Ballard Xmas 2011

Well the Ballard Xmas was a lovely day again this year...
perfect weather & perfect company!.  Mind you, it is still too hard to catch up with everyone in the short amount of time that we have together.  Ultimately we really need a couple of days to really  have a good ole' catch up with everyone.  One thing the Ballards are never short on, is a good yarn!!  We definitely know how to talk!!  The kids are all growing up so fast....and so are we...

this year the girls received a lovely keepsake box made by their grandmas with photos of themselves and their families decorated over the box.  They loved them...(nice idea ladies)...

And the eldest great grandchild was welcomed into the world of adulthood by receiving, for the first time,  her very own crochet hand towel...a beloved Ballard tradition now lovingly kept going by Aunty Mickey.  

Che' was chuffed!!

And I am devastated, because I misplaced mine...no seriously, DEVASTATED, I have to wait a whole

year for one of these...and it's really needed by the end of the year.  The best gift ever, I tell ya....

A big thankyou to Mickey & Pete for their wonderful hospitality...hanging out with the two of you feels just like home... x

P.S Now Aunties... don't be angry at me for using that classic shot for my 
blog banner....it had to be done!.
Seriously...if that is not Merry & Bright, I don't know what is!!.  Love you all dearly xx

Pre-school xmas concert....

Wow, how hectic do things get at the end of the school year hey? There is so much going on for the kids at the moment...lots of fun stuff like rewards days and concerts and things,which means lots of times and dates and information going around in my brain at the moment!!. It's nearly all over though, yeehah!!. Finny had his Christmas concert the other day. Santa came on the fire truck, and Finn just sat there intently staring at him, I don't think it was suspicion, or maybe it was!!. But he seemed pretty convinced that Santa had just come to the school to give the kids a book and some lollies for being great kids. So glad he wasn't frightened of him !. I captured it on video, and when Santa was leaving, and all the kids were saying goodbye, Finny tried to remind him, over all the noise of the kids shouting, not to forget that we will be camping over Christmas. Bless Him, he was worried that he wouldn't know where we are. I reassured him that I had told Santa we would be camping and that he knows exactly where to find us!.

They sang a few songs and did some sign language also.  He was so cute trying his hardest to sing all the words and do all the actions.  Such an adorable age, watching them develop their personalities, and interact with other kids.  I am so glad I made the decision for him to go one day a week.  It has been something for the both of us to look forward to every week.  So the countdown is on....14 more sleeps!!

Lucky to be here....

Hi all, as I write this my heart is fluttering and I feel sick in the stomach, and I just want to lay down and cry, because of how lucky we are and because of how close we came to something that I don't even want to consider.  On our way home from our trip to Brisbane,  Shane fell asleep at the wheel about 15 minutes away from home.  The kids and I were all asleep, the radio was on, and we woke to the sound of the car slamming into a bank on the side of the road, and trees looming in the view of the windscreen, we were going pretty fast because I think Shanes foot was still on the accelerator as he was trying to wake up and figure out what was going on.  I grabbed the wheel to push the car back into the road, and we were able to just avoid the bigger gums.  Summer was screaming with fright, and just thinking about it now,  I can't get the sound of that metal slamming, out of my head.  I think we were very lucky that it happened where it did, and that we are in a big four wheel drive car, with bull bar.  We are all fine, no injuries, and considering what we hit,  quite minor damage to the car.  We are all in shock.  I awoke at about 3.30 this morning and could not get my mind to stop repeating the scenario, as I experienced it, I can't get it out of my head.  I am still frightened.  My biggest fear is a car accident, and although we are all safe, it is hard to not play over those what ifs.  I thanked  the universe, my grandparents, god, whoever was looking out for us, that we did not die, kill or seriously injure ourselves or anyone else yesterday, and how close we came is something that we will not forget easily or quickly.  But most of all I feel so bad for Shane.  He is devastated, at what he could have done to his family, when he knew he was tired.  He didn't read the signs his body was telling him, even though he said he knew he should have pulled over, because he was struggling to stay awake.    But today we are here, at home together, a normal day.  This day for us could have been so different, our lives could have changed irrevocably forever. 

Finns xmas wish list....

His big sister helped him make his list. I think he might just get his wish!....

Op shop finds...

Hi guys, I thought I would share a few of my latest op shop finds. I picked up a couple of these vintage Tomy games the other day, one was $1 and the other was $3. The kids have had an absolute ball playing them, especially the Screwball Scramble....

This game is good fun, and a real challenge. You have to manouevre the ball bearing around the course without letting it fall off, by switching, turning, and pushing a heap of dials and buttons and things. It has given the kids hours of entertainment, a real bargain.

And my find of the week, was this gorgeous crochet rug!!. the colours are so beautiful, and it has an amazing decorative, red edge on it. It has really brightened up our daggy old chairs....

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.................

Can you believe that someone has gotten rid of this??. It is in such perfect condition it is like it had only just been made!....and all for the whopping price of $5 !!. Can you believe all those hours of work turns out to be worth $5. Amazing, makes me wonder just who made it.... Have you found anything interesting lately? x

The sound of thunder...

      He is our weather man...he hears it before we do. He opens the screen door, slinks inside, and hides.

Fun with gif....

Hi there guys, I just thought I'd share with you my first attempt at making a gif.   What's a gif?..you say....or who gives a gif !.....well, it is just a little way to make an animation from photos.  It doesn't have to be in a series like I have done, but can be snippets of anything you like, made into a moving collage.  I have wanted to do this for a while after I saw the talented Miss Whitneys works of art, like these curtains blowing in the breeze .  My problem though is it only seems to let me do three images together, which means I am missing out on telling the whole story with the series of images.  Anyway, I shall talk to my tech savvy,( talented, gorgeous, hilarious, etc..)friend Marni & see if she can help me out on this one. If you want to give it a go yourself, I used a free program called Picasion.com. 



Ok, so a few little problems to iron out, like the quality is shite...it won't let me do more than three pictures, oh well, back to the drawing board .....



Ok, so I had another quick go & changed the size to large when I uploaded them,(400px) but they are still bad quality.  Anyway this was Lola & Finn having fun in the cubby! x
Animator gif

Gif make

The Race....

Around here....

Hello friends, I hope this finds you all well & happy.  Just thought I would share a little of the busyness that has been going on around here lately. 
Shane has been busy working hard with the picking season....long hours and very little time to relax when he is at home with all the work that has to be done around here also....mainly he has been focusing on finishing the front verandah....

A huge thankyou goes out to Troy, Dad, and Mitch for all their help.  As always, you all help to make our life out here just that bit easier.   One thing I know for sure is that we never turn down help when it is offered.

These are the Witches Fingers I made for Summers Halloween cake stall.....can you believe that schools now embrace this whole halloween thing, and when I asked the kids what halloween is they have absolutely no idea what it is about!!.

Had a lovely visit from my totem animal the other day, about ten black cockatoos stopped for a rest in the tree.....so I stopped for a rest to watch them!  What is your totem animal?.....

 And this beautiful little boy has started Pre-School!!.  Every Thursday now we head off for a huge day out.  Finny goes to Pre-School and I go to the school and help out in the canteen and do some reading recovery with the kids, which I absolutely LOVE!!.  You all know how important I think reading is for kids and families and now I get to do a bit for kids who really need some help...and I am finding it very rewarding and also very sad, for the kids who don't have family that will do just a little bit to help them in the long run.  And then we finish off the day with Swimming Club.

When I picked Finn up the other day form Pre-School he said  "I had the best day Mum".  So glad, I knew he was ready, and so was I.  I have also been spending alot of time and energy(!), helping Summer with a new little hobby of hers....after months of trying to decide which one, Summer has finally purchased a Blythe doll.  She has been looking and learning all about them for a while now....and although it is not a cheap hobby by any means, Shane and I are so happy to see her really excited and passionate about something, and she has even made a new friend at the same time by joining the Utterly Awesome Blythe Club!.  But you can check it out for yourselves as she has also got her own blog now.  I know she would love for you all to see her new hobby.......www.aworldofsummer.blogspot.com 

Hope you have a great day......x

Straddie trip....

Woohoo, the girls got away!.....First of all I should say a big thankyou to Shane, Mum, Dad & Laine & Logan & Summer for making it possible to go and visit Brother Baddy & Maree in their lovely home at Straddie.  It has been far too long between visits....and I am so glad Koo suggested I come up with her and that everyone helped make it happen for me. 

We arrived straight into the Island Festival which was on it's last day, and got to see Baddy play and helped at the gelati van and got to see some awesome music......keep an ear out for Bobby Alu, Nicky Bomba and Cheap Fakes....they were awesome and got me dancing my huge butt off!!.  Oh, I love to dance......

Koo and I were so glad to catch up with Jess and Rosie and Nick, cannot believe that it was the first time I had seen Jessies kids, and I was greeted by darling Rosie with the hugest hug, as if she has known me forever......truly sweet and gorgeous kids....

Rosie and Nick adored Baddys hand reared chickens!

                                             Brett and Marees beautiful permaculture garden

                                      

                                                                              My Bro !

                                         As close as I got to the water....still too cold for me!

Check these two out, studying the Melbourne cup Form guide...Mum would be poud!!.

And then off to the Straddie Pub for the race and then the Straddie Annual Toad Races...Such good fun!

                   And even though we had a few punts on the toads...they all turned out to be duds!

So we had a great Straddie trip, cannot wait to get back with the kids.  I basically spent three days laughing on a road trip with my sis.....now you can't beat that.