Dear family and friends,

It’s been ages since I posted my blog and that’s because we really have been busy, and then I was getting closer to Cameron’s 1st birthday so thought I’d wait and post something then.

Work has been really busy for both of us and we’ve also been out in the garden a lot planting bulbs and getting hanging baskets ready, putting in applications to the council for the removal of 8 pine trees (which has involved numerous arborists, tree removal specialists and a dispute with an idiot neighbour), visiting my lovely neighbour with MS who you might remember I found in the summer having fallen and broken her hip and general house maintenance such as researching and choosing a new bed and bedroom furniture, oven and various other heavily discussed but no action taken until now items.

July was jam packed with me travelling to Melbourne and Bendigo twice for work, one trip to Bendigo immediately prior to us having to be in Melbourne for Kevin’s 40th birthday. So we decided to make the trip to Bendigo a family trip and we drove over there and Iain spent the 2 days I was at work tripping around Bendigo with the kids. It was a long journey but it was fun to have Iain and the kids with me in Bendigo, particularly as it was my birthday while we were there.

Iain and the kids had bought me a very lovely and warm new coat which I needed for winters in the Adelaide Hills but then also couldn’t resist some pottery from the Bendigo pottery for the outside wall of the house. A sun, of course in bright colours. And the obligatory bottle of Lanson which I will drink given any occasion but especially on my birthday!

Since I have a million photos to post of this trip and I have already posted them to facebook – here is the link.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=472555&id=794955156&l=62edbb85e8
and
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=470279&id=794955156&l=a245a6b4ad

We then headed to Melbourne through the little Victorian towns and got to Nicole and Alex’s house late in the afternoon. Amelia was so excited about seeing her friends Charlie and Tommy and they had a ball. Amelia shared a room with them and there was much fun to be had. At 6am in the morning when they all ran across Iain and I sleeping peacefully on the air mattress in their playroom in their haste to get to the Thomas the Tank Engine – well that was not so much fun!

We had a super meal with Nicole and Alex while Nicole’s brave and pregnant sister Jo looked after all 5 kids (our four and one of hers!). Brave, so brave.

On the Saturday Nicole took Amelia and the boys to a park while Alex cooked and Cameron slept we chuffed off to have Yum Cha in Prahran with Kev, Dave, John and a friend from Lifeplan, Alison. Heading back to say our goodbyes and collect the kids and cases we moved on to the hotel we were staying for the next 2 nights near to Kev’s 40th birthday venue.

It as great so see everyone and Kev had a ball. Oh so fast Monday came around and our long and tiring drive back that began at 4.45am and ended at 2.30pm. We were very glad to be home by then!

Cameron’s 1st birthday was a small and enjoyable event at our house. A winter baby does not go well with a BBQ so we were all packed into the kitchen and lounge with bursts of sunshine when we could herd the kids outside with bubbles and balls.

He had fun and then had to have a nap.

Can’t believe he is one already! Here are the links to facebook for some general “I am one” photos and also a comparison with his sister at the same age.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=475591&id=794955156&l=63b724d14e

and

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=474459&id=794955156&l=0323fb9848

In the meantime we have been to the work mid year show which was the ‘time travellers ball’ see how fabulous I look here  - new dress folks and designer too (which as is my nature got 80% off the original price – how impressed are you?)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=458720&id=794955156&l=09f4afb874

and the rendering of the house is finally finished after 4 long, long months.
See before and after shots here http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=472563&id=794955156&l=7b1c3ae639

In exciting news as well, we have booked our holiday to the South of France for July next year and will be attending my Dad’s Rotary President’s night in London and then enjoying 3 weeks in France with all the grandparents near Carcassone.

I have to say a special thank you here to Iain who has done so much organising of this trip and also incorporated the ability to see fireworks on my birthday (again) because he knows how much I love that. Iain I may not have expressed my appreciation on all the work you have done because I’m usually thinking ‘how soon is it before I can go to bed and fall asleep” recently.

So mountains of stuff to look at!

Now it’s time to start planning for Amelia’s birthday party and Christmas!!

Enjoy and until the next time – lots of love
Caroline, Iain, Amelia and Cameron
xxxx

Photos - in no particular order sorry!

Phew - I need a rest!

Dancing!

Cameron's 1st Birthday

Hi Mum and Dad

This blog is especially for you. We opened Cameron's presents when we had time to video them and upload them so it's like you're there watching it happen. One of them didn't work which was a shame, but there's a fair bit here.

Enjoy!!

Amelia practising her cooking skills

June 2010 050.AVI

A baby's laughter truly is uplifting, particularly when they're yours!
We all love reading in this house, we start early!

Busy day...
Pizza and home made beer with Katina at Grumpys

Afternoon at Warrawong Sanctuary.


Lovely dinner with James, Zoe and the kids last night.

Dear Family and Friends,

We have enjoyed the last of the summer and now are just starting to experience Autumn at its finest, beautiful gold, yellow, red and copper leaves throughout the Hills and it's getting cold - 15 degrees - and rainy. Which of course is great for the garden and the farmers.

As we move into the middle of the year and I have settled in at work (and passed my probationary period :-) ) we have turned our mind to the house and started some of the work we have identified we want to do. We've had the driveway done and we're now rendering the front of the house from an old fashioned slate cladding effect to a lovely modern 'bushland' render.

Apart from the usual, work etc, I have been quite sick with a nasty cough and flu like symptoms so had quite a few days off work and 2 courses of antibiotics to clear it up. I'm geting back to normal now, I'm about 98% right again!

May is always a busy month for us because we have Iain's birthday and our wedding anniversary to celebrate. On our anniversary we spent a night in a hotel in town, the hotel adjoining where my parents bought their apartment.

We had such a lovely relaxing time - spent some time in the spa area of the hotel and went for a fabulous dinner. One of the best things about it was we could wake up in the morning naturally and then doze off again and just have peace and quiet. No Amelia jumping on us, no requests to watch any kids TV. It was quite a luxury!! We took our time and went to have breakfast at the farmers market at the showgrounds.

James stayed the night and looked after the kids and did very well. I think he was tired when we arrived home!

Last week we went to the Helpmann Academy dinner which is an Academy of Arts. We were invited by one of Iain's board members and it's a spectacular fund raising event. I've been to many but this was something else. Because it's all about the arts, you can imagine that there were amazing artworks in the auction and there were various performances of singing, drama and performance artists throughout the night. I sat next to a Professional Organiser so that was interesting conversation.

The next morning we popped back into town with the kids to collect the car and ended up having a super afternoon in the city and a trip on 'Popeye' which is the boat which goes up and down the river to the Zoo and back. Amelia and Cameron were beside themselves with excitement being on a boat trip and she adored getting in the city centre tram to the Mall.

Apart from these rare but enjoyable 'going out' occasions we have been pottering about Aldgate and Stirling, visiting the Chestnut Man for roasted chestnuts, and Kane the butcher for his home reared meat!

Iain has been doing really well at work and got a super performance review and pay rise recently, I am very proud of what he's done with his job. Not so much about the increase in profits he's delivering (although of course that's what helps the salary!) but that he has created a super environment for his staff and implemented policies such as some paid parental leave for all staff and just a really good, fair workplace where people are rewarded for good work.

James has finally submitted all the paperwork for his permanent residence visa which is good news, now we just wait to hear about whether it gets approved. We hope so.

The kids are great, both are flourishing. Amelia is now in the Kindy room at childcare and she is coming on in leaps and bounds. She has started to write individual letters and her grasp on language is brilliant.

Cameron is copying sounds now and he loves to say 'uh oh!" when he drops something. He's crawling around, such a fast little crawler and desperately trying to walk. At the moment he contents himself to walk around furniture.

Hope you are all well. Enjoy looking at the photos. We're away now to hibernate for the winter with a well stocked cellar, my slow cooker on constantly making hearty soups and 2 tons of red gum wood for the fire.

Lots of love
Caroline, Iain, Amelia and Cameron
xxxxxx



Amelia just about inhaled this German homemade cheesecake at the Stirling Market

At the playground
Dad the packhorse at bedtime
Cameron loves having a bath








Caroline almost inhaled this locally made Chicken Pie at Stirling Market!
A rare photo these days! Us all dressed up and off to a dinner

We're back!

Dear Family and Friends

It’s been quite a long time since my last blog and when you read this one you’ll understand why. I know I’ve been off the radar for ages but now I’m back.

Life has been manic for us over the past couple of months, enjoyably manic though I might add, as we have had both sets of parents staying for 4 weeks each, consecutively with one week overlap, and my parents only left on Wednesday so life has been busy.

We now have the house back to ourselves after 7 weeks of it being full of people and initially it was quite strange. We had weeping from both the kids after my parents left on Wednesday and Amelia understood that there were no longer any grandparents for her to be with and that they had all gone home. Iain and I have both had our moments too but slowly life is returning to normal and soon back to our routines. Although they are a little on hold because Iain is in Melbourne tonight and we have Nicole and her family coming to stay for Easter which we are really looking forward to.

It’s hard explaining to the kids, well Amelia, that she will only see the grandparents on the computer now and we don’t know the next time we will see them. Cameron is crawling – started at 6 months, so that was a surprise and he is a very strong little boy. (big too, no surprise there). He is pulling himself up and wanting to be on his feet all the time. He’s still very wobbly though.

Amelia is a challenging child. She is like a rollercoaster, high ups and high lows!! Unbelievably smart and funny and clever, and doesn’t miss a trick, but also unbelievably demanding, strong willed, independent, wants to do everything herself and more. She needs a lot of effort but the rewards are immense.

Cameron is much more needy at this age than Amelia was. He’s a light sleeper, a little koala bear who clings to you but loves to motor around the house following his sister and pinching her toys. He is gorgeous and cuddly. Amelia moves up to the Kindy room after Easter - she will be in her words “a big Kindy Girl” – so we are very proud parents and she is really ready for the next step before school.

Cameron has adapted to childcare so easily and loves being with other kids with all the activities and things to explore. Amelia visits him in the sunflower room often and it’s nice that she wants to spend time with him.

We went on a School Principal’s tour not that long ago as we need to start thinking about which schools we want to get the kids on the waiting list for. This one was a co-ed private school called Pulteney Grammar – blimey school has changed so much. They listen to their ipods in art class, and use Garage Band to compose music. They encourage kids to form bands and play music, they teach Yoga and Pilates, and dance, they have a gym with personal trainers who come in at lunchtime for the kids, and the parents can use the gym before and after school. They have rowing on the river and a boathouse. They teach a wide cross section of subjects, some of which would never have been considered when I was at school. They have a Barista (coffee master person) who comes in to the courtyard at the school every Friday morning. The teachers sit in the yard and parents can drop by and have a coffee and talk to the teachers. So different!! We plan to look at other schools too, this was just the first one. We will look at a wide cross section, private girls, private co-ed, catholic (lower fees) and state. The government has just released a new website called the myscholls website which has comprehensive information about every Australian School so you can compare a number of things about each school.

We are starting to do some much needed work on the house, we had a real estate person that we know come and give us some direction, as we always do when we move into a new house. She had some brilliant ideas to add value and prioritise what we want to do.

It’s autumn here now and the leaves will start to turn soon. We are still having 30+ degree weather, but soon it will come down slightly to mid 20’s which is beautiful in the Hills. For the first time I have thought about bulbs for spring and I had 500 bulbs delivered this week so I will be busy planting. First time for me so I’ve been reading my gardening books. I believe they don’t like wet feet! Iain floated the idea of moving because he saw a house in Stirling (location A++) and for the first time in my life I thought – I don’t relish the challenge of something new or change because quite frankly I can’t possibly think about or give brain space to anything else at the moment. My head is full. And selling the house, which I love and have come to really enjoy – no way! I might consider moving in the future for a better location and therefore a higher potential capital gain but not at the moment. I am really happy where we are.

We had a super week in Robe when Sylvia and Ken were here. Beach, good weather, wine and food basically. A brilliant break to recharge the batteries. Next time we will head somewhere else though as we’ve been to Robe twice now and it’s time to try somewhere new.

I spent a few days interstate with mum and dad last week, I had to go to Melbourne and Bendigo and I took mum and dad with me. We had a really good time and they loved Bendigo. I saw Nicole and Katina while I was in Melbourne so that was really good.

I had a bit of an experience recently – my neighbour who has MS and lives on her own had fallen and broken her hip. I found her, about 24 hours after she had fallen, dehydrated, naked and disorientated. Apparently I saved her life (as she keeps telling me) because she wouldn’t have had a visitor for another few days. I noticed she hadn’t been on her deck for a day and she is usually out there at some point for some fresh air and the curtains were open and it just didn’t feel right so I went over and found her. Very upsetting for me actually although worse for her of course. I had to call an ambulance and help them get her onto a stretcher.

Work has been very challenging but good. It’s a very different environment from Lifeplan and getting things happening requires considerable collaboration and engagement and formal presentations to get anything started! I am having some wins though and the Executive in charge of Wealth and Third Party Banking is finally on board (after some persuasion) and gave me the green light to hold a marketing workshop with the heads of the business units I work with to really sort out and clean up the Wealth and Third Party division from a brand and marketing perspective. I’m having it in Sydney in mid April so I’m working hard with the Business Transformation team to make it all happen and give it my visual touch! Getting those people in a room in one place on one day is almost impossible. Now I have to give them pre-reading and thinking to do so I have been spending time working out the best way of presenting the information so that it’s appealing to read.

I am also about to be involved in the Australian Marketing Institute’s mentoring programme to mentor an emerging marketer. Fortunately it only requires 1 hour commitment a month and I will have my mentee assigned to me in the next couple of weeks.

On top of that, at work, I have been invited as one of 12 people that are nominated by the Executive to attend the Annual Board Planning session next week which is a 2 day offsite. Us 12 have to do considerable pre-reading and we get to observe a board meeting, be involved in workshops with the board members and the Exec to help them develop their plans and there’s some high profile speakers and some activities etc.

It’s a bit nerve wracking but I’m very excited about being nominated so early on. Hopefully I will acquit myself admirably.

Well folks, that’s all for now. I could go on and talk about our day in corporate hospitality at the Clipsal (V8 Supercars) in March or our plans for the Easter Egg hunt for the kids next weekend, but I won’t. I’ll leave you with a link to some photos of the last 2 months.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=408443&id=794955156&l=c81fb6b9a0

Love to you all
xxxxxxxx

The story of Amelia and Cameron at The Beachouse and at the Zoo!

Hi Folks

Brilliant day with the kids today. We went to Jared’s party at The Beachouse in Glenelg which is a kids heaven. It’s full of adventure and fun. Rides like carousels, water slides, soft play areas, train, Ferris wheel, bumper boats and all by the beach!

Jared was 3 today and his mum and dad hosted a pirate themed birthday party. Oh arrrr.

Amelia was the only girl that Jared invited so she is a very special friend. James, Nixon and Riley were all there with their families and we enjoyed a fun time, watching the kids play and having a chat. Jared’s mum and dad really put on a great birthday party. After all the rides we went out to the reserve by the sea and had finger food. Quiche and sandwiches for the parents, choc crisp squares, cheezels, biscuits and cupcakes for the kids – a festival of food!! Then we had the treasure chest birthday cake and all the kids got a pirate box full of gold coins, pirate eye patch, pirate vest (plastic), treasure chest stamp and all sorts of fun stuff. But the really special bit was when everyone got a pirate ship helium balloon before they went home.

Katina (who’s been in town for Big Day Out ’10) has been staying with her friend Deb at Henley Beach this weekend so she met us in Glenelg and we took the kids to the Zoo to see Wang Wang and Funi, the only Pandas in the Southern Hemisphere.

We had a brilliant time at the Zoo. We saw, Lemurs, Pink Flamingos, Kangaroos, Cassowary, monkeys, peacocks, pygmy hippopotamus, otters, nocturnal animals, lion, leopard, and so much more!

The pandas were amazing. They have a fabulous new habitat and a new main entrance especially for them! It was wonderful to see live pandas up close.

The weather was spectacular. We stopped for a while and put our picnic blanket down by the rotunda on the grass and we had a little break from animal watching to eat an icy lolly.

Then we went to see the giraffes and headed back past the shop where Amelia chose a panda pen and badge and we bought Iain a Haighs Panda Chocolate as a present because he couldn't come with us today.

We got home to find Iain had done so much around the house. Mulched the back of the house flower beds, mowed lawns and generally done a fair bit of gardening work. He was happy to see his chocolate and beer!!

Lots of love

XXXXXXX





I just thought this flower was amazing.

A new year

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy New Year!!

Well 2010 has arrived and we hope, seriously, that this year will be quieter and not quite so full of surprises!!

Although 2009 was a great year and we welcomed Cameron to our family, our plans were thrown into disarray somewhat when I was made redundant from my job at Lifeplan while I was on maternity leave.

Initially it was a shock but as always happens, one door closes and a more interesting one opens and with my new job with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, my working life has returned to being challenging and extremely good fun!! And hopefully a little more stable! So Iain was still able to take off his planned 4 months of leave to look after the kids which he is thoroughly enjoying.

Cameron is becoming more and more curious and has started to roll over and assert his little personality. He is just adorable.

Amelia is a smart, cheeky little thing and loves her brother dearly. We fall about laughing when we hear some of the things that come out of her mouth that we recognise as being our expressions

“Actually mama this dinner is tasty”
“It certainly is”
And this one never fails to make us smile “don’t talk to me like that, go to bed”

She’s got a strong personality that’s for sure but how can we complain – we both do too!

We had a very enjoyable Christmas and New Year. As has become our traditional Christmas, Kevin comes to stay with us and James and Zoe and the kids come in the afternoon for prawns by the pool and a later dinner.

We enjoyed some hot hot weather over Christmas so spent most of our time in our swimming togs around the pool and in the garden eating leftovers and drinking wine! It was super.

I worked through but it was very quiet at work and not a great deal to do which being new was ideal for me because I could take some time to learn about my new company and meet people.

I took a trip to the head office in Bendigo in December for the Marketing Department Christmas Party and met the rest of the marketing team, then last week spent a few days in Sydney meeting the people who work in the margin lending division which is another area of the business I look after from a marketing point of view. It was very interesting as margin lending can be quite complex and I enjoy learning about new things. I was astonished though at some of the systems they have built to measure market risks and exposures post GFC. There are some insanely clever people about. Way over my head! But interesting all the same.

I’ve started on my post babies weight loss regime and I’m telling you all so you can keep me honest and encourage me to plough forward on this project of mine. I’m only at the beginning but I have bought a great exercise DVD which I am enjoying doing, once I’d got over the “oh my god how unfit am I???” moment.

And some exciting news for us – we finally decided to shed ourselves of the last vestiges of Iain’s single man about town lifestyle and the BMW has been traded in for a Subaru. We’ve been so pleased with our Subaru Outback and being without it following the car accident in November for about 8 weeks really forced us to make a decision (plus it was hard to resist the offer they made of a free family pass to the Zoo if we had a trade in evaluation - the pandas are finally here!). It was very hard transporting 2 kids in car seats about in a 2 door BMW. People must have thought we were mad, I really wanted to put a sticker in the back window saying “our other car is much more practical, honest, it’s just in the garage being fixed”

Poor Cameron was manhandled in and out of the car at some funny angles and getting his pram into the boot- well that’s another story!

So here’s to 2010. Let’s hope you all have a great year and the year brings you much happiness. Peace and quiet for us? We’ll see 

Lots of love
Caroline, Iain, Amelia and Cameron

xxxxx

Cameron - curiouser and curiouser
At Amelia's friend Emily's 3rd birthday party
First swimming lesson
A Christmas Cameron

Ready to throw some prawns on the Barbie!
Christmas breakfast - handmade by Kevin
It's so exhausting opening presents, I'll just have a nap
My new Christmas outfit from Kev - I match my swings!
Having a cheeky glass of wine in between cooking