Cousins, flylady and October is party month

Georgia, Sarah and Chelsea. 25th June 2006

We had a lovely day on Sunday at GJ's sisters house for my father-in-laws birthday. The kids loved seeing Granddad and Jan, but the highlight for them was playing with their cousins, Sarah and Jeremy. Ben idolizes Jeremy, and the girls are torn between doing girlie things with Sarah. jumping on Jeremy, playing Sims on the computer or watching cable TV. We only have educational games on their computer, no PS2, Xbox or cable- they think that they are very deprived....LOL

Jeremy and Ben, 25th June 2006

I love this photo of Ben and Jeremy, it show the love and trust that Ben has for Jeremy. Jeremy is so kind and patient with him, he gets all his old cars and trucks out and plays on the floor with him for hours. There is 11 years between them ( and nearly4.5 foot!!!). Jeremy was my height at Christmas and now is taller than GJ. He is 6'2" and has huge feet. I wonder if Ben will be this tall at 13?

Benjamin John Nicholas ....... 25th June 2006

Here Ben is balancing on a fit ball with Jeremy's help. This was the day before his sniffles turned into a full on cold. The poor little thing has a constant runny nose and a big cough and a low fever. The doctor has checked his lung and they are clear, but he is just so miserable, cranky, but on the positive side wants lots of cuddles! I have spent hours this week on the couch reading books with him. As a treat I bought him his 1st Thomas the Tank engine DVD, I think it has been on 6-8 hours/day this week. Bob and the Tubbies ( his other DVD's) have been cast aside for his new favorite.

October is party month

I have just got the email from Target announcing the big annual Toy sale in July. It is time to get organized. Ben has been booked into Kindy for a casual day and I will be there at opening time. Every year I go and buy all b'day and December---------presents and have them wrapped and put into individual boxs and hidden in the garage.

I was extremely organized when it came to my children's dates of birth.

• Georgia 5th
• Chelsea 25th
• Benjamin 15th

ALL IN OCTOBER !!!!

GJ's is also in October 30th. Jeremy is on the 12th and my closest friend De has 2 girls born on the 9th and 12th of October. So we call October "Party month".

This is why the Target toy sale comes at a perfect time for me. I always find that as soon as we finish with party month it is Christmas before I have time to catch my breath. Last year I had everything bought, wrapped, Christmas menu planned and Christmas cards ready to be posted by December 1st. I got so much personal satisfaction out of doing this that I plan on trying to do it again this year.

Now if only everything could be this organized..... The house always looks lived in, the floor is dirty within an hour of being cleaned and I have just given up on windows..... This is life. I have really tried to live by the motto of :-

Kids remember love and fun times, not whether their home was immaculate.

I really struggled when I gave up my career 18 months ago to be a stay at home Mum. After juggling so many things, 3 children, full time work, business travel, large home etc it was crash and burn time . The futility of it all got to me, wash and the iron to clothes and then do it again, clean and tidy constantly, shop for it-cook it-then change the nappy and dispose of it. It took a good 6 months to get out of this mindset. I found a web site for a women called FLYLADY, this wonderful women called Marla put it all into perspective for me.

Here is the link, have a look... www.flylady.net

"Your free online coach, cheerleader, and fairy-godmother for

decluttering and organizing your home and life!"

Well 3rd time lucky I hope with trying to post this. I do not want to type it out again. I have learned to save after every paragraph.