Two out of three ain't bad

Happy messages to Fi in England

De, Ben and I

L to R Georgia, Chloe, Chelsea and Abbey. Ben at front.

Afternoon tea witth Ben and Abbey.

Both are 2⅔ years old (Abbey is 3 days older than Ben)

The Godparent gathering

We had a great time last night and continued the tradition of drinking a whole bottle of Baileys, plus Bubbles and Red wine.

I put the kids to bed for an afternoon nap and De and I headed out to the shopping center. It was sale time and we got some great things to put away for birthdays. The aim was to get to the Kmart toy sale, but we got a little sidetracked and never made it LOL

We got home just as it was getting dark, in time for drinks and nibbles.…

It was funny to see the guys watching the game on a tiny little TV dwarfed inside the entertainment unit.

The kids had a ball playing with each other; Abbey and Ben were so cute together. After a dinner of their all time favorite, Spaghetti Bolognese it was off to my bed for the Nanny McFee DVD.

Sometime after the adults dinner we decided to start text messaging our friend Fi in England, little notes with photos of us holding them up. I hope she liked them at 3.30am her time.
Fi is the kids other Godparent. We have decided to keep it simple and have the same 3 wonderful people as godparents for all 3 of our kids. We also have them as co-executors and guardians in case anything ever happens to us. I remember a lot of laughing last night....... Ben was very good to his tired Mummy, He woke at 5am and climbed into our bed and went straight back to sleep until 8am-a huge sleep in for us !!!!! I did cheat a little, I take a coolerbag with a bottle and a ice pack to bed with me for him so I don't have to get up.

De and I started school together in year one (we would of been5 years old) in Sydney many years ago. We met Fi when we started high school. We went to the all girls "..... Ladies College" and we have been friends ever since. De and I manage to mirror changes in our lives with out trying. We both told each other we were pregnant on the same day, we had our wedding receptions at the same place ( well hers was SOOOO good I copied LOL) and both chose Easter to marry ( 2 years apart) We both moved to QLD, and moved homes at the same time. Fi has been in England for a year now. She is traveling the world and working way too hard.....I am so proud of her, I call her my most successful friend. I can't visualize her as the top international director that she is, to me she is just Fi, my friend. I like that the 4 of us; GJ, De, Rob and I, want nothing from Fi other than her friendship.

We miss you Fi.....and can't wait to visit you!!!

This morning De and I waded through all the junk mail. I love junk mail; I can't understand why people complain about it. Unfortunately, living in an acreage estate means we don't get much. Rob has worked out a great system; he collects all his and puts it straight into his car and then once a week I get a huge pile. A win-win situation!!


GJ has opened up the dropped TV to see if it repairable, theCircuit board and the casing are cracked and snapped through. Chelsea doesn't know what to think about her punishment though. She hasn't lost any privileges, and there were no smacks, BUT the money that we would of spent on her Birthday and X.....pressies is to be spent on a new TV. I think it is a little harsh, but we have to have a united parenting front. Luckily October is a while off and GJ'ss hard line approach could soften by then. I won't be able to deny my little naughty darling pressies.

Brisbane's naughtist children

THE WORLD’S NAUGHTIEST CHILDREN, KARMA AND CONSEQUENCES

Last month the girls lost privileges for 3 weeks after a major incident involving a once full bottle of dark blue food colouring. The areas affected included hands, nails, hair, new deck, carpet, walls, clothes, bathroom, tea towels etc.

I thought that this was pretty bad…..

Today they have set a new record. They (mainly Chelsea) have managed to pull the hugest, heaviest, best TV of the house out of the entertainment unit and smash it to death on the floor. They were incredibly lucky that they did not kill or injury themselves or their little brother.

I am speechless, so I have fallen back on the generations old phrase….

WAIT UNTIL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME…….

It seems to be working; I suggested that since Daddy is going to be very cranky they should make everything else perfect. I.E. clean up the toy room, their bedrooms, the family room, their deck etc.

They are being so helpful and co-operative........LOL

I wonder at what age do kids start to

understand karma and consequences?

I have decided to balance this rant with photos of the kids doing Angel impersonations. They even dressed Ben as a little fairy…I’ll save this shot for his teenage years.
They girls love makeup and dressups and when they are allowed to get it all out Ben shouts “makeup, makeup, Me Me!”

Under the Hedge

Old section + new section = soon to be Robbies wonderful new homeMain Bathroom
Kids testing out the new deck
Afternoon delight!!! Rob (on left) and GJ
Gorgeous Benny-Boy
Chelsea doing a chipmunk impersonation
essential ingredients, chips, tissues and bubbles

Gorgeous Georgia

We have started the social part of the school holidays. Last week was vegout week-give the kidÂ’s time to recharge their batteries, ready for this week. We started the week off with afternoon drinks on RobbieÂ’s new deck. The renovations are progressing well.

Monday was shopping, the kids hated that.

Georgia had a friend over to play on Tue, and it was off to the movies to see Over the Hedge on Wednesday with another school friend.

Thursday was the dentist, the kids were excellent, and we even had Ben in the chair and 80% of his teeth polished before his mouth clamped shut. GeorgiaÂ’s teeth were perfect; Chelsea has two little shadows that Dr Emily wants to fix before they become a problem. I think I am going to have to go back to cleaning her teeth for her as the dentist feels that she is not cleaning right at the back.

Over the Hedge was a great movie, I think it was better than Cars, so did the girls. As the girls were very good this week, I bought them Nanny McFee on DVD. We watched it this afternoon, it was wonderful!!! It works out half the price to by the DVD than it does going to the movies, and you get to watch it again and again.

Friday is afternoon tea at another school friendÂ’s house.

Deanne is coming for the weekend with her girls Chloe (nearly 14) and Abbey( 3 days older than Ben, also a whopper-9lb 2oz). We are having a practice session on putting up our new tents. Rob is also coming to help De and I drink a bottle of Baileys.

Last time we all had a get together, we decided to go to bed as usual at 9.30 ( a late night for us) but as it was so hot we (De and I), thought that would have quick swim to cool off before going to bed. Floating around was so good and when Rob offered to bring us down a drink, we thought Why Not! By at midnight the entire bottle of Baileys and a bucket of ice was gone and the three off us had just about cooled off. I donÂ’t now how I did it and got up early the next day. I love my Champagne, but I canÂ’t drink more than 3-4 glasses or I fall over, I canÂ’t handle any spirits and beer makes me instantly tipsy. GJ thinks that it is a bonus as I am a cheap date!

We have to make some posters tomorrow, as the kids 3rd Godparent wonÂ’t be able to make this get-to-gether. Fi is working in London for the next 2-3 years. We will need some great photos of us holding up messages for her, to stop her feeling left out.

Screaming kids in background, must finish up for now.......

The world's ugliest baby

The world’s ugliest baby!

See how Ben has morphed from one of the ugliest babies ever into my absolutely gorgeous 2½year old.

Ben was born after a 3 hour labor (yes, 3 hours from start to finish) and was a HUGE 9lb 9oz, 4.5kg. He busted (yes this is the correct word) out in 2 pushes and was black from bruising. He burst all the blood vessels in his eyes, so after a few days when he could actually open his swollen eyes they were red like a little devil cartoon. He also had a touch of jaundice so he really did look like a little ugly troll.
But as you can see he has improved….LOL
He is such a Mummies boy. He doesn’t remember me going to work or Lisa our Nanny, so he is a lot more clingy around others than the girls were.
I am sure that you will think he is as gorgeous as we do.

Little Jimmy, a 4th child?

Little Jimmy

GJ is still referring to little Jimmy coming to our house to live. Little Jimmy is what we would call our next son if we had one, short for James. I don’t know what to think about this. I thought that I should write a pro’s and con’s list to think it through. It would be a huge step to have a fourth child, I don’t know if I could cope.

Pros for James Martin…… or Kate Therese…… (We chose names nearly 15 years ago)

Babies are gorgeous
The children would love another brother or sister
Babies are gorgeous
Pregnancy and birth are easy for me (except for 24hour sickness, but lets not go there)
Babies are gorgeous
I have everything and would need to purchase hardly anything
Babies are gorgeous
Children are the greatest blessing
GJ would like another son
Children are gorgeous


Cons for James Martin…… or Kate Therese……

Sleepless nights- the worst torture for me….
Lose all brain function and conservation skills for 6 months while I breast feed (this deserves a whole post- Later!)
I am too old- We could have a combine 21st and 60th party for the baby and I
I have three perfect children
Private education would be out of financial reach
4 kids don’t fit in a standard car
2-3 more years of nappies and then toilet training….
Sanity- would it be gone for ever?
No me time, I have just got to the stage where Ben goes to Kindy 1 day a week, so I have a window of 5 hours a week alone which I LOVE.
Tiredness- I am always tired now, how much worse could it get?
Washing- I wash 4+ loads a day as it is, let’s not even think of the ironing.
My body would never recover- it would take me years to lose the weight
Holidays would be more expensive, you can get a rollaway bed for the 3rd child, but it would probably be a whole extra room if you had a family of 6.
Would moving to China be possible while pregnant or with a newborn?

Ways to overcome the Cons

Become rich and have full time help, LOL as if this is going to happen.
Give up a clean and occasionally spotless home and live in chaos
Give up personal hygiene for a couple of months
Invent an apparatus that could swap a baby from breast to breast and then burp and change its bottom all while I sleep soundly.
Have a 100% cure for morning/24hr sickness


I think that little Jimmy is a pipe dream, I might just leave it in the hands of God, if it happens (if Jimmy wants to come to us enough) it happens but I won’t try for it.
I am truly blessed and thankful with what I have already.

Mice and other critters

I always explain to people that there are humans, dogs and horses and everything else is a critter and

I DON'T DEAL WITH CRITTERS!!!!!!!!!!

Why can't critters understand this and leave me alone?

This week the critters that have invaded my home are mice. The drought has got them desperate for food and water and they are everywhere. I pulled out Bens spare trundle bed and found mouse poo under the doona. My teatowel drawer had poo in it, my desk has poo on it. There is poo everywhere. I have got baits hidden all around the house, but there is just so many of them. Last week I was cleaning up in the kitchen and one ran through my legs and under the fridge. Luckily we don't often see them, just the evidence of them. We pack everything away at night and leave nothing that they might like around. I just had to remove a dead one from Georgies bedroom ( the baits must of worked on this one), the girls and I were dry retching while we tried to scoop it from a great distance. How disgusting.....

Of course GJ has gone to Sydney for 2 days, so we couldn't just close the door on it and wait for him to come home and deal with it, like we usually do.

Other things we have had in our home

• Rats
• Huge spiders
• Cane toads
• Geckos
• Sheep
• Snakes
• Lizards
• Ants

there are plenty of good stories attached to all these, I will save them for later...

Today it is my sister Tan Tan's Birthday

Happy Birthday Tan Tan

Greg had a meeting in Sydney tomorrow, so he is flying down this afternoon to take Mum and Tan Tan out to dinner. They have been joking that they are going to one of my favorite restaurants in Sydney and will eat all my favorite things. Rob is coming to dinner here tonight and we are all going to have Thai takeaway so we don't feel left out.

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.

Nasty Blogspot

I just spent ages inserting photos and writing a post and it is gone....lost forever

Please leave me a comment

To all my family and friends and even strangers,

I would love your feed back (or if I am really honest- I am soo proud of my blogg and I just want you to tell me how good it is LOL!!!!!!!!)

Just hit the comments word under each posting and drop me a message...

Love JenJen

My first purchase for China

GJ is going to complain (as all husbands do when their wives spend money!!!!!), but there was a great special on snow gear this week at Aldi. I got a pair of thermo-boots, a set of thermal underwear, snow pants, gloves, neck warmer and head band all for $50. All totally unnecessary for daily life in subtropical Queensland, but essential for life in China. Most of the feedback I get about purchasing shoes and clothing in China is that it is very hard to find pants and shoes in sizes that would suit GJ and I. I am 5'7" and have a size 8.5 foot, average in Australia, but the last time I was in Hong Kong a lot of the shops would meet you at the door and say TOO BIG! Apparently it is even worse in Shanghai.

I wonder what would be considered an excessive number of pairs of shoes for an average women to own? Last time GJ did a stocktake it was over 50 pairs for me, but of course he missed quite a few pairs!
I just jumped up and did a quick count, I have culled it down to approx 54 pairs!

This is for my husband and other males:- a mini justification....

• I never pay full price for shoes
• I don't mind buying 2nd hand shoes off eBay and I sell off any that are not right for me.
• I have a wonderful sister who only buys leather expensive shoes which are a little small for her and gives them all to me. ( Maybe she was psychologically damaged by the shoe sellers in Hong Kong?)
• I look after my shoes so they last for years.

How much flak am I going to cop from this post I wonder? I might need to change my name to Jen"Imelda"Jenqld!!!!!!

Cars by Disney Pixar and the Da Vinci Code

Ben had his first movie experience last week. I took the kids to see Cars, it was great. Ben keeps saying "movies, more, movies". Luckily it was not a busy session and filled with mostly young kids as Ben did a bit a wandering in the last half, which is just a well as he pooped in his pull ups and smelt!!! He thought that lying on the floor at the front was more fun. He was very well behaved though, he kept quiet and crept down the sides and stayed away from the other patrons. Expensive, the cost for 3 tickets (Ben was free) and 1 drink and 1 popcorn was $50

I went and saw The Da Vinci Code on Sunday afternoon with Rob. Gj is not into books and wasn't interested in seeing the movie so I went with Rob. We went Gold class, It has gotten so expensive, $77 for 2 tickets. I bought the tickets and Rob got food and drink- a bottle of Champagne, antipasto and a pizza, this would of cost as much as the tickets. As nice as it is to lie in a plush recliner and sip bubbles while watching a movie, it is not something many could afford every week.

Dancing, snakes, a new car and school holidays

We got the new car last night! It is great, drives wonderfully and feels very safe. We went for a quick drive last night, the kids are so tired so we didn't go for too long. Thank goodness school holidays start next week. It has been a 11 week term and the girls are so exhausted. We are not going away, GJ still has to work. We are going to organize some play dates with the girl's friends and have a lazy 2 weeks.
Here is the snake skin we found by the front door a month ago, probably a carpet snake. Gj is nearly 6'2", so it was a big snake. The one that we found in the house in January (ALIVE!!!) was only about 5' long and was a green snake. Words cannot explain how I feel about snakes, I will leave the horror of it all to your imagination.......The bottom photo shows were we found the skin near the front door.
Here is Georgia yesterday, Her class did a dance presentation of their terms cultural focus, native dance. The girls performed a Hawaiian hula dance and the boys did a German slap dance followed by morning tea of German sausages and coconuts.

Why we want to move to China

I thought that I should give out some background info. A few years ago GJ went on a uni field trip to China and loved it. The closest I have been to China is the border with Hong Kong, back when it was still under British control. We have both wanted to go and explore, but thought it would be too hard with young children. A passing comment a BBQ in Feb 2006 changed our thinking. China is a rapidly growing concern in the business world ( a bit of a generalization I know!!!) and is short of executives in GJ area of expertise. A 2-3 year sponsored assignment would be very exciting. GJ works for an international company, with Head Office in Germany. We have chosen Shanghai as our first choice for relocation (probably Beijing, Singapore, Germany and Dubai as 2nd- 5th choice). The safety of our family has been a major concern in choosing the locations. Terrorism is not a major problem in China, the level personal safety is extremely high.
I spent days on the net researching what it would be like and how we would live and came to the conclusion that we should just go for it! The children are young and would learn so much, they are not close to high school years so education issues aren't that great. The opportunity to learn another language in situation would be exciting.
I was also getting to the stage of thinking that I could be cooking, cleaning and taking kids to school day in, day out for the next 15 years and could go mad. I think that it would be easy to get stuck in a rut, become bored with your life and blame you spouse for it and get a divorce, a little dramatic maybe but possibly a little true for many people. Moving to a foreign country, where not many people speak your language is a sure fire way to keep life interesting...LOL
The culture shock will be huge, hopefully we will love it, if not, oh well 2 years will go quickly.
We as a family will be together and we can support each other and treat it like an adventure.
We are already canvassing our family and friends to come and visit.
Hopefully the company will need us to move more than we want to move and put a great package together for us. The cost of living for an expat in Shanghai is very high. To put the 2 girls in an international school (local schools are not an option as the girls can't speak mandarin) and Ben in kindy for 2 days a week would be AU$68000. Rent on an average furnished 4 bedroom apartment would be between AU$5415 to AU$9476 per month. Food and utilities would be much cheaper than in Australia, but just the school and rent would take all of our current income. The other option would be homeschooling, but I don't know if I would survive.....LOL
Well there you have it, why we want to go to China. Now I just need to make it happen ASAP. Once I decide I want to do something I just want to do it NOW.
I will add some more of the great things about moving to China later, I can hear a kiddy fight in the hall outside the study...

A busy May -Vomit, Volvo's and China

I keep meaning to blogg, but the month has got away!
The kids have been playing tag team with a vomiting and diarrhea bug. I have been cleaning up beds, floors and bums all month. Poor Chelsea slept though the last vomit, we discovered her fast asleep in a HUGE mound of cooling vomit last week around midnight. Chelsea usually makes the bathroom or a bowl, but Georgia only likes to vomit on bedding or carpet... Ben is scared of vomiting so he likes to be cuddled while he vomits all over himself or us. Oh the joys of parenting.

There have been some developments with the move to China. The Hr departments are talking and the Asia director has contacted GJ. The company wants GJ to be fluent in Mandarin. I have enrolled him at UK for a accelerated courses and found an intensive courses at QUT which will count towards his business degree. Neither of us have any skill at languages. The kids and I have a CD lesson in the car which we listen to whenever we are driving. I think that the only way to become proficient is to get over there and just jump in.
It has turned out for the best that GJ has stayed with H... A big payrise and potential relocation.
The company that first proposed a move to China has not panned out, and the other job offer was Australian based only.

GJ is presently in Singapore. He is attending a leadership conference with all potentially outstanding executives from around the world. As he was traveling overnight he is flying there and back Business class. I am sooo jealous. He will be meeting with Beijing people there for a bit of insider gossip.

Our new car arrives next week....After GJ telling me not to tell anyone that my dream car is a Volvo (as it was too embarrassing) for the last 15 years, we are getting one!!!!!
Well, GJ's car allowance is paying for it. We got a corporate deal of free servicing for 3 years plus a few other things which made the lease payments come in under budget, with just enough to pay for fuel. We are getting a white cross country XC70LE. I am so looking forward to the heated leather seats!!!!! Also the dual climate control is good, I can be lovely and warm and GJ can be in arctic conditions on the otherside. The girls like the built in booster seats. The safety aspect is very important for me, as I lost my brother in a car accident.

GJ will be most impressed with me, I stayed awake last night and watched the whole State of Origin game last night with Rob. Of course I didn't watch- I chatted and read junk mail while Rob watched. You can tell that Rob is not my husband as he did a very good job of pretending to listen and pay full attention to me and not the game. If it was GJ, I would of been totally ignored for something that riveting.