From 7th July

Friday Another week is coming to an end. Bruce went off to work & the boys and I just hung out around the apartment. The boys playing with their friends, they were pretty much in & out for most of the day. I did the usual, some cleaning & washing etc. It was a pretty low key day. Bruce got home later in the afternoon & finished off his work then around 6.00 we headed down to the pool to cool down. There were a few kids there so Conner & Jamieson had some kids to play with. Not long after Paula & the boys arrived for a swim. We all swam & chatted for a while, Jeremy wasn't his usual energetic self, just really sitting around with Paula & I, didn't swim at all. We headed back to the apartment for some dinner & then Paula & the boys were going to come over for Friday night visit. They arrived after dinner & the boys went off to play then we decided to watch a movie. Our new DVD player decided that it wouldn't play our DVD's anymore so that's being returned. Bruce set up the laptop & we all sat around & watched Spy Kids. We had some popcorn & snacks & everyone left around 11.00. So that was a good end to the week, staying home with friends. Saturday Happy 18th Birthday Shari Livingston (Ros, give her a kiss for us!) Another weekend starts with a beautiful day, the sun was out & a very busy day was about to begin. We all got up & had some breakfast & got ready for basketball. We headed off at around 10.30 for Conner's training. They are a good bunch of kids, & the parents are really nice. The boys are getting to know each other and seem to be having a good time. One of the 2 girls dropped out, so there was a new boy joining the team, also the other girl that wasn't there also arrived. The training session was good, then Conner & I headed home as we realised we were there for the day. Jamieson had team photo at 1.00, then Conner photo at 2.15 then Jamieson training at 3.00. And so our Saturday's at the stadium begin. We went home & made some rolls & snacks & came back in time to see the photo being taken. They looked so gorgeous in their HUGE singlets. We then sat down for some lunch & Bruce organised a mid week training session for Conner's team, Tuesday night. Conner's team was organised & had their photo taken then another short wait & it was time for Jamieson's training. There was a little boy who didn't come to the 1st training, so they didn't know about the photo. His mother (scary, very scary looking) was not impressed that he missed it. Apparently it was our fault because we didn't tell her. I think she spoke to Bruce before we got the picture info. Anyway, staying clear of her. The boys finished up their training, and Bruce & Alfie decided to spend the evening babysitting together. Kristin & I were going to a Pampered Chef party at Jaline's House. So that mean't that there would be 7 boys at the Charles home, which would be an interesting evening. Off we went to our party, leaving the boys to their own devices. The party was fun, there was yummy food, & good chatter. I bought a few things, just small things but things that I can bring home & use. Everything was going along really well, I won a receipe book in the door prize. (Any good ones & I will pass them on) Then we got into the subject of kids & the lady started telling how she still breast fed her 2 year old all day, then she also told us how she breast fed her other child until she was 5 months pregnant. I think that freaked Kristin out more than me & not long after, we headed out. As we were saying on the way home, I think if they can demand to be fed then maybe they are a little too old. Each to their own, it's just not for me that's for sure. The only other thing that made me uncomfortable was that Jalinrs neighbour was there & she was 6 months pregnant. Anyway, we got home around 11.00ish, & the house was rocking. Cooper had not long been in bed, the boys were running around sucking on the ring pops I had bought around for them & told Bruce to give to them not long after we had gone (that was at 7.00pm) Some of Alfie's friends had also come over & the boys were sitting by the pool amoungst a rather large number of beer bottles. They had clearly all had a really great time & us arriving didn't stop that. The kids had been in the pool for a lot of the evening, the big ones too. Alfie's friends left around midnight, & we sat around for another little while chatting then left for home way too late to remember. All the kids had their eyes popping out of their head, & actually asking when we were going, that's always a big sign. And that was our very busy Saturday. Busy, but a really good day. Sunday We all woke up later than usual (as expected) & decided to spend a lazy day. It was supposed to be a HOT one, so we settled in for a day inside. We spent most of the day just chilling out so to speak, the boys were still tired, so it was a pretty low key day. Later In the afternoon, we decided to head down to the pool. So we took Jackarie with us, then I went & knocked on Paula's door to let them know we were there. Jeremy was still not well so I took Justin down to the pool with us. We went home, had some dinner & the boys went off to bed at a reasonable hour. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Well, I'm cheating a little, sometimes I think Im just repeating myself all the time. I got back into training this week, which made me feel a little better. Not properly, but I was able to get to the gym every morning for workouts or a quick walk. Bruce was really busy getting ready for his trip. He is off the Texas for a few days on Saturday afternoon. So he was at the office for most of the days, which meant that the boys and I were at the apartment. They amused themselves for most of the time. They got a little bored, so I got a little frustrated, we muddled through. They went off to Church Activities with Jackarie on Monday night, so Bruce & I went out & really to tell you the truth, didn't know what to do with ourselves. I had the guilts that poor Marchia has all these kids & I had none, I should be giving her a break. Anyway, they had a good time & all came back to our place until around 10.00 & made a whole lot of noise. Much to the disgust of downstairs. Tuesday & Wed were pretty normal. Bruce doing some work & me trying to get the laptop when I could to finish off some of my tax stuff etc. Overall they were pretty normal days, nothing much to write home about. HAHA!! Thursday Bruce ended up being home for the whole day, which was nice. I got a good workout & walk in. Then really didn't do a lot else, I was suppose to go to Millie's for haircuts but she was going through a thing, so then we were all at loose ends. Bruce got lots of work done, I did some baking, washing etc (lots of fun) Later in the afternoon, we decided to give the Charle's a call to catch up. We hadn't seen them since the 4th. Alfie had been away, crappy trip, all over the place in 3 days. He got home Wed night, so we were very lucky & happy that they said they would love to come over for dinner & catch up. I went out & grabbed some of the usual stuff, beer, soft drinks, chips etc. We all met at the pool around 6.00. The kids all jumped into the pool (of course) & we met an old neighbour & her daughters who was visiting from Vegas. We just sat around, the boys chatted about work, us about the kids and what we'd been doing. All the usual stuff, we taught them a couple of new phrases. They love them, they are getting really good at the lingo too. It's fun hearing those things come out with an accent. Imagine 'Mutten dressed up as lamb' in American. VERY FUN!! We have definitely found our type of people, they laugh at all of Bruce's jokes. We ordered pizza, had beers (not me, we may be doing different stuff over here, but not that different,BLAH!!!) The kids all had a ring pop, & Kristin bought GIANT cookies. We had the best time, it's just alot of fun, (reminiscent of the Bells', we just didn't BBQ because they are broken.) Cooper got passed around, he's so cruisy, he's just gorgeous, & as you've probably seen I got photo's of us all. So that is our wonderful new friends. They packed up & left 9.00, as they were heading off to San Diego for the weekend at 6am Friday morning & Kristin still had packing to do. As they were going Paula got home from her meeting, & said a quick hi to them, then came & had left over pizza with us while the boys had one last swim. She is off to LA for the day tomorrow for meetings, 1 of which is an Australian guy, so that should be interesting to hear about him when we see her next. We got home, the boys went off to bed, as did Bruce which gave me a chance to get some work done on the computer, finally!!! It turned into a late one, but I've made a real dent in all the stuff I have to get done. Friday We woke up to what looked like being another hot one. Bruce left for work around 9.00 & I started on the daily stuff. The boys just pottered around in their rooms. They got energetic around 10.30 & they went out to play. It was getting quite warm so I closed up the apartment. Around lunch Millie returned my call & we organised to meet at the pool later. The boys & I had lunch & not long after that Bruce got home, with a couple of bags of stuff for him to take away with him. Our new DVD player got delivered (God Bless EBay!) & so I spent a while setting that up. Actually, I sat down and tidied up the cords in the cabinet. Bruce laughed.... but it had been bothering me for a long time. I know I'm anal about crap like that, but it keeps Bruce laughing at me, so hey. The boys & I got to the pool around 4.00, Millie, Alexie & Kaylee were there. Bruce arrived around 5.30 & we stayed there swimming until around 6.30. We got back home & I organised dinner while Bruce put new stuff on the boys MP3 players for them. They were dancing around the bedroom in their boxers, pretty funny. Funny story I forgot to tell. Bruce was home on Thursday morning & Jamieson was sitting at the table to do his school work for the day, he had his headphones & assumed the position, Bruce's that is. Sitting at the table with the pencil, paper & headphones on doing his work innocently. Bruce nearly fell off the chair when he saw him. "He wants to be like his dad" he said with the HUGE smile. Back to Friday..... They had some dinner, then I updated my Ipod & they left to go and get some dessert for themselves & I decided to head to the gym, for the works. I even did running, so for all those asthmatics out there come & live here. Touch wood....I've had no preventative for nearly 2 weeks, I thought I'd have it before I go running though, so I took some, otherwise don't need it AT ALL!!! How weird is that, apparently it's suppsed to be bad here for asthmatics because of the hey fever, (really bad for some, Kristin) go figure. Anyway, I got back around 10pm & the kids were going off to bed. Now, here I am finishing off this weeks edition. It's 10.55pm & Bruce is watching a bit of TV. Bruce said that the Supercats won, congratulations guys, it sounds like Jason is back in form, so YEAH, Jase!!! As everyone else is finding form again, keep winning cause we want to see the games, but only the ones you win!!! The Supercats boys have pride of place on Conner & Jamieson's walls. I hope everyone else did just as well. Let me know how it's all going, I need results, I'm getting nothing. Although I do hear that Hayley Livingston is kicking goal shooting BUTT!!! Congarts Hayl's. GOYA!!! I hope everyone had a good week, keep in touch. Everyone is getting as slack as me with the emails. I'm out of the loop & it suxs. Otherwise everything here is going well, the boys doing their homework before school starts back again. Bruce is loving his work & all the progress he's making with Billy Bounce. They are not kidding when they say things get done here. No stuffing around over here, it just gets done, no setbacks, no hurdles. GOD BLESS AMERICANS!! It's time to sign off for another week, have a great weekend everyone, We miss you all, Hugs & kisses to everyone for US!! XXXX OOOO