Our Weekend.

I managed to capture this photo using my mobile phone. We were driving home from Mt Barker after doing some clothes shopping for the kids when the rain started to pour down fast and furious! This pic was taken about 10-20mins after the rain eased, but before then the sky was so dark and gloomy. I couldn't believe how heavy the rain was and the sound of it beating against the car windows was just awesome. Thank God that hubby has been blessed with great driving skills, otherwise we could've easily ended up sliding across the road into other traffic. At one point there was a car ahead of us that was obviously struggling to keep a good grip on the road, that's when hubby slowed right down and let that car get further ahead of us. Not a good idea to be too close to a driver who is swerving here and there! Cars really freak me out to be honest, and I get goose bumps whenever we have to pass a truck. Brrrrrr.. driving is not for me! Once again, let me thank God for giving me a hubby who is such a good driver!

Speaking of driving (well, kind of) my family are driving me up the wall! One of my sisters had planned with us to meet up at a pizza diner on the Sunday of the upcoming Labour Day long weekend, a plan that was made by her over one month ago. Now on this last weekend she calls me up to tell me that she had also mentioned the get together to Mum and our other sister and they didn't want to come, so would we mind if they all meet up at our home!? Grrrrrr... why do they all always have to meet up at our house!? Let's not be dreamers with our heads in the clouds and pretend that this family is loving and close, because that is so far from the truth it breaks my heart. So why do we need to pretend to all get along at our home!? Why can't we get together (if we have to) at someone else's home!? I was looking forward to the get together at the diner because I was eager to see our little nephew again, but the shine will be taken out of the day if the whole family is involved. I'm sorry if I'm sounding like a brat at all, but I've just recently realized that our family is a lost cause and that it's not healthy for my mind or my heart to keep struggling for something that will never be. I mean, take my Mother for instance, here is a woman that can come into our home and ignore little Chausiku because she's convinced that Chausiku is a rude little girl with a 'stuck-up' attitude!! Hello!! Chausiku is not even 19mths old yet, how can she have an attitude of that description!? Just this past weekend Mum and her partner came around to tell me off for not asking my sister if her cat was ok. Yes you read it right, I was too medicated on endone and too focused on my own pain and surgery etc that I forgot that my sisters cat was having surgery too and so I failed to ask how it all went. That got me into trouble, mind you this same sister was so focused on her cat that she forgot Kaylah's birthday, but that's apparently understandable. This type of thing sends my hubby spinning and makes him think that my family are mental. He can't understand how or why animals are more important to them than humans. Anyway, back to Chausiku. She was desperately trying to get Mum's attention, she was babbling her little words, and waving to her and showing her some of her toys, and she got nothing in return, not even a single word from Mum! Mum didn't even look at Kenyattah who was laying on a blanket beside hubby on the family room floor. This was the first time Mum had even come to see me since my surgery, and she didn't even come near me to give me a kiss or a hug. When I approached her as she was leaving to give her a kiss, she waved her arm up and said "No don't worry", whatever that means, and she left. Who needs enemies when your own family treat you like you're infected with the plague...

Well, I am sorry to have offloaded this onto your brain, but as there's no one here to talk to right now, I came here to write it down. You don't have to comment, I guess I'm hoping that by writing it down I can let it go, if that makes any sense.

Have a lovely day everyone! I'm off to make some more graphics while the kids are sleeping.

ABC's Of Vitamins..

I received this as an email and thought it too good not to share..

Get your vitamins the old fashioned way with delicious fruits and vegetables. Learn which foods provide the most nutrients and put them to use in your kitchen and with the kids.

Taking a supplement is one thing, but at this time of year when farms are ample with a variety of colorful produce of every size shape and color - why not cut right to the source?

Fruits and vegetables picked at peak spring and summer ripeness deliver the most flavor and texture. When used along side healthy foods like whole grains, legumes/beans, nuts, seeds, savory cheeses and lots of sunshine, you’ll be sure to get all the nutrients you need.

Plus, eating foods that are better for your body also tends to be better for the planet. Choosing nutrient-rich, unprocessed foods (preferably seasonal, locally grown ones) helps curb the estimated 24 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions produced the food industry, a large portion of which comes from processing and packaging.

Unprocessed and unrefined, natural, and organic whole fruits and vegetables offer the body vitamins, phytochemicals, in an easily assimilated form. No supplement manufacturer has been successful in replicating the way nature preserves and delivers these important nutrients.

Plant cells have a perfect protective environment for vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals keeping them potent and effective so that you get the full spectrum of health benefits when you eat them.

Unlike with supplements, you never have to worry that you are getting too much of a certain vitamin or wonder if one nutrient will cancel out another. Choose a variety of colorful foods to eat and let nature do the balancing for you.

Now let’s look at our ABC’s of Vitamins.

A- Vitamin A plays an important role in our ability to arm ourselves against colds and flus and may help prevent cancers. A maintains the respiratory, intestinal, and urinary tracts, and helps the skin protect against viruses entering into the body and it promotes healthy eyesight.

Where to find it- Apricots, cantaloupe, carrots, collard greens, kale, eggs, sweet potatoes, spinach, Swiss chard

B- Vitamin B, a family of team working nutrients including: thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, B6, biotin, folate, B12. Each helps the body transform food into energy. Some replace old cells with new ones while others help keep nerve and brain cells in working order. Folate is especially important for pregnant women in protecting the baby against certain known birth defects. Vitamin B6 and B12 may guard against heart disease.

Where to find it- Asparagus, avocados, beans, corn, green beans, leafy greens( dandelion and collards), onions, peas, whole wheat, yogurt

C- Vitamin C is the multitasking vitamin, preventing colds, a powerful antioxidant- countering the effects of free radicals that could lead to heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and neurological problems.

Where to find it- Bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cherries, cranberries, kiwi, mangoes, onions, oranges

D- Vitamin D is getting attention increasingly because it helps the body absorb calcium- helping prevent osteoporosis. In addition to keeping bones and teeth strong Vitamin D regulates cell growth. Not very many foods are naturally rich in Vitamin D, our bodies main source of it is through sunlight.

Where to find it- Eggs, Salmon, Tuna, Sunlight

E- Vitamin E can help limit the production of harmful free radicals and defends against heart attack and stroke. E plays an active role in activating vitamin K.

Where to find it- Almonds, avocados, dandelion greens, sunflower seeds, kiwi, leafy greens, mangoes, tomato puree

K- Vitamin K helps stop bleeding, enabling blood to clot. K helps strengthen bones and increases bone density. Even though your body can manufacture this vitamin on its own from gut bacteria, its still important to get it from food sources.

Where to find it- Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard, watercress

Mix and match your ABC’s in your meals using the tips below:

1. Use the Color Principal- when selecting produce just remember, the more colors, the more balanced your meals will be, ensuring that you and your little ones are eating your alphabet.
   
2. Keep it Fresh- To really get the full on nutritional benefits of these ABC packed foods, make sure to source them fresh and in the season, canned and frozen are less than excellent choices.
   
3. Pack it in Each Meal- Make sure that each breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack is an opportunity to eat whole foods. Consumption of convenience foods makes our bodies crave the vitamins and minerals that we are lacking and often make us hungrier. If you do have a snack like pretzels for instance, make sure to pair it with something like apple slices and almond butter.
   
4. Make it Tasty- Using a variety of interesting marinades, nut butters, sauces, spice mixtures to enhance flavor of vegetables and fruits and create yummy side dishes, main courses and snacks.
   
5. Make it Fun- If you go grocery shopping with young children, allow them to be a part of the experience. Have them choose a food for every color in he rainbow- for instance, “today I would like you to pick two purple fruits or veggies, and 3 green vegetables or fruits” it engages young kids and weaves in learning at the same time.
   

Quick Update.

I can't actually sit here for very long as sitting hurts - infact, sitting, standing or laying down hurts. I'm so darn sore! I honestly didn't expect to be this sore after the op. I feel useless, and I'm so over being on endone, it really messes with my head and makes me cry and feel like I'm walking through a thick fog all the time. Gosh I'm really complaining aren't I! I'm sorry.
The surgery went well, as far as I know. Though can I say that I'm feeling a bit like a mushroom at the moment. The specialist barely spoke to me, actually I haven't seen him since the surgery. So I have no idea if they found any stones outside my gallbladder, but judging by the fact that I have 4 holes in me instead of 3, 1 of which is quite a bit bigger than the rest, I'm guessing that they did find at least one stray. I have an appointment with the specialist on the 15th of October, so I'll get some answers then (fingers crossed!).

I am thankful that I managed to get home on the same day, despite the nursing staffs efforts to keep me in hospital! I told them very firmly (and politely) that I was going home that afternoon. The nurse tried to argue with me, but I wouldn't back down. I got to the hospital at 10am Monday morning, I was in theatre by 10:45am, I woke up in recovery at 12pm, and I went home at 3:15pm - I'm a tough cookie eh!? The only problem is that now I can't do much of anything. I miss picking the little ones up! I was a bit naughty and managed to give them both cuddles on Tuesday, but when hubby walked in and caught me red-handed, I was in trouble. Hubby was only able to take 2 days off from work, so Kaylah has been staying home from school to help me. You wouldn't believe that I have family that live in the same town eh? Not one of them ever offers to help me... not that I'm going to keep getting teary over it, I have a beautiful husband and great kids, what more could I need!

The nursing staff were fascinated with me, they said they've never had a patient return home on the same day after having their gallbladder removed, so they phoned the next day to make sure I was ok and to remind me not to do anything but rest. They were a little concerned that I'm not feeling hungry yet, but my belly is still full of the gas they pumped into me, so I guess that's making me feel full. My poor belly is bloated from the gas and swollen from the op, let me say that it's not a pretty site, I look like a buddah. Don't laugh!

Anyway, I must get up and move around a bit. I will come back again soon.

Oh, and I did manage to get my site moved to a new url - here's hoping this one lets everyone visit who wants to visit.

The url is: http://mycreatedcuties.webs.com/

Hugs & Blessings to you all.

On The Move, Again!

It has been brought to my attention that the host of my linkware site is not such a good host after all. After installing McAfee SiteAdvisor I found that my host causes serious changes to the PC. I swear that I was unaware of this until just recently (bless you Kia). Of course this means that I will have to find another host and relocate my linkware site once again. I sincerely apologise to anyone who tried to visit me there but couldn't because of the threat to their PC. To all those who did visit me, I pray your PC is ok and remained unharmed. I will post my new link as soon as I am up and running again.

Note to Kia : I haven't forgotten your sigtag. Fingers crossed you'll be receiving it soon.

I will come back again soon and let you all know how my surgery went. For now I will just say "Ouch!"..

Blessings to all.

Happy Dancing!

Yay for me!! Woo Hoo I'm a happy camper! The Dr has given me the "all clear" for having my op on Monday (in the Aussie time frame, that's only 5 more sleeps!!) - yippee!! In general all gallbladder removal patients have to stay in hospital overnight, but my specialist is a great guy who understands my situation and has written me down for day surgery! Meaning, I get to hospital at 10am, have my op at approximately 11am, and then I'm allowed to head off home later that afternoon. Oh, Kenyattah will be a happy little man! It was tearing me apart thinking about being away from the little ones for a whole day and night. Kenyattah is such a little sooky for his Mama, you know he gets himself into such a state if he can't set his eyes on me, it breaks my heart to hear his heartache, but on the other hand it does make me feel good to know he loves me that much. They're such adorable little bubbas. We were stuck at the clinic yesterday for almost an hour because my Dr was running late with his appointments, and both the little ones were very well behaved. Chausiku just played in the cubby house the whole time, dancing and waving at the other patients. Kenyattah blessed everyone with his big beautiful smiles, and never cried at all. We have been blessed with such beautiful children.

It has taken me so long to write this post. Chausiku keeps climbing onto my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck and giving me huge hugs and kisses. Isn't she a doll!

I'll have to end here as I'm sure Kenyattah's sleep-in will end any moment.

Before I go, a quick thank you to Brenny for her request, and to Missy for the surprise visit - you're welcome to drop in any time.

Wishing everyone an awesome day.

The Countdown Begins!

Today I am off to see the Dr for my pre-op appointment. Here's praying that I'm found to be fit and healthy enough for the op, because I seriously can't take this pain much longer. I've been prescribed with the strongest pain killers available - Endone - and they're making me feel like a zombie. My head is always fuzzy and it takes me so long just to do the most simple of tasks. It is embarrassing to say the least. I honestly can't wait til next Monday! I don't even care how much pain I will be in after the op, because I know it heralds the end of this horrible pain I've been enduring for close to 2yrs. Woo Hoo! Happy dance everyone!

Before I go, let me please be pathetic and beg you to go to my linkware site and request one of my Limited Edition sigtags, I'd like to feel like I made them for at least someone..

Seriously though, you don't have to request one if you don't want one. I won't be offended, I'm just being a wally!

Have a beautiful day everyone. I'll catch you back here tomorrow and let you know how it all went at the Dr's.

WhuddleMuddle..

Ok, so Kaylah has been playing around in Whuddleworld for the past few days, and initially she was very exited about how cute everything is, but now it's already come to a point where she's basically sitting in front of the computer twiddling her thumbs, wondering what to do there. I have to say that other than buying clothes and other accessories, playing games, which you are only allowed to have two turns on the two different games per day, there doesn't seem to be much else to do. Has anyone else been to Whuddleworld? What on earth does one do there other than shop? It really seems like a place for shopaholics to get a fix. If you have any knowledge on Whuddleworld, or if you know of any other site suitable for a 13yr old, please fill me in, I'm all ears!

The other issue we're having with WW is that we can't use our usual browser - Opera - to visit the site as some of the sites functions aren't available in Opera. The other issue is that Internet Explorer allows those features to function, but it freezes all the time due to scripting issues on WW. Apparently the site was scripted to be viewed in Firefox. I personally don't like Firefox (don't shoot me!), I have tested it and found that while visiting a site with script protection on their graphic pages, you could still snag the graphics! Before you freak out at me, no I didn't steal any graphics, I tried it out on my own site first, and then visited a few others to see if I'd not scripted my site properly.

Anyway, the point is that I'm not going to install another browser onto the comp just to visit one site. Does anyone have any suggestions for this also?

Thanks in advance. Wishing my readers a beautiful day!

Problem Solved..

I decided to let Kaylah join WhuddleWorld instead of Facebook. I didn't want to close her off from all options, so I chose this one as it seems a lot safer somehow. She has already told some of her friends at school and is now waiting to see if they join too.

Thanks Kia for your advice and comments, it was deeply appreciated.

New Home!

Ok so now you've had to follow me here to this url - don't ya just love playing online chasey I did this mainly for Kia - I mean, what's the point of having a blog if your one and only visitor can't leave a message.

This blog will actually work better for me too, in that it's easier to use, and considering I don't have as much time online any more, it's perfect. So big thanks to you Kia ((hugs)).

I'm hoping that I'll soon get a visit from Shannon and Brenny too, or I'll be left with no option but to wipe away the silent tears that are slowy rolling down my cheeks..

Anyway, not much news to share at the moment, so I'll end here for now and wish you all a beautiful day.

Let's Party!

Last night we joined Kaylah in celebrating her 13th birthday - gosh they're growing up too fast!

We gave her a red 'Super Mario' limited edition DS Lite, with a super mario game and a sonic travel pack. We also gave her some cash to spend on whatever she wants. Our friends who own an amazing Asian grocery store across the road treated Kaylah with a Garnier face mask for teenagers. Her friend Bianca gave her some chocolates. One of her Aunties sent her a package of hair accessories (ties, headbands, etc) and a lovely pair of earrings - now Kaylah will be pestering me to have her ears pierced, I'm sure

Chausiku had a wonderful time playing with the balloons, and tasting the party food

Kenyattah was a happy little chap spending the evening cuddling with his Mama and blowing raspberries while saying "Dadda"... Hmmmm why isn't he saying Mama instead?

Now today I am faced with the lovely task of cleaning up after the party I tried to do it last night but I was making too much noise and disturbing Kenyattah. The dining room and family room are covered in balloons and streamers, and the front yard is covered in metallic streamers, empty party popper containers, burst balloons, and burnt out sparklers. Bah humbug, why am I the softie that gets left with the cleaning job when I'm in so much pain - am I whinging, yes I am :)

Anyway, enough babble from me, I have to get going and get cleaning. Think of me won't you!

Facebook Dilema

Kaylah has recently expressed the desire to open her own facebook account. I am really struggling with this. I don't want to seem like a prude and wrap her in cotton wool, but then again I don't want to risk exposing her to material that she's not mature enough to cope with, if you know what I mean. I don't have a facebook account because I really don't like all the crap that is out there on the net. Apparently many of her friends at school have their own facebook accounts, and so after hearing them all talking about it during lunch breaks, she now wants to joing the 'fun'. What should I do? Does anyone out there have any suggestions for me? I have googled if facebook is safe for children, and I did come across a link to a news article about detectives who went undercover and signed up as young teenage girls, and they found they were swamped by registered sex offenders. I know facebook must try hard to make it a safe place, but seriously, they can only do so much. What would you do if you were me? Any suggestions would really be appreciated.

Thanks.

Great News!

I am such a happy camper today! I was booked for surgery to have my gallbladder removed on October 15th, but I've since received a phone call from the specialist's office to invite me to an earlier appointment, so I am now booked for surgery on September 21st!! Woo Hoo!! I have been suffering with gallstones since Chausiku was born. It is the most awful and painful thing to endure. I was trying to be tough and keep my gallbladder, convinced that I could control everything, but since Kenyattah's birth almost every time I eat I suffer. In the past 4 months I have had to be taken to the hospital 6 times by Kenneth for a shot of morphine (sp?) as that is the only thing that relieves the pain. Unfortunately all of these times have been during the night, and each time we are stuck at the hospital for up to an hour. Kenneth has had to take time off from work to help me with the babies because the morphine stays in my system for so long and makes me really dizzy. It's been an awful experience. I can't describe the pain, but it's not something I would wish for anyone to go through, it's just plain horrible.

So yay for me, I've been doing a happy dance ever since I got off the phone

PTL!!

Take care everyone. I miss you all and promise to get off my butt and drop by your blogs very soon.

Huggies!

Swine Flu!

It seems to be everywhere in the town we live in! I had to take Chausiku to the clinic yesterday to be immunized, and everywhere you looked people were wearing masks and coughing like they'd been smoking for years. I was so nervous I wouldn't even sit on the chairs at the clinic. A young lad sat near where I was standing and I heard him complaining to his mother about the medication he had been given for his swine flu, and his mother was quite angry, saying that she's his mother and he'll do what she tells him to do, or she'll take him out right now to buy him a pine box to bury himself in! I was horrified that she would talk to him like that, poor fella, though I guess she was dealing with her own fears about it too.

Would you believe one of my friends called yesterday to say two of her teenage kids have tested positive for swine flu, and she had been here earlier that morning!! I'm praying for her kids and for us, don't know what I'd do if any of our kids got sick, it would tear me apart.

Anyway, gotta run, Kenyattah is awake for his morning feed.

Take care everyone - it's good to be back online