Another weekend over.....

Either I am getting old or the weekends are just going very fast.

Tonight saw another Sunday finish for what was a busy weekend. 

Football being the major focus today with Round 5 - both kids played away.  Alex played Frankston Dolphins at Overport Park and her team won.  Ollie played at Mount Eliza and lost.  They are a few players down at the moment but their spirits are still high.  During awards Ollie recieved an encouragement award.

The football club has a good buzz this year with family volunteers, a few fundraising events and the dinner service going well.  Tonight Spaghetti Bolognaise and Garlic Bread was for dinner followed by Mixed Berry Cream Cheesecake.

Spaghetti Bolognaise for the footy club - great effort by Noel for all the preparation.  Brilliant work as usual.

Busy Busy Busy!!!!!

Thank god I am part of this family or I wouldn't keep up with the happenings of late.  The Murray family has been very busy.

Currently I am away again with work.  Sitting here at the moment in Longford Concrete Plant, Tasmania.  It's a chilly 2 degrees outside and about 3 degrees inside the batch hut!!  I flew into Launceston last night after spending Monday evening in Geelong, working on another project.  I am here with Terry to complete a Front End Loader assessment and also the Housekeeping Photo capture.  The two of us will be moving on to Hobart this afternoon where we have a Zero Harm presentation and will meet up with our manager Veronica.  All 3 of us will leave Hobart Friday afternoon - YAY just in time for the weekend.

Noel and the kids are well. 

Noel has had car troubles this week and thankfully was able to stop his car Monday morning without damaging it or any ofther vehicle.  A malfuncation whilst driving to work causing the Land Rover to loose it's brakes making for an interesting trip up the freeway.  One tow truck later, a missed day of work and a car sitting at the mechanics waiting to be fixed.  Luckily we have kept my old Magna (as I have a company car) so he has a vehicle to drive around in.

Alex is busy with a school project about the Federation of Australia.  I love how she loves school and learning, always putting in a 110% effort on school work both in the classroom and at home.  For extra project points she is making a bust of Edmund Barton, Australia's first prime minister.

Oliver finally returned to football this weekend after breaking his arm 5 weeks ago.  He was pretty excited and played well.The team won against the Rovers so that was a bonus also.  At school they are discussing career options and education choices - strange to believe that my little boy is nearly in Year 10 and half way through high school!!  Where has the time gone?

Enough blogging...the sun has risen so I can start my Japanese tourist impression with my camera taking photos of the Longford plant.  Hard to take photo's in the dark!

Enjoy xx

Queen's Birthday - Long weekend.

Happy Birthday to the Queen 2012 and thank you for a long weekend.

 
With all the Regal celebrations - the Queen's Diamond Jubilee -we just had a wonderful but quiet weekend... with Noel and I spending some great quality time together.

Alex was away at Lakes Entrance with her friend, Tammy, celebrating Tammy's birthday.  She left Friday from school and was home Monday afternoon. 

Oliver had his friend Max over , spending most of the time in the bedroom on the X-Box only coming out for food and toilet breaks.  I guess just like most teenage boys do!

As for Noel and I, well we entertained ourselves.

Saturday night we had a date!!  Dinner out at Blu Restaurant in Patterson Lakes.  The food was nice, the service good but it was a very noisy restaurant but it was busy.  We both agreed that it would also be a nice restaurant to have lunch in - especially over looking the water's edge.  We shared a dip and bread platter for entree followed by a seafood platter for 2 for dinner.

Sunday we went to the local Market for a walk around, had a coffee out and about, did some shopping etc.  Max stayed again Sunday night.

Monday we caught up Kelee and went for lunch at Petaling Street in Clayton.  I have had lunch there before with work so it was nice to take Noel and Kelee there.  We were there for several, catching up on what's been happening with us all.  We love Kelee to bits and we are all at ease with each other, being able to chat about anything and everything.

A little more shopping on Sunday, then home to get ready for work and school Tuesday and the weekend was well and truly over.

Happy Birthday Noel....

Happy Birthday 

to my wonderful husband Noel 

and to our wonderful dad..... 

We are wishing you a great day (sorry we both have to work and the kids had to go to school) but we want you to know that we all love you with all of our hearts.

Looking forward to having a yummy dinner and spending quality time with you at Kasturi's in Frankston - your favourite place....

Hip Hip Hooray for you today and everyday...

Love always Jo, Oliver and Alexandria xxxxx

It's a man's job....

My car had a flat tyre by Sunday so Noel was about to change it over and Ollie decided to help out...

Well done lads... all fixed.

Father and son..

Noel and Ollie working on an electronics project together... Oliver recieved a few DIY kits from Noel for his birthday.


They had LED's blinking and making beeping noises last night.

It was really good to watch them doing something together that they were both interested in!!!

Valentine's Day 2011

Happy Valentines Day....

This is the card that I made Noel to celebrate Valentines Day - even though we don't really celebrate Valentines Day as such.



When we ate dinner, Fillet Mignon with a Blue Cheese, Mushroom and Onion Sauce the kids made sure love was on the table.

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Unemployment.....

I am a little behind with my posts of late and to make matters worse - Tuesday was a very horrid day for us... more so Noel.


He had only returned to work on Monday to be made redundent on Tuesday at lunchtime as the company he worked for, Frigrite have closed their doors due to being in the hands of the recievers. Yep Frigrite have gone bust - fucked basically! (excuse my french!!)

He was stood down with the uncertainty of whether he would be paid for last week let alone when he should recieve any of his entitlements etc. I can't say I am not angry - in fact I am ropeable considering all the big boys would have recieved their moneys for sure! Come Friday we did recieve last week's wage but that's it! The entitlements etc will have to come through the government but that could be weeks away.

Now, I guess we just need to move on and look for other work which he has been doing - applying for anything and everything through the internet, employment agencies and from cold calling and leaving his resume.

Cross fingers for my man on his mission.....

PS Noel I love you!

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Royal Melbourne Zoo - a family outing

On Sunday we spent a family day at the Melbourne Zoo..... the kids and I love the zoo whereas Noel goes to keep us happy! He does like animals, don't get me wrong he can quite happily leave it 5 years between visits though!

It was a beautiful day - a great day to try out my new camera properly. Have to say I love having the additional zoom etc.

Here are some of my favourite photo's I took:






















We had a lovely day together.....
My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Another weekly round up.....

We are still running around like busy bees.... OMG it just doesn't stop but it is BRILLIANT!!! I love being surrounded by family and friends and keeping busy!!

So as you have noticed my poor blogs have been left on the sidelines and are only getting enough attention to write quick weekly round ups!! Sorry!!

This week saw us all going out for dinner on Wednesday night to The Seaford Hotel... what a fantastic evening we all had. Noel and Jamie get along really well with Anthony.

The kids chatted away, had their dinner and then played in the playground!


Anthony enjoyed his rib eye steak... and yes after the photo he used his knife and fork!


Angus thought this was quite funny!


A nice photo of all the kids together....


And then the silly face one!!


Friday, Anthony and Rachel and the kids came over for dinner.... a nice quiet evening that saw Anthony, Noel and myself going to be around the 4ish mark Saturday morning.

Noel picked them up from the hotel so both Rachel and Anthony could have a drink and relax. We had arranged for both Ellis and Ffion to stay the night but the four ended up kipping at our house.


Rachel had complained on Wednesday night about Anthony's snoring (definitely must be a Lewis trait as Mam snores and I admit, so do I!!). Noel brought Rachel home a present such a generous fellow I married.... she was a little worried at first but it made her scream with laughter.....




Mind you they are meant to be ear plugs???

Dinner went down a treat.....


Cooking outside on the weber and as you can see a few more laughs.




But not as much as the chocoloate fondues did for dessert!!

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

Menu Plan Monday (5th June - 11th June)

I cannot believe it's time to menu plan again. The weeks are becoming a blur.... and the weekends well they just go even faster.

This is what has been menu planned this week:

Saturday ~ Dim Sum Scallops, Garlic and Coriander Prawns, Pork Belly Two Ways - Char Sui & Chilli and Garlic

Sunday ~ Chicken and Corn Pot Pies

Monday ~ Pasta Bake (kids) Rib Eye Steak and Vegetables (Adults

Tue ~ Chicken Pizziola with Steamed Vegetables

Wed ~ Satay Pork Burgers with Sweet Potato Wedges

Thu ~ Steak Dianne, Creamy Potato Bake and Vegetables

Fri ~ Fish of the Day with Basil Cream Sauce and Steamed Vegetables

As you have probably gathered by now, I LIVE for menu planning! By menu planning it ensures that we have a weeks worth of meals organised which is especially useful Monday through Friday when there is not much of the day left after finishing work, picking up the kids from school and having to deal with the tasks of homework, clothes washing, showers, etc., and to do without the hassle of worrying WHAT we are cooking for dinner each night. Honestly if I left deciding what’s for dinner until I go home we wouldn’t eat until midnight!!

I know that our week starts on a Saturday but that’s just for the ease of fitting in with my grocery shopping which is normally done on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon. As usual more great menu ideas can be found at Menu Plan Monday over at I’m An Organising Junkie, don’t be shy pop over and have a look at other’s menu plans. You never know you may just find something different to have for dinner.

Some recipes for things we cook can be found over at our cooking blog, A Dash Of Flavour, normally posted after they have been cooked or just click on the links for each meal when they appear.

Happy cooking,

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com