Close Call

Had a bit of a scare here yesterday, was sitting watching TV and could smell smoke for a while, which isn't a strange thing down here and Tori ran in and said "Fire Mummy" to which I calmly replied "yeah I know" until she put out her hand and said "Come look" and yes there was a fire in the paddock next door to us. The winds were EXTREMLY high and blowing towards our house so I was a "little" panicked..until I noticed it already burnt through the fence and was getting close to the driveway..and the neighbours house..I ran down to see if they had anymore hoses but they were sorted as a passerby had stopped to help so I ran back to our house to ring 000 and get our hose out... Long story short 5 firetrucks later the fire was out and everyone/thing was safe..I got some photos but only after everything was settling down...I felt a bit funny last night but I think it was a combination smoke inhalation, ODing on my ventalin and shock...So Spring is here and the bushfire season is up and running with predictions it will be worse than last year :0(

I'd LOVE to cut the 5 acre paddock right next to our house but don't feel like doing it with the push mower..lol

Our 20th Wedding Anniversary

Hard to believe but yesterday was our 20th Wedding Anniversary...

The day started off well with 20 red roses being delivered to my door (though Tori was wondering why there was a strange man on the doorstep giving me flowers...lol

then Kym came home early from work and told me that I had to get dressed as we had to be in the city at 6.30...this jewellery was waiting for me when I went to get dressed..

then off we drove in to the city (with still no idea what was in store for me)...before we got out of the car I gave Kym his present from me. He wanted to see ACDC in concert so I brought him a DVD of a concert...with tickets to their Australian concert inside!!!

We ended up going to Sydney Tower Restuarant, what a view from the revolving restaurant!!!

All in all a great nite, I think this is only the 3rd time we have been out for our anniversary and it was a wonderful surprise that he organised all this for us....

Was a great nite, thanks Bo...

My Baby Boy is FIFTEEN!!!!

WHOA!!!!! I need to slow things down a bit here...lol

Happy Birthday Brent!!!

Tori is FIVE!!!

Hard to believe it but my baby turned FIVE yesterday!!

She had a MOSTLY wonderful day and was on cloud nine from the moment she woke up. She got a pretty bracelet from Brooke, then Daddy rang her from Wollongong, she then got to open her presents from us and Ash.

Da rang her and then it was off to Preschool (where she had her first cake)

She had a pleasant surprise when she got home from school and found these balloons waiting for her...

She is LOVING Ash at the moment as he made all her cakes today. These were two yummy mudcakes he made, a big one for all the family and a little one just for Tori... she is also looking forward to having a cake at Playgroup tomorrow and Daddy bringing an icecream cake home with him on Friday!!!

Nan also rang for her birthday and she is OVER THE MOON that Grandma and Nan n Pop Christiansen sent her money and keeps checking it's still in her wallet..lol

Onto the only sad part of the day, just after she had her cake, she went into the bathroom to wash her face and slipped and hit her head on the edge of the bath...I think she had the HUGEST egg I have ever felt on the back of her head and it was a sad end to a fab day. The good news is that today she still has a bump on her head but nowhere near as scary and the first thing she said when she woke up is... "I'm still 5"!!!!!...lol

Brooke's Broke

Well 3 of her toes are..lol

Saturday night she was mucking around with Tori and kicked the door...after seeing they were bleeding and sitting at a funny angle I rushed her off to the Drs and none were open so with dread we headed up to the emergency ward. We arrived about 6.30pm and when the nurse saw her foot she thought she thought maybe there was a dislocation and we were added to the "fasttrack" pile. 8.30 she got x-rayed, about 11.30 I was told there was still 6 people in front of her, at 12 we were told most of the Drs go home, at about 3.30 we were taken in to be looked at and she was finally put in a temporary cast at 4.30am!!!

Apparently after 12 there is no fastrack and we went into a pile of 40 instead of 6...but there were people waiting 6, 7 or 8 hours just to be xrayed. There was a 3 year old girl vomiting blood who was told 10 hours..thankfully it wasn't that long, people started giving up and going home around 1 or 2..when we got in we were told there was a guy who got hit by a train and just the bone dr alone spent 6 hours working on him and thats why they were so far behind..so maybe we were "lucky" it was ONLY 10 hours!!!

Anyway, yesterday we took her to the local doctor to get her full cast on. The first one had no support around the toes and the nurse had the nerve to get the s***s when I pointed out..her toes are broken, they need support...DUH!!! so off that one came and she put another one on. We were home for about an hour and noticed a crack around her ankle, rang the Dr and she said to come in tomorrow. Apparently, she wants us to complain to the Director so the nurse can get fired..but Brooke doesn't want that to happen!! Long story short, I have to go there today so I can get the referral letter from the hospital and Im going to take her to yet another Drs to get yet another cast!!!! as it has to be on 6-8 weeks and I don't think this one will last that long (it has cracked all the way around and the two halves move seperately!!)

Anyway, enough complaining..Brooke had 2 days off and wanted to go to school today..they have exams soon and she doesn't want to miss anything important..

Time for a Family Update

Whats been happening in the Wonderful (?) World of Christiansen???

Kristopher turned 22 and we got to spend the day with him, Kate and Maddison (isn't she GORGEOUS...lol)
Kris and Kate are expecting another baby but are sadly no longer together
Ashlee has been working away in Woolongong with Kym for the last 3 weeks and is off for his 2nd Navy interview next week to become a Marine Technician
that's him jumping on the new trampoline and NO he's crack's not out on display, just looks like it...lol
Brooke celebrated her 17th birthday
Brent got a promotion at Cadets and is now a Lance Corporal
He also participated in services for Long Tan last weekend (for Vietnam Veterans Day)
Tori is LOVING preschool and having LOTS of fun with her new friends
We got a new kitten which we named Tilly (the poor thing is still waiting for the novelty to wear off with Tori so she can get 5 minutes peace ;0)
We had a hot air balloon land in the paddock next door

Apart from that it's just the same old, same old...

Hope this finds you and yours well and happy, thanks for dropping by :0)

Dean and Josie's Wedding

Yesterday was our nephew Dean's wedding to Josie. It was in the beautiful setting of Berowa Waters and was a GORGEOUS ceremony. I especially loved the part where Dean and Josie's daughters said their own "vows" to each other and when Dean sang to Josie. I wish them all a lifetime of love and happiness.

Hawkesbury Show

In my last post I mentioned that we went to the show after we came back from the coast, so I thought I'd better some photos I took whilst there

Day Trip To the Coast

Last weekend Kym had to go drop off a part to Kangaroo Valley Power Station so we came along for the drive. (photo is of fog in the valley as we came down the mountain)

Afterwards we went to Nowra and grabbed some breakfast and took the Ocean Road from the beginning and dropped in to Kiama to see if the blowhole was "blowing"

Brent and his mate Tim, went for a walk along the rocks and were surprised to come across a seal having a sunbake.

These are some fab photos Brent took (he got a lot closer than me with my zoom lens..lol)

On the way home we stop in at Sizzler for lunch...yummo and afterwards, we went home and dropped Kym off, then the kids and I went to the Hawkesbury Show. It was a fab day :0)

Anzac Day 2009

Had a fantastic but extremely moving and tiring day.

We were up about 3.30am as Brent participated in Dawn service again this year and he also went into Sydney and participated in the big March there. I was EXTREMELY proud to see Brent got to hold the banner and I had no idea just how big this event was until we got in there, and until we followed him around for his second lap...he did over 10kms...in army boots...OUCH!!! The whole parade takes around 7 hours but was fantastic...as Im growing older Im getting more patriotic and am moved more by these events...so sad to see so few of the old diggers and how frail they are..

After the parade was finished and we were all a little tired we headed back to Darling Harbour where our car was parked, and decided on a "quick" visit to the Maritime Museum. After a couple of hours we all felt it was time to head home..with a quick stop in to Hogs Breath Cafe for a yummy dinner.

We (well me and Brent) were falling asleep in front of the tele so we all headed off to bed about 10pm and have woken up today all looking like zombies from "The Day of the Dead"..lol

An Update

I thought that it was time that I update with the family news but didnt want to bore you with loads of photos...The last couple of months has found us..

* Day Trip to Wottamulla Beach

* Kids back to school (Brooke left her fulltime job and went back to Year 11! and Tori started Precshool)

* Ashlee turned 18

* Both Ashlee and Kym brought new cars (Kym traded in his motorbike!!!)

* Day Trip to Grand Pacific Drive

* Maddison and Kris came for a visit (well Kris lived with us for a month but thats a LOOONG story..lol)

* Easter

*Anzac Day

Didn't think we've been busy..until I looked at the photos...lol 

Pelican Feeding at the Entrance

We were lucky enough to get to see the pelican's getting fed when we were at the Entrance recently. It was a fantastic experience for the kids (and us) to hear all the information and see these beauties up close. I marvelled at how "polite" they were moving out of the way once they had a fish so the next in "line" could get one :0)

If you look closely you you can see a fish in the bill of the pelican walking away!!

Fun on the Coast

Just as everybody's holidays are coming to an end, we got to spend a couple of days on the coast with my bestest gal pal Christina and her family, who I've missed like mad since we moved down here. I must say it's lots of fun when we get together coz even tho our oldest 2 are out of the nest..when we get together there are still 10 kids between us!!!

Thursday found us all at The Entrance and we had a great couple of hours on the beach before we had to sadly part ways

After having lunch and watching the Pelican Feeding (will post later) we all went our own ways. Hopefully it won't be another 22 months until we see each other again! And hopefully next time we wont end up sooooooooooo sunburnt...Im still BRIGHT red after 3 days!!!! :0(

New Years Eve/Day

My dad and stepmum came to stay with us for a couple of days starting NYE and it was great to see them as it has been a couple of years since the last time.

Had a blast sitting on the verandah and watching the fireworks go off all over Sydney whilst playing with glowsticks and sparklers :)

I love these pic of Brent and Dad... and Brent's reaction to Dad clowning around and popping his teeth out...then Tori trying to get them out again...lol

A those of you who know me, know I was DREADING this birthday....but have discovered that being 40 is not as bad as I thought it would be....