the files in a different folder then I do, so it sometimes makes it hard to locate them. But I really love these photos of them.

Miles and William cuddling. Miles really loves holding William.

A nice photo of Miles. (He's not pulling a face!)

William, just being William. What big eyes you have? Just like my mummy!

Someone has got a mo-hawk!

Sleepy time with daddy.

Three sets of feet ... all big feet!

Miles and William. Miles just cant get enough of holding his little brother.

A very proud father indeed, why wouldnt he be, he has 2 sons!

There is something tasty on my fingers!!!

Same here, very tasty fingers, indeed.

Travel with Baby

Travel with Baby
Originally uploaded by xstch4you

This is so darn cute. I might have to make one of these up for my car! As my 2 little precious boys are in the car with me.

which House character are you?

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Updates

Manly won!!! 40-0
Menzies scored a try in the 73rd minute!
So another year of NRL football is over, but thankfully, we have the ARL (Australian Rubgy League) on this year. Our national team announced sometimes soon. So more footy for a few more months at least.

Cricket season is now starting, so our summer is going to be full of cricket! Cant wait!

Softball starts this weekend. Training is on Thursday, so I have to somehow, get Miles to training, as he hasnt been to one yet, and he plays on Saturday. I am hoping that my car will be fixed by 3pm so that I can collect him and head off. I must make sure that I have the car packed and ready for all of us for Saturday, as hubby is also playing on Saturday, but not sure of the time for his game, it will either be around 2 or 4, and then he might be playing in the A1 mens grade too. So he could have 2 games to attend to. (*-*)

More wildlife out the back. Yesterday, our neighbour told us that they have a brown snake in their backyard. YUCK! I hate snakes, they are evil looking. I dont care if they do eat mice, and other little animals, I just dont want it near me, around me, or in my yard. I am hoping that it has gone back to where ever it came from (not my yard).

I think this summer we are going to have a few snake sightings in and around our place. It is already feeling like summer here, even though it is supposed to be spring.
It was that hot here, that even William let me have him naked for a while. He hates to be naked, but since it was so hot (no rain in sight either), he was very happy to be in the nude and laying about on my lap. He is a little rolly-polly at the moment, from drinking so much milk! He did have a long sleep last night. He is still sleeping now, and itis 7.50am, he is just so tired, and full. He is so content and happy. He loves looking at Miles, and I often catch him looking at Miles whenever he is in the room. I am sure that he is going to be following his big brother around when he can crawl and walk.

owl update

I called the vets today to see if the owl was alright. Unfortunately, he didnt make it and passed away last night. Poor little thing. Jumpei is a little upset by it, so am I but that is life.

On the home front, we have an echidna in our backyard, there are holes dug in the group around the sheds. I didnt think that they would be this close to town, but my neighbour said she was chasing one the other night along her fence. So we have the little creatures in our yard.

Go MANLY!!!

Tomorrow is the NRL (National Rugby League) Grand Final between Manly Sea Eagles and Melbourne Storm. I am a Manly fan, so I am cheering them on. Not only is it a repeat of last year GF, but it will be the last game for my favourite player, Steve "Beaver" Menzies, in Australia. He is heading over to Super League for a year. So tomorrow, hubby has asked for Nachos for the game, so I will be in the kitchen cooking up some nachos and then sitting back and watching the game (and breastfeeding William). I am hoping that Manly will win by a good margin and give us a few fights and a bit of blood too. I love a rough game of footy! I will post the score after the game tomorrow.

An adventurous morning

An adventurous morning, that is how we started our normally uneventful day on our way to Toowoomba. We had just passed the Flats and were heading up the hill when I spotted what I thought was a kitten sitting next to the road. I thought it might have been hit by a car, so I did a U-turn and headed back down the road and pulled up. Hubby jumped out and headed across the road to have a look at the kitten. He ran back over and said it was a bird, an owl (an Australian Barn Owl). When asked if it was alive he said "yes". So I told him to grab one of William's blankets in the back and wrap the bird in it. He did, but he bundled the bird up like you would a baby, with the head sticking out. I told him to cover the head, as it would cause the bird a bit of distress if it is exposed. So once we were all settled in, we headed to Toowoomba once again. We decided that since we dont know where a Vets is, that we would head over to the police station to ask, but would you believe they were closed! So I drove blind, and just kept thinking about a vets that I know is on the corner of some street. My only problem is I have to work out what "some street" is!. But would you believe it I found it in the first go! Once inside the vets, I had to fill in a form, and the little guy (or girl) was taken by the vet. If it can be saved, it will be rehab'ed and hopefully released back into the wild. I hope so, as it is a damn beautiful bird, with big black eyes and a white face. So pretty!
This is what the bird looks like (although, this is not the actual bird, we didnt take a photo of it, as we didnt want to stress it any further).

Yummy yarn

On another blog, there is a contest to win some homespun yarn. I have to say that the yarn is very yummy looking. You can visit the site here at http://garnfiti.blogspot.com/2008/10/halloween-contest.html
I just wish I had a spinning wheel so that I could do some spinning as well.

Isnt he cute!

We just cant stop looking at this picture of William. He is just so darn cute! Very alert too!
He is now over 10lbs! He is now 4.6kgs! He has put on about 560grams in 2 weeks. A little rolly-polly baby he is becoming from his constant feeding!

CAR----Dad is going to do a swap with us for his Falcon for hubby's van. Not a fair deal but he wants to do it. I just have to pay to get it roadworthy and registared, but that is fine by me, as I would have paid more to get a car up to scratch for hubby too. So that should all be done in about 2 weeks time. In the meantime, if I dont need the car for the day, hubby can take it to work, if I need it however, I have to get him into work (leave by 4.45am) and pick him up again (whenever work finishes). Thankfully, I brought him a mobile phone, so now he can call me instead of searching for a public payphone.

Forgot to mention the van managed to drain itself of its battery yet again!

Miles--cut his hair today! Hubby tried to fix it, I now have a child who looks like

Fuguta Tarao from Sazae-san (her 3yr old son).

Naughty naughty cars

I knew yesterday, that hubby could possible be taking my car to work with him this morning, as his van was making a horrible noise as it tried to refuse to start. He did manage to get it going yesterday morning, but this morning it refused. I listened to him starting it, and revving it, and starting to back it out of the driveway when it stopped dead. No problems, I dont need my car today, I can walk to Mum and Dad's place today, instead of driving, so told him last night he could use my car if he needs it. Well this morning, I listened to him start it, watched the headlights go past the window, and then watched the headlights come back past the window. Poor thing, comes into the house a little upset, slighted annoyed, and very sorry. What could possible be wrong??? OOPS, he knocked off the passenger side mirror by hitting the shed on his way out. I'm not too worried, I tell him not to worry to much either, hand him the "gaffa" tape and we stick it back in place. I tell him, "Dont worry, I will get that fixed when I put the car in for a service." He is still upset, but atleast he is able to get to work.
I will talk to Dad today about getting his other car fixed so that hubby can use that one to get to work. I have been looking for a car for hubby as I know that his van is probably running on it last leg, so we want to get rid of it, and have another little car for him to be driving around in. An automatic would be nice, as when he takes my car for band practice, I have a car that I can use if I need to go somewhere. So I am hoping that maybe today, Dad will do what I ask him to do in regards to his other car and we get it down to the local garage. So will have to wait and see.