Painting the new fence

Painting of the new fence is now underway.

Welcome Chloe Elizabeth Dale

My good friend in Canada, Lisa and her husband Chris welcomed their first baby on December 12 at 9.52pm (Canadian Time). She weighed 7 lbs 2 oz (approx 3.26 kg) and 20 1/2 inches long (52.07 cm).

Welcome to the world Chloe Elizabeth Dale.

Our Fence - Before

Our new fence was finally installed in early November. Now we have to paint it. A project for our Christmas break maybe?

Plans have been drawn up for our deck which hopefully we'll be able to have done sometime next February, depending on the cost and if our builder is available. I can't wait!!!

Our Fence - After

As you can see in these pictures, the ground is incredibly brown and dry. We are going through a drought right now and are currently on level 4 water restrictions which means that we are only allowed to water our gardens on certain days of the week and only with buckets or watering cans.

Billy Joel

Jeff bought me tickets for my birthday to see Billy Joel last night. It was fan-bloody-tastic. It is one of the best concerts I have been to. He is a fantastic entertainer who really knows how to work the crowd. AWESOME!!!

Harry Malcolm Thornton

I became the proud Auntie to Harry Malcolm Thornton yesterday. He was born at 6.18pm, 8 lbs 11 1/2 oz, 54cm long. My sisterly-intuition wasn't as strong as I thought it was, but who's complaining..... I have a nephew!!!

Waiting to see our nephew









Mummy Thornton









Daddy Thornton









Harry









Proud Auntie

Kelly @ 40 weeks 5 days

I'm still not an auntie yet. Kelly was due last Tuesday so is now five days overdue. If baby doesn't come before next Wednesday she will be induced. My sister Melissa and I have been trying to wake it up by yelling at it through her stomach but it seems to be pretty comfortable. Kelly on the other hand isn't as it has started to get quite warm here.

Media Ball 2006

Jeff and I went to the Media Ball at Parliament House on Friday night. It was really quite swanky as it was made of of mostly journalists, politicians and staff and their partners. It was a sit down dinner and was set up out in the court yard where a lot of press conference are usually held and it is also used a lot for wedding pictures so it is really pretty, but Friday night they had different coloured spot lights all over the place and was really nice. This was Jeff's 2nd Media ball and my 1st and we both had a really good time.

Ruby Turns One

I have been a little neglectful with our number two fur-child and forgot to announce that she turned one on 1st November. It has been a very long year but we have pulled through. She certainly proved to be a challenge.

Kelly @ 39 weeks

Only 7 days to go!!!!

Winston Turns Two

It was Winston's birthday yesterday. My baby is now two years old. How time flies.

Kelly @ 34 weeks 5 days

Kelly, Jeff and I visited my Nana in Toowoomba on Sunday.

New Built-In Closet

Because we had been renting our house for two years before we bought it, I had a hard time feeling excited that we were home owners, but now the house finally feels like ours. We had a new built-in closet installed into our bedroom on Saturday morning and I am ecstatic. It makes our bedroom look much neater and doesn't look as small as I thought it would be.

Our next major project will be a new fence around our property. The gate at our driveway is practically falling off its hinges.


Before

After

Canine Cousins

We went to Nudgee Beach for Father's Day on Saturday and the dogs were all together for the first time. From left to right - Harly, Winston, Oscar & Ruby. Harley is Kelly's and Oscar is Melissa's. They had a big day and both my dogs were asleep within about five minutes after leaving the park.

Kelly @ 30 weeks 4 days

This is Kelly at her baby shower. We had a chocolate high tea with about 25 of her close friends and family.

Isn't she a pretty girl

This picture was taken after Winston & Ruby came back from the groomers. The groomer always puts a bow in her hair. She is now 10 months old.

Kelly's 30th B'day Bash at Gilhooleys

Kelly's new Oroton handbag








The Seibold Sisters








Melissa & Dad








Melissa & Mike








Me & my Hubby








Me, Mum, Gabrielle, Kate, Melissa & Lauren

My Job

I have been offered a temporary position with Queensland Health as Administration Officer at the Workforce Planning & Coordination Branch. I start on 4th September and finish on the 29th December with a possible extension at the end of the year. Although I would have prefered a permanent position, I will at least have this on my resume so will make applying for permanent positions a lot easier.

Kelly @ 27 weeks 4 days

I am getting so excited about being an auntie. I went to lunch with my family last week and I put my hand on her stomach and felt the baby move. It is the weirdest feeling. Probably more so for Kelly. I have a strong feeling it is going to be a girl and I have to stop myself from buying cute pink clothes because I might be wrong. But what I do know is that baby, whatever sex, is going to be VERY spoilt.

Softball Sign On

I have decided to play softball again this year. I’m not sure yet how many from last season will sign on again, but hopefully most of them will come back as we all seemed to get along really well and we had really good team dynamics. Training starts on the 20th August and our first game is on the 7th October. I am looking forward to playing again as I have recruited a couple of people so I think it will be a fun year.

Redundant

Well as of Monday 31st July, I was officially made redundant. The company I work for, Bombardier Transportation, has been down sizing due to the lack of projected work and there is just not enough work for two administrative assistants let alone one. I was originally offered part time work but knocked it back due to the fact that as of Monday 31st of July, we also finally settled on our house. Therefore getting as much money as we can is definitely a priority for us right now given that we now have a mortgage to pay. I have been given four weeks notice and six weeks severance, and the freedom to look for another job and go for interviews in the meantime. I have to say that they are being extremely accommodating. So off I go again looking for a new job. This time I am aiming for a Government position and I have forwarded my resume to a number of people I know who work in the public sector. The downside to applying to Government jobs is that they take forever to get back to you. I put an application in last April and they are still short listing. But I am hoping that I can somehow get in by by-passing the normal system. We’ll see how it goes. I have also registered with a recruitment agency who specialise in government positions and I will probably have an interview with them soon. The upside is that with my notice and severance, I have about 10 weeks to find something. Anyway I will keep you posted on the outcome.

Strike a pose!

This is my sister Kelly at 22 weeks and three days pregnant.

Oh My!

This is Austin in the outfit Jeff and I bought for him. I guess he didn't like it!!

I’ve Finished

I spent the past weekend in Mapleton with my mum and about 100 other women at a conference and camping centre where the annual Creative Memories get together is held. I attended my first scrapbooking weekend this time a year ago where I started on my wedding album. This weekend I attended my second Mapleton Scrapbooking weekend with the intention to finish my wedding album. And after three and a half years of marriage and one year of scrapbooking I achieved just that. I am very pleased with the finished product and believe it is something that can be passed down to my children and their children with the knowledge that all the photos will stay in exactly the same condition. I have really enjoyed going through the photos and reliving our wedding all over again. I have a few more projects up my sleeve which will keep me busy until the next scrapbooking weekend in 2007.

Home is where you hang your hat… and coat… and bag…

We have finally joined the rest of the home owners and are now the proud owners of our first mortgage… I mean house! It is the house we have been renting for the past year and a half. We were already house-hunting when we found out that the owners were putting it on the market. It eventually occurred to us that we were comparing every house we looked at with this house so it just made sense to stay. However like any house built in the early 1960s there is a lot of stuff that needs to be done (although my “needs” list could be debated). The kitchen and bathroom are outdated and we have an oven that I am sure was built around the same time as the house. The oven sits over the stove and the big element that is the most used is right at the back which makes cooking extremely difficult and frustrating. I have on a number of occasions threatened to throw it down the stairs.

My first and foremost wish is to add a big deck to the side of the house. This means we will then also build a new fence around the property because the one that is there now hasn’t been updated since the house was built and it is falling down. We will also eventually build in underneath the house which will add a fourth bedroom/study, second bathroom and a playroom for the kid/s.

We were extremely lucky to be blessed with fantastic neighbours, Doug and Gladys. They are an older couple and we have been good friends with them from the moment we moved into the house. They were very worried that we were moving away when we started talking about looking for a new house. We had dinner with them a while ago and told them that we were buying the house and they were very happy.

The house is in walking distance to two train stations and five minutes drive to three shopping centers. There is a large park down the road where we take the dogs for a run around.

So there you have it… we are now officially broke for the next 25 - 30 years.

So Handsome!

Isn't he just beautiful! This is Austin Caleb Riches at two weeks and two days. (Photo taken by Kate Riley)

Austin Caleb Riches

Jess & Caleb

Just thought you would like to know that our very good friends Jess and Caleb welcomed their first child, Austin Caleb, into the world on the 1st June at 10pm (Canadian Time). He was weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces. He was almost two weeks overdue so I am sure Jessica is very glad to now have him in her arms and not in her belly. From what I have heard everyone is doing splendidly. We are very happy for the two of them and wish them the absolute best.