They've Got Talent

Please if you have a minute do yourself a favour and check this out....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gHvATmUsSg

I laughed and cried.
Thanks Ruby Rose.

The Perfect Birthday

The birthday festival is well and truly over but gee I had a good time. Surfer Boy was unfortunately away but the kids and I walked up to the Village and had brunch with Mum, Dad and my brother. As always the guys at The Corner Shop made me feel like a rock star and I even got a cake with a candle and some singing!

The rest of the day was spent with the kids, shopping, baking and generally having a lovely afternoon.

During the week I sent a text message to some of my lovely friends, hoping that at least one, maybe two would be able to come over for a Gilmore Girls style movie night (lots of junk food, pizza, great movie) By the end of the week all EIGHT had said yes!!

I had such a fantastic night - 8 of the most fantastic chicks - a sh-t load of sugar based products - and St Elmo's Fire on the telly.

I couldn't have asked for a better day - maybe Surfer Boy being here, but you can't have everything.

And look what I got .....

Only K. would know me well enough to buy me white boot roller skates for my 41st birthday!!! I'm so in love with them - keep your eye out for me skating around the hood if you're in Melbourne's western suburbs.

Surprise!

It's my birthday eve today (I stretch it out as long as possible) and when I arrived at my friend's house to pick up my kids I was greeted by children waving pompoms and wearing birthday hats and yelling 'surprise'. As I ventured down the hall I discovered not only Caitlin but her Mum and Dad all dancing to my favourite Troy Bolton song - Get Your Head In The Game. What a treat.

After the dancing and general hilarity I discovered they had made me a cake while I was at work and not only did it have a Troy Bolton kinder surprise but it was covered in what turned out to be 'Troy's balls'!

Now good friends are those that not only look after both your kids all day but bake you cakes, know you have a major Zac Efron obsession, and then cook you a magnificent meal so you don't have to go home to cook! Surfer Boy may be away but everyone is making sure I feel nice and spoilt for my birthday.

So John and Cait - you are fabulous and I thank you!

They Just Need Love

Surfer Boy and I have finally taken the plunge and hired someone to do our extension drawings. This has been a project 8 years in the waiting so I'm finding it hard to get my head around the fact that it may actually happen in the foreseeable future. When we bought the house we thought we would renovate within months but of course I got knocked up and 2 kids and 8 years later it still hasn't happened.

Now that it is all systems go Surfer Boy and I have returned to our very favourite pre-kids hobby of trawling for treasures. Sunday found us at 'Lost Ark' in Williamstown which is a treasure trove of pre-loved goodies.

We are on the hunt for the perfect piece for our bathroom cabinet. I don't know what it looks like yet but I'll know it when I see it. Luckily for me, when I fall in love with a piece I can usually rely on Surfer Boy to see it's potential and fix it up to my specifications. I LOVE being married to a cabinet maker!

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In My Heart

1980 was a banner year for me.

It was the year the Meehan family moved in 'Over The Back Fence'.

All of a sudden my brother and I had 5 new playmates and it didn't take long for our lives to revolve around each other.

Every afternoon after school we would be there playing cricket, skateboarding, playing 'Khaki Free All', until one of our parents called out 'DINNER!!'

In summer we all ended up on our side of the fence for hours of fun in or around the pool.

Pete or Viv would stick their heads over and again call for dinner but within the hour we'd all be back to frolic until dark.

In later years Chrissie would have dinner with us and then scoot home for her second dinner when Pete yelled over the fence!

So many of my treasured memories involve the times spent with the Meehans.

My first kiss - with Matt over a game of ping pong in their garage,

summer holidays at Point Lonsdale,

teaching Jen to ride a bike and dive in the deep end,

Christmas's together with Pete preparing buckets of food,

sliding down their stairs in our sleeping bags,

Signalling to each other from the Meehan boys bedroom window,

dancing to Wired For Sound,

love letters,

mixed tapes,

18ths, 21sts, weddings, babies,

and now sadly we have lost one of the Meehans.

Pete passed away last week and we will miss him terribly.

I have snapshots of Pete in my mind - Pete on his banana lounge, Pete spending his day off by our pool, Pete cooking up a storm, Pete making me drink a glass of milk before I left the table, Pete screaming for CHRISTINA over the back fence, so many images that I know will stay with me always.

So to the Meehan family - Viv, Matt, Tom Chrissie, Mike, Jen, I love you all very much and know that Pete is always in my heart as he is yours.

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Viv and Pete dancing at my wedding.

Drop In And Visit

We are in the grip of a cold snap here in Melbourne so I thought I'd go through my files and show you some of my favourite winter homes.

Life In The Village

We took Gidget in for a haircut last week (Maestro, Anderson St Yarraville) and as usual with businesses in Yarraville, everyone was made to feel at home. While Gidg got the treatment, Moondoggie and Gidg's best mate decided to do each others hair. They were given a seat, stool and tray of equipment which, thank god, did not include scissors! Can you just imagine if I had to take little Miss home to her mother with a new fringe?!

If you look in the mirror you can see Kiralee laughing at their skills.

This episode reminded me of a photo I had wanted to post a few weeks ago. I took the kids for their first dental appointment (at Choice Dental , 37 Anderson St Yarraville) and was absolutely amazed and grateful for the care and thoughtfulness with which they were treated. Dr Tim knew they were first timers and took the time to show them everything, give then a turn of the equipment and generally make it a fun experience for them. Moondoggie was even asked to be his assistant when he checked Gidget and had to move the chair up and down. As you can imagine he thought it was 'awesome'.

So once again the traders in the Village have proved what gems they are and I send my thanks for making life for my kids so interesting and fun.

My Crazy Scientist

I got a chance to spend some time in Gidget's classroom the other day as part of Education week. They are doing a unit on science and spent the morning conducting experiments and dressing as scientists. It was great to see what she is up to as I rarely get to see the class in action. In prep you get to spend so much time in the room but I've realised that as she gets older I will get to spend less and lees time being a part of her life. Good and bad at the same time. It's exciting seeing her find her place in the world but a little sad that I am not the center of her universe anymore.
Thank god Moondoggie is still a mummy's boy!
(P.S. hours of hair plaiting went on the night before to ensure hair was suitably crazy - unfortunately you can't even tell in this shot)

Sunshine Cleaning

A group of us get together on a regular basis at the SUN Theatre to see a movie. Kell has just sent through a suggestion for our next one and it looks fantastic. It is by the makers of Little Miss Sunshine. Check it out. The very last scene made me giggle...

Drop In And Visit

It has been a while since I have posted a dream house - and although you can't see a lot of this one I think I am more in lust with the lawn than the house.

New Home

We've been working on a new website for CHALK and finally I have worked out how to add my blog posts to it - http://www.chalkconcepts.com.au/chalk_concepts_for_kids/

Now I have to decide if I should ditch the original blog or try to import it into the new one! All so hard and after using Blogger I'm finding Typepad much harder to use. What do you think?