Merry Christmas...

I have been very very very busy and I haven't had much of a chance to blog... so just wishing everyone a safe and merry christmas and will be back in the new year with more exciting adventures...

Love

Kirsty xx

quickie...catch up post!!

My lord.. it has been a busy week... so, and Dottie post for you to get you up to speed!

• Jack's birthday today... Happy birthday hunny!!! I was very excited about his present!! I got him an ipod with a FM transmitter for the car!! I have spent HOURS trying to friggin' work out itunes and get all of his music on it. He was totally blown away with it! He has never seen one before (yes.. believe it!!) and was totally in ore of how things have changed since his days of a walkman! I put on his entire music collection (quite large) and I still have room for more... and as CKK suggested, perheps he might need a jogging arm band! I have a shuffle.. but this is WAY cooler.. Jack loves his 80's music, so this will be the end of the huge collection of cd's that he has floating around the ute!
• Have been to Echuca for Jack's work christmas party last week.. that was great fun. If you are on facebook, there are a few photos. My mother came and stayed with the kids for a night. I really like Echuca.. it has sportsgirl.. I like sportsgirl..
• I am worried that I am almost too old for sportsgirl. I read an article in one of the weekend papers months ago that talked about "Kidults".. women in their 30's used ipods, and techy phones, listerned to top 10 music and shopped at sportsgirl when they shouldn't! - dressing as teenagers... I hope that I don't! The article basically told you to act your age.
• This week jack took holidays from his day job as a agronomist to work in a header for a week. He had fun!
• Had an information night at Emilie's school on Wednesday night. I was fighting back tears. When they started talking about pencil tins and lunch orders, it all became a little too real for me!
• I put in for a grant with the ABB for our kindergarten earlier this year (with many others.. I have been kicking arse this year with my grant applications...) anyway... when I picked up the kids from kinder on Friday there was a PALLET of resources for the kids to use! It was like Christmas... over $2000 worth of stuff for the kids! Just as well I have another kid going to kinder next year who will use them!
• One of the instructors at gym isn't talking to me... not a nice environment to work out in... what did I do?? I showed a lady how to do an exercise that she was struggling with. The instructor jumped off the treadmill that she constantly seems to be on to spit at me something along the lines of that "perhaps you should take over as instructor and she should just leave.." with a screwed up face... like you could say something like that as a joke.. but she is a nasty piece of work this chick. The lady I was helping had been struggle for a few minutes with it, and the instructor was watching, but god forbid anything interrupting her workout! Anyway... she isn't talking to me and I have chosen to keep on going. MANY people have stopped going to the gym because of her attitude, but I need to go for me.. not her... scrag...
• I have resown my back lawn this week. We got a dam fill and WE HAVE WATER!!! yeehah! So Jack and I have been watering and hopefully by the end of summer we will have a nice lawn again!
• Had APEX Christmas party last night... a bus trip to the Little Desert lodge. (where the picture of the fire was in a previous post) Funny story... A little gross if you are eating..) there was three different Christmas parties on at the same time and in the group of tables beside us, there was a bloke who was pissed to the eyeballs when we got there. They served entree, this bloke (who was sitting beside the boss) spewed into his meal!!!!! noice... very noice...
• My sister is home for the next 6 weeks before she moves to Tasmania. She works for KPMG and her boyfriend just finished uni, is a mechanical engineer, got a job for Rio Tinto in Launceston. So, they move on my birthday (7th Jan). they have brought a house that has a granny flat out the back, so our next holiday will be to tas.
• Just had a call from jack, they are cutting up sheep and they need my help... yuck! Twice a year they do a huge kill and butcher. 24 lambs this time. I better go and take my freezer bags!

my body....

Time for a body update post...
With three weeks left of my challenge, time to give you a little bit of an update...

Weight - down by 2.3kg
Chest - Down by 6cm
Waist - down by 6cm
Hips - down by 8cm
Thighs - Down by 4cm

So.. HAPPY with this so far...

Over the past week I have been involved with a little self-imposed experiment that I am going to call "Project Sodium"....

Over the past week or so I have weighed each day (I don't normally do this) and with Calorie King, I have tracked my sodium intake and firstly discovered a LOT of sodium hidden in so many foods and drinks... (usually processed foods - perfect example is corn flakes, they use salt to process the corn which results in a serving of 30 grams of these have 246mg of sodium!!! FFS and more sodium than the same size serving of potato chips - 138mg sodium!!)

Anyway... my weight chart pretty much followed the sodium intake chart... when I had high sodium in my diet, my weight the next day was higher!

Fluid retention sucks... I have reviewed my diet and found where most of the hidden sodium lies (coke zero was one) and reduced my intake further! Project sodium will continue... just from personal interest point of view.. interesting how the body works hey!

Anyway... harvest is going well! I am a Little tired today. Jack came in last at about 9.30pm, earliest he has been in all week, and heads to bed early! Great.. a little catch up!! But no... he heads back out to the header at 2am!!!!!! Got home a little after 7 to find all three of his kids riding bikes int he drive way while their mother is still asleep !

have a great day!

Big fire in little desert...

Impressed????
These photos where just taken prior to sunset by my neighbour from the front gate!... freaky grey sky that is all smoke!

I do a 'proper' post soon.. just busy with harvest..just having tea myself now (9pm)!! Late for me!

Busy days...

Just a real quick photo post... header has pulled into our barley... Jack... in the header
Jack and his support crew... and yep! You can fit a family of five in a case header
Emilie climbing up!

And Emilie had her first orientation day at primary school.. her at the gate. I was the mother with tears hiding behind my sunnies...

have a great weekend!

To eat like a child....

My middle child in sitting on the couch, rubbing her tummy telling me that she ate to much breakfast, I am sitting here admiring her intuition on how she interrupts how her belly feels...

If only we could all get that back, i think we would be a thinner and healthier society!

Little Laura asked for Pancakes for breakfast this morning, she wanted two, one yellow and one brown (a little burnt.. - do you know how hard it is to burn a pancake when you are trying to??) with Golden syrup.

I made my little possum her request and she ate almost all of them, leaving maybe half a pancake. Many mothers would insist that she finish her plate off.. "come on there girly.. I just made all of this mess for your pancakes, the least you can do is eat it all!"

But, Laura knows when to stop, when her tummy is full! Most adults would ignore this feeling and just keep on eating, because they taste nice or the effort that went into making them, or "I might be hungry later"

Who am I to override her own hungry signals... I really hope she can kept them!

Remembrance Day

In 1915, Major John McCrae, brigade-surgeon, First Brigade Canadian Forces Artillery, was working in a dressing station on the front line to the north of Ieper, Belgium, when he wrote In Flanders Fields:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved,

and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;

To you, from failing hands, we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

In 1918 Moira Michael, an American, wrote a poem in reply, We shall keep the faith, in which she promised to wear a poppy 'in honour of our dead' and so began the tradition of wearing a poppy in remembrance.

.....
.......


It isn't even half way through November and the headers are rolling into paddocks! This is early but it will be well and truely over before chirstmas, so that is great!

Jack is like the local spare at harvest time... when ever someone needs an extra pair of hands Jack is called upon! So, hense, he has spent his weekend in a header for friends of ours. Hughie spent a couple of hours in there with him yesterday afternoon after swimming then we had tea (the kids and I ) with the wife of the farmer Jack was helping out.



This is quite usual over harvest, the wives get together and feed the kids and have a few drinks while their husbands work.. sort of breaks it up a little for the harvest widows!

The header will pull into our crops tomorrow sometime, so will post photos.

I started the day with a nice walk, before Jack left. Well, it was nice until my neighbour scared the shit out of me.. curse the MP3 player...

OK... time to clean!

We've been makin' hay...

You have to say my heading with a country twang... while chewing a piece of grass....

Just a quick post with some photos of what has been going on here! Jack and his dad have been busy making hay (HUGE bales between 600 - 800kg each) and stacking hay!

The kids sitting on the back of the old truck we used to stack the hay...
Sitting in the shade of the hay stack, Pardie (Jack's Dad) and the kids
Jack with his 2IC.. hugh loves driving the tractor
Pardie.. a little puffed! He is flying home in the morning.. for a break!
The final stack!

Have been flat out! Will be back with more soon... and Jules.. I had to laugh at the McLeod's daughter comment! It is as flat as a pancake here! Not a hill in site.. or a horse for that matter!!! Much prettier at "Drovers run"!

Rain and road side assistance.....

For all of your roadside assistance, please call 1800 JACK!!!

Not once, but twice! Jack had to come to my rescue over the weekend! I am so lucky he gets a laugh at my expensive!

It all started with the rain that I spoke about in my previous post! We DID get rain... quite a bit (just over a inch for those playing at home...) and it came down quite quickly! Here is our front drive.. it has been as dry as chips (that is just for you chris :-) for months and months then it hits hard with hail... the works! You would think that I would be excited that it FINALLY decided to rain, but with thousand of dollars of hay on the ground... I was so worried that it would be fucked. And then it hailed!!! When crop is ripe (which ours is) hail can knock the seed from the plant and your yield is reduced. Lucky for us, the hail didn't hang around long.

Anyway, back to my road side assistance. Jack was helping out in a shearing at our neighbours and after the rain had passed, went to take the kids down for a look, but I didn't quite get there. I took out normal 'short-cut' not thinking twice about the state of the road and I got bogged! I slid for about 50 or 60 metres before coming to rest at the side of the road. You can see how close I was to a tree.. and yes.. i did have my ute in 4wd!So I tried to get it out myself, but with the three little kids, I decided to call Jack to come to my rescue! He nearly got suck himself, but eventually got me out.

No need to ask how I spent my next hour... cleaning the mud off the ute before it set! The blokes in the shearing shed had a great laugh at my expensive, wanting to know why it took me 2 hours to get to the shed from home...

My second roadside assistance call wasn't really my fault! Yesterday morning i packed and got ready for the fun run In horsham. Jack's dad is flying into the Horsham airport tomorrow, so I was taking a spare ute over to Horsham so he could get back to us tomorrow. Anyway, the ute needed fuel and on my way into town before heading to Horsham I ran out of fuel!!!!! So Jack, bless him, raced into town and towed me the km to the fuel station. Filled up but by this stage it was pissing down again and I decided that it was too wet to run.. so I pulled the pin! Back home again and went over to Horsham a little later and left the ute at the airport for FIL...

The hay.. well, jack has just left to rack it! Fingers and toes crossed that it isn't too wet. Poor jack will be pulling an all nighter and hopefully they will be able to bale sometime tomorrow! It will be one less thing to worry about with that gone!

My PT is doing me a new program.. about time!!! so will be busting to get to gym on Wed! I am going to work more on strength and resistance training at gym and continue cardio at home! I can only get to gym twice a week, with the kids schedule, so it will work for me.

OK... time to get kids to bed!

Happy Birthday Hughie....

My baby.. 3 days old in this picture... notice his black curls.. they soon fell out and was replaced my his blonde mop!
At Granny's today.. granny thinks that she is so funny. When any of us has a birthday, she buys a cake from safeway and pretends that she made it... funny granny... really funny....
Hugh with his "Paddock John Deere Cake" at playgroup yesterday...half the paddock is ploughed up..

My little man turned three this morning... and telling anyone that will listen!!! it took he several days to work out how to hold just three fingers up, without the pinkie sticking up!!

we went out for tea last night and he didn't get to bed until after 10, so the girls woke him to get him to open his presents!! He was a very excited boy!!

Then we headed over to Horsham for swimming and lunch with Mum... little man is asleep at the moment. Resting.. neighbours are shearing, so once he is awake I have to take him over to watch. A perfect day for him!

Rain.... today... on the way back from Horsham, we drove through the HEAVIEST fall of rain I think I have seen all year. Both Jack and I thought Shit... just when we don't need it to rain, it friggin' pisses down. We have hay on the ground that is nearly ready to bale and it is gets too wet, it gets downgraded and not worth as much. But, getting closer to home and it is as dry as chips!!! Fingers and toes crossed for once, we hope that it DOESN'T rain too much. I can still hear thunder...

If the weather is good there is a fun run in Horsham tomorrow morning and I hope to head over for it. Will post if I do!

Last night at tea, we had wood fired pizzas with a salad.. a came home and entered it all into Calorie king and in the reports it told me that "an average person could expect to maintain there weight with what I eat and did for the day".. so I thought.. I wonder what it would tell me if I ate crap... so I entered...

- Toast (full fat marg & vegemite)

- McDonalds Egg & Bacon meal (muffin, hash brown & Coffee)

- Hungry Jack's Whopper Meal (burger, fried and DIET coke...)

-KFC two piece feast

-Two large slices of Cheesecake shop cheesecake...

And the result...

3413 caloires eaten for the day "On a average person these figures would lead to a gain of 6.5kg over the next month..."

That wouldn't be so bad if I didn't actually once eat all of that IN ONE DAY!!!! I went to Ballarat with a friend for a day shopping (several years ago.. just prior to starting WW) and that is what we ate! I can't remember the snacks, but I have a feeling a couple of packets of Starburst lollies where also consumed!

yucko...

"If not dieting, than what" has me thinking a lot.. about guilt associated with food... will talk more once I have finished the book!

I shouldn't have said too much about the rain.. just started again now.. just not as heavy! At least I will have more rain water!

HRM...

It arrived!!!!! I dragged jack through the streets of Melbourne on our lightening visit over the weekend looking for this... couldn't find one. Got home and googled it Monday morning and brought it online and it was here yesterday!

The reason I wanted this one??? It doesn't need a chest strap... and being to obsessive person that I am, I wouldn't want to take if off. I can remember going to a wedding once and strapping my pedometer into my handbag... just to count the steps I took there..** I KNOW.. I just said that I am obsessive**

But, I couldn't go to gym yesterday!! The two little ones go to occasional care here on a Wednesday morning. I pulled up out the front and one of the girls that looks after the kids was out the front, letting us know that the session was cancelled.

Fair enough... sure... I have been going there for nearly five years and this is the first time this has happened... how can I go to gym with the kids... can't...

I was a little pissed, then the centre manager came out to let me know that one of the carers collapsed while setting up.... she is ok... but I bundled my tribe back up and went home!

So, i couldn't give my HRM a workout there and then. I put the kids down for a nap in the arvo and couldn't wait any longer.. put them on their bikes and I ran while they rode. I should take a picture of this one day.. fuck it looks funny! Little Hughie plays games with me and pretends that be can't ride any further, so I jog back to him and as soon as I get close he gives me the biggest smile and takes off! And Laura.. middle child, she loves wearing skirts.. and long ones most of the time.. or princess dresses. My mum taught her to tuck her skirt of dress into her undies so it doesn't get caught in the wheels or chain.... great look!

So managed to get in my training zone!! cool and very happy with it!

The book.. "If not dieting, then what?" also arrived (finally) and have read a few chapters of it. The fitnation course refers to it, as well as several bloggers, so thought it might be worth the read. Will post about it soon!

And my other exciting discovery.. Calorie king... Thanks to CKK... it is so cool! I have downloaded the Australian version of the program (after initially downloading the US version) and it so cool.

**just re-read my post and I post about CK and If not dieting, then what? in the same post... ha ha ha**

Tried to bale hay yesterday but the moisture is still up at 18%, so it will be another few days before they will try again and harvest is going to be going in about a week as well! Busy times, but I guess it will be over quickly again!

My baby turns three on Saturday... little Hughie... so a party at playgroup and after swimming on Saturday, McDonald's for lunch and mum is making him another cake! Little monster...

Back soon...

Totally Fab.....

Thanks Bri (private) for my award!!!! She has given me my first award as a blogger!!! The deal is that I now pass the award on to five other totally Fabulous bloggers!

This is so hard... but the one blogger that I get excited each time I see that she has posted is Beck! I think at times that woman has been to the moon and back in her short lifetime, but she is an amazing woman and a terrific mother!!!

Then we have the fit and fabulous Lia!!! CHECK OUT THIS BLOG!!!! Her determination and organisial skill are truly fab!

And our running bunny Kathryn.. man .. this woman can write! Not often i read one of her posts and not get a laugh!

God this is hard to only pick five... I love reading about all of you guys... but moving on...

I would have to mention Kate (Private).. see was one of the first blogs that I started to read. A beautiful person and mother... truly a Fab blogger

and finally.. Kerry... she is also a country gal, stricken by the drought! Quite often I can read her posts and totally understand the stresses of her life!

Now.. if CKK still blogged she would be up there!!! and there are so many more... but these are my five!

So Girls, if you haven't already done this, award five blogging awards yourself with a link to the blogs!


In other news, i think that I am finally getting over this frickin' cold! totally sucks blowing your nose for a fortnight.. but i think that it is slowing down. I haven't missed any training sessions, but man.. yesterday it was so hard. I laid down on a mat for 'mummy tummy time' and put my towel over my head and just laid quietly for 10 minutes.. with my eyes closed!!!! I had only had about 5 hours sleep and just needed a little me time!

The night prior I went to horsham for a fundraiser for breast cancer and saw "No reservation" with Catherine Zeta-Jones in it.. not a bad chick flick at all... tonight I have a dinner for jack's work and tomorrow night we are going to a production in Horsham of "Bye Bye Birdie". So, another two late nights and then first thing Saturday morning we are heading to Melbourne for my sister-in-laws 40th birthday party. Jack might be making hay over the weekend, so it may be just me and the kids.

The ball has started to roll with kinder enrolements for next year, with my little Laura. It looks like she will have 16 hours a week of kinder next year. Due to the low numbers of kids, they might going to offer 'user pay' session for an extra day a week. This will bring her kinder fee up over $900 a year.. taking me a little bit to get my head around that. If you have a health care card, the government gives the kinder a grant of over $700 to cover the fees.. huge difference!!! anyway... moving on.. nothing I can do about it!

Scales... finally seeing some movement of my holiday binge fat moving on! Back to almost normal weight again ! I am also being addicted to facebook again.. just worked out how to search for people!

Ok.. this isn't getting the housework done and I need to finish off an assignment today sometime, so must be off like a Jewish foreskin...

These are a few of my favorite things....

Do others here read "Slimming & health"... and flick to the back page where they look into the shopping basket of some 'famous' person... well I am not famous, but here are some of my favorite shopping items...

Bakers Delight Cape seed Bread - my god girls, if you haven't been converted, do yourself a favour and try this bread... very nutty and a low GI! Nothing else compares when it comes to bread!

Fantastic chicken favoured Rice crackers - I know they are boring, but all the same a real staple for me! Sometimes I put a little of that extra light philly cheese with a gherkin (yummo!)

PUMPKIN - LOVE IT!!! Would eat an entire pumpkin a week - roasted with chili and penne pasta is my favorite at the moment... but I use it all the time!

Walnuts - I only started eating these recently! I don't eat fish.. (HATE IT!) so these little babies have a heap of Omega - 3 - just what my brain needs. I usually have a small handful with my muesli in the morning (no milk on my cereal.. don't really like plain old milk either..)

Earth Cleaning Products - No.. I am not a tree -hugging hippy greenie (nothing wrong with being a Greenie btw..) but we pump all of our household waste water (not the toilet) back onto our garden.. these products are friendly to my lawn!

Fresh Pineapple - I am not sure if it is a load of shit, but I only buy pineapples that I can pull the leaves from the top with ease??? Any one confirm this ripeness test?? But love them!

WW Sour cream - Always have it in the fridge! I use a mix of half this and half fat free mayo for a dressing for potato salad (just potato and spring onions and dressing) and I also make a pizza where you put pizza sauce, a layer of thinly sliced potato, ham, onion and cheese - cook then put sour cream and sweet chilli sauce on the pizza once cooked!

Fabric Softener - I have a front loading washing machine - if I don't use fabric softener, my clothes are as hard as cardboard!

Avocado - On a premium fat free crackers with cracked pepper... yummo...

REV Milk - We only drink REV! If we go somewhere for a coffee and they use other milk.. we can tell!

Coffee - We drink Moccona or sometimes I get necafe "Nuvo" (half caf) coffee.. if you are going to drink it.. it might as well be worth drinking

Coke Zero - this is more for Jack, then me! But we go through A LOT of coke zero! the kids have some over the weekend, but most of the time it is Jack!

So, girls.. I am looking for new items to include in my shopping trolley... Share with me some of your favorite things!

Golf anyone!!

I have just returned from cooking a BBQ at a "golf day' for some of Jack's clients. I smell like burnt sausages and my skin is sticky from the fat that was splattering on me while I cooked a huge amount of cow...

I am not sure if this is just a country thing, but a 'golf day' is you invite all of your good clients to a 'free' golf day where they play golf (like derrr), eat and drink - all paid for my a company (in this case my who my Husband works for...) They have eskys with beer at each tee off... I really don't think that golf is the main reason for the day!!

Usually they come home in a bad state, as too many ales have been drunk, but a great day all the same! the Local golf club must love these days!! They will have to keep the bar well stocked! But... can anyone tell me why people tend to eat and drink more if it is free??? You wouldn't be any more hungry or thirsty, just because it is free??

The two little kids and i did I lap of the creek (bed... no water in it..) this morning instead of playgroup. They are all resting now, but swimming in the morning, I am working in the afternoon taking photos for the paper and I think that is about it!

Next weekend we are heading to Melbourne for my sister-in-laws 40th! It was going to be in Bendigo, but last minute change of plans, it was changed to Melbourne (where they live) But i will get to see my little nephew again!!!!!

Okey dokey.. better go!

Choices: I had a steak sanda for lunch.. left the sausages and hamburgers for the 'golfers'
ciao..

feeling better.... much better...

One of the guys that we went away with sent over a CD with some photos on it from our Morgan holiday.. here are some!

This is the group!!! Ben and his son had gone home by this stage... but almost all of us! This was taken at Monash Adventure park..
Little Laura.. isn't she beautiful!
Hugh & Sam... observing the skiing operations! You should have heard the encouragement that they where yelling out.. so funny!!
Little Hughie... "talk to my agent"..is what his t shirt says... and yes.. he has had a trim since this photo was taken!!!

My post was just gobbled up, post! Hope I can remember what I had written!





I am feeling better, just a runny nose and cough left! I think i am lucky just to have had a cold, another round of gastro is going around again!





Anyway, I am very happy with my food choices and exercise this week, so far. I have clocked up over 15,000 steps each day, apart from Tuesday (the day i went back to bed..)





I am in love with oranges at the moment... I have always liked them, but I think I always thought that they where messy to eat!! But, I have been cutting them up in a bowl and eating them like a lady with a fork.. and I am in love with them again! I am 'almost' eating all of my food groups each day, but I seem to struggle with dairy! I am not a great fan of yogurt and I don't each cheese each day.. something that I will work on! Drinking at least 2 litres of water a day as well... nice when things become easy and not a struggle!

I also looks like we are going to be getting a Dam fill... Our domestic water is supplied by a channel filled dam, but since the stores have been so low, it looked like we weren't going to get a dam fill again. We didn't get one last year and we had to tanker in water for the house and stock! Will believe it when the channel has water in it, but it should be on it's way. It will be the last time that the channel system will run! The famous pipeline should be operational by next year.

okay, I better go and get tea organised. Chat soon...

Thanks girls....

Thank you all for your comments!!!! I was totlaly shocked by the comment made to me!!! Not quite over it yet, but sure I will soon forget!!!

I have had a couple of really great days of exercise... a little sore even today after gym yesterday, but today I have hit the wall with a head cold! I really just want crawl back into bed and sleep, but three little people think otherwise!

Will post more soon... bout to go backto bed... just for a few minutes!

Thanks again ladies...

Are you expecting????

What the fuck???

At one of the parties I went to yesterday, a 'friend' asked if I was expecting another child!!!!!

Get fucked!!!

Fat days...

If you are looking to be inspired.. I think it best that you quietly move on and come back tomorrow!! A sook about to happen...

I am having a fat day!!! I don't often have them, but today I FEEL FAT!!!

i started with hardly any sleep due to a cold that has appeared from no where.. sore throat, running nose and could sleep.. tossed and turned most of the night.

But I still got up and went to Horsham for the kids swimming. But Before swimming, I thought I better pop into WW for a monthly weighin (i am 2 months off WW Lifetime GOLD membership) and i have friggin' put on 1.7kg in a month!!!! (i know that I have been on holidays.. but come on!!!!! I have been a saint since I got home!!)

I haven't been this heavy in 2 friggin years!!!!!!! Pissed with myself.. very pissed~! But I ate the food so I am going to have to work it off!

Then I went swimming... I am still self-conscious in swimming gear.. just not the day for it!

Anyway... whinge over and nothing to do but move my arse again to lose it again.

I have to follow Emilie to two birthday parties tomorrow, so in the morning the first one is at Brim, so I will walk for 90 minutes while the party is on and a quick costume change at a friends in town so she is right to go to the zombie party in the afternoon!

Feeding 13 for tea tonight.. must move on and get washing off line before they arrive!

I survived....

the Warracknabeal Local show.. but only!!!

I really believe that you can't beat a good old country show! The ladies that bake for a week, grow flowers, vegetables and knit, just for the glory of winning at the show. Sheaf tossing, shearing.. all good old country stuff! All of the poultry lined up, and ribbons hanging from cages. The work that the school kids do, just for the show as well!!! they must do it for the glory, because the $2.00 prize money isn't enough to suck me in!

And the carnies... they are special... really special...

Kids had fun, but Hugh had enough and cried all of the way to the car.. asleep even before we left the carpark!

The funniest thing I saw all day was the "Little Miss and Master tiny Tot" - the stage mothers where priceless!!!!!!! Totally!! And the mutterings from the crowd! "She had a nicer dress on in Murtoa..." "She cried her lungs out last year.." and the mothers trying to get the kids to do bows from the sidelines... I hereby announce that my children will NEVER step foot on that stage!!! couldn't do it to them! And we all know that they would win.. and that wouldn't be fair to the other kids :)

Choices: I had morning tea (fruit) at home before we went and then I just ate a steak sandwich there.... no dagwood dog for me!!! No Donuts, no fairy floss... just one steak sandwich and a coffee... I also did 20 minutes quick exercise before I left.. just cos I had the time!

Yeah, he is cute.....

But really.. it is just as well....

My son has just broken a window in the lounge room. He isn't quite three yet!! He threw a book and cracked it! He just looked at me a smiled! Thinking, that will melt mum's heart.. didn't work!

This is after, only this morning, we brought new plants for the vegie patch at kindergarden to replace the ones that he destroyed before term break..

and after we had new footings poured (small concrete slabs) for our new shed to be bolted to and out of the 12, 10 now two Hugh sized foot prints in them. I have kept his little socks that he had on at the time (found them outside) they set hard from the concrete.. will present them to him on his 21st.

That is the most recent incidents.. so it is just as well as he is cute.. and that we do love the little shit!

I had a great session at Gym today, but I didn't cool down as I had to wizz home again to get some paperwork for our hay contract, so VERY sore! Getting quicker for longer on treadmill and finding weights that I am lifting easier.. so might be time to step it up again.

Warracknabeal Show tomorrow.. I usually HATE it because it is a feral day, kids and weather wise, but this year is going to be different. This is the first time that I don't have to drag a pram through sand to get around... and in the past I have been either :-

a. - Pregnant
b. Baby in Pram and Pregnant
c. two babies in twin pram and VERY pregnant
d. Three babies pouring out of twin pram
c. Two girls running away from mother trying to push pram through sand
d. 43 degree temp followed by dust strom..

So, this year will be different. Jack is on the spinning wheel for APEX, so it is the one time that Jack can't help. Will report in tomorrow with photos.. but fingers crossed, it will be better!

Choices: I chose to take in an apple for morning tea in town, instead of my usual herb scone. I watched them make these scones last week and I was SHOCKED with the amount of cream that went into them... fine if it is a once in a while.. but I have, at times, had three or so a week!!! They don't offer much else. On Monday I asked them to make a small chicken salad for me. (We only have one cafe in town.. other then two bakeries that aren't that food friendly..)

Catching my breath...

To say that we hit the ground running would be a total understatement!!! Once home last week.. only today have we had a chance to catch up a little!!

In recap... our holiday was brilliant!!! We went away with a heap of Jack's mates from Ag school, they are home all over SA and it was brilliant! All of the kids met for the first time (from 13 to 6 months old... 13 kids in total!) and we didn't get to bed before 2am for 5 nights in a row! Haven't laughed so hard in a lonnngg time! All being from farming land, they all needed it!

Watched the grand final.. well didn't really watch it after half time, one of the worse games I have watched all year. I loved that Geelong won (being a cats supporter) but it could have been a better game!

I got a heap of exercise while away. Morgan has lots of hills, so a little challenging at the same time! The first morning I took off on my own and started running down by the river.. but no paths so I ran through the caravan park and up on a dirt track. It was quite early (before 7am) and I had my mp3 player going in my ears. Next thing you know, friggin' 6 track motor bikes come belting past me. Scared the crap out of me, but i was walking on a motorbike track!!

Kids also had a ball making new friends! We are planning to catch up each year for a little holiday together!

Now.. my food choices could have been a little better while away and the only day that I did really let go was grand final day, but I still managed to exercise each day!

The scales did go up over a kilo, but this morning I am happy to see back to what they where before we left!
Some photos...

Jack sitting on the edge of the speed boat!
Hugh, pretending to drive the boat
the girls "dog paddling" in the deep deep water with life jackets
Hugh and I observing in the boat.
Laura trying to get warm after a swim!

It was great for the guys to all get together and talk about the season and just de-stress!!! I really don't think that many people, not living in rural areas fully appreciate the situation that many farmers are in. I won't get on my soap box, but I couldn't believe that they are relenting the water restriction in Adelaide (they can now water for 3 hours on day a weekend) and yet some of the fruit growers in the Riverland have to watch their crops dry because of the water restrictions.

When we got home, Jack had a shower and went to work. I loaded the washing machine (that really hasn't stopped since) and our two main water tanks where empty. We are down to our 'reserve tank' of water for the house. Our dam wasn't filled last year and we had to cart tanker loads of water in and it looks like the same situation is going to occur this year.

Jack spent the last three days cutting our wheat crop down for hay. Usually, wheat is grown for seed and harvested, but with the season turning as pear shape has it has, Jack had to make the call to cut some of our crop down, bale it up for hay. Bless Jack's little heart, he felt sick to the stomach and was shaking when he pulled into the paddock, just couldn't believe that he was cutting down such a great looking crop. Not sure if he had made the right decision, but a couple of laps in he saw more and more white tips.. heads of the wheat plant (where the grain is) had filled 3/4 of the head and the top had died.. so it was the right decision. Jack finished late last night and now we just have to let it cure, then bale and hopefully sell directly out of the paddock.

This was taken yesterday.. jack cutting his crop.

I think the reason this season is worse for a different reason than last year is because the season just looked so so promising. We spread urea and entered grain contracts. (Grain contracts is when you forward sell some of your grain from harvest, locking in good prices) But many farmers have had to "wash out" (at a cost) contracts because they aren't going to be able to supply the grain at harvest, because the season has gone to shit. I could not have imagined the season turning the way it has.

Anyway... moving on..

My Challenge.. I think I will totally forget that week and say that I am in week two still (cheeky i know.. but I make the rules...)

So.. since arriving home I have been eating well and exercising as I should. I have gone back to not eating after 7.30 at night. (hard on holidays when we don't have tea till 9pm!!)

My water has been great.. having no trouble in downing at least 2 litres a day with no challenge.

Headed into Gym yesterday and I was very pleased to see that they are going to keep on going until 30th April next year. I am also a little sore from Gym... cracked a new recorded speed for rower... yeah me!

Anyway... I have to head into playgroup this morning. We have just had a new kitchen installed. for two years I sought out funding to play for it and it is finally done!!

till later

K

Home again...

I am puffed... Didn't get to bed before 2am for 5 nights in a row but we had a ball! I will post some photos soon but we are home... Came home tanned and two suitcases full of washing!

Will be back shortly.. I need to catch up on over 200 posts (thanks to google reader..)

Flash Back Friday...

Well.. Wednesday night anyway... I have another post under this.. so scroll down once you have a laugh!

My bestest (that is a word!!!) friend Monica... I have spoken about her before.. but we have been friends since birth!! This was taken at her 21st!! She is nearly 30 as well! She is the total opposite of me.. but it works!!! We have never argued!!
Yes.. this is my Hen's night... I re framed from posting a photo of the stripper, but if demand is there I will post a photo!!! ;-) I am handcuffed to a wheel chair in fuckin' under ware! Beautiful... really beautiful... that is my sister pushing me around! I think the chair came from the hospital?? Not sure (mum is a nurse) My sister looks so young ! Is was just 18!
OK.. STOP FUCKING LAUGHING!! I did the mullet and it didn't work!! Ok.. and I guess crimped hair didn't really work either?? And what is with that fuckin' bow! My god.. what was my mother thinking! School photo from about 1986?? 85?? We went to primary school in the bronx (thanks to zoning...) but I guess the upside was we where the best dressed kids in the school and we had both parents still living under the one roof. I remember my sister coming home from school once asking my mum to get a "Step-dad" for her...
Taken and Jack's brothers wedding! Jack and I had just gotten engaged at this stage! One of the hottest day I can remember!! Followed very closely by our own wedding.. (those photos aren't far away!!0
4wd trip at the south east of South Australia.. my car that I loved! Just realised I have missed an album... the reason we bought the new car.. the photos of my old car on it's roof! I was about 70kg here... I had to sell that car because I couldn't fit three kids across the back seat with the twin pram that I had!
Photo of me at Naracoorte about 99?? We won the a grade netball premiership. We weren't that great but we had a great shooter..(OK... fringes don't work either)
This is Jack's parents house (Bless their hearts.. don't know how they live up there..) that little head bobbing in the water is Jack.. just coming off ski's... (1997??) that is where we are heading tomorrow night (after jack's finishes work).

On fire....

That is how I feel... Example.. not even seven thirty in the morning, but the house is clean, washing line full and things are falling into place for yet another great day!

A day of organising and baking. We are heading away on holidays tomorrow, so need to pack etc.!

We have a hay cutter coming to our block this morning to have a look at our wheat! Sadly, i think it is coming down for hay and not be harvested! Pity.. the crop looks fantastic! But Jack doesn't think the season will be able to finish it off! Hard call to make, but I guess that ball is in jack's court (He is an agronomist) I think the crop will come down while we are away, so we don't have to watch it!!

So.. a week away... I might be able to post at Paringa when we get back to jack's folks house, but they have dial up and I have no patience...

BUSY.. weekend! The Wimmera Grand final was on here in Warracknabeal on Saturday. jack was on the gate all day for APEX and I took photos all day for the paper! Sunday.. more photos.. vote count and Monday was spent in Horsham.

I went to the new YMCA gym in Horsham and was almost in heaven! Very cool and a heap of fun! Bit sore yesterday, using different machines .

So... today will be spent baking a orange cake, chocolate cake and the WW sticky date pudding (3 pts a serve).. popping them into the freezer to keep them fresh until we arrive in Morgan on Friday!

Hugh.. looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, but he was just washing his hands because he had ripped out Kindergarten vegie patch... yeah cute... really cute!! He has my grandmother totally bluffed. When she was here last week, he was kissing her and cuddling her, she was lapping up the attention, but the entire time he is doing this, he has one eye on my Mum, looking for a reaction from Mum.. little shit.

My beautiful girls... this is at the football on Saturday. So many people ask me if I have hundreds of photos of my kids and I do.. but I LOVE this one! In both this photos my kids are dressed from TOFI... (new season stuff in and they sell ESPRIT online now as well...)

Have a great little weight loss victory story to share. Before Christmas I went shopping with a friend for some pants and a top. My dear friend has to most gentle of souls and would do ANYTHING for you! Anyway.. shopping brought size 24 clothes for her. Last week we went shopping and brought her size 12!!!!! She went to a wedding in March after Christmas and she was so shocked with the photos, she did something about it! She was 104.9kg and now weighs 67kg. She hasn't used any program, but watched what she ate and very very determined! She look fantastic!!!! She gets it.. she will never get back to that size! But.. living in a small town she has been getting some nasty comments.. "I heard that your husband was looking to stray.. great that would lost some weight so he won't".."Yeah you where fat before".. "I heard that you weren't eating anymore.. are you sick?" Some might have been said in jest, but all hurt. I have said this before, that people never comment on your weight before you lose the weight.. why do they think it is up for open conversation once you have? A simple "You look fantastic!" is a compliment and acknowledgement of efforts without it also being a slap in the face at the same time! Yesterday, I dropped off a clothing store voucher for her. She will have to replace her entire warerobe. She still has a little more to lose, but she has two pairs of pants and three tops that fit! I am very proud of her!!!

WEEK ONE REPORT

Food: Definitely great and feeling great for it! I ate a lot more wholegrain foods and cutting out those nibbles at the end of the day made me feel very strong! (Strong with willpower that is!) I look more food was eaten and I drank more water!

Exercise: Great... pushed myself that little harder and feeling the benefits!

Choices: I was impressed with my own choices at Football! I ate a steak sandwich for lunch and ate apples for morning and afternoon tea!

This week will present some challenges, but none that I can't handle. I will not be able to get to Gym, but will have plenty of opportunity for extra exercise. I also will have to deal with not cooking meals, but that shouldn't be too hard either. My biggest hurdle for the weekend will be GRAND FINAL DAY!!!! YEEEAHHHH GOOOOO CATS!!!! there will be a lot of chips and beer to be drunk and I do intend on enjoying the day! I have my five year old converted. She was leaning towards collingwood..but has swapped team! My main hurdle with the game on Saturday is spending the weekend with 4 other families.. all from SOUTH AUSTRALIA and my husband is also from SA... so this situation COULD be dangerous!

So.. If you don't hear from me for a week, perhaps you might want to send a serach party to Morgan.. I might be hung up by my ankles from a tree, by my geelong scarf!

Stop, look, listen & think!!!

My lesson for you all for the day...

It all started off well... i had to drop into Kinder this morning with the other two kids quickly to drop off some CD's for another mother and our kinder teacher... When i arrived the bloke from the "Tingle Toodle" (road safety education program with Vic Roads) was there and our director was looking for a 'helper' for Tingle Toodle...

sure I say.. no probs...

Next thing you know I am dressed from head to toe is this huge costume, trying not to laugh (cos Tingle Toodle doesn't talk.. just uses hand signs).. sweat was pouring off me after 15 minutes of high-fiveing, cuddling and helping them "stop, look, listen and think..."

Friggin' funny! there are photos... will have to get off kinder camera to share! Here is the photo of my grandparents (Dick.. my Dad's dad and Old Nannie my Mum's mum) with Emilie. It was great for Dick and Nanna to catch up as well. Nanna lives in Ballarat now, dick is still in Hopetoun (just turned 90).



The girls (my fairies) and me!

Choices

food: made a beautiful pot of soup for lunch for Nanna and Mum... tea could have quite easily been take-away.. but made pasta instead!!

Exercises: No planned exercise. but still a very active day!

choices: I choose to leave the left over cake at Kindergarten yesterday (from afternoon tea) there, so not tempted to eat it!

Choices...

I have received this email previously.. but means more at the moment!

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... You can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood." each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the>positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins..Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

He continued, "..the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'.

Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.' "He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Great little feel good email....

Yesterday was great!

FOOD: Great! Doing well... nice clean eating!

Exercise: I had a fantastic workout at the gym (little sore today - DOMS) and walked the streets to fill in time!

Choices: I did NOT to eat the chocolate that a mother brought to our playgroup meeting last night! Others mindlessly nibbled away at the maltesters and PODS... I just sipped my green tea!

Had Grandparents day a kinder today... Will post photos tomorrow. I got a little teary. My grandmother is getting old and walking with a walking stick.. made me sad, but I was so happy she was able to get down to see us again!

Anyway... gotta stir tea!

200th post!

WOW!!! that is cool.. dashboard just told me that I clicked up 200 posts!!! Cool.. who said I wouldn't last hey!!

Anyway...
Organising our holiday for next week... we are heading to Morgan in SA on the Murray river for a little holiday with friends of ours from SA... Terrific group of people (five families staying in two houses - 13 kids in total from 13 years to 4 months...) and been on the telephone organising food, keys pick up, TV's for the house to watch the AFL grand final etc.. getting very excited!

One friend, N, just lost her mother (like in the last two weeks..) so she is really looking forward to a break. She was saying for surreal the whole situation was after her mother passed. I am sure a few of you could relate to this. But she said she walked out of the hospital and there are still cars driving around, people walking past her... the world continues! She had to get fuel after leaving the hospital, and crying at the petrol station, she just couldn't believe the feeling of 'life going on'... thinking one of the biggest life moments has just happened, in losing her mother, and the world just didn't stop!

I was telling her about my old WW leader who lost her son last year (9 years old) and how she went and brought a huge block of chocolate while they removed his organs (for donation).. lining up in myers with her huge 'comfort' food... while people just continued to shop around her, oblivious to her personal situation... that her son would be gone by the time she got back to hospital.. surreal.. totally surreal..

Anyway... kicking some serious arse at the moment! the only thing that I tasted that was a little naughty was a little bit of the batter from my Orange cake (well.. I should say Kate's (private) orange cake...) Pushing myself harder at Gym.. ticking all of my little boxes!

Day 2
Food: Great (one lick of Orange cake batter the only sweet/fatty thing)
Exercise: got up at 6.15am and walked without my MP3 player , was flat, in the fuckin frost!
Choices: Organised my house so I could study without a nagging thought of the housework!

Picture of health....

that is what my Doctor told me yesterday....

That I am a total picture of health... blood sugar perfect, kidney and liver function perfect, hormones levels perfect, blood sugar perfect, iron levels perfect and my cholesterol was 3.1!!! Also.. I just need to watch my lumpy neck to see if they grow... Dr said that they don't seem like 'bad' lumps, but just need to watch them! I was very excited!!!

My Doctor then went on to ask about what sort of foods I ate and my exercise... "very good Kirsty.."

Even my blood is telling me that I am healthy!!!

So.. the weekend was VERY busy... I took photos all day Saturday for the hockey grand finals (both Warrack men & women won btw) and my in-laws where here on Saturday night. Went out for tea both Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday was spent trying to get some washing done, but it was wet (I am not complaining in the least). Yesterday, i left home at 8.20am and got home at 5.20pm! Busy day in town.

But...

With the modules that I am doing with Fitnation, has me so inspired, pumped or as Hayley (private) says I.AM.IN.THE.ZONE!!

Sometimes, when your head is in the right space, it just seems easier. I was a little stressed about my little lumps and once I knew that it was all ok.. head jumped back into five gear and the viewfinder became clearer again!

So... I have started the 12 week challenge. Took my measurements and photos last night and set some goals.

My goals are to have improved fitness levels (measurable)

Tighter and firmer body and lose the extra 2kg that I have been carrying over winter (another 1 or 2 would also be nice:)

How will I do this??

• I will NOT eat after 7.30pm at night.(that is my danger time.. tired and tend to eat while not hungry)
• Drink 1.5 litres of water a day
• Make healthy food choices
• Weight bearing exercise twice a week
• Cardio 3 times a week

I have made these rules not negotiable! I can bend them, I can't twist them to make them work for me.. they are my rules.. really.. rules for my life!

I know I will have some reader tut tut me for starting a challenge (because they don't believe in them etc...) but I know that my body could be firmer and tighter.. and I am going to do it!

Started 17th September and ends on the 10th December - I will measure each month and weight each week. Took photos at the start and will again take them at the end.

At the end of each post, i will (for my own use) journal the previous day (s) activities, food, choices etc..

Day one.. (84 days...)

Food - Spot on.. even ate my fruit for the day

Water - Yep

Activity - Gym (both weights and Cardio) 1 hour kids sport in the afternoon

Choices - I choose to have chicken and sweetcorn soup for lunch... delicious and wholesome!