Welcome 2013

Happy New Year

Blessings of hope, health, laughter & happiness to you all this coming year.

I couldn't wait for 12oclock this morning to welcome in 2013, I was very happy to put the year 2012 away to bed. Hopefully not to be repeated anytime soon.

Without sounding TOO "dramatic" (cause I am so not a drama queen) it was one of the worse years of my life!!

EXCEPT.........

for one blessing that was sent to us 2 days after my Soldier Boy son arrived home safely from Afghanistan (Whoops, that was a blessing too! ) & the day after Mothers Day.

On May 14th 2012 my first beautiful Granddaughter was born.

"Emmalyn Jane Rose"

Squeamish people please avert your eyes

-proud Daddy cutting the cord.

Proud Daddy, Soldier Boy & Emmalyn.

So what did all of you do for your New Year celebrations??
(quiet & peaceful, loud & disorderly.....tell me all the goss!)

We usually just have a quiet night but to make sure we REALLY did put 2012 to bed we lived it up over at "The Sunshine Coast" it was a lovely night.

 I suppose the moral of the story could be, even in a bad year there are always blessings.

Welcome 2013, I am excitedly looking  forward to getting to know you better.

Cheers

Caroline xo

Welcome Baby Girl

 Emmalyn Jane

 8lb 6oz

Love Granny xoxo

Soldier Boy's Birthday

As Soldier Boy isn't here to celebrate his Birthday we  thought we would all get together & celebrate it for him. For obvious reasons we thought we would do the "Aussie + Army theme. 

We all had a ton of fun with lotsa yummy food & cake. We even set a place for him with his photo so he could "join us". 

Everybody got groovy Aussie party favours.  D.I.L & I got super sexy make your ears sore Australian Flag earrings (courtesy of our local dollar store) While we all looked simply stunning  in our stylish Australian party hats.

A good night

Caroline

Happy Birthday Soldier Boy

How time flies son. It doesn't seem that long ago you were playing soldiers & digging trenches through the back yard (yep! he really did)

So much has happened in just the few short years since this picture was taken.
You've been married, had lots of good times & some bad, been on two deployments and now to top it all off you will become a daddy ANY day now!!

We had a little Birthday party for you tonight, darling wife & the "little poppet" came, it was kinda weird that you weren't  here but far far away in a place that seems so strange to us. We hope your day wasn't TOO bad, and the boys didn't give you to many belly slaps. Ha Ha!!

Loving you as always
Stay safe
Mumma xo

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Lane

with much love from us all...xoxo

Emeralds 18th @ The Deadwood Saloon Part 2

Well...Part 2 was a little while coming wasn't it.

These are photos off someone else's camera & I have been trying to remove the date on the photo(as it's not the right date anyway!!) I was unsuccessful as you can see but I thought I would post them anyway.

The star of the show in character -Sally Starr

Distinguished Gentlemen -that should give you a laugh Lacey!

Playing it up!

Oh my gosh what IS the Marshall doing to moi

(I think my face tells it all)

I got Emerald's cake made in theme with the night. She was so surprised when we bought it out because I told her I had just bought a Cheesecake shop cake.

(Blogger has very thoughtfully turned the photo around for me Ggrr....)

Caroline xo

Emeralds 18th @ The Deadwood Saloon Part 1

A couple of week-ends ago we held Emerald's 18th Birthday.

Now because she didn't want the whole big party thing happening like her brother had where we had over 100 people(insert big sigh of relief here from me ;-) we had to decide on something VERY different to do.

Saloon girl Sally Starr (Emerald)

with Banker Bob (Lane)

Then it just so happened I was having a delicious lunch with my new daughter-in-law at our local Bed,Breakfast & Coffee shop when we saw the blackboard up saying they were holding Murder Mystery Nights.

Well my heart did a little flutter & I just knew this is what we would be doing come the second week in October.

Oh my gosh that's ME!-Henrietta High Stakes(hope you all dig my wig)

with just one of my girls-Sally Starr(dd)

It all worked out great as we were told it was perfect with just a small number 25-35 so this fitted in well with Emerald's wishes of just a small gathering.

Included in the murder mystery night was a 2 course meal.(Fantastic for me no work to do catering)

We had a lovely mix of family, close family friends & only the bestest & closest of Emeralds mates, a great bunch with some travelling 950km's just to join us on her special day.

Whose this trio???

None other than- My make believe LOL! husband Harry High Stakes

with a Lady from the east Elizabeth Money(much more dignified than us Saloon girls but I'm still digging the wig)

along with Mitch Maverick.

I was so excited & impressed leading up to the big day that everbody was putting so much effort into dressing up to play their character. All the information was sent to them along with their invite & an informal script straight from the venue. (no fuss or work for me here either)

Playing dress-ups is still so much fun when your older

After wards we all ventured home to have Emeralds Birthday cake with nibbles & a few drinks.

T'was a great night

Caroline....

Happy Birthday Simone

Happy 21st Birthday to you,

to a sweet girl that I've known as long as my own children.

(from the day of your hasty arrival in an Ambulance)

I hope you had a fantastic day.

Love from us all

XOXO

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Lane-Austin

with love from us all.

MUM.....

xxxxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooooooo

BIRTHDAY PRESSIES

This year I received lots of lovely pressies for my bifday. My bestie even gave me a Pandora Bracelet, so lots of people have been buying me charms. I got thoroughly spoiled and taken out two nights running for dinner. One of my friends got me some Organic Seeds and when she saw the Horseshoe Toilet roll Holder & Toothbrush Holder she just couldn't resist as she knows how much I love decorating my house Western.

Isn't it nice when your friends just know you so well!!

Thank you to you all for giving me such a special day

Love Caroline xoxo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday dear soldier boy

Happy Birthday to you.

We love you heaps!!

MUM

xoxoxoxooxoxoxooxoxoxoxox

REDNECK 21st PARTY

So we headed back to Roma again.....not for anything as fancy as the Roma Cup Races of my previous post.

But this time for Lacey's 21st Party, and a Redneck Party at that. I really think we could have filmed an episode of "My Name is Earl" at this party it had all the right ingredients and then some more. Everybody got into the spirit of things & dressed up....Mmmm maybe not, maybe they just dressed normally LOL!! Gotta wonder.

Check out the "Girls" They look a little different to my last post hey!! where we saw them all dressed in their finest.


Take a look at these boys, only us two mothers could love this pair,
and what would be a good Redneck Party without big chunks of meat cooked on the spit!!

Some really got into the action and turned up on these beauties.

(Oh & Kimmy which way does a bike helmet go on anyway??)

Well of course you need to go Jelly Wrestling if your a Redneck, & Stick horse Barrel Racing

and Apple Bobbing & what about the hilarious game with the toilet rolls (what ever that's called)

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY LACEY......Hope you had a real "Cheap" time LOL!!

BACK TO SCHOOL

School Holidays are over and the kids are back to school now until our spring vacation in September. We have all had such a great time these Winter Holidays with a little bit of everything mixed in. We were very lucky at the start to have Soldier Boy come home for a visit and were all able to get away on a short break.

Emerald has worked hard at her casual job these holidays and has just gone out & bought her first car herself. A big pat on the back from Mum for achieving this all before her 16th Birthday & many tears from Em when she suddenly realized that buying her car was the cheap bit it's all the extras that cost-Rego, Insurance etc. Anyway it's 3 mths before she can get her licence so she will have to be happy sitting in the driveway behind the wheel for a little yet!!LOL. Her Car is a little Toyota Corolla Hatchback, it is a manual which is important to me as I wanted her to learn first up in a manual as opposed to an Automatic. Emerald thinks the most important thing is

A. It's Red

B. It has Mag Wheels

C. It has a 6 Stacker CD Player

Can't blame her for that though I probably would have thought the same at her age.(Funny how our priorities change isn't it)

Lane has had a good report from his Eye Specialist and it seems his eyes have improved remarkable in the last 6mths. So much in fact he should only have to wear glasses for another 3-4yrs. He also no longer has to do the sight therapy exercises he was going to have to do. Now that's a saving of about $1 500 for Mum. Pheew So glad I held off on those now. These holidays we also had the trip to the dentist. Lane got the all clear SURPRISE !! with Emerald having to get just one small filling.

I also celebrated my Birthday. Of course I was spoilt by everybody & got some nice little bits & pieces, some I really really had wanted for a while. Thank you everyone for listening to all my hint dropping even if I thought you weren't listening. HA HA!!

My Birthday has always fallen on the winter school holidays even when I was a young one in my first years of school. Why do I remember that you ask?? Cause I had always wanted to take a cake in for my Birthday to share with my class and never got to. Mmmm I try to not let it disturb me much these days!!LOL.

Have to take some photos today so I can share all my lovelies with you tomorrow.......

OKAY Better be off to make some school lunches.

CAROLINE xoxo

WARM WINTERS DAY & A CAT.

Just walked into my sons bedroom to see what he was up to.....

I can't think of a better way to spend the Queens Birthday Holiday then curled up on your bed with the warm winter sun streaming in on you. Of course cats always know the best place to be and "Jayden Victor" is no exception.

I'm surprised though that he has even changed out of his PJ's. Lane that is not the cat!! LOL... but I will not be the least surprised if the bed doesn't get made today. Care Factor.. NONE.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOLDIER BOY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON!!

Even if I don't know where you are at the moment and can't contact you, just remember Mum never stops thinking of you.



Hope you had a very Happy Birthday.



I am so immensely proud of you and the man you have grown to be.

Daddy would be looking down so so proud of you.



I will be forever sorry of the hardship & tragedy you had to bear at such a young age but positively speaking it has grown you into a compassionate,caring & hard working man with great empathy for others.



I Love you sweetheart and hope you are able to see this post on your laptop.

Here's to you Soldier Boy from Mum, Emerald & Lane.....xoxoxxxxxooooo

PS- Sorry about the old photos we shall have to find some newer ones!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING!!

Happy Birthday Lane

We are all so proud of you and how far you have come this year.

My baby boy is growing up. Lane my youngest son turned 12 on the weekend. Yippee nearly a teenager that's more grey hair for me, aren't they just so easy when they are young.

So we are off to high school next year. Lane will be going to the same high school as his older brother did & older sister does but Lane will be going to the special education unit within the school. Lane has ASD(Autism) it makes him even more precious to us.

The school runs a fantastic program for these children which is great as they are not excluded from the rest of the school they mainstream them into the classroom with their peers. It is extremely important to me that Lane is treated like any other 12yo just with some adjustments to make things a little easier on him. This is good for Lane as he has a higher than average IQ for his age in some areas he scores higher than 90% of children his age. In other areas however he falls to below the 5 percentile. This borders on being intellectually disabled. Very frustrating being very smart but not able to use it in the conventional way. It has been a very hard road for us. It seems if you do not fall within the "normal" society does not readily accept this.

Social situations are extremely hard for Lane so we never had birthdays as such for him. In the morning he would wake up come out of his room get given his presents and disappear with them for the day. Try explaining that to people when they visit with a lovely gift, that your son isn't just rude. We were never able to have a Birthday cake for him as he did not like the attention focused on himself.

Oh little man I am so proud of you last year was good this year was even better you actually now attend your own birthday. We have had lots of birthday dinners for Lane he just never attended them himself.

We had a great day we went to the game place INTENCITY now wasn't that an experience. Lane had always wanted to go there but the lights & noise have always been to much. He had an awesome time playing games with DB then off to McDonald's for lunch and a bit of shopping to spend some gift money. Lane your a thrifty shopper you can make your money go a long way.

Lane was born at 4.30 in the afternoon during a fierce storm. I still remember lying in the birthing room looking out the doors at the storm. Being a bush hospital the doors led onto a veranda it was so hot the midwives kept going out there for relief. Nearly every year we have a storm on Lane's Birthday, mostly around the time of his birth. This year was no exception the storm hit at 4.30pm. Lane always comes to me & says "Here's my birthday storm"

When Lane gets home from school this afternoon we will be having his birthday cake we have decided to spread it over a few days so it is not as much for him. Most kids would love a birthday that went over several days wouldn't they.LOL I know my other two would.

Oh I can not put into words how proud I am with him this year. The hurdles he has jumped are simply amazing. I so enjoyed his birthday and so did he.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAN

Geraniums just for you Gran because I can never see them without thinking of you!!

My Darling Granny has just turned 85 so I dug out the photos. The photo above is of her and my Grandfather who passed away in 1993.

The first thing my daughter (Gran's Great Granddaughter) said to me when she saw this photo was look at her legs there fantastic I had never taken any notice but now I look yeah they were pretty good for a 62y.o . I'm just wondering if it could possibly be hereditary.LOL!!

For one year I lived at my Grandparents farm during that year they used to drive me to school in the Rolls Royce & yes I used to find it very embarrassing. Try fitting in at a new school with a heap of pubescent girls when all the other girls are dropped off in farm utes & your in the Rolls.

Yes Gran I know you went through The Great Depression and rightly so you should have both been proud for what you achieved but the bloody rolls nearly gave me a great depression!!LOL

Anyway here you are again picture perfect at 65 with your darling dalamation "Shadow" but hey what's with the cat gran, your not a cat lover and anyway it looks like it wants to get down and scram.

Here you are at 70 with your 2nd Great Grandchild & 1st Great Granddaughter my darling Emerald aged 3mths. Funny I still remember after 15yrs how bad her wind was that day thanks for burping her and I don't think I ever did apologize for the mess on your good Sunday dress.

Oh dear 80 came around quick but remember how proud you were this day pictured with your 1st Great Grandchild & 1st Great Grandson my darling Casey. He was 13 & had just become an Australian Army Cadet. Time gets away doesn't it Gran, now he's a real soldier in the Australian Army and so embrassed to say he was ever a cadet, but yet you are so proud of the path he has chosen I relize how important the defence forces are to you & I try to understand what you went through when so many of your friends went to war yet never returned & having to go to work at the age of 12 in a munitions factory.

What more do/ can I say to you Granny you are so much wiser than me -Oh the only other thing is I LOVE YOU XXXXXXXXXXOOOOOOOOO

HAPPY 85TH BIRTHDAY

CAROLINE

And there was Birthday Cake!!

This is to go with the blog I did for Emeralds Birthday on Saturday.As I wrote that in the morning we were yet to see the day out. So here it is, as expected she had a lovely day in the city with her big brother Casey spending all her birthday money etc etc. When she arrived home we had her yummy Birthday Cake. Then went out to dinner that night. They had even decorated the table with ballons & streamers for her.We had a fantastic week-end school hols are now over & school started back yesterday.

Happy Birthday Emerald

Today is the birthday of my gorgeous, pretty,funny,intelligent, second born and only daughter Emerald.It's early and she is still asleep a good time for me to sit with a cuppa and reflect on the last 15years and how blessed i have been to have such a wonderful person come into my life as my only daughter.

Emerald is always in a hurry everything is done in top gear and it was no exception the night she was born after dinner,cleaning up the kitchen & putting Casey(then 3 1/2) to bed I thought I would finally be able to have a shower and relax. Oh no not me, no rest for the wicked. I had more work ahead of me that night. After going into labour at 9.15pm Em was in a hurry to see the world and was delivered at 10.30 a quick but intense 1hr 15mins later.It's been full pace ever since, she's either that or asleep.

At the time of Emeralds birth we were living on a cattle station out of Injune -Western Queensland. Injune having only a small bush hospital didn't deliver babies, you had to travel another 100km to the bigger hospital with a maternity unit in Roma. Well of course they delivered a baby in Injune that night. Luck was with me though and my wonderful friend Carolyn who is a nurse just happened to be on duty that night. Carolyn has a special part in Emerald's heart. Often after Carolyn has made the long trek to visit with us, she will say to me "Carolyn has known me Mum as long as you have known me, since i took my first breath". Aren't friends just the most treasured things the help Carey & Carolyn have given us, specially after Emeralds fathers death is immeasurable.

Emerald will be waking soon to a sunny spring day, after getting her pressies from Lane & myself she is meeting up with big bro Casey where he will no doubt spoil his little sis by taking her out shopping and lunch.Then tonight we will be going to our favourite restaurant for dinner.

A good day ahead of us hope you have a good one too!!!

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