Even more photos

Ok so I no that Ive been a bit of a freak with the constant photos, but hey, cant help it. I no that I hate photos of myself but I really like the one of Ethan and I that Kaytlynn took and thought I would share : D

Then theres the the pink and blue chickens that we saw at the farm animals enclosure at the mall. you cant really see the blue one as its behind the normal looking chook. The girls started having a heated discussion about them as Katy insisted that was their natural color but Kyla sed that they had been dyed.

Its been real hot here in Perth today. I remember when Shanley described her summer here. She told me that sometimes the days were so hot that it felt like you were breathing in heat every time you took a breath. Today was one of those days. It was that bad that when Ethan went outside to play with the dogs for about 10 minutes, he ended up getting heat stroke and throwing up. We had to sit him under one of the air con vents and pump him full of constant fluids to bring his body temp down. It didnt affect the other kids that much but it threw him quite a bit.

Awww

Woke up this morning to see Andrew off to work and realised that we had an extra littlie bunking with her brother. Love the way these kids sleep. Just like their bloody father

Doggie exercise

Kyla and the dogs, Roxy and Judge. It was our turn to take the dogs for their run so we took them to Port Kennedy. Love this photo

This is the first time that Judge has decided to have a proper swim

As you can see, podgy Judge needs the exercise.

Peek a boo

A last paddle before going home

At home with dad

Off I go to BodyPump leaving my children in the capable hands of their father. I get home, feeling real good after my workout, and get greeted by a clean house, clean kids all in bed. That made me feel even better. Untill I saw these photos and the pile of sandy clothes waiting for me to wash.

Across the road from our house is a park. All the kids from the neighborhood and our house had buried Liam up to his neck in the sand that covers it. Everyone thought it was fun but I thought it was gross.

In other news, the Lazarus-Barrons have all joined Tae-Kwon-Do. Well all of us except Ethan. We start next Friday and it will be good to participate in something all together that seems like heaps of fun and teaches us a lot too.

A couple of photos

From Kylas Birthday

A lovely moment...

between father and daughter.

Friday was 'back to school' haircut day for the girls. While Kyla and Kaytlynn just had a trim, Maddy went a bit more drastic and got a bit of length taken off at the back and got herself a fringe. Amazing what a haircut does as I think it makes her look older.

In other news, Ethan has gone mad on Pirates of the Carribean. In the morning Im awoken with a dvd thrust in my face and my son demanding 'Mummy I watch Pirates' and he must watch it 2 or 3 times a day. And his dad has replaced copies twice already due to scratches from Ethan. Im hoping he gets out of this phase soon as its annoying pretending to be a pirate at his will. Hes also gotten into Superman as well. Boys

A good nights sleep

NOT!

Just when we had finally gotten Ethan sleeping in his bed all night and Maddisyn staying in her own bed for the whole night, the little buggers decide to change the rules on us and revert back to their old habits.
The last few nights have been hard on us, moreso for Andrew who has to be up at 4:30 every morning to get ready for work. The last couple of nights have been hard on him as the kids prefer to lie all over him rather than me (I dont mind telling them to move along if they smother me!), so while Im only left hanging on the end of the bed, hes doing the same thing on the other side but with two extra bodies draped across him.
Weve tried to sleep on their beds but unfortunately, you cant stretch as well on a single bed as you can on a kingsize bed and its not as comfortable!!
I awoke at 4 this morning to Andrew complaining that he feels buggered and curled up in the far corner of the bed, with Ethan saying to him ' You okay dad?' wide awake and full of energy.
Poor thing, Im gonna have to pamper him tonight, if he stays awake long enough. Hes usually asleep a couple of hours after he gets home from work .
Karleen and I are counting down the days untill the kids go back to school (only 12 more days to go). All the kids are starting to go stir crazy no matter how often they get out, not to mention their parents who are getting sick of the fighting and tantrums! Andrew and I did the 'back to school' budget yesterday. Definitely not cheap with 4 of them at school, but I just thank my lucky stars that they arent all at high school yet, though it will probably be cheaper now than in another 4-5 years when they are all there.
Did you know that Kyla has stuff like surfing lessons, rockclimbing, childcare etc as a part of her curriculum should she choose to do so. And you pay through the nose for the privelige too :(

Owwwww

God I forgot how punishing real exercise can be!

After the excesses of christmas and celebrating the new year, Liane, Karlene and I had decided to up our exercise regime to include Body Pump.
We attended a class last week and it didnt seem so bad. I came out of it feeling real good but relatively unscathed and not too much hurt. Poor Karlene was waddling around for a couple of days as her inner thighs were pretty much stuffed and Liane and I were quite proud that we had handled it so well and our bodys seemed to handle the onslaught of such exercise so well also. I for one walked into class last night all cocky and gung-ho.
Now, my inner thighs are killing me, the top half of my body is all achey and I feel like shit.
Guess that means that I wasnt doing something right last week hey : (
But its all for a good cause (namely getting fit and healthy) and even through all the pain I still feel pretty damn good!
We have decided to join the netball team at the YMCA as well so, its BodyJam Monday, BodyPump Wednesday and hopefully be able to start Indoor Netball Friday. I can feel the kilos dropping off already : )

Kyla Alexandra Hope Lazarus

Oh bugger. I seem to have misplaced the photos of Kylas birthday weekend. #*#*!!! So I shall write about it now that Im here and add photos later on.

Andrew was very excited in the days leading up to the 13th. He found it a big milestone that we have a 13yr old child now. As he was working on Saturday, he woke her before he left to give her our gifts. Unfotunately, at 5:15am, she found it hard to appreciate the computer and jewellry set that we had gotten her untill later on, when she was fully awake!

We had decided on a computer due to the fact that a lot of school work these days are more computer friendly and it kept her off my one. The jewellry was a more personal gift from us. She felt so special and was very happy for that day. That night her Unlcle Hopa took her and her siblings to the movies and dinner. He was a bit haggard by the time I arrived to pick up my kids. I was greeted with the words ' How the hell do you do it!' and then he launched into a rant about arguing, running around the theatre, throwing popcorn and people looking at him as the kids ran riot. I smiled at him and said 'Well Andrew and I had a lovely night by ourselves (well with Ethan) and oops, forgot to tell you that the younger ones had a big afternoon sleep!' and then bundled them into the car. Tried to talk to Kyla about her night, but Uncle had given her an iPod Nano for her present so communication was out of the question!

As her dad had worked on her actual birthday, on Sunday a whole bunch of us went to the beach to celebrate properly. It was a lovely spot in a place called Mandurah and we all had a bbq and swam the early arvo away. Then we all went back to our place and did the cakes (yes cakeS. We always have two since one doesnt usually cover the amount of people there to celebrate the occasion) and after everyone had left it was off to Port Kennedy beach to give our dogs a run. With an extra 3 kiddies. We had a late end to the night as I tried to juggle 7 kids and Andrew used the 'Ive got work in the morning' excuse and hid in the room! guess it was my fault as I was the one that was saying yes to the cries of 'Aunty can we stay the night'.

It was a lovely weekend and though Andrew and I felt old by the end of it, we are ready to enbrace the new stage that has come with the fact that our oldest daughter is now officially a teenager.

OK OK ......

Im getting there!!

My mate Shanley, all the way in the land of the long white cloud (why do they call NZ that?) still likes to kick me up the butt when I get lazy. So as demanded, here is the beginning of the start of more regular posts! (promise)

Ok thought this was such a cute shot of Ethan falling asleep while eating potato chips. He actually fell asleep with his hand in his bowl of chips and daddy popped one in his mouth for photographic purposes. Ethan is really getting into his terrible two stage and is talking so well now that it makes Andrew and I realise even more that this is the last time that we will experience these precious sorts of moments. One thing we wont miss is the toilet training which I have tried to start but hes having none of at the mo.

Maddisyn-Rose. She has just finished a marathon junkfest with the neighborhood kids in this shot hence the reason for the choco stained face and top. I have tried to convince her to let me cut her hair but she has so far refused!Its hard enough taking care of mine without having to worry about hers but what can you do :/

We have turned into real beach bums since arriving in Perth, which isnt hard to do when you are surrounded by beaches and have such wonderful weather! I no I no, Liam should be wearing a shirt but he did for 5 seconds and then took it off sigh. I have to start being harder on my kiddies. They just push me over all the time!

Kaytlynn is such a gentle soul, though she can explode when provoked. She is a real daddys girl who thinks the sun shines out of his bootie. Hope she isnt too disappointed when she realises it doesnt. She is the more girly one as well; likes the pretty clothes, make up and dainty things. To be so young and innocent again. I so love this age group.

The Lazarus-Barron children

Hello 2007!!!

Happy New Year everyone
Well it is exciting that a new year has rolled around again. We had a wonderful xmas with lots of pressies and food and fabulous company. We were lucky enough to be able to spend this xmas, the first since 2002, with Liane, Dave and kiddies. Very wierd to say the least as it has been so long for Andrew to be able to have a member of his family with us on these days as usually they are all scattered all over the world! But we had fun and lots of photos though I didnt have the presence of mind to have the camera with me so that I could put some on for you all, sorry :( next time I promise
New years wasnt too bad either. Our son was sick so Andrew elected to stay home with him and I had the pleasure of seeing in the New Year with my brother and some friends at the beach/pub/nightclub. Has been a long time since Ive been in the state I was in and even though I felt old, I felt bloody good too!!
So enough of the rambling. Just a quick word to say HAPPY NEW YEAR and send all our thanks, love and thoughts to all who sent pressies for the kids, cards for the parents and new year greetings to us all. xoxoxox