Queen's Birthday - a long weekend ......

Well today marks the start of the Queen's birthday weekend here in most states of Australia.... so all with the exception of WA and Tasmania get Monday off work as a public holiday!



Elizabeth II or Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was born 21 April 1926. She is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known as the Commonwealth realms. This is made up of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenade, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis and AUSTRALIA! All together, these countries have a combined population, including dependencies, of over 129 million. She holds each crown separately and equally in a shared monarchy, and carries out duties in and on behalf of all the states of which she is sovereign. She is also Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Ducke of Nomandy, Lord of Mann and Paramound Chief of Fiji. In theory her powers are vast; however, in practice, and in accordance with convention, she rarely intervenes in political matters.

Quite an impressive lady, I must say. What do you think?

Yet this weekend always amazes me... why? It amazes me as we are a country, a nation, that wants to gain independence away from the good ol' Motherland and become a Republic but we all grateful take the public holiday year after year to celebrate OUR QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY!

You never hear anyone saying things like - "I want to work because she's not our queen" or "let's all boycot having a public holiday and really get into the Republican swing!" NO! NO! NO! Everyone enjoys the extra day on their already short feeling weekends and relishes in the fact that next week is a four day week.....

Have a great weekend everyone and don't forget to toast a Happy Birthday to our Queen!!

Getting back into the swing of things.....

I know I have been slack this last few weeks and have only been posting on a weekly basis but I have blown that out of the water now by having nearly a week and a half break between socialising within these blog walls.

So now it's a case of where to start.....

The reason for my slackness is the flu - NOT the swine flu. Just the flu. Infact I didn't work Monday and Tuesday only to return today. Feeling very run down but I must soldier on!

We have just about put the final little bits of our rearrangement into their new homes... the loungeroom got another reshuffle and it looks a lot better than the first arrangement. It's all starting to feel homely now which is good - one less thing off my ever procrastinating mind!!

On Thursday I received a shipment of a pallet, yes a pallet, of boxes containing chocolates. Cadbury's Freddo's, Camamello Koalas, Cherry Ripes, Crunchies, Boost and Time Out... a total of 256 boxes! Thankfully we don't eat that much chocolate at our place but geez I have chocolates everywhere. Please be aware these are NOT for us - these are for the football club fundraiser - we make really good profit out of them. The catch is that they need to be sorted into boxes of 8 flavours before distributing for sale. Last night Nazz and Jane (two lovely parents of club players) came over to help especially as I have been sick and are coming back tonight.

Friday night, Alex had a birthday party to go to. It was Shiryln's party and Alex actually went straight from school to Shirlyn's house so she had an extra long play. She was really happy about that. Oliver was picked up from school by Nana and Grandad and taken up to their house for a sleepover and when we picked Alex up from the party we took her up there aswell. They had a ball especially as Nana and Grandad have a Wii..... guess what they did all day???

Over the weekend, we picked up the fish tank that was on layby and Sunday went down as a family to choose a few fish each... the kids were really excited and chose there own 2 fish which of course are now sporting interesting names. We have 10 fish in total, one black moore, one pearlscale, one oriana, one bronze moore, two danio's and four white clouds. At the moment, it's a novelty with the kids, racing to feed them etc., standing next to the tank just watching but it will be interesting how they will go with the first clean and to whether or not mam will have to do that.

Another pleasing thing for us is the Under 11's won again... and they blitzed!! I believe the final score was 118 to 8 but after a team having a 70 point lead they do not continue to score.. but we did! LOL!! Nana and Grandad came down to watch also. Needless to say Dean was happy, Noel was happy, the team was happy and we have had our 2nd win for the season...

A huge eventful weekend.....

What can I say except I enjoyed this weekend.....

It all started Friday night with the decision to have a nice relaxing evening just the four of us and watch a DVD together. That was great except for the fact that I fell asleep during the movie (which is actually quite normal for me!! LOL!!)

During the evening however Noel and I were still discussing the loungeroom and how much I hate the way it was set up and how it always a MESS. The positioning of the TV was all wrong for where the doors are... let me explain. To get to the toilet and the bedrooms you have to walk infront of the tv which can be painful when the playstation is out (leads everywhere not to mention children at all angles) or when there is a movie on or even just watching the TV in general. Secondly it always looked a MESS.... something I have very little patience for at the moment.. When I say MESS it has overtaken the comfortable lived in look and was just annoying! Brainwave happened and I explained to Noel, my beloved, that I think that the loungeroom would make a better dining room and the dining room would make a better loungeroom - let's swap it around. Well I cannot explain the facial expression but I felt I had a lot of convincing ahead of me for this to happen!

Saturday morning I went off to work, which for a change was quite busy. I spoke to Noel and the kids during the morning and they sounded as if they were having a nice relaxing time together. It wasn't until I got home that I saw that they had actually been quite busy and had started making the switch of the rooms. I nearly cried as they had really surprised me! So there was definately no rest for the wicked that afternoon as it was full steam ahead to finish the room changes, still a little cleaning to do, but I will be the first to admit that it looks fantastic. SO MUCH BETTER.......


bad blurry photo's taken on my phone but you get the idea, right?

Sunday was another great day... this is the first time this football season that I didn't need to be at the football club at 7am (but was booked to start in the canteen at 2pm). I actually slept in until 9.30am - I don't do that very often but I must say I enjoyed every moment of it! We all sat down and had a nice breakfast together in the 'new' dining room then got ready for Oliver's football match. It was good to go and watch a whole match without worrying about the canteen and I am glad that I went - the Under 11's had their FIRST WIN against Seaford - their FIRST WIN for the season!! So proud of my boy and so proud of the team!! Noel was smiling... Dean, the coach, was smiling... so were all of the other children's parents!! After the little happy dance we were all doing, not to mention the loud singing of the club song, it was off back to the clubrooms where both Noel and I did a stint in the canteen while the Under 16's game was played (and that was a brilliant game!!).







Last night I think we were all exhausted from such a huge weekend that it was off to bed early for me and the troops.....

Kids in the kitchen....

Presenting......

Masterchef Oliver

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and

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Masterchef Alexandria

I am so proud that both our kids have embraced the love of cooking and forever want to help out in the kitchen. The best thing is however is it's just not baking cakes or biscuits that they want to help with - they will give cooking anything a go!!

Keep in mind that Oliver has just turned 11 and Alexandria is only 8 but wow they can they cook.. they both follow recipes well and are very sensible whilst in the kitchen. Please note they don't do this just when they want to - we are always with them whenever they cook anything!!

Recently we made homemade pizzas. A few other things they have prepared and/or cooked can be found at A Dash Of Flavour.

In fact every now and then they actually ask if they can cook dinner!! When they do they choose the meal, they write the shopping list, we go shopping to buy everything on the list, come home and start cooking. It's so exciting for them to do the complete meal from start to finish.

And boy can these two turn out good dishes.... Olivers speciality is tacos whilst Alex likes to cook anything to do with pasta!!

Plus they both love making desserts and cakes!! Who doesn't??

We have found that letting them help us even if it's just mixing gives them an urge to try the finished product and is actually encouraging them to be adventurous when it comes to tastes, styles, international flavours, etc.

Go on...

Get your kids involved with cooking - you will be definitely thankful in the long run....

One week on......

Well I definately cannot believe it's been one week since Mam and Clare left to go home. But besides the house being quieter we are slowly getting back to normal and back into our routines.

This week has been busy to say the least but I would have to be honest and say no more than the normal.

As usual Sunday was a day filled with football and football canteen. The Under 11's lost again, which is a shame as they haven't had a win at all this season so far... cross fingers on the up coming weeks. I am slowly trying to detatch myself from the canteen. It is very hard considering I do enjoy it but there are never enough volunteers to help out with serving, cooking and cleaning. They are all happy to buy the food but don't dare ask them to give up their precious time watching the game!

I have handed out the invitations to our upcoming "How To Host A Murder" Dinner Party on July 4th. It was good to see some of the faces when they read their invitations and worked out which character they were playing and I could just see the cogs turning over regarding a costume etc. I cannot wait until that night - I love these dinner parties. The whole night is a lot of fun with dressing up and getting into character, enjoying a good dinner and working out who amongst you in the murderer!

Alright so the big focus for us this week is "diet", well not so much a diet but a lifestyle change. I have been trying to lose weight for what seems forever but as of this morning Noel, too, has decided that the time has come for him to shed quite a few kilo's and it will definately not do the kids any harm to go without lollies, crisps and takeaway for awhile. I have menu planned the next week so there are no excuses for a healthy dinner each night and will plan on making healthy lunches for us all every day. So cross fingers... day one here Noel and I come!!

New Spice Racks.....

When asked what I wanted for Mother's Day this year I actually had something in mind. (Quite proud of myself also!!)


I know most people easily ask for things that they want or would like but I actually find it quite hard to be that forward... just ask anyone that knows me!! My normal response is "nothing - just a happy family!!"


This year was different - I had been eyeing off some new shelves on which to put our herb and spice jars. The existing shelving was about to give way which would have caused an awful mess and it was really looking bad (sorry forgot to take a photo of how it was).


So here are my shelves after I put them together.. which I was proud of doing I must say (Noel check them to make sure I did them okay!)



All our herb and spice jars...... and yes there are a lot and we use them all!

There we have it - all finished... fully loaded and looking 200% better......

Maybe next year I can ask for new jars that are all the same... lol!!

Thank you Noel, Oliver and Alex for making my mother's day special and treating me!!

Mother's Day.....

Well now that's what I call another busy weekend, with Mam still visiting and Clare, Noel's sister, flying in on Friday night to surprise her mam yesterday and I must say she was successful - it was a surprise.

Friday night mam and I went to the shops to quickly do the grocery shopping and buy her mother's day present. She wanted some salt and pepper shakers, of course we couldn't find the ones I have anywhere so it was a mission to find something that she liked instead, finally though we bought some and yes I did wrap them for her.

Saturday I went to work while mam got a visit from her other four grandkids. I am sure that this was the highlight of her visit... having all six of her grandchildren playing together. Trust me this is a rare event in itself but it was very special for her on Saturday morning. Unfortunately they had gone by the time I got home from work so I missed out on seeing them.

Sunday, of course, was Mother's Day. Noel, Alex and myself went up the football club to help Tanya set up and to get the laptop organised while mam and Clare slept in....we left the house around 7ish and returned just after 9am so that wasn't too bad. When we got back Noel and Clare took Oliver off to play his game of football at which Clare was the goal umpire. I think Oliver was impressed that his Aunty was not only there but that she was wearing a white jacket (and not that sort of white jacket!!)

Sunday afternoon brought the mother's day luncheon with my mam, Noel's mam and dad, Sean, Vicky and Christian, Clare and us so needless to say it was a busy and eventful afternoon. All the more eventfull considering Ann hadn't seen Clare until then and both her and dad had no idea that Clare was even in Melbourne let alone our house. Food as usual was abundant (lot's of leftovers so we are right for dinner tonight!)

Mam and Clare left this morning. I took them to Frankston to catch the airport bus this morning at 5.50am (which I was paniking us missing as we were all quite slow this morning after another late night). But all was good and after waving them off I went to work early.

Overall it was a great weekend!

Actually I lie.

Most of it was good - some parts I would love to be able to turn back time and change.. especially some things I did. Looking back I realise that I haven't been a nice person. I have definately over-reacted to some situations and was just outright childish in others. Infact I have been a cow... but I don't think it's me more than it is certain situations/happening around me that are affecting me. I won't lie that this situation with Claire is not only upsetting me but it's affecting the way I am coping with other happenings in my life. Noel has noticed, friends have noticed and now my mam has definately noticed!

I have said I am sorry to my mam, all I can do now is hope that she forgives me and still loves me for who I am and not what I have been!

I love you Mam xxxx

Another weekend over.....

Yes that's right another weekend has come and gone....

Friday night we went out for dinner. We went to Noel's parent's house which was a nice change although I was (and still am) tired from the week before. It was a nice meal, a roast lamb dinner. It had been quite a while since we have had a roast lamb dinner - 24 hours in fact. Yes that's right. We cooked roast lamb for dinner on Thursday night as Vera came over. We didn't have the heart to tell mam and dad so we all just ate up with Oliver and Alex giggling at the table with the thought that we were being sneaky by not saying anything!!

Saturday I went to work whilst Noel went and had another doctor's appointment about his foot. He does have a heel spur and recieved a quarterzone injection to help ease the pain as well as some treatment options.... I think this is going to be a long road. Mam went with Noel's parents to the Red Hill Market. She had never been before. It's only on the first Saturday of the month I think and to be honest I have never been there either. Plus I think it was good for mam to spend some time with others... she has been stuck with us so far this whole visit and unfortunately I haven't been able to give her my car like I normally do. In the afternoon Mam, Oliver and I went shopping for a printer for the Football Club, new runners for Oliver and of course the groceries.

Sunday morning brought Round 3 of the football season. Oliver played at home again (that's 3 weeks in a row now) and they lost. Infact as a team, they just seemed to be misfiring... there definately wasn't a spark there and they were beaten drastically!! Dean, the coach, was suitably unimpressed and told them all so after the game! I believe they are in for one hell of a training session on Tuesday night!!

Off the field showing great form!!

Hopefully my days of being fully involved with the canteen are coming to an end... I am a little saddened by the fact that it's physically impossible for me to be fully involved as I really enjoy the time I spend in the canteen and love the whole catering/hospitality side of things. On the other hand spending the full day up at the club as well as working full time it's once again starting to take it's toll on not only my health (I have been tired for about 3 weeks now) but also on my emotions. I know I have been quite irritable and snappy this last week but that probably stems from the tiredness not to mention all the emotional stress from all what's going on with my sister amongst other things!! Cross fingers it is effective as of next week as I am looking forward to spending Sunday's with Noel and the kids!! It's something that I need to do.

So I do apologize to you all.... hopefully I will be back to normal soon!!

Happy 40th Birthday Noel....

Today a very special man in our house is celebrating his 40th birthday!!

Happy Birthday Noel.... The birthday boy has already received some of his birthday presents... he was given a slow cooker by Mam, a Slow Cooker cookbook from the kids and I and also a bread slicing guide, which will be very useful with our bread that we bake and always manage to cut the loaf on silly angles.

Today was a busy day, getting ready for his 40th birthday party tomorrow night. After dropping the kids off at school we went over to Springvale to get some groceries and supplies for the party then spent the rest of the day cooking, cleaning etc ready for the big bash!

Birthday dinner was at Quality Wok where as usual we had a nice quiet dinner - we haven't been there for awhile and we all love the food there especially my mam who could not believe that she was going out to dinner in her slippers!! LOL!! As you can imagine it is a very casual place, so casual that the owners at time sit down at our table and chat.

Oliver and his dad checking out the weekend football in the newspaper in the restaurant!!

Mam and Noel

Mam and I serveral wines later... must admit I think we were both very tired also!!

Had to take a photo as evidence that it's okay for Mam to go out in public in slippers!!

On a serious note, Quality Wok is a wonderful place to eat... if your are in the Frankston area please call in, see Grace and Gordon and have a meal whether eat in or takeaway. We are sure that you will enjoy what ever you order. It's not the poshest restaurant in the world (no fancy tables etc) but the atmosphere is fantastic, the owners are really beautiful people and it is always busy. Trust us... it's the only Chinese restaurant we actually go to now!!

I am no longer sooking......but we are all very tired!!

Okay so I am no longer sooking as I now have a lovely NEW camera!! We bought a Samsung ES15 on Saturday - it's not top of the range but pretty damn good considering what we paid (it was on special) and it's 10.2 mega pixels!! So I am back to being a happy camper and can start uploading more photo's for the world to see. My nokia mobile's camera was okay but not really great when it came to taking good pictures for my blogs!!

As you can see we even had a choice of colours - Noel didn't really fancy the pink one so we bought the black one!! I dont' understand why?

Wow what a weekend that was.... and over so fast (as usual)!!

Saturday I worked in the morning as usual, then as I mentioned the other day we were meant to catch up with my sister and her kids but it just didn't happen. She ended up having to go to the doctors and by the time she was finished and the fact that we had plans for dinner Saturday night there wasn't enough time to catch up - which was actually a shame. I was kind of hoping that we could meet up, maybe sort somethings out especially with Mam arriving this Wednesday.

Sunday was and is the first of many to come where we spend most of the day at a football club. It was round 1 of the juniors yesterday. Oliver played his first game of the season and he played a really good game. Both Noel and I were really proud of him!! It was a shame that the game was stopped with around 3 minutes to go but a boy on the opposing team fell awkwardly and broke his wrist in the same position as Alex did in March. ooouuuucccchhhhh!!!! The game was stopped as we didn't move the child of the ground and an ambulance was called. The Bulls were winning for most of the game but in the last quarter the opponents made a few quick scores, a goal and a few points, to lead by 3 points.

As Oliver is now in the Under 11's, this year the teams actually keep score so this is his first scoreboard result. The under 9's and 10's don't officially keep score as part of our League. As I mentioned he played a really good game and I watched the whole thing from the scoreboard as I was keeping score with another team mates dad. At presentations, in the clubroom last night, he recieved a Wendy's award for his great game. Dean his coach was happy that he did what he was told, kept with the ball and played a good game! Woohoo Ollie!!

Although I got out to watch Oliver's game I spent most of the morning in the canteen, once again helping out as we have a new canteen manager and it would be unfair to leave her to fend for herself. Beth is actually going to make a real go at it. She is very enthusiastic and willing! I really want to help her make it a success not only for the club but for her too. And for me, as I want to get out of the canteen (even though I love it) as I need to spend Sundays with my family.

School holidays are now over and the kids are back at school. It was really good to get up this morning and get back into our routine, even the kids got up and did what they are used to doing... but we are all still feeling the effects of the big weekend (the first week back at football is always huge) and I think we will all be in bed early tonight.....

Not a happy camper......

Yep that's right - Jo is not a happy camper at the moment!! :(

What's the problem you ask...... my camera has broken!! Just won't work!! OMG it's like I have lost a piece of me!! What is one to do now??????

Okay, after I had my little sook about my poor piece of digital technology dying, had a bit of a panic about the future without it and then pulled myself together I started to actually put a plan together as to what I was going to do!!

• Start looking for a new improved camera (obviously)!!
• I have dropped hints that it could be my mother's day present!! Bad me....
• Might tell Noel that it's half his birthday present (which is only next week anyway)
• Camp next to letterbox waiting for cheque from government stimulas package!! LOL!!
• Use my fandangle mobile as a camera for now (considering it's a new nokia it actually takes quite good pictures!)

Well it's Thursday already and this week has just flown by. Must have something to do with not working Monday due to the Public Holiday for Easter Monday. Actually I cannot believe its nearly another weekend. And a weekend that is overbooked totally already!!

Saturday afternoon we have a date in the park (2pm) with my sister and our nephews. I will be great to see the kids playing together as that's a rare event in itself. I am not sure how things will go with Claire and I - this in itself is bothering me a little, well actually quite a lot. Surprisingly it was her idea to get together this weekend so that caught me off guard when you consider the last few years of minimal contact. But doing the right thing I decided to make the effort so only time will tell. It will not be a good thing if she isn't honest or if she brings "him" with her..... "him" being her new man that nothing is going on with! ggggrrrrr!!! (Long story for another day but I am sure you get where I am coming from!)

Sunday brings our first week of the junior football season. Oliver played a couple of weeks ago but that was a practice match with Cranbourne Junior Football Club and that went really well. With Alex's wrist broken we don't have to up the club at the sparrow's fart (her matches will start at 9am when she gets back to playing - so that's 8.30am up the club) whereas Oliver's matches don't start until 11.40am. Then of course there is presentations up the clubrooms from 5pm... there goes our Sundays for the next 16 weeks!!

On a really good note, I have managed to change Mam's flights so she is now going home on Monday the 11th May and staying for Mother's Day on the Sunday... woohoo!! It has been quite a long time since we have spent a Mother's Day together so I am really looking forward to that!

And then on Monday it's back to school and my beloved routine!!!!!!! Yay!!!!

Happy Easter 2009

These are our Easter gifts for our family and friends - we made the Easter Egg Biscuits yesterday and must say we all had fun decorating them. They were so easy to make. Plus making these little parcels puts an element of love and thoughtfullness in the giving over Easter - I honestly believe that Easter, like Christmas, is becoming too commercial these days. Lets face it - Easter eggs and Hot Cross Buns have been selling in the shops early March and I am sure it won't be too long before the Christmas decorations are back on the shelves!! LOL!!

As usual the kids were up early to see if Easter Bunny had been to our house and YES he had.... (Thankfully both are getting older and the wake up time is getting later each year!!)


There was the usual mad dash to ensure they both picked up more eggs than the other but then of course we make them count them out and share evenly!!

Easter Bunny definately brought enough eggs for these two!!



We are off out for lunch today which we are really looking forward to. Not only is it Easter Sunday but we are celebrating Dad's birthday (which was on Friday). The whole Murray family are off to the Italian Club in Keysborough for a 4 course lunch. Noel has been there a few times as his work always have their Christmas Break Party there but none of the rest of us have.

From all of us at the House of Murray we would like to wish you a Happy and Safe Easter 2009.

Frankston.....

As you know the other day Alex and I spent the day at the Frankston Foreshore after her doctor's appointment. It was great to walk along the pier, along the beach and even paddle our feet in the water.

It was a beautiful day, both getting a slight redness from not wearing any sunscreen but it was enjoyable and relaxing.....

Alex holding jelly fish not the dangerous sort - sausage looking sort!!

Looking up the beach towards Seaford.

I really like this picture... of course underneath the pier.

This is looking towards Oliver's Hill and Mount Eliza.