Squillions of photos

Hi everyone, hope you are all sane in the midst of silly season!

Well today has been a big day already! As of a couple of hours ago, Damian is now officially a train driver! He is all qualified and raring to go. Everyone knew he would blitz it in, he studied and really jumped in 100% and today he is as proud as anything, we are really proud of him too. He has qualified in the quickest possible time, and his instructors are really impressed with him. He is having drinks at the pub this afternoon so I expect I'll be hearing from the dark womans handbag later this evening. (a story from his navy days)

Also today the preschoolers had a graduation party They all got called up to get a certificate - it was very cute.

Kylin has taken a liking to "standing" in the freezer to cool off, an enjoyable but short lived practice I can assure you.

His first bit of roughing up, just an accident that gave him a little shiner.

Saturday the 6th saw us at 3 kids parties, it was hot, damn hot, here's Kylin hangin with the boys at Jaelyns party. Godfather planted a beer on him for the shot.

Jazzmin was in party mode too and looked beautiful.

Here he is, little Jaelyn, one year old already. He is soooo cute.

Jazzmin and Kylin at Brodies party earlier that day.

The kids had a lovely time, Bindi n Dan did a great job setting everything up. Baylie even had his own fans clipped to his pram.

This is a hercules moth I found outside bowling last friday. Their wing span is 22 1/2 cms they are HUGE.

Kylin taking his mummy bear for a ride.

Oh now that's just silly!

Kylin loved santa again this year, he kept patting him and thought he was very soft. He is going to be a very tall boy me thinks!

We had the pleasure of a visit from Wayne and Dave who had come up from Woolongong for a navy meeting. Dan and Bindi and kids came over too and we had a good catch up, we miss them heaps, we hadn't seen them for ages.

Damian managed to get Madi into the pool for a swim, she loves it once she's in, catching her is the problem.

Another pic from Filiz's birthday dinner. Isn't she lush?

We got invited to the special kids christmas party put on by the variety club and golden casket. We had a fantastic time and Kylin was shattered by the end of it. He made friends with a couple of kids, loved the rides and got some really great toys too.

He drew a picture for santa and although he was a bit shy this time, he did give it to him and gave him a hug.

Last one, this is for all those who missed it. Venus, mercury and the moon smiling down on us a couple of weeks ago.

(I didn't take this shot I got it off the net the next day)

Hope you are all enjoying this time of year and not all bothered and stressed. Be good to yourselves and enjoy each other.

Love and hugs from us. xoxo

10 weeks till he starts school :o

Hi everyone, It's Casey news time........ We have been back a couple of times to see "Kylin's band" Jock sets up a mic stand for him now and the guys are allways happy to see him. Kylin n Brodie snuggling up to watch the night garden.
The mummies got to go out for dinner for Filiz's 40th birthday.
First time some of us had been out for ages, it was fab!
(Filiz has had her hair straightened if you're wondering why she looks so different.)
Whenever daddy comes home, we make him some yummy bread, Kylin loves to "keep an eye on it" as it mixes and proves.

I have started making our own wine, first batch was from a kit and although it is quite dark, it is a great success. Am getting adventurous now and making another batch from fruit, will see how that goes...........

Last Sunday Kylin and I went to the lagoon with Bindi, Dan and the boys, it was gorgeous. Poor Brodie got sick tho and we all went home, he has been very ill and lost a lot of weight poor thing, he is feeling a little better today so hopefully it'll all be uphill from here.

Here is the wench with Brodie n Kylin.

When Damian was home last time, we went on a spur of the moment fishing adventure. Kylin LOVED it and almost bounced, tigger like off the pier several times through pure excitement. Thankfully we had discussed catch and release on the way there because he thought we would keep the fish we caught as pets. He also thought the bait was a fish he'd caught so we didn't have to take the smelly bait home for a pet.

He flailed the "too big for him" fishing rod around madly causing daddy some angst, but no one got hurt. We stayed until it was dark and were getting ravaged by mosquitoes, who blatently ignored the "tropical strength" repelent we bathed in. It was great fun even tho we didn't catch anything.

Another band photo - Kylin just adores Jock.

Halloween dress up day at pre-school, and although mummy had visions of a little pirate, Kylin had other plans and insisted on going as a bee........just too cute!

Hmmmm didn't have time to race out the front for this shot. Amazing - it was like the end of the world or something. Day turned to night very quickly.

In other exciting news, I have been contacted by the bone marrow registry because I have come up as a preliminary match for someone needing a transplant. It's early days yet, I will need to do further tests to determine how closely I match the recipient. I have everything crossed that I am a good match and can donate. It's such an incredible feeling to think that I might be able to help someone like this.

Not sure yet if the patient needs marrow or stem cells, either way........wow!

We are all busy but well, Damian is home again on the 26th and before we know it, it will be christmas! Aaaarrrggghhh!

In case time gets away (and doesn't it always?)

Happy birthday to our December babies:

Vanessa H, Andrew B, Danny, Jaelyn, Mandy, Peter, River, Slag, Dermott, Carmel, Nic Z, Brodie, Richard, Pat, Andrew H, Renae, Ramona, Isabelle and Grant.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Enjoy the lead up to xmas with parties and stuff, be happy, be safe and we'll be back to bother you soon. xoxoxo

Hello lovely people

We haven't put anything on here for ages.......so i've just posted some random shots to let you know what we've been up to. I finally started playing with the digital camera and realised it does B&W and sepia too, so I've been playing...... Exciting news for those of you who don't know, Tony is getting married!! Tony and Tookta met toward the end of Tony's recent overseas trip, and it was love at first sight. This Friday the 24th he will fly to Thailand and they will be married in a traditional Thai service. Tookta will then accompany Tony back to Australia where they will then plan a second wedding sometime in February. Below is a copy of the invitation for the Thai service. Tookta photoshopped their images onto the clothes - very clever!
Here at last is a proper photo of Baylie, isn't he just angelic? I have no idea how his mother produces such beautiful children :p
Brodie and Baylie
helping daddy mow and whipper snip is really hard work!

The spare room has been turned into a mini "Sodor" and is a very busy place.
Daddy and Kylin playing on the flight simulator
I picked this house up from the op shop for $20. I had to assemble it and wallpaper it etc.(including furniture pictured here and about 20 other pieces which are beautifully made)

Kylin adores it.

In other news, my brother Peter, broke his back! An ATV he was riding flipped and crushed him. The handlebar gouged his hand as well. Long story short, he fractured his L1, toward the front of the spine (ie away from his spinal cord) He was incredibly lucky, and is grateful for every step he takes. He is obviously in pain and will be for a while, the healing process will be very slow. He is seeing a physio and the Drs are scanning him regularly for changes. Other than that...we are all well, we have started making our own wine so fingers crossed for that, and that's about it I think.
except.........
Happy birthday to our October babies:

Debbie, Bella, Alex, April, Lee, Mat, Damian B, Rosie, Flipper, John n Peter, and Oliver.

And so we're not late

Happy birthday to our November babies too:

Nicholas, Ben, Caroline, Filiz, Cindy, Jessica, Riley and Lis.

Hope your special day was/will be, magical - we'll be thinking of you.

Hope you are all happy and well, love and hugs - from us xoxoxo

Wow where did that coupla weeks go?

Hiya, loadsa photos, n lots to report. Kylin has taken to "swimming" in the bath lately, I have had to plastic wrap the towels because he swamps the bathroom - but that's ok - he just loves it.

Dress up time, I got dressed one morning, and he wanted to get dressed up as a pretty lady too, I took that as a compliment........
Daddy came home and we packed heaps into our time together. One morning we did bubbles in the garden really early before breakfast, too much fun...........
Daddy was kept busy on the big bubble blower
Our skies were full of rainbow bubbles, there were lots of smiles that morning!
It's warming up here but still too cold for the big pool, so we broke out the shell pool and the dogs love drinking out of it, Kylin loves copying them..........
He is starting to want to pick his clothes on special occasions,
here he is in his "restaurant clothes"

Daddy n Ky wearing fruit smoothie moustaches
Daddy set his slot car set up, and for the first time I was able to use the remotes by myself, so we could race each other for real.
Mummy caught Polar in a nest he'd made under a bush.
Daddy makes the best pizzas, so on his first night home, we all made pizza together.
Introducing Baylie Shae Nelson. Bindi and Dan's newest addition, and Brodie's new brother.

he looks cute here, but this is a bad photo, he is a really, really beautiful looking baby. It's dark because I don't believe in using flashes in the faces of little babies, they have enough to take in and get used to without people blinding them with bright lights.

After visiting Bindi n bub, we went to the Yorkies boat club because Big noise were playing again, Jock was very happy to see Ky and he just jumped in with them and started playing his guitar. Jock set up a mic stand for him during their break but Ky was so tired he just melted into me n said "I want to go home" so we thanked the guys and explained that it was nap time, and off we went. Because we were only there for about 30 mins, I didn't get any photos this time. Kylin fell asleep about 5 mins from the boat club and slept for ages after we got home, then I took him to the local playground.......
He played until the stars started to come out and was exhausted. I had to bribe him with a (pseudo) chocolate milkshake to get him to want to come home.
Not sure how these ended up at the bottom, however, there was a fundraiser for the variety club we heard about on the radio after dropping Damian off at the airport. The announcer said there was a fire engine and police car for the kids to look at......had they thrown in a cement mixer....he would have been in heaven.
the firies gave him some stickers and put a helmet on him, when he got to the police car, he jumped into the back seat,

I said to him that was the only time I wanted to see him in the back of a police car!!

He explored all seats though and just loved every second.

So heaps goin on here, hope all in your world is as exciting, or you can share in the excitement of others. Love and hugs from us xoxoxo