trick or treat...

I wish we celebrated Halloween here. It is so much fun to dress up! Jordan had to wear a Halloween costume to Kindy today so we had a lot of fun choosing what she would wear. At first she was going to be Princess Aurora, then it was Ariel, then last week she changed her mind and wanted to be a witch. We got this gorgeous witch costume at Toys'R'Us. She looked so gorgeous. She had her little pumpkin full of candy to share with her friends at Kindy. Mackenzie also wore a witches hat and a witch shirt that my mum had bought for her when we were in America.

diva...

Check it out. What a little diva. When Mackenzie gets out of the shower she must have the towel wrapped around her head and around her. She thinks she looks like Ariel, The Little Mermaid. High maintenance, or what?

what a difference a day makes...

I can't believe this crazy weather. Yesterday was one of the hottest days I can remember. Especially for October. Today...freezing. We went to visit some friends in Wollongong and it was raining and cold. I took these pictures of the screen inside my car that shows the temperature outside. Yesterday 41C, today 13C. For my American buddies that's 106F to 55F difference in one day. Crazy, or what!

these boots are made for walkin'...

Jordan has taken a fancy to my new boots that I bought while I was away. I took them off when I got home from work and she has been wearing them ever since.

flashback...

Just cruisin' around on You Tube and came across this. One of my fave songs of all time. Rock on dudes.

my new toy...

Yesterday I went to Harvey Norman to print my holiday photos and I came home with this baby. I have wireless internet on it so I can sit on the couch and watch TV and play on the net at the same time....how cool!

and a few more...

pics from disneyland...

pics from la jolla...

Here are some photos of our family in La Jolla. The first picture is of Jordan, Mackenzie and Ellie. The second one is of Mum, Jordan, Mackenzie, my cousin Amanda and her children Ellie and Linde, and myself.

my yummy, scrummy scrapbook goodies...

Just a few purchases :oP I can't wait to play with these goodies. Now if I could just find room for them so that I can actually use my desk...

7.02pm...

That's what time it was when I went to bed last night. I guarantee I was asleep within 10 seconds of my head hitting the pillow. After 42 hours without sleep I was exhausted. The kids were too. We all went to sleep at that time and the kids and I were awake at around 5am. That didn't seem too bad, after all we had slept for around 10hrs. I figure by tonight we should be back on track with Australian time. It's been a really easy adjustment to the time change both when we got to the States and coming home.
I have started the daunting task of unpacking. Usually my obsessive compulsive self would have unpacked everything yesterday and put it all away, but to be honest I just didn't know where to start. You should have seen the house last night when we went to bed. It looked like a bomb had gone off. There were suitcases all over the floor, some had stuff pulled out of them, some I hadn't even touched. There were toys everywhere like it was Christmas Day. The kids were enjoying playing with all of their things that they hadn't seen in almost a month so there were baby dolls, strollers, you name it, all over the lounge room. I had cooked some delicious fish and chips and veges for dinner, so the kitchen was a total mess. We didn't even clean it last night, we were just too tired. So at 5.30am this morning I was doing the dished from last night. Unloaded the clean dishwasher, packed a full load of dirty dishes and cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom. Went to make some muffins for breakfast but realised that the eggs had past their expiry date, so I have just sent Vic and the girls for a walk down to the shop to get some more. Thank goodness today is a holiday. I couldn't have coped if Vic had to go back to work today. We need today to get organised. I have just started to get into the suitcases. Of course I have my priorities right - I unpacked all of my scrapbook stuff that I bought. It will probably take me the rest of the week before everything is done. But that's okay, there is no hurry. I don't go back to work until next week. Mum and Dad get back on Thursday, so Jordan and I will go meet them at the airport.
I will start posting photos today. I managed to get all of the pictures downloaded from my cameras onto the computer. 337 photos. Not bad considering. So stay tuned...

we're back...

Well, we made it. What an effort that was. After a very long 14 hour plane trip we are at home safe and sound (and very, very tired). The kids were fantastic on the plane. They slept about 7 hours so that was a bonus. I didn't sleep more than a couple of short 20 minute naps. I just find it so uncomfortable. My legs and arms ache and get pins and needles. I guess I must have poor circulation or something, it is just so painful. Economy just sucks. I wish more than anything that I could afford for us to travel in Business Class. It is just unbelievable the difference in the comfort factor. Oh well, dream on. The main thing is we made it back with all of our luggage AND we fit it into Vic's car. I don't know how, but we did. We had 5 enormous suitcases, 2 backpacks, my camera bag, handbag, a full-size booster seat, 2 strollers, the kids, Vic and I and Vic's Dad. It took Vic and his Dad about half an hour to figure out where to put everything, but somehow they made it work. It's nice to be home. The kids are outside playing and I'm eating a very plain toasted sandwich. After 3 1/2 weeks of disgusting, fried, oily food that has made me literally sick to my stomach, it feels great to have something reasonably healthy. I'll be living on salad and veges for the next few weeks to try and get myself right again.
Stay tuned for pictures. I will find my camera bag sometime today and post some pictures from the trip.
Bummer about the Swans. They made an announcement on the plane. 1 lousy point! Must have been a great game to watch.