And we are off.....

It is AFL Grand Final Day Public Holiday in Melbourne and we had the car packed and on the road by 6am!  We are Sydney bound as the first leg of our journey.  The ultimate destination in this family road trip is Woorim, Bribie Island, Queensland to be with Mam (and Grandma) to celebrate her 70th birthday.... we are all looking forward to the adventure!!

 

There is five of us travelling this time as Kirraly, Oliver's girlfriend, is making the trip with us.  I hope she enjoys the adventure and finally doesn't realise that the Murray family are actually a pack of nuts and weirdos.  It has been many years since the whole family has gone to visit Mam.  I made a trip a couple of years for a girls week with my aunty Maureen and cousin Alison which was a fantastic time - infact a time I will always treasure.  The kids have always come up for school holidays but obviously as they grew up they stopped coming or should I say they stopped needing to come to be babysat.

 

 

And we are off........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time flies.....

"Time flies when you are having fun" they say.... I say "time flies when you are just stupidly busy and time poor!"

I haven't given up on blogging and to be honest my food blog, A DASH OF FLAVOUR, also has felt the effect of our busy lifestyle...

I will try and catch up and show you all some highlights that have happened over 2016.... and also make a more conscious effort to keep up to speed with all that the House of Murray are doing.

Peninsula Saints Youth Girls vs NZ Kahu Youth Girls - Game 1

I have just received information about game 1 played today.  The Peninsula Saints Youth Girls won against the NZ Kahu Youth Girls 7-1-43 to 5-5-35... what a fantastic start for our Victorian girls.

Alex is number 15.

Well done to all the girls.

Welcome 2016

As we all start 2016, the New Year, I cannot help but be thankful that I actually made it here in one piece.

December was a mammoth month for not only me but for our family.

December saw our eldest child, Oliver, finish high school - an end to an era for our 17 year old and I guess, with options open, the beginning of a new adventure for him and we are so proud of him and the way he is becoming an absolutely charming young man! While Oliver is now facing life decisions Alexandria, started made her transition into year 10 without a hiccup.. There is never any need to be worried when it comes to Alex and school work but as a mam I do still worry!!

Noel missed the redundancy cull late November! Thankfully! Needless to say December was quite somber in his workplace and with having a four week break over the Christmas period it should be interesting as to what things will be like upon his return.

I too had some interesting swings and roundabouts in 2015 and managed to find more than the occasional brick wall. I was presented with opportunity and decision in the last two weeks of December which makes January 2016 exciting in many ways..

We all had a wonderful Christmas! Having our family with us, being surrounded by love and happiness is one of the greatest gifts anyone can have although, at times, it is not interpreted that way!!

Grandma, my mam, is down as per usual from her home on Bribie Island and enjoying the extra hot Melbourne summer we are having at the moment. Aunty Clare, Noel's sister, and Charlie also flew in from Sydney to share the Festive Season with us all. It's magnificent that with all the miles between us we still manage to get together and celebrate the important moments in life.

Nana and Grandad, who had a horrible 2015 with an accident on a cruise ended up with Nana having an impromptu hip replacement and an awful long road to recovery, were in great spirits as were Uncle Sean, Noel's brother, and Aunty Vicky, Christian and Daniel.

We saw in the New Year surrounded by some very special people but it wasn't an overly massive evening!! Nicely relaxing in the pool, chicken souvlaki's for dinner and with a few champagnes we said goodbye to the year that was and welcomed in a year of new beginnings and endless possibilities....

Happy New Year everyone... May all your dreams come true in 2016 xxxx

Wedded Bliss

22 years of wedded bliss

Noel

I loved you yesterday

I love you today

I will love you tomorrow

I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.

I love you not only for what you have made yourself, but for what you are making of me.

and I thank you xxxxxx

Reflections

Sitting back last night I realised that if I don't keep this blog active then I will haven't nothing to look back on......


My external hard drive has broken - I have lost all my digital photos... 8 years worth. so angry and so disappointed.


Need to start again... although my kids have grown up (nearly) so I don't have any cheeky baby photo's or growing up, there are holidays and places that we may never do/see again, people past and present, etc, etc.......


So here goes.....

It's nearly April..... already???

I am sitting here early on a Saturday morning, the kids are snoozing and hubby is at work. The quietness gives me time to reflect on the world that is whizzing past me so fast, at times I feel like I am not breathing in enough or out enough - it's just too fast paced at the moment. 

Within a blink of an eye we now have a 17 year old boy - a gorjus one at that BUT OMG 17!!  Where the hell did that time go??

So with that we celebrate a birthday - one with his Nana and Grandad and another with his cousin.  There will be a third one later with the mates!!

Yes Raspberry Self Saucing Pudding for his birthday cake..... hahahaha the simple things.

Dad even wrote nice things on the card and even the envelope.  Very loving yet surprising!

Princess in her Castle

We had a quiet afternoon today - relaxing after all the festivities of the Christmas and New Year activities.

Charlie with the help of Grandma and Alex made a little fairy castle in our miniature Weeping Willow tree in the front yard.

Happy New Year from the Murray's

From the House Of Murray we wish you all the very best that you deserve for 2015.  May you be blessed with success, happiness, health, worldly desires, laughter, love, family, friends and in my eyes the most important thing self worth.

One thing 2014 taught me was to remember what the important things are even when the shittiest of things are happing around you and the people you love.  I am not going to dwell on the events of 2014, for they are now in my past.  There were times that seemed very dark and never ending and while they may have helped shape me and teach me better things they are over. 

 

Although I didn't indulge you in our adventures as much as I have in the past years - I do have some wonderful memories from last year which I will treasure for as long as my mind lets me remember.

 

But for now... not matter what direction 2015 will take me, Noel and the kids I promise we will live each day of 2015 as a treasured privilege as in all honesty that's what life is about.  Right?

 

Sit back, grab a bevvie and enjoy our journey........

Melbourne Cup Day 2015

No photos this year (cannot explain how that happened - it just did) but we had a fantastic day. Surrounded by family and friends, good food, laughs drinks and of course the race that stops the nation at 3pm!

Winners – well no major cash for the Murray’s. Alex and Sarah run the sweeps for all the guests and did a great job at it. Not that we are huge gamblers as we just have little flutters here and there. Which reminds me I need to renew our membership at Balnarring Picnic Race Club as I am sure we will get down there this season for some local (not so high staked) horse racing.

Actually there is one photo I took… it was a before shot of lunch! LOL

Our little furballs

Heston and Garfield... best mates!!

Smile she said.....

Sums us up

 

It's been so long.....

Well we certainly have been busy and I have tried to sit and blog wondering where to start?  Do I back track to where I left off or just pick some highlights or should I just start up again from this current minute?  Needless to say this is a conversation I have had in my head for awhile now especially with all the ups and downs that have happened in the the last 9 months.

 

My job changed, my world changed, we needed as a family to change as did I as an individual.

 

There is is in a nutshell....

 

CHANGE!!!

 

So I decided I will start with the here and the now.....

 

If I can get extra spare time to back track I will as there are many many beautiful memories I really need to write about to have that keepsake that hopefully one day when I am long gone be treasured by our future generations.  A little melodramatic... oops sorry!!

 

So here's to creating more special memories and looking into the future.....

 

Hellooooooo HESTON

We have welcomed this adorable bundle of fluff into the house....

 

The kids both adore him - he is only 9 weeks old and his legs are so small for his little chubby shaggy body....

Garfield however doesn't really think much of the new family member.

 

'Mexican cat stand off" under the dining table.... hhhmmmm this could be interesting.

Elephant woman...

Tooth infection..... 3 hours later at the Dentist ending with an extraction, work on the root canal I started a few weeks ago and a lot of agony.....

Antibiotics & pain killers & tears......

McClelland College "Bake Off"

Well done to Alex for achieving the Silver Baker Award through the McClelland College Academy Program.  Alex attends this class every week and is in the Bake Off against students from all year levels in the school - she has done really well considering she is only in Year 8.

We are all very proud of you.... every week you put 110% effort into to this subject and I must admit that we are all enjoying the yummy food you bring home also.

Keep up the wonderful work xxx

Garfield - our new family member

Meet Garfield...... our new family member.

He is 11 weeks old and so gorjus. 

Noel and I both vowed NO more pets after the hermit crabs, fish, frog, rabbits and guinea pigs as both Noel and I ended up looking after them all but after weeks of the kids wanting and pleading for a kitten guess who won????

He has definitely made himself at home and I have to admit that we all are mesmorized by him even Noel.

Blood Tests all clear......

Today was my third day off work due to tiredness and not feeling well at all.  As I mentioned on Tuesday I had blood and urine tests to ensure that nothing awful was going on in this body of mine. 

 

 

So off to the Doctor's I went......  The results had returned today and although I was sitting there feeling sorry for myself out of tiredness and stress the results were actually quite good.  Thyroid all good, no signs of any infections, cholesteral perfect, yes perfect, my blood sugars are way too high. 

 

Needless to say that it was quite a relief hearing that I wasn't facing anything life threatening except for a DIET to help lower my blood sugars without changing my current Diabetes medication. 

 

Some things in life need to change a little for this member of the House of Murray.

Sick is not a choice I normally make....

Months and months of long hours and burning the candle at both ends has finally taken it's toll I fear....... I have found myself feeling tired every morning when I get out of bed and of late have had a general feeling of being unwell.

I deided to bite the bullet and go see the doctor to explain how I felt in hope there would be an explanation allowing me to get some "you-bute" medication that would be a wonder cure.

Instead I was told a full blood test would be in order........ bloody fantastic!!  I hate blood tests.  It's not the fear of the needle as needles do not bother me at all. Believe it or not it is actually the few days waiting for the results. 

The waiting makes my mind wander, imagine, and presume that all the tests will come back showing some horrendous disease...... yes I am my own worse enemy!!

So the wait begins...........

It's nearly the weekend.....

It is nearly the weekend and for once.... yes doesn't happen very often.  So we as a family are going to make the most of it. 

Tonight some of my favourte ladies are coming over for drinks... Heather and Bernie cannot wait to catch up tonight.

Then Saturday and Sunday we actually do not have any plans - but saying this it always changes without notice.