The Brie, The Bullet and The Black Cat

Something we have had in the planning for the last few months was a murder mystery dinner party which we held on Saturday night..... and what a great night it was. The game was called The Brie, The Bullet and The Black Cat. The theme was set in 1942 in Casablanca and all 12 of us at the dinner table were under suspicion for murdering the Black Cat, France's greatest mime artist.

Here is how the house and some of us looked on Saturday night......




People helped with the meals and of course the drinks kept flowing.... sssshhhhh but I cannot reveal the murderer!!!!
My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Neglected blog..... my bad!

I am honestly sorry for neglecting my blog this last week weeks.... the family and I have been quite busy and there never seems to be enough hours in the day to acomplish everything I set my mind to. I am sure you all know exactly what I am saying....


So just to give you a quick catch up of what the Murray family have been up to recently.........


We are now the proud owners of a Wii!! Oh and the Wii Fit package. Yes even though I was proclaiming that the kids have enough computerised gadgets I couldn't refuse. The interactive nature of the games was what changed my mind, not to mention the kids nagging! (Only joking!) The idea behind the mid year purchase was for all the family to get fit... including me and Noel. So far so good considering we are having tennis, baseball and bowling tornaments after the kids have gone to bed!!


Junior Football is still taking up our Sundays but only for a few more weeks. This season has taken a lot out of Noel and I so, without sounding selfish, we actually will be glad when the season is over for 2009. Both kids have played really well and enjoyed themselves - which is actually the most important thing. Oliver's team won't make it into the finals this year but have had some really great matches. Alex's team (under 9's) don't keep score, it's more just about getting out there and playing the game as it is with the under 10's.


The kids have recently just gone back to school after 2 weeks of school holidays. I spent several days home each week with them as did Noel. But inbetween all of my doctor's appointments etc, I cannot say that I did a great deal with them... maybe a little too much yelling!! LOL!!


We did venture to the Melbourne Zoo one day. It was great the four of us doing something fun together. Don't get me wrong we do a lot of things together but it's not always focussed on the children. We went on the Monday (Noel had an RDO) and although it was school holidays it was quieter than what the weekends normally are. The zoo is becoming such a magical place now with all the new exhibitions instead of the old cages that were boring and dull to look at. It is becoming more interactive between the people and the animals and their wildreness etc.


Noel surprised us all and booked tickets to the cinemas on the Thursday night before school holidays started. He purchased tickets for Oliver and himself to see Transformers 2. Alex, not impressed with the idea of seeing this movie as she was convinced she would be scared wanted to see The Hannah Montana Movie, even though Transformers was what I wanted to see also. But I have to say I was glad that I went with Alex, it actually wasn't a bad movie but I don't think Noel would have enjoyed it if he had drawn the short straw!! LOL!!


After months of planning we had our How To Host A Murder - "The Watersdown Affair". Set in 1936, in an English country mansion, 8 suspects (us and our guests) had to work out who amongst us was the murderer!! What an extremely fun night that was and I am sure that everyone enjoyed themselves dressing up and playing the game. Makes for such a fun dinner party.


As usual I will load up some photo's soon.....

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!!