Happy New Year!

If a successful Christmas can be measured by exhaustion, ours must be an all-time whopper!! We’ve had a lovely Christmas and New Year, but we’ve been so busy with friends and activities that we’re knackered! And with less than a week before we’re off on our hols and so much to do in between times, we’re only set to get even more tired! Never mind – sleep is for the weak (or should that be the WEEK commencing July 09!)

Christmas Eve we were out on the boat. It came out of the water at the end of December for a service and to have the anti-foul topped up, so we took it for a spin round the estuary to make sure everything was in full working order. It was like having a new boat back. Unfortunately, over the year, barnacles grow on the propeller and slow the boat right down, so after the service and the clean, it was really fast again.

Also, unfortunately, Sam and Paul popped down to the boat yard to collect the boat and drive it back to the pen. Whilst they were cleaning it though, Paul leant forward and his blackberry slid out of his pocket into the marina! D’OH! I did ask if they’d even bothered to retrieve it, but as Paul pointed out, in the salt water, it didn’t stand a hope in hell :o( Luckily though, after a pleading telephone call to our provider, they realised that Paul was probably single-handedly keeping them in profit and they agreed to replace his handset free of charge! Yippee!! The only down side? It’s a newer version than mine and he keeps rubbing my face in the face that he has video clips and ringtones by Stuart Copeland :o( I’ll get my own back (somehow :o)

I had complained that I wasn’t feeling very Christmassy, so Paul had decided to cook a complete Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve – bless. So we had crackers and turkey and went to bed with a Christmassy smile on our faces.

Christmas Day was to be spent with friends (yes – friends. We now have some :o) We went down to the beach for 11am and two families had taken their portable BBQs and cooked up bacon and sausage rolls.

We were only supposed to stay for an hour, but the bubbly was flowing and the bacon was being scoffed and I think we were some of the last ones on the beach at 2pm! We went back home for an hour and then de-camped round the Kim and Tony’s for Christmas lunch. We’d clubbed in with Mick and Sue as well, and we had a laugh and a few drinks and then in the evening, the rest of the gang from the beach came over and we laughed and drank some more into the night. It was the most sociable Christmas we’ve had in a very long time.

Boxing Day we relaxed at home and the kids enjoyed playing with their presents and having fun in the pool.

Sam got a swimming mask for Christmas that takes photos and video under water, so they tried that out. I think it’s pretty cool!

Paul and I bought Adam a ‘Cars’ ride on toy which he really loved. Santa bought him a remote control Thomas that blows real steam – I think that was the absolute hit for him this year!

We bought a Playstation 3 – for all the family. Darcie and Adam love the Singstar, Sam loves guitar hero and Paul and I are enjoying the Bluray player – an all round winner!

Darcie got a pink iPod and pink dock which she really likes. Sam was a little annoyed when he realised Darcie’s has a bigger memory than his (good job it’s pink, or he’ll have ‘borrowed’ it for himself, I think!). Sam had a few PS3 games and iTunes vouchers – not hundreds of toys this year, but alls three of them were happy with their haul, so Santa and I did well.

The day after Boxing Day we went down to Mandurah with friends to eat up the leftovers and let the kids have a play in the water. Unfortunately a 51 year old man was taken by a shark in Port Kennedy (about a ten minute drive from our house) that morning, so people weren’t as eagre as usual to jump into the water. There have been lots of shark sightings up and down the coast this last week: White Pointers and Hammerheads. Beautiful creatures, but this man who was killed was only snorkelling 6 metres from the shore! It brings it home that we really are in their territory when it comes to the ocean. However, the area where the kids were playing is segregated with shark nets, so they were quite safe. Although Sam was being a pain in the car on the way down and I did offer to take him swimming in PK!

The next evening we had a BBQ to go to, so we were off on a social whirlwind again – lucky us. The hangover was now turning into one continuous one by now though :o(

Then we had New Year at our place. It was lots of fun – Mark did first-footing in his kilt and Paul cooked haggis (for the authentic touch!)

and then just after midnight, everyone jumped into the pool fully clothed!

It was a really good night – so much so that I didn’t even surface until 1pm the following day. I did emerge from my bed at 8am – felt very sorry for myself, took two paracetamol and then fell back into a coma). It’s been VERY hot the last week. New Years eve topped 39 degrees, so the pool was a welcome relief and it was too hot to bother removing clothes :o)
Thanks for all your emails. I will write back, but we’ve got another busy few weeks coming up. We’re off on our holiday next Thursday – travelling up North to Monkey Mia to spend a few days with the dolphins, so there’s lots to be done work-wise prior to going, that’s before packing and any of that stuff. Then we’re back on the Wednesday and Margaret arrives on the Saturday. We’re all really looking forward to Margaret coming :o) Paul’s taking Margaret over to Sydney for a few days whilst she’s here this time, so it’ll be even more special for her.

I’ve also got the take the kids to get their new uniforms, pick up their stationery for the new school year and then go back to the school the week before it starts to find out what classes they will all be in. I think Adam’s teachers mentioned that he would be invited for an ‘afternoon tea’ as well prior to starting, so that he can meet everyone. I don’t know how I’m going to fit it all into one month!

So, I wonder what 2009 will bring us all? Hopefully, permanent residency! We already have had some correspondence from our case officer requesting more information (at least it’s not a flat – NO! - so that’s got to be good news!) Once we have our PR, I think we can then apply for citizenship which will allow us to vote and have an Aussie passport (again, this involves more form filling, parting with more cash and waiting for a decision from the Australian government). I think we’re keeping the Prime Minister in suits ever since we decided to come and live in Australia. Everything costs a dollar.

Happy New Year everyone. I hope it brings you everything you wish for,

Ju, Paul, Sam, Darcie and Adam xXx

Last, but not least, Mr Cheese's school production. Carried out on stage at the Performing Arts Centre (posh, eh?)

Darcie and Ads in the pool this week.

Darcie's Christmas Assembly Item:

Sam's Christmas Assembly Item and Endeavour award for music :o)

Five more sleeps and the big man in red will be on his way :o) How exciting!

We should be at the outdoor cinema tonight watching Wall E, but what was billed as an 'early shower' has turned into a downpour that's lasted all day on and off. Queue three very cheesed off kids and I caved in and let Adam open an early Chrimbo pressie from Nanny B which I cunningly happened to know contained a Wall E DVD! How fortunate! We even made lots of yummy things to take with us tonight, but there's no alternative other than to sit in the warm and pig them all ourselves. Merry Christmas!! I just hope the weather improves for tomorrow night as it's Carols by Candelight in Perth. Mind you, I thnk I'd wrap up and take an umbrella for tomorrow night as it's the only date in the WA Christmas calendar that feels remotely festive.

I hope you enjoyed the videos that I uploaded below. We were very proud of Sam receiving the Endeavour Award as he's had a pretty rough year at school this year. He has enjoyed music and tries really hard with his guitar and Paul's drums. Most Fridays he took his guitar in to school and played with a few friends whilst some girls sang. Nothing like a boy band for securing a few groupies! Sam got a very good report from school and even though he's been through a lot of crap with the teachers and fellow pupils, I think they have acknowledged that he's quite a bright boy underneath all the gob! Sam went to his orientation day for the new school come February and thoroughly enjoyed it. He had a taster of art (making a lovely paperweight from a pebble with a paintede christmas tree on it), IT, which Sam loves (he commented how good it was to have a PC each and not one between 2/3 as it is currently) and .... wait for it.... Japanese!! He brought home a worksheet and I didn't even know if I was holding it the right way up! Sam has done well in Indonesian, although he doesn't enjoy it as much as Darcie seems to. I have managed to pick up three words in the two years he has been doing it. My favourites are lampu (for lamp) and do-a-poo-loo (I don't know how it's spelt, but it sounds funny :o) I think that's 20).

Darcie was sad to leave school. She plods along and gets on well with pupils and teachers alike. She put so much effort into her christmas assembly item; it was lovely to watch. She's a little nervous about starting the new school, but give it a week and I'm sure she'll be in her stride. She also got a glowing report. Her teacher is also leaving Secret Harbour Primary to get married and move up north, so they were all in tears when I picked her up on Thursday.

Adam is already commenting that he misses Kindy. In my usual 'crap mother' style, I hadn't actually realised that his last day was his last day (if that makes any sense!). I thought he had another two days left at kindy until I dropped him off in the morning and a few of the mums were in tears and they all had party food. It wasn't until one of the teaching assistants commented about how sad she was that it was their 'last day in kindy EVER' that I paniced! I had a little gift for the teachers, but hadn't taken any food in for the class party as I thought it was the following thursday! I did ensure they were wrapped nicely though by the time I collected Adam and he gave them to the teachers with a hug and I was slightly redeemed. I had so much going on in my head that week, I don't know how I'm supposed to know things when I haven't even been told about them! Even I'm not that good!! Adam is already commenting on how much he misses Kindy. He really did love it there (I would liken it to Sam and his love of Mrs Peyrovi in Templewood). I only hope he grows to love his new school just as much.

Here's a photo of Adam before his school christmas concert which was held at the local performing arts centre. He always looks so distant from the other kids; he's still very shy and it takes him a long time to come out of his shell.

So, as I mentioned, we have had a busy few weeks. We went for our annual trips down the canals to see the lights the other weekend. I have to say, I think they were even bigger and better than last year (and I didn't think that was possible!!). My photos haven't turned out very well, but I'm sure you can picture the scene!

I had Christmas carols on the iPod and mince pies, so you can't say that I don't try to make it festive!

Darcie had a class excursion to watch madagascar 2 at the local cinema and I went along with Adam. It was good fun, although I admit to being a little disappointed once it started and I twigged that it wasn't the Wild - another cartoony type film that I had confused it with. Never mind, the kids all seemed to enjoy it. On the same day, Darcie had a friend over for a sleep over and I'd promised to take the girls to watch High School Musical 3 at the pictures too. Like buses - don't go at all for months on end and then twice in one day! The boys however decided they wanted a little HSM action too and came along as well. The girls sat on their own though and we had to pretend that we didn't know each other :o)

We've had a night at the dog racing with some new friends, a 40th / housewarming party, a BBQ, in fact more social outings in the last few months that we've had in the last year :o) It's been lovely. Busy, but lovely! The kids are happy as they have new mates to play with and Paul has new friends to talk about boats, cars and bollocks with (like men do).

We went to see Father Christmas arrive by helicopter again at a local store. It certainly wasn't anywhere near as busy as it has been for the last few years.

I don't know if that has anything to do with the global credit crunch, or the fact that I didn't hear it advertised on the radio as much.

Darcie and Sean waiting for Father Christmas.

We also didn't go to the Christmas Parade in perth this year. This was due to them chaning the time this year. It always used to be on a Saturday night and the floats were lit up and all the families came into Perth to make a night of it. This year, they altered it to the Sunday morning starting (wait for it), at 7.30am!! the parade itself started at 9.30! There was no way we could get into the city for that time in the morning, so we gave it a miss and watched it on the TV in th evening. Unfortuately for the City of Perth, it looked like we were not the only ones as the streets look deserted! So their idea of having the parade in the morning so everyone would hand on and do their christmas shopping afterwards went horribly wrong!

We're going to the beach on Christmas morning so the kids can have a swim and the adults can have a champagne and relax (hopefully in the sunshine! it is forecast to be 35 degrees on christmas day). then we've been invited to a friends house for christmas day and we're all clubbing together for the food and drink. We've hosting New Year, so anyone who fancies coming is more than welcome.

So in less than a month, Margaret will be here on her hols. We are off before Margaret arrives for a week up north to Monkey Mia and Kalbarri. An eight hour drive to travel three inches along the coastline of Western Australia! Makes you realise just how large Australia is! We're all really looking forward to it as we're all knackered and in desperate need of a rest. January is usually quiet work-wise, so we're making the most of it. Now we have Sue to hold the fort too, this should take a little pressure off.

I've almost finished the Christmas shopping, so am feeling about an 8/10 on the smug front. I've just got one present to collect for Adam on lay by and a few little bits to get and I'm done. All I have is wrapped and ready, so I can enjoy the last few days before Christmas.

The pool has been getting a lot of use over the last week. the water has warmed up and it's a lovely temperature. We have solar heating on the roof of the house and I think we'll have to turn this off in the summer or run the risk of having a pool as hot as a bath. Nice to see Paul getting into the water now without his nuts appearing by his Adam's apple though :o) You can see form the video clip below that Adam is getting very confident in the water now. He even got a certificate at his lesson this week for putting his face in the water. Seeing as for the last three months, he's just stood in the pool with the hump, this is a MAJOR achievement! I always said to the teachers that they'd remember him when he was on the podium getting his gold int he olympics as being the whingy little git who stood in the water with a face as long as Shergar. Maybe I will be right :o)

I hope you are all happy, healthy and contented and looking forward to a wonderful Christmas. Wish I could pop back for a week's worth of christmas cheer and a good shop, but I'll have to make due with sunshine and santas on surfboards. Keep in touch over Christmas. It'd be lovely to hear what you're all up to and maybe see some photos of you all enjoying christmas. In the meantime, love to you all. Here's wishing you a very Merry christmas and love and laughter for 2009.

Lots of love,

Ju, Paul, Sam, Darcie and Adam xxXXxx

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Please forgive me lord, for I have Googled.

I didn’t mean to. I only meant to find out what happened in our series of the Apprentice (the one with Michelle Dewberry and the pregnancy) as I’d heard about the scandal on the radio and THERE IT WAS….. the winner and the runner up in the first line of text. Don’t you hate it when that happens? I was really hissed off! I’d been really enjoying Sir Alan (very similar to Paul’s ‘make the tea, or you’re fired’ demands :o) Never mind. I shall try and forget who wins. Anyhow, knowing how the programme schedulers work over here anyway, the series final will be moved to 5am on a Sunday morning. Nothing’s consistent. You just get into a series and they move the night it’s shown; or the time; or they take it off all together for a month and play two episodes a night (as they are doing with Two and a Half Men at the moment – all in a different order I might add, so in one episode the kid is teenage and in the next 30 seconds later, he looks about 8!) I understand that British TV gods, Ant and Dec are in Oz at the moment getting ready for the new I’m a Celebrity. No doubt we’ll get to see it in 2012, so please don’t spoil it for me. We watched the Christopher Biggins one in the Winter and it was hilarious! Can’t wait. Wonder who’s going to be in it? If the blog goes quiet for a while, I’ll have got the call and I’ll be off to eat bollocks (as opposed to talking them).

Anyhow…. Enough drivel about TV. What’s been happening in Oz? I hear the one old man at the back asking. Well, quite a bit (as usual!). We enjoyed the Red Bull Air Race again this year.

We were lucky again with the weather. We went down with Sue and Mick and Tony and Kim and assorted kids and had a good time! It did get quite warm in the afternoon and we were all looking a little red and rosy the next day, but it’s a good day out.

Adam had a friend over for the weekend in the guise of ‘Kindy Bear’.

Every school seems to have one; Sam had spikey the hedgehog. Kindy Bear had quite an exciting weekend; so much so, that he needed his own blog. Have a look at: http://kindybear.blogspot.com Adam’s teachers were thrilled with it and wanted to link it on the school newsletter. I said that I didn’t mind and logged on a few days later to be met with this picture:

Do you recognize the young chap on the school website? Mr Cheese is famous!! All that money on Darcie to become a model and Adam gets the web space. How funny!

We have been out and about on the boat. Paul is determined to catch a snapper. Last Sunday, Sam did have a bite and as the line went ‘WWHHHIIZZZZZZ’ through his reel, you could physically see the colour drain from his face as he shouted ‘DAD! What do I do???’ Unluckily, the fish bit the bait clean in half and then buggered off, so we didn’t manage to land one this time.

The sea was a little choppy and not comfortable when you were stationary, so we decided to try again another time. It was a good feeling though to think that we may eventually catch something bigger than most people actually put on their hook for bait! Darcie got excited when she thought we’d caught two fish at once, when we had to burst her bubble and let her know that was what we put on the hook for the big fish to eat!

Paul had his expo in Kalgoorlie – I think this helped with the ‘Crocodile Dundee’ attitude that he’s come back home with and his insistence to go out into the wilderness and kill animals (only joking – catch a fish!). The guy he travelled with is very knowledgeable about all sorts of stuff and Paul learnt a lot in the week that they had together, huddled in their caravan. The expo was hard work. Long hours and always difficult spending that amount of time in such close proximity with someone that you’ve only met for an hour, but I think they both enjoyed it. We’re going to visit Kalgoorlie one day with the kids. Take them to see the Super Pit and go prospecting for gold. There’s so much cool stuff to see here; just a shame that everything’s so blooming expensive. I was looking to book a week away after Xmas and the flight centre couldn’t find us anything less than $ 7,500!!! Even to hire a camper van for 10 days is $ 2,500! I think we may be staying put for the summer :o) We’ve got the pool now, so at least there’s some entertainment for the kids. They have been in the pool a bit over the last few weeks. The trouble is, it’s still Spring and when the weather has a ‘cool change’ for a few days, the pool temperature really plummets again. Even Sam refused to stay in it more than 20 minutes last weekend which is a rare occurrence.

STOP PRESS: I’ve booked a few nights at Monkey Mia for January. We’ll tag another couple of nights on to either end I guess as it’s too blooming far to drive in one day. At least it’ll be a break and a change of routine, which is what we all need. Then the following week, Margaret will be arriving :o) I booked flights for them this week as Paul is taking her to Sydney for a few days. I thought it might be nice for Paul’s Mum to see Sydney. After all, it is the ‘iconic’ Australia – not this WA bit :o) So they’re off for a few nights in February – between the birthdays.

Mr Cheese is getting better in the pool. He has a little floatie belt and now he knows that he can reach the bottom, he walks around, splashing and blowing bubbles. Just a shame he doesn’t extend this to his weekly swimming lessons, where he still stands in the water with the hump and refuses to even acknowledge the teacher for the majority of the time; let alone actually do what he’s asked!

We’ve had a few letters about the new school for next year. Sam’s got an orientation day to go to for all year 6 students, so I think he’s looking forward to that. He is a little miffed though as he’s spent the last three years battling to learn Indonesian (something that he doesn’t particularly enjoy) only to discover that the new school doesn’t teach this……. It’s Japanese instead!!! Good grief! Where would you start with that? Darcie is really good at Indonesian and can count to 20 and probably knows all the swear words already :o) The sign of an attentive student. I think the kids are nervously cautious about a change of school. I think we’re done with the current one; lots of side issues and teacher politics. It’ll be lovely to have them in all one place, rather than have to drop one off and drive like the clappers to get to the next one!

Not long to Christmas now then, is it? We’ve nearly been here three years. I can’t believe it’s been that long really, can you? I guess we are starting to feel more settled. The kids are pretty settled and happy. OK, they have their moments when they have rough days at school and fall out with their mates, but they never whinge that they want to go back to England. In fact, I think they’d find it pretty hard going back now. They get a LOT of freedom over here. Sam is allowed out on his bike, Darcie and Ads can scoot off to the play park with Sam. We do have the beach on our doorstep (not that we get to visit it that often!). There are different opportunities for them here. OK, maybe not more than they would have in the UK, but different and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Take for instance this week Darcie has had to give another ‘speaker’s corner’ presentation. She has to prepare, deliver and entertain her classmates for a four minute demonstration after which, they discuss where they think she could improve and what they liked about her segment. Darcie chose to show her classmates how to make jelly and we made 23 samples the night before so she could share them. She thoroughly enjoyed it and was marked very highly by her teacher and peers. Sam bought home the other week a certificate for his computer skills, in which is was awarded a ‘Gold’ level; the only one in his class to get this.

So what about Paul and I? Well, it’s certainly been an experience, this emigration lark! I don’t know if I would have the energy to repeat it and with hindsight… well, we wouldn’t do a lot of things with hindsight, would we? I think we are fairly happy here. The kids being settled helps a great deal. The business is going well. It’s never easy being in charge of your own destiny; never really having a day off without remembering something that needs doing or should have been emailed. I think we are still under a fair bit of pressure and probably always will be with the business; but to be fair, a lot of that is self inflicted. Paul’s a perfectionist and always wants the best for our customers. I am a perfectionist – but only on alternate Tuesdays.

I think we need to relax a little and enjoy what we have around us. Weekends are precious and we do enjoy the time as a family, but there’s still the shopping and the housework to do. Some things are the same no matter where in the world you call home. You never know, we may even contemplate camping. OK – forget I said that! A night camping on the boat is probably as adventurous as it gets for us (with the microwave, toilet and dvd player :o)

I wish we could treasure this time. As ever, all our lives are so busy, we rush from one task through to the next, not really enjoying the journey. I know we can’t enjoy every detail of the food shop or the school run, but I wish we could just stop the clock for a few hours every week and enjoy this time when the kids are young and there’s so much to look forward to. Perhaps I shall start instigating ‘time freeze’ hours every weekend.

Who knows what page we’ll be on this time next year? There’s lots to look forward to now the summer’s coming. I’ve got a night out to see Bjorn Again in Kings Park Friday week with the girls. Father Christmas will be arriving by helicopter again at Harvey Norman (I hope). Carols by candelight and the outdoor cinema emailed me their list of movies this week; a sure sign that summer’s on the way.

Last night we took the kids into Perth on the train to watch Santa switch on the Christmas lights in Perth. We don’t normally do this. I usually prefer to stagger in on 23rd December, get some Christmas spirit and travel back home again, but I thought we’d make an effort for the kids. Adam marveled at it and Sam complained (a lot!).

After we’d seen Santa do the business, we went into Myer and the kids had a ride on the Santa express train.

One of our suppliers ran a promotion in July and were giving away vouchers for Myers. We received them this week (after a LOT of phone calls :o) and now have over $ 800 to go towards our Christmas shopping. Paul fancies a blu-ray player. Sam wants a PS3. Darcie wants an iPod and Adam would like a DS lite. Well looks like we’re into negative figures already – and that’s before I’ve added anything I’d like to the list :o)

We bought some new furniture for the garden last week. We’ve been looking for ages and the shop up the road had a sale, so we blew the budget. What do you think? Can I interest anyone in a cocktail by the pool?