We’re moving to our own domain! May 4, 2011

Hi Readers!

I know some of you have been hanging on a post from Common Chaos Chronicle probably as much as I have.

But good things come to those who wait and the wait has been worth it!!!

Over the last month or so I have been busy drawing and designing a new look for my blog. With some massive help on the whole setting it up side, (big big thanks for that) I can finally say it’s ready to rock!

So follow us over to http://www.commonchaos.com and let us know what you think.

<strong>http://www.commonchaos.com/

See You there!

P.S. If you have bookmarked this page please remember to bookmark the new site! 🙂

The Daily Dirt – 28th & 29th April 2011 April 29, 2011

I think it’s safe to say I am exhausted.

Busy May!

Whilst some might say “Why?”

and others may say “That’s to be expected”

All I can think of is……. “It’s not even May yet!!!”

May is our craziest month of the year. It is always busy and always expensive.

To top it off this year, we’re expecting some minor renovations to commence on top of the usual CHAOS!!!

So here I am, Friday afternoon, pondering just how I am going to get through all of the up and coming events.

It’s becoming very overwhelming, I can tell you that much! 

Yesterday and today have been busy days but I feel like I’ve really achieved not much at all.

This morning I went to a Learning Ladder Party. They have some fantastic books and games available if you like that kind of thing. It was a nice change from some of the other ‘underwear’ parties that are going around.

This afternoon we received the kid’s school photos back from Term 1. I’m quite happy with them, except for the boogers dripping out of Jai’s nose, the gaping hole in Aria’s gappy smile and the rather large chunk of fringe that is missing from Zafirah’s head….

Ohwell, definitely great for a laugh in years to come!

Zafirah

Aria

Jai

Family Pic 2011

The Daily Dirt – 27/04/11 April 27, 2011

Well it is safe to say that I survived the latest school holidays.

Aria in her dance uniform for the 1st time!

The 3 bigger kids went back to school this morning and surprisingly, the younger 2 played wonderfully together….

Brian had a Rostered Day Off from work so we spent some time researching and planning a revamp of our tired old bathroom. I think we may have almost made up our minds on the major bits and pieces, we just need to look into tiles and decorative bits now 🙂

I have made a fair dint in the mountain of laundry that I needed to catch up on, however there is still a few loads to go.

I really don’t mind doing the washing, it’s just the folding, hanging and putting away that chews up so much of my precious time.  But…. It must be done!

This afternoon Veruca and Zaf returned to their Ballet/Jazz lessons. It was awesome to see them so keen and excited to get back into it.

This term Aria will begin Jazz classes and was so happy when I picked up her shoes this afternoon.

The somewhat reluctant dancer automatically adopted the Jazz stance and insisted she give the new shoes and outfit a trial run.

She was beaming! As was I. So fantastic to see her excited about something new!!!

Easter Innocence – A little giggle!

Veruca at the egg hunt!

Over the course of this past Easter we may have used the old easter bunny as a threat a couple of times….

I mean there’s nothing quite like keeping children on edge thinking they could be busted for their nonsense behavior any second of the day…..

So one day there, close to my wit’s end from the building excitement of the bunny’s impending visit, I may have made the suggestion that “Dad saw something white and fluffy hopping in the backyard”……

Before we knew it the 6 kids were on the hunt for what could only be the super fluffy easter bunny!

Now I am certain most children would have looked at me funny and told me the rabbit was not in our yard, but with the wild imaginations of this bunch we had lures and bunny traps set up in no time.

I kid you not, these children were on a mission to trap the bunny and negotiate the early transaction of chocolate.

Out of the fridge went my fresh lettuce, out of the cupboard went a good bowl, as did a few washing baskets from the laundry…

I am kicking myself for not taking photos of the children building their bunny traps, the pics would have been priceless in years to come.  I did however get woken up the following morning by one rather excited Veruca.

I missed recording her first explanation of what had happened in the yard overnight, but was quick enough to grab my phone and record her on her second attempt.

This footage gives me a great giggle every time I watch it.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

The Daily Dirt – Easter 2011 Roundup!

Well it’s been a few day’s since I have had a moment to spare to write so I have a lot of catch ing up to do!

I will start with Good Friday – 22nd April 2011.

The fire truck rolls up the street collecting donations!

We woke on Good Friday morning to the distant sounds of a fire truck.

Not what you would normally want to hear, but today it was a welcome sound.

The sirens this morning meant that the truck was on its way, doing the rounds up and down the streets of our town collecting money for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

It has become a little tradition in our house that when the children hear the sirens they get down their piggy banks and pull out some coins to donate to the appeal.

Mackenzi & Levi show me some coins for the sick kids!

I think it is an amazing appeal and such a worthy cause.

The hospital not only helps the children of Victoria, they help children from all over our country and from other parts of the world.

Waiting for the truck......

It is also a fantastic opportunity to teach our children about being charitable and showing compassion for other people.

I was very proud to see them happily hand over their coins to the collectors in the street.  

Later on in the day we celebrated Levi’s 2nd Birthday.

His actual Birthday was on the 23rd, however we were headed to Melbourne on Saturday for Easter with my hubby’s family so we had a little cake at home so my mum could wish him a Happy Birthday!

He tore open his gifts with so much delight.

The look on his happy little face was so fantastic. All the kids enjoyed having a play with his new toys before we all went to bed!

Levi Blows Out His Candles!

Levi loves the truck..

Excited about getting his own Drill!

Saturday 23rd April 2011 – Levi’s 2nd Birthday!

I expected to wake this morning in tears, upset about my baby boy turning 2, but really, I was just fine! No tears, no upsets, no icky feelings at all.

Just a mass of excitement about our journey to Melbourne to spend Easter with Brian’s family.

It has been several years since we’ve done easter away from home and I was looking forward to seeing all the relatives and catching up with everyone.

The bunny has popped by early.....

The children were super excited, the Easter Bunny was not far away and they had met up

Let the hunt begin!

with family they had been hanging out to see.

Let the Chaos Begin!!!!

Once we had all arrived at Grandma’s house, there were 14 children running wild.

It was awesome to see them all play together and get along so well.

The delightful Easter Bunny made a stealth visit and treated all the kids to an early Easter Egg hunt. SO MUCH FUN!!!!

That evening we were treated to a big family dinner and a little birthday party celebration for Levi.

A giant thanks goes out to his dear Aunty A, for making him the most delicious Birthday cake decorated with his favourite Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear!

Levi's Birthday Cake!

By this stage in the day we were facing the impossible task of getting all the children to bed and asleep. Easier said than done on a hyped up belly full of chocolate and party snacks!!!!

We eventually got the last few to bed by 10.30pm (Crazy I know), and were then able to sit and relax before the big bunny made an appearance again!!!!

Sunday 24th April 2011 – EASTER SUNDAY!

Somewhere between the hour’s of 6am & 7am, we were met with squeals of excitement that the Bunny had been and spoilt them rotten…..

Nothing quite like the old ‘shriek of delight’ wake up call.

Aria with her surprise.

That cheeky bunny had gone and left the children some eggs outside the house again so clearly this called for yet another hunting extravaganza…..

Mackenzi

Veruca

Aria

Levi

Jai

Zafirah

AND SO BEGAN A DAY OF FAMILY FUN AND CHOCOLATE CONSUMPTION!!!!!

Easter Morning In Grandma's Garden 2011

The following 2 days have been a blur, spent at home with some close friends.

A big thanks goes out to my hubby’s family for having us over the Easter break! We cant wait to see you all again soon!

XOXOX

Happy Easter Everybunny!!! April 21, 2011

Happy Easter!

Easter could possibly be the celebration of the year I get least excited about.

Dont get me wrong I do like it, but in comparison to say Christmas Day or Mother’s day it really doesn’t rate!

Easter really has just become a commercial excuse to down millions of chocolate eggs without guilt…

Sounds shocking but it is true.

I must admit though, I cannot let an occasion slip by without enjoying the excitement the children bring with it.

So on Sunday morning I will put aside my distaste for overloading children with excess sugars, and enjoy their excitement as they discover their Easter Bunny Treats!!!!

What I am concerned about more than anything this year is the excessive price tag that traders and companies put on their eggs.

They know our kids want them.

Easter Eggs!

They know we’re going to buy them.

Arghhh, I would much rather spend $15 on a toy for each child and give them a block of chocolate for the occasion, however I don’t think just the block would cut it!

What to do what to do…… 🙂

I will go out and buy some Easter eggs, but I will not be going overboard.

Support this cause!!!!

I’m going to put a massive focus on tomorrow’s Royal Children’s Hospital’s Good Friday Appeal, and ask the kids to donate their piggy bank savings to the cause.

Now that is money well spent!!!

I’ve added a link here to their webpage.  Please check it out and donate if you can!

http://www.goodfridayappeal.com.au/

Give that they may Grow!!!!!

Wishing you all Safe and Happy Easter.

If you are travelling, stay safe on the roads, enjoy your family time and most of all…….

Have a basket load of FUN!!!!! 🙂

The Daily Dirt – 21/04/11

My day began much the same as most Thursdays do in this house.

Wake, Breakfast, Get dressed, Teeth, etc….

Once we were ready for the day we gave the house a quick tidy up before our visitors arrived.

Earlier in the week I had organised with a friend to bring her 3 children over for a play.

Not only would it help regain some sanity, it would fill in the day and keep the Easter Bunny excitement at bay….. Or so we thought…. Hahahahhaha!!!!

I popped some party pies, sausage rolls & nuggets in the oven for lunch and we let the kids run wild while they heated up.

Mackenzi and Aria having a great time!

After lunch I asked the kids to head outside while we set up an easter egg and chocolate hunt for them!

While the actual hunt only lasted a few minutes, it was well worth it so see the joy and excitement on their little faces.

The downside??? Several hyped up sugar filled kids!!!

So after approximately 2 hours of  chaos, I picked Brian up from work and quietly mentioned to Zafirah that Dad had seen something fluffy in the backyard….

Like a shot she was off and within no time the whole group of kids were hunting what is commonly referred to as ‘The Easter Bunny’!!

Hilarious.

They were out there searching every nook and cranny of our backyard, even setting up rabbit traps with boxes and lettuce leaves.

All from a few little words I said in a vain effort to grab a second’s peace….. Bloody Golden!!! Hahahaha.

The Daily Dirt – 20/04/11

It's only a small bench, but sooo much better when you can use it!!! 🙂

The list of things to do today consisted of a massive tidy-up of the house and several loads of washing.

Lets just say my hopes were fading fast by lunchtime when I realised the rain was not going to ease up.

Trying to get anything done in a house with 6 hyped up children is a challenge at the best of times but not being able to send them outside to burn off some energy just makes it an even bigger challenge.

No matter what I tried to make the tidy up ‘FUN’, I was met with grumbles and screwed up faces. I guess I was on my own….

By 2pm I had admit defeat and decided that there was no point in fighting a losing battle.

I did however rediscover my kitchen bench that had been lost under a pile of junk for the last 2 weeks.

It’s amazing how much crap can collect in one area in such a short amount of time.

It might be time to start enforcing the “If it’s on the bench, it goes in the bin” rule…..

Mmmmm Easter Cookies!

With so much bench space to work with I decided we’d make a start on our m&m’s easter cookies. YUM!

The Daily Dirt – 18th & 19th/04/11 April 20, 2011

Monday 18th April 2011

What a disaster today was!

It all started nice and cozy when I awoke to find all 6 children snuggled in front of cartoons and treated myself to a little lay-in in bed.

By lay-in I mean I was still awake (have just had to accept that sleep-ins are a thing of the past), but all rugged up nicely in bed listening to the PEACE!!! 🙂

Now lets just say… I SHOULD”VE STAYED THERE!

It was around 9am when the kids started coming up and asking for breakfast so I crawled out of bed and  into the kitchen to discover that we had completely run out of milk!! Arghhh…. What a pain!

So expecting relatives for a visit any minute I decided that we had to quickly rush to get some milk before they arrived.

As I flung open the door and stepped down on the steps towards the car, I lost my footing on some dry slippery dirt on the step. You can only guess what happened next….. THUD!

Yep, I fell. And I fell hard.

Bye bye my favourite jeans....

As I hit the ground I managed to bounce off the gas meter and the mower that were sitting there aswell.

The shock of the fall saw me bouncing straight back up and into the house, but within a few steps back in the door I had collapsed in pain on the dining room floor.

Oh the agony!!

The kids were freaking out, but did a fantastic job of calming me down and reassuring me I’d be ok…. LOL they were so cute working together to make me feel better. 🙂

After a few minutes of sulking and shaking, I stood up to discover a rather swollen and bruised hand, sore back and shoulders, blurred vision & sore head, and an extremely sore bottom!!!

When my mum arrived to check I was ok, she kindly pointed out the back of my pants.

I had become so engulfed in pain I was completely unaware there was a rather large tear in the back of my pants….. and knickers….. and me….. OUCH!!!!

Now I don’t know what I was upset about more…. the fact that I could hardly stand up or the fact that my most comfortable and favourite jeans were on their way to jeany heaven as I sobbed…. Very Very tragic I know….

Just one of my injuries....

So there you have it, that my friends is why there was very limited blogging done on monday…. I simply couldn’t sit down!!!! 😦

Those of you that know me well will be having a fair chuckle to yourselves as you are well aware of my “Most clumsy person ever” title and my ability to fall over thin air, and for those of you that don’t know me personally, you have just been warned.

This will surely be the beginning of many fits of laughter you may have at my regular misfortunes….. I am rather good at it.

Tuesday 19th April 2011

On the mend from my death-defying dive into the dirt yesterday,  I got the children up and organised early as we had a few things on today.

I for one had an appointment out-of-town, so I had organised day care for Levi and sent Jai, Aria & Zafirah to Vacation Care.

That left me with Veruca and Mackenzi to juggle which was totally easy in comparison to having the full tribe with me. I didn’t know myself!!!

Knowing that my appointment would take an hour or so, I asked my mum to come along with us to watch the girls whilst I was in doing my thing.

They had a great time in the op-shop, at the playground and chatting to locals that mum knew.

Aria holds up some of my Op-Shop Bargains!!!

After my appointment I decided to do away with the afternoon plans of housework and cleaning and swapped them for a day of op-shopping.

I couldn’t help but lap up the excitement that was booming out of the girls that had just purchased some of their favourite books for only cents…..

So off we went to discover some bargains at very discounted prices.

And that we did.

We came home with bag loads of stuff and big smiles all round. 🙂

An unexpected day out but definitely worth it!

Monday Motivation #5 – A little Late!!!

Cooking Pizzas During The Week!

This week’s Monday Motivation is coming to you a little late!

But better late than never I say!

It’s been quite difficult to fit a daily blog post in during the school holidays, we’ve been so busy trying to keep the kids busy, and let’s face it, things just come up!

I am beginning to think that it would be extra silly of me to attempt to add much extra into my week at this stage, we’re on the countdown to Easter now and I have some serious organising to do!

The best thing that will happen to my eBay pile this week, will be that it gets stacked up neatly in my tidy up that will take place today and tomorrow.

We’re expecting visitors in the few days after Easter so I’d like the house to be clean and sorted before they arrive. So every spare moment this week between the kids, the hubby, the blog etc etc will be spent cleaning an area of the house!

Not very exciting at all but I will admit the organisation and cleaning of the house has slipped a bit in all our school holiday FUN!!!