7th October....

Saturday We woke up at around the usual time and the boys went off to birthday party at around 10.00, down to a place called “Someplace Fun” (play centre). I cleaned the apartment properly, with no one home, the only way a home should be cleaned as well as 3 loads of washing. Paula picked me up around 11.30 and we went to the office to get some stuff done. Got back mid afternoon and chilled out until the boys all got back around 4.00. We all just chilled out for a while, the boys played outside with the other kids and Bruce and I did the usual Saturday afternoon stuff, not a lot. Paula picked me up to go to Macys for some shopping at around 6.30 and off we went. What a great time to go, 65% off add another 50%, bargains. Paula got some really cool stuff and I got a couple of presents. There was so much stuff going to look at that we didn’t even get around to every rack before the store ended. We came back home at around 9.30 with wine a cheese and Paula stayed until 1.00. We sat down around Bruce’s jigsaw and chatted and laughed. I was still wired so I got online and chatted with Elise until around 2.30 and went off to sleep. Sunday After a very late night, we woke up later as you could imagine, around 10.00. Bruce put the Football on, oh my goodness here we go again. We hung out in bed until around 11.00, then got up and tidied up the house. The kids went out to play and Bruce had football on from10am – 9.00pm. I will not get used to having football on for that long We had a quiet dinner and night. In bed early after another busy and quiet weekend. Monday Got up at the usual time, Bruce was at work as usual for a Monday. I dropped the boys off at school and walked to work. Did some project stuff for Paula, nothing out of ordinary at work today? Paula got back from her parent helping a bit out of sorts and not into work so we went out for lunch and chat, and a tiny bit of work. After lunch she dropped me off at home before her 2.00 meeting. Picked the kids up and did homework, after that was effectively done they went outside to play. Millie and Lexie came over for a cuppa and chat. They left a little while later and I started on dinner. Bruce came home, we had some dinner and the kids went off to bed at the usual time. After dinner I went out to Wal-Mart to get a pump for the airbed, came home and blew it up for Pete. A usual day, Pete is arriving at 1.30, so Bruce went to bed at 9.30 and set the alarm. I slept through a lot of it. But they both got home at around 2.30am. Tuesday Woke up, Pete got up to say Hi the everyone, both the big boys had their eyes popping out of their heads. I went to work, the boys to school, Bruce stayed home with Pete and had some meetings. I did some classroom helping then Bruce dropped me at work Came home and picked the boys up from school. Did some homework then we jumped into the car and went and had dinner at Costco and did a bit of shopping especially Pete. Got home in time to watch Gilmore Girls, Bruce went off to bed then so did Pete. Paula came over and we did some parent helping homework together She left around 10.00 and I went off to bed around 11.00. Wednesday Just another Wednesday, poor Pete must be so bored, he seems ok, lots of relaxing and recharging the batteries. Did the usual, school, work, work Pete stayed at home and chilled out for the day. I picked the kids up from school and we came home and did homework. Pete took the boys over to the park (next to the school) and Bruce got home at 4.00. He left again at 7.00 to out for dinner with Jeff for work. We had a light dinner Spag Bol and the boys went off to bed around 8.00. Pete and I stayed up and chatted Bruce arrived at 10.00. We had a cuppa and chat and then all went off to bed. Another usual day nothing out of the ordinary even with a visitor Thursday Well, woke up to another sunny but chilly Thursday morning. The sun is still out but the temperature has dropped. Which is quite refreshing. The boys are still in shorts but they are in jumpers now, only until mid morning anyway. I went and did parent helping in Conner’s class. I wasn’t looking forward to it, it feels like I have to get everything done in the mornings work, school, helping, and I am struggling with the transition a little. I ended up spending most of my time in the copier room, don’t get me started on the amount of paper they use here. Anyway, I finished up what Mrs. O’Brien asked my to do at around 9.45 (and had enough), I went back to the classroom and they had already gone to see their play. So I walked back home. Got changed and tidied up a little then Bruce drove me to work just after 10.00am. Did the usual at work, I’m waiting to get some things delivered so I can start a couple of jobs and getting impatient I have to say. Worked until around 2.30, then Bruce picked me up from work, we came home and did homework and the boys went out to play. Pete made Chilli Cheese steaks, which were nice, the boys even ate them, and they have decided that they like steak. We had pancakes for dessert and the boys went off to bed. I started making the pumpkin soup for dinner at the Charles’s tomorrow night. My knife wasn’t the best pumpkin cutting knife, it made my hands red. Bruce couldn’t help me because of the whole pumpkin sick thing. I finally got it done and cooking. I chilled out and watched Grey’s and the boys just continued on with their work. We were all off to bed around 11.00pm. Another pretty typical day, nothing out of the ordinary AT ALL!! Friday (13th Woooooo!!!) Another week is coming to an end, ah Friday hits and we are all ready. It’s usually a cruisy day at work. Paula has parent helping in the middle of the day so there are usually no meetings. We all turn up in casual pants or jeans; it’s a great day to just catch-up and chill a little while we work. It’s Admin day for Paula too so that makes it easier for me. I had a day at work, the admin lady (no names) didn’t order everything I needed, she placed half an order, there were also things in there that Paula should have gotten too. She went off to school and I was in the office steaming. This is why she is leaving in the very near future. She’s looking for another job, as Paula told her she isn’t up to the standard that we require on a lot of levels. Anyway, let’s just say by that time it was time for me to go. I got home just in time to pick the boys up from school, the other great thing about Friday’s is NO homework, the boys come home, have a snack and are outside to play for the rest of the day until they are told to come in. YEAH!!! This is the time I do get a lot of house stuff done, some washing and tidying and cleaning all seem to be getting done on weekends now. Bruce called and was still at his meeting in Stockton. (30 mins south) I finished up the soup in the blender; there was pumpkin everywhere at one stage. It got done and was on the stove ready to go. I did the bread and packed the bag with all the goodies, glow sticks, beer, camera; all the essentials. Bruce arrived home at around 5.00 he jumped into the shower the boys did the same and we were all out the door on the way to the Charles at 5.45. We arrived at the Charles’s and were greeted by their Halloween welcoming party, Jamieson freaked out a little at the skeleton dressed up as a lady. We had a beautiful dinner, my pumpkin soup was a hit with the girls, and of course Pete had 2 servings. We discovered, bread sticks in a can. They are really cool, you just unwrap them and twist them up and bake, yummy. Kristin had prepared some beautiful chicken (I am getting the recipe) and rice. We sat around the dining room table while the kids ate in the kitchen and then played outside until dark, when Justin fell over cause he couldn’t see. We cleaned up and the kids had eyeballs and ice creams, all Halloween of course. It’s really quite a fun holiday, lots of really cool stuff to buy; I’m saving up for Christmas stuff. I have found a couple of really beautiful things, once Halloween is over then I will be able to see what is really around. Things that will complement home too. We all left around 10.00, all the kids eye’s were popping out of their heads and ready for bed, Bruce did have to carry Jamieson through the Halloween leaving committee, especially considering they came into their own at night. They were really cool, lots of light up stuff with noise and sensors. SO COOL!!! Miss Kristin does not do things by halves. We piled into the car and went home, and crappy day turned into a really great night. We have a busy few weeks ahead, Bruce’s trips start next week, and Pete leaves on Tuesday. We have dinner with new friends (The Hawkins) in a couple of Friday’s then on Saturday we are doing pumpkin carving at the Charles’s which should be an experience. Looking forward to that, then the next weekend is Halloween, COOL!!! I am all ready with the Trick or Treat candy I think. Considering we won’t really be home, I have plenty, which I will take over to Kristin’s in case she needs it. Next weekend Bruce is away until 12.00 on Saturday night, so he won’t be around for the kid’s first practice with their new Basketball team. Conner was supposed to be having a sleep over with a couple of friends, not sure if I’m ready to do sleepover with 2 extra 10 year olds without Bruce. We might have to postpone for a week or so. We have Alfie & Paula’s birthday’s, then Halloween. After that, Grandma Ellen arrives on the 6th (yeah!!). It’s Kristin’s birthday, then Mum’s, then Thanks Giving to end November. We go down to LA & San Diego at the start of December. Our plans are Disneyland and all that, San Diego Zoo maybe and a day over the boarder in Tijuana. We put mum on a plane and drive home. We have about a week until we make the trip through Oregon (Leader Family territory) to Seattle for a White Christmas. I am a bit nervous about driving in the snow, Kristin has offered us their 4WD, I declined (not comfortable with that), but we have to reconsider if it is offered again. Well, sorry for the lateness of the day in the life this week. The end of the week turned out really busy and I just didn’t have the time or the energy. I hope that everyone is going really well and you all have started your Christmas shopping. Only 10 weeks till Christmas, sorry to freak some of you out. HAVE A GOOD ONE!!! SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE NEXT WEEK.

Hultgren's & Charles's at Marine World

Jamieson, Conner, John, Dylan 'The Hultgrens' 'The Charles's'

Alfie, Cooper, Kristin, Dylan & John

HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS!!!!

The Shark Exhibit

Bruce & Super Cooper

('Super' for short, make sure you do the accent it sounds better)

The Dolphin Show

All the Boys

THE END OF A LONG DAY!!

(BUT VERY FUN!!)

From September 30th...

Saturday 30th Another weekend started, we had no plans for the day, which was something we were looking forward to. We chilled out in the morning and Bruce did some work, I did some cleaning and tidying, after the night before. There were actually clouds in the sky and we all had to wear long stuff. And loved every minute of it, COSY!!! The boys went outside to the park and played, then mid afternoon Paula called to say that they were at the park and to come on over. Bruce went off to the gym and the boys and I went over to the park for a play. It was COLD; two summers will probably do that to you. Bruce offered to have all the boys while Paula and I went out, so the party animals that we are, went to Ikea. But that is always fun, walking around looking is always lots of fun. We got some stuff and made it home before 9pm, which surprised Bruce, but we just did what we had to do and left. That was another Saturday come and gone, it was pretty cruisey and that is a really nice change. Big day tomorrow, so we were all in bed at a reasonable time. Sunday Martine World!!! Well we woke up to a cloudy morning, got dressed into warm clothes and were at the Charles’s at 8.30am. Paula called and Jeremy was sick so they were unable to come. We were off on the freeway by 9.00. The boys ended up going in the Charles’s can (they have DVD player) so Bruce and I had a quiet trip up to Marine World and had a chance to catch up on the week, which was GREAT!!! We don’t really get a lot (if any) time to ourselves so it’s much appreciated when we do. We got there and realized that we left our season passes at home, you can imagine the adult words flying around the childless car. We parked the car and Bruce ran to organize the tickets, ours and the Charles’s (we had freebies for them) while the rest of us got out of the cars and organized ourselves, prams etc. We had a great morning, checked out the dolphin show and the seal lion show and did some rides then walked back to the cars for some lunch. After lunch we went back inside ad Bruce did the basketball thing and won the boys a basketball each, MORE!!!! They did some arcade games and won a football. After that the big boys went on a couple of rides and then proceeded to the kids area to do the little kids ride. They all went on those; we got some great pics and video as well. We discovered that Jamieson’s shoes had a blow out, so we had to make a pit stop at the outlet mall on the way home to get some more. We were all in the car and on the way home at 5.00, a bit day for everyone. We stopped off at the Outlet Mall in Vacaville and grabbed some runners for Jamieson ($15 on sale) love it. We jumped back into the car and stopped for a quick dinner on the run at Wendy’s so the boys could go to bed when we got home. We arrived home around 7.00 and the boys got changed and hopped into bed. We didn’t hear a peep out of them, so they must have been exhausted. Bruce and I were also in bed fairly early as well, another big day!!! Monday Another week began like any other; Bruce was off to work early. The boys and I were out of the house to school and work by 8.00am. I walked to work; it only took 30 mins, which was great. Have to say, I was sitting at work and not motivated at all. Got my work done just not as quickly as usual but it all got done. Spoke to Pete and Bruce on messenger and organized Pete arriving on the 9th. YEAY!!! He was in Los Angeles and heading over the border for the day. Exciting!! I got emails from Lizzy and Ros, which was great, but made me melancholy I have to say. Bruce and I were chatting about Conner and his lack of motivation, and then early afternoon his teacher called and asked us to come in. So, off we went, he was doing a little worse than we realized so we had some talking and motivating to do. We had a talk with him about what’s going on in his head and put some incentives in place for him and crossed our fingers. Our birthday pressies from Tracey and the kids arrived – Yummy Mummy Lolly Shop Lollies – YUUMM!!! Thanks Guys!!!! It only took 5 days to get here which was great time. We did homework, had some dinner and put the kids to bed. Another Monday come and gone with a little hitch, hopefully we have fixed it and can move forward. Tuesday Well the week is well and truly in swing, I was at school for parent helping again this morning, stayed for a couple or so hours, walked out around 10.00. We did painting this morning; I helped them continue with their fruit bowls. I got to spend some time with all the kids by themselves, which was nice. Most of them seem like really nice kids. I got to watch them do their morning routine, Pledge Allegiance to the flag, then singing She’s a grant old flag then sing something about California, I can’t recall what the name was. It’s always fun to watch them do that first thing in the morning. I got to work and did the usual, getting my stuff done and checking on Margie’s work, cause Paula and Ed are just over her. She is on go-slow all the time; it can be frustrating when you’re waiting for something. Anyway I finished up at work and Bruce picked me up. We got the kids from school and the boys and I sat down and did homework and assignments, without a hassle, which is always nice. We had dinner and the boys went off to bed, Bruce went to the gym and I sat down and watched Gilmore Girls. **Note for Elise, I saw an ad for the OC season beginning in Nov. Just thought you might like to know. Paula called so I called her back when Gilmore girls had finished. We had a chat about the rest of the day and the kids etc. Bruce and I went off to bed at the usual time around 11.00. And that was our day, nothing special, but another day in California. Wednesday Woke up to another semi cloudy morning, fresh. I dropped the kids off at school and walked to work, it only took me 30 mins. Did the usual stuff, nothing exciting. Worked until 1.30. Bruce was at work, had a busy day. The great thing was that he is starting to get a response from people interested in doing Billy (Ball) Bounce. He picked me up from work and then he walked over to school to pick up the boys. He walked in the door empty handed; the boys had gone to the Charles’s to play. I went out to get the groceries done and left Bruce at home alone to get some work done. I got home to find Bruce and Jamieson arguing cause he didn’t want to do some of his homework packet. So that went on for what seemed like all night, it seems to be Bruce and Jamieson going at it lately. I have for some reason got a real aversion to yelling. Don’t know what it is, I physically can’t stand it, it sends me to this really weird place. The boys are figuring it out, well Conner is, Jamieson not so much yet. Although he does not like the whole not being able to go out and play bit. Hopefully it won’t take him much longer. Anyway, we finally got onto the computer and spoke to Trudy and Alex and Maxy, which made the boys day. Not long after I spoke to Rael’s as well, so that was nice. It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve spoken and that’s just weird for me. Briefly spoke to Rhys on messenger, seeing if his birthday present has come yet, it hadn’t, he’s getting impatient. AH, Us Postal and Australia Post. And that was another Wednesday gone, it had a bit of excitement and drama courtesy of Jamieson otherwise it was pretty usual. Thursday We got up and ready for the day. Bruce walked the boys to school. Then dropped me at work. We had a full house this morning; there were 5 of us in there, getting stuff done. Ed asked me if I would come and manage his office in Roseville this morning, which was kind of tongue in cheek, cause he knew I couldn’t, but it was a nice compliment nonetheless. Paula piped up with and big NO pretty quickly and we all had a laugh. Kelly (does graphics) was in with Paula discussing some work, then extra stuff. It looks like she is coming on board with us doing graphics and admin, which will be great. It looks like she’s in and Margie’s out, just not working at the same pace as everyone else which puts us all back, not sure how that is going to work. Anyway Paula went off to her Thurs meeting in Plymouth and I tried to get through some of my work. And trying to keep a handle on Margie getting through her work Bruce picked me up at 2.00 and I walked over to pick up the kids from school We came home and did homework, I had to go out and get some card for Jamieson’s game that we had to make for school. We officially gave notice to the office about living here. We can go month to month, so if we find a house we are not under a lease. Anyway, it was a pretty emotional end to the day, decisions, decisions!! Sometimes being and adult sucks, you just don’t want to have the worry. Well, Thursday night, Grey’s Anatomy. Another great episode, I’m sure Kristy and the girls at bayside were waiting for their update email, I apologize for not sending it. Hopefully I will be able to get it to you by work on Monday. Coming to the end of another week that seems to be going very quickly. Friday Another usual morning, Bruce was off to work and the boys off to school and I walked to work, which was nice. Another blue sky morning although it is chilly outside, and warms up later in the morning. I worked on a project called Plymouth for the morning. Paula arrived at work around 11.30 & I had to leave not long after as today was a minimum day at school, another track change next week. I picked the boys up at 12.30 and we came back to the apartment for a snack and then they went out to play. Bruce told me that we had an appointment to go a see a house that we can move into at 3.00. We rounded up the kids and met the lady there. BLAH!!!! It was awful, we might be spoiled but this wasn’t the nicest place. It was BLAH, just not really nice, Bruce and I both didn’t have a good feeling about it. On the way out we found another house and have a phone call in about it. Not as nice as on the pictures. We’ve decided to wait to find a nice place. Which could be a while, but that’s just the way it is. Hopefully something will come from this other one, cross fingers everyone. We got home from there and the boys went back out to play, I chatted with Millie on the phone and Bruce got some more work done. Then around 5.00 we walked over to the park, and the kids played with some other kids and Bruce & I kicked the footy. We stayed there for a little while then came home to warm up, it was around 6.00 and starting to really cool down. We sat down and felt really good about our decision not to move into that house so we decided to go out and have a Costco dinner. Pizza!!!! Off we went, we found some cool stuff there too. All the Christmas stuff is coming out and Costco has some Fantastic stuff. Mum is going to find some really cool stuff for her collection. I hope there is some stuff left when she gets here. We could have got a 9ft tree with lights for $250. The toys are amazing too, the only problem is that it would cost just as much or even more to send them home as it does to buy them. We were walking the aisles going WOW look at that. Sorry Maxy, Oscar, Felix and Alex all the cool stuff has to stay here. Bruce picked up Mr. Potato Head Star Wars for Tory the P/Head collector. I have to say that Maxy and Oscar would be getting them for Christmas if it weren’t so big and expensive to send home. We did buy the boys an educational program for them to do some extra schoolwork so that was a bargain. We arrived home around 9.30 and the boys went off to bed. Big morning tomorrow, Jamieson has a birthday party. So big sleeps for everyone. Well, I hope everyone is having a good weekend, I hear from Rael’s that you have had a couple of really warm days. I hope you are all amusing yourself with something, the first weekend after the grand Final is always and transition. STAY WELL, We have a new postal address; we got a P.O.Box the other day, so if any of you want it for posting reasons please let us know. For obvious reasons I’m not going to put it on the blog. It’s going to be easier to use that then it doesn’t matter where we live. Have a great week and don’t work too hard

Bruce's 2nd 21st.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRUCE!!!!!

VIOLET CRUMBLE, YUMMMM!!!! THE HULTGRENS AND DANELUKS AT LOGANS ROADHOUSE

BRUCE'S NEW NUMBER PLATE COVER.....COOL!!!!

Belinda, Kristin,Bruce, Alfie & Paula