The Kankles...

...are back.

I thought I was doing really well, but I think since I've broken my toe I'm putting a lot of extra pressure on funny spots around my legs and feet, and the kankles are officially back.  Was shaving my legs last night and realised I couldn't even find the little bone that sticks out of the inside of the ankle!! Sigh... but only 8 and a half weeks to go!!! Wow that's a long time!! lol :)

Happy skinny ankle days to the rest of you!

Dates that Crash and Burn...

James and I go on the BEST dates.  They're memorable, involve spending quality time with my favourite person, and ... well, they're memorable.

Our very first date consisted of us driving around for an hour trying to find a park which was lit up at night.  It turns out, none of them around here are...  So James finally ended up parking the car with headlights shining over a park, and we sat and ate the yummy picnic supper he'd prepared (hot chocolate, marshmallows and Tim Tams - full points for chocolate ratio!), while I was a little nervous about 'bad guys' in the dark at this random park, then we went to a friend's party, and drove my sister and some random friends home.

In the random order they occur to me in, here are some of the other awesome dates we've been on:

• Last Saturday night we dressed up and drove all the way down the coast, to redeem a Spreets voucher I bought a while ago, for a '3-Course Italian Feast'!! - It sounded great, lovely antipasto entrees, beautiful Italian meals and yummy dessert.  I even thought that if dessert looked any good, I might have a 'treat for the week' for the first time since I started my 83 days of health!!  Our first tip was when I called the 'restaurant' to say we'd be running late for our... booking.  I stopped myself from saying 'reservation' by the way the young girl answered the phone, "Something-or-other pizza!".  It sounded like she tried not to laugh as she said "Yeah, okay" and then hung up.  We rocked up to the takeaway pizza place with a couple of chairs and tables for dine-in guests, and at the urging of the 'waitress', sat wherever we wanted.  We sat outside.  She brought us a couple of menus, and just double checking the conditions of the voucher I'd bought, I asked "So, no steak, right?"  She looked surprised, and said "That's right! - We're also out of lasagne  and you can have any dessert you want, but the only dessert available is the sticky date pudding" Ah, okay.  I went to a gorgeous Italian restaurant once, and had an amazing chocolate ... thing ... (if only I could remember what it was, or where that restaurant was, sigh..).  That's what I was hoping for.  No WAY I was ruining my health challenge with sticky date!  There is not a single spec of chocolate in that!  Our entrees were somewhat successful.  They just took a really long time to come.  We looked back and noticed there was a single cook in the kitchen, running around like mad.  After a while, he ran through a door at the back of the restaurant, and appeared in the next door Thai restaurant!!  Apparently he asked for reinforcement, because a moment later he reappeared in the Italian 'restaurant', followed by another cook, taking off his Thai outfit and donning the appropriate apron :)  Awesome :)  Then, a girl walked into the Thai place and placed an order at the front.  She then followed the Thai restaurant waitress out of the Thai place and into the pizza place, where they put her order through on the Italian 'restaurant' till...  either there's something really strange going on or the 2 places are cojoined, and share staff and tills.  For some reason all of this made us giggle like crazy, as did the couple at the next table, who were not hiding the fact that they'd been waiting for their meal for what seemed to be a very long time, and were extreeeeemely irritated.  But with the reinforcement of the Thai chef, eventually all of our meals arrived.  For mains I ordered crumbed chicken with chips (there wasn't a lot on offer!) and James ordered the fettuccine chicken pesto.   I couldn't stop laughing when they brought out James'.  Maybe the 'waitress' should have told us they were out of fettuccine too - but the spaghetti chicken pesto looked awesome :D  And my chicken came with a side of 5 chips, and some bonus veggies and a bonus salad.  We're pretty sure I cleaned the restaurant out of the last 5 chips :)  The tiny pieces of sticky date that eventually made their way to our table didn't look remotely appetising, and James quickly ate both so we could get out of there - running to our car (okay, I was on crutches, so it was more of a fast hobble) through the torrential rain of the crazy thunderstorm which had created the mood for awesome date :)  Thank goodness we have so much fun together, especially when things don't quite turn out the way we expect - Spreets have got to stop calling things 'feasts' and takeaway places 'restaurants'!!
  
• Then there was the awesome Valentines Day Scavenger hunt of 'special places' I put together for James last year.  We started off with the girls and the plan was to go to the playground with them (the first one where we ALMOST had our first date - no lights after dark there ;)) as one of the steps, and then drop them off to Mum's as another step, and after a few stops we'd end up at the temple cliffs where we'd meet up with our awesome friends the Macs, and have a fun picnic.  Due to weather restrictions (like, torrential rain), each stop became about a second long, kind of lamo, and we ditched the hanging out with the girls at the park part completely.  Later the rain died down to almost nothing, but we didn't exactly dwell at our picnic spot at the cliffs!
  
• And while we're on the subject of the Macs - there was the 'Glow Worm Caves' adventure.  We rocked up at a very remote location, where a lone scientist runs a little glow worm expedition on his property, where he accidentally found a glow worm wall (not cave) during a drunk evening stroll which almost killed him.  Really long story, but between the $70 000 outdoor toilet, the glowing mushroom room, the fake glow worm business cards, and the story about the woman who chose the wrong leaf to wipe herself with, the night was extremely informative, absolutley hilarious, and kind of terrifying!!  I couldn't wait to get off the mountain and back to civilisation!!  Obviously, these were not the glow worm caves most people go to and talk about.  Which is probably why it was such a bargain! lol
  
• And speaking of bargains, and the Macs, there was the time they called us to say they'd found a great 'Living Social' deal - an island paradise 2 night getaway for some ridiculously low price.  They said the island was just off Stradbroke, and looked amazing!  They'd already booked theirs for around Australia Day, and did we wanna join them?  Apparently the apartment next to theirs was free, so if we were keen, we should call quickly before it got taken!  It all sounded great.  We said 'We'd love to!' and looked up the bargain.  It became apparent as I opened the deal, that travelling with out of towners was not without risk.  "Why does it say Coochiemudlo?!!!" I exclaimed to James with some panic.  I'm not even worried about hurting the feelings of Coochiemudlo dwellers.  Because after 2 nights, lots of rain, lots of mud, tennis courts with not a raquet or ball on the island, dvd players with not a DVD on the island, a restaurant which 'doesn't open' (don't plan to buy half your meals there...), $10 mini towel hire, and really, really dirty floors, I'm calling false advertising!  They could at least admit that the island is basically a mud slab floating in the ocean! - At least then the 83 other obviously out of towners who bought the deal (haha :)) would be going into it with their eyes open!! Thank goodness for good company - and things only seem to get funner - or at least funnIer - when circumstances are a little tragic... which is why James and I spend so much of our dating times (and that entire weekend!) in stitches...
  
• Last year I was beyond excited when I won tickets to EVERY SHOW put on by a Brisbane theatre company for their theatre season.  That was 6 SHOWS!!!  6 awesome, fun, out of the ordinary and will not even touch the budget dates :)  I've been to see shows by this company many years ago and they were FANTASTIC!!!  Except, they're not anymore.  They're really terrible.  By the last 2 shows we were desperately trying to find excuses not to turn up, but when you've got free tickets to a $65pp show, you really feel like you should go, you know??  Also, we felt sorry for them.  Fortunately the very last show was by far the best, but by then our expectations were so low that all they had to do was hit a lot of the notes in tune.    I kind of want to go into more detail about their very lowest point (which James missed half of because he fell asleep), but I don't want to get specific on the (very, very) remote chance that someone involved catches wind of this and I hurt people's feelings.  But be careful about the prizes you claim.  It was a really painful time for us.
  
• The Proposal:   James had it all planned out - the walkway lit with candles, the dinner, the ring... and he was all psyched to do it for a Friday night in August 07.  Then I accepted an invite for us to have dinner at my brother's house that night - we didn't have anything planned that I knew about!  Rather than tip everyone off to the upcoming proposal by telling Jonny we wouldn't be there, or re-psych himself to propose another day, James simply decided to pull over and propose on the way!  So we got engaged on the side of the road in one of the dodgiest neighbourhoods around :)  Classy ;)
  
• The other week we decided to go on a date to the Southbank Friday night markets.  I haven't been for ages so was excited to check them out.  We rocked up to find out that it was pretty much the only Friday night of the YEAR that the markets aren't on, due to the Brisbane River Festival... sigh... does this stuff happen to anyone else?!
  
• Another time we decided to eat at an Indian buffet at Southbank.  There are so many yummy food choices there, it's pretty hard to fail, but we did.  To the point where when James picked up a tongful of salad, a swarm of flies flew out from underneath.  And we actually saw cockroaches scurrying around under the tables.  Try taking a bite after that!!  We didn't even complain.  We just left.  Shudder!
  
• Then there was our awesome honeymoon.  The first part of it was spent on a houseboat.  We loved every second of it.  Despite the fact that the toilet clogged, we ran out of water and there was a giant river rat onboard which ate a lot of our food, and our Lionel Richie concert tickets!!!! (don't worry - I don't know if the ticket booth people bought our 'eaten by a river rat' story but they reprinted them for us).  By the time we got back to dock and hand over the keys I was DESPERATE to get to a toilet.  But the owner hadn't mentioned he'd be working that day, and wasn't home.  After running up and down the road both ways of the rural river road and determining there was not even a servo nearby, James kindly broke into the guy's house so I could use his toilet, then we waited patiently for his workday to finish.  Fortunately he didn't mind the break-in at all, and was very interested to find out about the rat - he'd suspected that there was one on board...
  
• Every year on our anniversary, we book a little holiday, and I get a bad cold.  Then I lie in bed the whole time watching DVD's or really bad TV, begging James to go out and have some fun without me.  He hangs out with me anyway, and I try to do more than I feel up to and ruin every outing we try to take.  It clears up on the way home.
  
• Often, even if we do manage to have dinner somewhere perfectly nice, they'll forget us, and we'll be sitting there for an hour and a half watching every other table come and go before we ask about our order, or they notice us and bring us our meal with lots of free extras on the side 'for the little wait we had this evening'.  

Our dates often really suck it's true.  I'm sure there are bunches more bad ones that I can't think of right now.  But I don't know if I'd change that - we usually end up having the kind of hilarious time together that you just don't get in more beautiful or serene circumstances.

And we have had a few awesome dates... the Lionel Richie concert they let us in to even though our tickets were in pieces, the time we went and saw Wicked (not the theatre company we won tickets with..) and once we ate at a beautiful Turkish restaurant at South Bank called Mado - recommend!  And there have been many normal dates involving sushi and a movie, and beautiful dates to the temple.  It just seems to be the 'outside the box' events that end in trauma...

Tomorow is our 5 year wedding anniversary :)  We have, a really, really fabulous evening planned.  I was more excited before Tammy asked the other day if we were sure we wanted to do this together, because our hit and miss date ratio is so high.  But risking it we are... I'm sure it's an un-ruinable event... but if everything goes wrong, thank goodness we're in it together!! :)

For Everyone Out There Who Has Been Exercising Lately...

This made me laugh.  Except that, it doesn't really apply to me - given that I'm pregnant AND crippled at the moment (seriously having issues with these crutches!!).  But one day :)

...and it's usually actually me crying, because the workout is so hard...  But hopefully I get past that stage too... :)

PS:  Still feeling great, and loving this junk food detox... is this really me talking??  Obviously I really needed to back off the chocolate a little! :P

Ever Seen a Pregnant Woman on Crutches??

WARNING:  Long sob story, with some excess of wallowing... :)

So yesterday, I walked (obviously excessively powerfully) by my couch, and stubbed my toe.  I collapsed on the couch in pain, and after it really sunk in (the full strength of pain was a tiny bit delayed), I realised it was really bad - like, worse than any other stubbed toe pain I'd had.  I looked at my little toe, and was nearly sick - it was sticking out at a disgusting angle, away from my foot!  Ew!!!

Fortunately I had my phone in my hand, so I called James (in hysterics, a little bit) and I do not remember the exact wording, but the fact that he was in the driveway and bounding up the stairs maybe 30 seconds later (what a blessing that he works down the road!! - I found out later that he hadn't even told anyone that he was leaving! He'd just dropped his work and left!  His boss called later that afternoon to see what was going on :p) might give some indication that I was fairly urgent (and possibly a little demanding) about it.  As I was hanging up from James, Mum was calling (she's got that intuition thing down).  I blubbered that I'd broken or dislocated my toe, and she offered to come over to look after the girls.  I hysterically yelled "Can you be here in 2 MINUTES?!" and she calmly said "No, but I'll be there in 15" (which is about how long it takes to get here).  She also mentioned that if it were dislocated, James could probably just 'pop it back in', to which I may have screamed something about real doctors and painkillers, and "NO!!!".

Poor Maggie, who I'd put to bed only a moment before, timidly appeared at the doorway of my room (where I'd hopped and collapsed dramatically on the chest at the bottom of our bed to try to get dressed) and said "Are you okay Mummy?!".  Oh dear.  Try and hold it together, Abby!  I managed to smile and only sob a little bit, and say "Yes honey, I just hurt my toe a little bit" before bursting into tears and saying "Can I have a hug?!".  Poor little girl!  She was happy to give me a hug, sure that it would cure me I think, and then I pulled it together a little and managed to smile and send her back to bed, before hopelessly bursting into tears again.  When James then bounded through the door, after I'd stopped hyperventilating and pointing emphatically at my toe (which I really couldn't look at again - ugh!!), I asked him to please go to his possibly traumatised daughter and make sure she was okay!  But when he went to her room and started to talk to her about what had happened, she was busily reading a book, and didn't seem to mind anything at all, other than asking him what was happening on the next page.  I guess I was the traumatised one :p  Mum came over, I think exactly 15 minutes after she called, and James carried me downstairs and into the car.  It is extremely difficult to hop, when you're 29 weeks pregnant.  And I'm not sure that it's safe.

When we got to the hospital, he parked where you're not supposed to (not afraid to defy parking rules in light of a wife's sore toe - my hero ;)) and carried me into emergency.  I was painfully embarrassed  but I wasn't having a great deal of success with my attempted at hopping again :p  When we finally got in for the x-ray (they covered baby boy in my belly with 2 of the iron aprons and assured me it was 100% safe before asking if I was sure I wanted to proceed since I was pregnant lol) and then into the plaster room (after a wait long enough to allow me to imagine the awful pain of re-setting my almost certainly dislocated toe many times over and enough to make me shake all over), the doctor said "You've actually broken your toe".  Oh.  Did that mean they didn't need to re-set it??  Of course they did - it had snapped right through at a funny angle and was sticking out - they needed to put it back in place to heal properly  :(  After warning me that they would hurt a LOT, she then gave me 2 giant, painful, horrible awful needles, right into the bone, on either side of my little pinky toe.  The doctor was right.  It hurt, a LOT.  I cried out and sobbed into James!  I was so embarrassed, but I couldn't help it!  And James even seemed to think it was justified, because they were huge, and the doctor seemed to think they were going to half kill me with the pain, and can I use the 'pregnant' thing??  Anyway, thank goodness she'd let me bring him in! :)  And then the anaesthetic (okay, there was a GREAT reason to put me through those needles, shudder) set in, and she fiddled with putting my toe back into place while I was mercifully without feeling in my foot.  Hooray for anaesthetic!!! :)  I was soooo grateful not to feel it, I can't even tell you!  It was like when I got the epidural when I was in labour with Maggie, and suddenly the world was a happy place again :)

So they strapped said snapped little toe next to it's closest relative, and gave me a lovely set of crutches, to use for the next 6 weeks (that's right - until I'm 35 weeks pregnant! - 1 week before Christmas!), or until the pain goes away and I can walk again.

Because I weigh a lot right now, and I'm unbalanced and awkward, it's actually really, really difficult to use the crutches.  They kill my arms, and my left leg - the one I can walk on - is dying!  I don't want to go anywhere!!  It was pretty hard making it up the stairs when we got home yesterday afternoon, and that was before the pain had come back!  Which it has now.  But I know the worst is behind me, and hopefully I NEVER have to get those needles again!!

(sigh) Okay, sob story over, somewhat inconvenient 6 weeks to begin!! :)  It's hard to do anything right now, as cooking requires standing up and using your hands, and looking after or lifting the girls has become ridiculously hard/awkward, but I guess I'll get the hang of it, and hopefully it heals quickly and nicely.

Oh for the sake of one little toe!!!

:p

xo

2 Fun Dates + 2 Dessert Disasters... :)

The first fun date, was the Stake Ball!!! (Cheering) :)  I love stake balls.  I love that we can get all dressed up and going out and eat dinner and dance the night away at least once a year!  I was terribly disappointed that they scheduled last years' ball on the week we were in Adelaide for my Aunty's wedding.  I really hang out for these.  I don't understand people who don't want to go.  Where else can you have totally fun company and the aforementioned dinner and dancing once you're old and married?!! :)  Anyway, I was determined to have found a totally cute maternity dress by the time this came around (have I cried on this blog enough yet about all my favourite maternity clothes that recently vanished?!  Sob!), but I didn't manage it, so I wore black (dreary, but a lot more flattering than white when you're not so skinny!!) and squeezed into a non maternity dress that I won't be squeezing into again for a while!!  From our joint shopping expedition the fabulous Stacey had found a cute dress however, and looked lovely!!! :)  We went as a double date with Stace and Darren.  I actually didn't want to post any pictures till the 'official' pictures came out - we got fun ones with all the couples at our table, but they seem to be taking a while to get here (this was over a month ago) and I thought I'd post these ones from Stace's phone before I forget!!! :)

Our suave dates having some 'bro talk'!!  This is Julian, James & Darren :)

And me and Stace :)  Don't you love our - angle the camera down to us - thing? :)  Awesome :)

We had lots of fun with all the couples at our table, and hitting the dance floor later on :)  Thanks for double dating with us Stace and Darren!! :)

Then the other week James and I took advantage of a Spreets deal I'd bought a while ago for a Korean Bibimbap feast :)  (I seem to be craving Asian food, non-stop, mmmmmmmmmmmmm :) - not in a bad, awful craving kind of way, I just like eating it right now, a lot more than I ever have before in my life :)).

Anyway, Bibimbap did not disappoint - and we loved the little restaurant!! It was a very Korean family feel - almost everyone there was Korean, and they all looked like they eat there all the time and knew each other.  We loved it :)

(Do you like my wrist bling??  Mum bought a bunch of cute blingy jewellery on sale to go in her dress ups for the grandchildren, but I may have stolen these before the grandchildren knew about them... :))

James always loves Asian food, so I think he's enjoying the fact that I've kind of been shunning my usual Italian favourite (mmm cheesy tomatos and antipestos...) and branching out a little :)

And the dessert disasters I'm proud to say, aren't mine, but I had this photo from James' phone so I had to blog about it, sorry Tammy! :D 

Okay, anyone who doesn't already know what this first one is meant to be and can guess it, deserves a whole one (made correctly) to themselves!! :)

A pancake?!  A plate with sauce on it?!  No!  A choc-mint cheesecake!!  Daddy's favourite dessert, that Tammy generously made for him for Fathers' Day!!!! :)  Yes, it's meant to be a little taller, and not falling off the plate...and it should look.....appetising :)

Poor Tammy put the wrong cream in I think - she had been up for hours cooking homemade breadrolls and a bunch of other stuff, including the world's most beautiful and PERFECT apple pie!!!  

I would have included a photo of it, but while she was on the way down to Mum and Dad's place, the car in front of Tammy screeched on its breaks suddenly, and Tammy had to swerve to miss it and slam on her breaks, and the world's most beautiful and PERFECT apple pie flew off its perch on the front seat and slammed into the dashboard with a loud, squelching sound (or so I was told).  It was killed instantly.  What a disaster!!!

Tammy chopped up some fruit and made an impromptu and delicious fruit salad to accompany her choc mint pancake cheesecake, and it was lovely :)

Good times :)

Me an (2 of) Ma Sistaz

Text FROM me TO Beth & Jessima before our little cousin's photoshoot for Fathers' Day:

"Hay ma sistaz!  Waz jst thnkn that i mait dress da gurlz in red, navy n white n we culd tri 2 cola coordin8 all our babiez 4 da pics! Do thoz colas wrk 4 u? (just getting my ganster on ;)) xo"

From Beth:
"Ye 4 realz.  All gud bra.  Wz goin pst target wen i got ur msg so got tha Hal somthin.  B sweet if it fits."

From Jessima:
"Sup ma sizzle!!  I aint gat doz colas!  But I canz tri 2.  Aight!"

:)

Was impressed by Beth's 'bra' lol!! :)  Jessima's was more impressive before she confessed that Jonny wrote it because she couldn't figure out how to sound like a 'gangster' lol!!! :)  James used to text me like this.  It took me a while to be able to read them ("is it upside down or something?!"), but he's since started using full words :)

I'm really glad (it's the grammar-crazy primary school teacher in me) that smart phones make it easier to use proper words than weird 'text' words with all their autotype settings.  Bring back punctuation!!! :)  (some of my year 6's used to put language like this in their assignments!!! - Eekurgh!!!)

Teacher Registration Australian Citizenship Job Applications Resume Touch Ups Overdue Fines Bills Budgeting Car Registration Insurance Is Anyone Out There Feeling this Way??!!!

This is my best depiction of me at the moment:

(I was actually going to photoshop my face in, but I couldn't find any pictures of me not smiling, and it really wouldn't have depicted me very well.  Also, I haven't been reeeally blonde for quite some time now.  But the paperwork?  That's spot on!)

I am 'the paperwork girl' in our little family.  Maggie or Ana may usurp me in this call as they grow older, but for now they're about as motivated as James is in the paperwork department.

I take care of budgets and bills and applications and all that jazz.  I used to get a kick out of crossing all the t's and dotting the i's.  I always kind of love a good, completed form that I know won't be sent back for more details, because I didn't miss a thing.  Weird, but we all take pride in something! :)  The last few years have taken a bit of a toll on this pleasant little piece of housekeeping for me though.

Possibly my only real memory when I think of my last semester at uni is the endless paperwork I had to do.  I remember 'photocopying my life' - so many times over that I ended up just photocopying a kazillion copies of my birth certificate, marriage certificate and passport, and getting them all certified at once from a Justice of the Peace.  I'm sure it took ages and the people in line behind me wanted to throw things at my head, but sometimes you just gotta get it all done!!  It seemed like every governing body and every application centre wanted a new bunch of random details (with proof attached - copies of everything certified by yet another Justice of the Peace) and it was crazy.

THEN, we applied for James to become an Australian Permanent Resident.  Boy if I thought graduating was a toll on my satisfaction for completing paperwork, I had another thing coming.  We had to 'prove' we were in love.  Letters and invitations addressed to both of us from the entire course of our relationship and marriage, proof that we stayed in touch through any absences, wedding photos, honeymoon photos, engagement photos, photos at different events, scrapbooks, joint power bills, etc., etc.  Then we had to give in all the usual proof of identity, lack of criminal record, good intentions, upstanding good character, etc for both of us, because I was 'sponsoring' James.  Awesome.  We got it on the spot.  I ended up being super over-prepared, because it turned out that having a baby together proved we were obviously in love (phew!), or at least stuck in each others' lives forever if we weren't!!!  Bless Maggie. 

Anyway, now James is graduating from uni.  I've been steadily dreading this time for the last few months, but it's come, and it's much worse than I even anticipated, because it coincides with us finally applying for Australian Citizenship (for James - I got it at birth :)), and our our annual big bills and renewals, and a bunch of other things.  On the upside, I still have a bunch of certified copies of his life on file, due to my extraordinarily long trip to the JP a couple of years ago.  Sometimes I decide to just leave James' paperwork to James, but when the deadline's drawing close I quickly pick it back up again, because let's face it - I'm just as much in need of him getting his teacher registration as he is!!!  I AM pretty excited about him getting citizenship :)  He just ordered one of the citizenship test books to study from, and I think he's pretty excited too :)

Paperwork I still LOVE and I don't think I'll EVER get over:  Registering the births of our babies and applying for their birth certificates.  How much fun is it writing out the little names you've just given them and declaring them new little citizens of our wonderful country and this world?!!! :)  Awesome :)

Oh, and my BIGGEST paperwork oversight:  Forgetting to return the form asking (as James had come to the end of his drivers licence points from an obscene amount of speeding tickets) if James wanted to go on 'probation' for 6 months, or lose his licence completely for 3.  Because I didn't return it, he automatically lost it for 3, and it was the bane of both of our existences (sigh).  And then it was like it was my fault James lost his licence!!!! (BIG sigh!!).

Dream Car

Okay, it's totally only because of this video - and let's be honest, I barely noticed the car, except for the fact that it does seem to be a van, which fulfils my requirements.  James wants a big truck of some kind with 7 seats.  Don't worry - after I show him this he'll realise how cool vans are and totally change his tune.

LOOONG Catch-Up!!!!!

Hey little personal blog/journal!!

It's been a little while since I've written anything remotely interesting on here, and I'm going to unashamedly blame it on being pregnant once again!!! :)  Yay!! :)  I'm just over 16 weeks now though, and have been getting better over the last 4 weeks - I've been pretty great for the last 2, but I'm tired a lot, the usual :)

Since I've been well again though, I've been spending my more awake time having lots of fun and outings with my fabulous girls, who were so patient with me for all those weeks when I lay on the couch uselessly, asking them to be gentle with me and basically being no fun at all!!  I am so GRATEFUL that James took a month off work completely during uni holidays, and got us through the worst of it, and by the time he started back full time (between work and study) I was getting back into it.

It's funny how hard morning sickness hits.  I guess a lot of people never get it, and if you're not grateful for that, you should be.  Because it's awful! - You just feel like you're dying!!! I kept saying to James "This is MUCH worse than the other two times - I'm dying!  This is awful!  I can't do this for 8 more weeks" and so on, but he just said "It's exactly the same sweetie, you've just forgotten!  But you'll get through it and you'll be okay" :) .  He took care of absolutely everything for us - meals, cleaning, looking after the girls, looking after me, running around town trying to satisfy my horrible cravings (I don't have fun cravings.  I've mentioned this before on this blog.  But it's more like "I need a Red Rooster chicken drumstick now or I'll die!" and less like "Hm... I'm craving chocolate.  Please go and buy me 3 blocks and I will eat them and chill out :)).  I was also probably insufferable to be around.  I devoured I don't know how many books, until I ran out, and became bored and more miserable.  I watched a bunch of movies and then got sick of them all.  I watched the entire first 4 seasons of Chuck.  Bless funny, random, light hearted shows you've never seen before for trying to take your mind off things!!  I felt like such a bad mother.  The girls ran riot if James ever went out, and I just felt sooo bad for them! - Bored and cooped up all the time! I'm so glad James was around to take them out and do stuff with them.  And he and Ana developed a wonderful relationship - the kind he's always had with Maggie but Ana's missed out on a little in her early days, because he was home a lot more when Maggie was born and has been a lot busier since Ana.  But they really bonded and it's wonderful to see now :)  She just adores him, and he her.  And Maggie loved having her main man around all the time!

By the end of the sickness, I started to feel like I was crazy, and maybe it was all in my head?  Maybe I was just lazy?  So I'd try to do more, and fail miserably, and end up in bed, much worse than before.  I just felt like I wasn't being a very good person.  And I never wanted to go out and do anything!  I would make plans with friends and then cancel cause I wasn't up to it, and I felt like such a bad friend!   But then I started to have days where I was actually well, and then you realise "Oh, I'm not a bad person - I'm not just lazy!  I was actually really, really sick!!!  Oh my word I feel great today!! I am going to clean my house and take the girls to the park!!  And catch up with friends!!  And make dinner!!" and it's just the most incredible feeling ever.  I keep saying to James "I just can't describe it.  It's like you're in this horrible black hole and you can't get better no matter what and then you start to doubt yourself and you don't know if you're lazy or what and then suddenly you're better!  And you realise that health is the most incredible blessing, and you don't ever realise how wonderful it is until you're stuck in that black hole for weeks on end, terrified that this time it won't end at 14 weeks!"  I don't know how the wonderful strong women (like my mother, who had 7 of us!) who are sick for the entire 9 months manage!  I find it extremely difficult to get through the first three months.

But as a result of that time, the last few weeks have been absolutely fabulously blissful.  I'm back!! And the girls and I have been having a lot of fun, and making up for all our time lost.  They are SUCH great girls, and I feel so lucky to get to hang out with them all day long!  They are the funniest ages and they have me in stitches all day, and they're so sweet and kind and funny!!!  And James and I have been leaving the house again - we even went to the temple last Friday night, and we're going to our Stake Ball tomorow night! - I don't know how I'll go fatigue-wise, but I'm super excited.

As usual, I put on WAY too much weight during trimester 1, but I've evened out a little just in the last couple of weeks, and I've come to terms with the fact that to help me feel a little better during that time, I just have to constantly eat, and to me it's a LOT easier to work out and lose the weight afterwards, than to try and stop myself from eating whatever I want during trimester 1!!  But hopefully I can repeat Ana's pregnancy, not the 30+kg's I put on with Maggie!!

And I am starting to get INCREDIBLY excited as I enter trimester 2, realising that I'm really going to be able to have another baby!! I'm always a little too nervous during the first 12 weeks to let myself be really excited, in case anything happens, but yesterday I went to the hospital and heard this little baby's heart beating for the first time, and in a few weeks we'll be able to find out whether it's a boy or girl, and I can't WAIT!!! That is my favourite part of pregnancy.  I love knowing what we're having.  It really helps me bond with baby.  We name it and talk to it, and I buy it pink or blue (pink so far, but it could be blue this time?! :)) and get everything ready for it, and it feels so much more real.  I can't wait!! James is pretty excited too :)  And so are Maggie and Ana.

So basically everything is complete sunshine at the moment, especially compared to being so sick - ugh!

Random bits and pieces:

• The fabulous Stacey came over the other week, and introduced us to 'Monopoly Deal', the card version of Monopoly.  Games only take maybe 15 minutes max. each, and it's a lot of fun.  I bought it for James for D.A.D (Daddy Appreciation Day) recently, and we've played it so many times he's sick of it, but I'm totally addicted!! :)
• My friend Estelle came over this afternoon to have some stamping fun with me, and she brought us dinner - uncooked.  I'm always saying I wish I were more confident cooking fish cause I love it, so she brought me the uncooked ingredients, and helped me prepare the fish for cooking, and all I have to do is chuck it in the oven half an hour before we want to eat!! Isn't that sweet?!  Dinner and a cooking lesson!! :)
• My Dad got broken into at his office again the other day.  It's happened a lot in the last year, and caused him a lot of grief and business loss, and it's really upsetting for our whole family I think.  Dad is just such a good person, and he works SOOOOO HARD and has my whole life, to support his family, and to have people just break in and take so much from him, is so hard to see.  They've been installing all sorts of security measures over the last year, and they just keep coming back.  This time, they actually like, dug a hole and broke through the bottom of a wall, and like, climbed in underground?! - Who does that?!!!  Anyway, they've had builders reinforce it all and I think they're putting in a new alarm system this time.  We are all praying that they stay away and that this break-in doesn't cause too much more grief than replacing all the valuable things in the office.
• I had to quit netball when I was only a little bit pregnant :(  I really, really wanted to keep playing, and stay fit during this pregnancy, but even though I switched out from Center and started playing on the wings, I was sick and fainting after games, and then you know, spent a really long time in bed doing nothing but being sick, and now I can't go back during this pregnancy.  I guess I'll save the organised sport for between pregnancies!
• James is in his last 6 months of uni.  Can you tell I'm grinning like a cheshire cat while I write this?!  Who knows where he'll be working this time next year?!!!! He has certainly worked hard for this degree, I'm so happy and excited for him, and for our whole family!!!  He will be so relieved to have a break from assignments hanging over his head all the time - I still seem to remember that feeling with perfect clarity!!
• This baby is due, 4 days before Maggie's 3rd birthday.  I'm guessing we won't be throwing her too big a party this year - I might miss it!!!
• Mum is currently designing her and Dad's new house.  I can't wait to see what it ends up looking like!! I couldn't do all the planning she is.  Well, at least, I really wouldn't want to.  Fortunately James will be just as keen as she is in that department - I'll just give him a list of what I want and let him do what he thinks with the rest of it when it comes our time!  Mum always makes things so beautiful though, so I can see why she'd want to do it herself!!  Meanwhile they're in a cute rental, and our childhood house is long sold to a young couple who are just starting a family.  I haven't driven past since they sold it.  I was so sick I didn't even take photos in every room and do any sort of 'goodbye wonderful house I lived in for 17 years!!' tour - which I SO would have done otherwise!!
• Elders Ben and Oliver have been on their missions for a year and 4 months now.  Isn't that crazy?!  They'll be home apparently before I know it, but it seems to be going awfully slowly!! We all miss them like crazy, but we're so proud of them.  They are working so hard and being so faithful and good!!  They make us smile whenever we think of them.  I still can't believe they haven't met Ana!!
• James is working with Dad at the moment. I like to think of them working together - My two favourite guys!!  :)  He's also coaching 3 teams at JPC and helping out with some of the PE classes there.  He's loving what he's doing, but it's certainly keeping him busy!!
• I lost some of my all time, FAVOURITE maternity clothes, and I'm devastated!! James thinks I must've accidentally taken them to Vinnies, and I just want to cry when I think about it!  Went maternity shopping the other weekend and found nothing.  I wish I had my pretty clothes back, sigh!!! 
• The J's live down the road now!  First I was sick, and since we've all had sick babies, but we're going over tomorow for a fun play (Jessima's put together a 'safari' which sounds fun!) and are happy that they're in our ward and we see them more often!! :)
• Baby Hallie = SO CUTE!! :)  And Beth = earth mother!! : ) We're planning on a visit next week - even though she's a lot closer now, the Gold Coast seems so far away at the moment! - But they do live pretty far south.  Hopefully more catch ups soon :)
• Ana and Maggie are so cute.  Did I say that already?!  They're best friends, they are both chatting (Ana only says a few intelligible words, but she's expanding her vocab rapidly(!) and Maggie will talk your ear off, all day, about everything :))  I'm in parenting heaven.  I'm so grateful for them and can't wait to find out what this baby is and then meet it in a few months!!! :)

Okay, My fish is going in the oven, so I'm going to go and watch it.  Hopefully I'll update more regularly soon, but I'm happy to say our little family blog is going strong, and I've been posting weekly on our new creative blog, so I'm sure enough of our little family history is being recorded - maybe just not giant posts about how awful morning sickness is, and how great life is afterwards :)  

Have a fabulous Thursday!!! :)  (Don't you love Thursdays?!  They're definitely one of my favourite days - so much hope on a Thursday I think!! :))

xoxox

Jane.

I am coming close to the end of my regular complete works of Jane Austen read, and I just have to share my favourite at the moment, which is 'Persuasion' :)

My first favourite, was 'Pride & Prejudice'. I loved it :) LOVED it :) For a long time, actually. But the box office version of it which hit a few years ago kind of ruined it for me. At least for now. My plan is to not watch it for years, and try and forget it. I hate the ending - oh wait I think it's the alternative ending on the disc that I really hate - the one where he keeps kissing her. Weird. And sooo not Jane! If you want to watch a movie of it, watch BBC. I didn't hate the box office one at first. I kind of like Mr Darcy in it actually, but not Elizabeth. Actually I kind of like most of the characters in it. Lydia is appropriately silly and annoying, Jane is very pretty - much prettier than the BBC version, the mother works, love Donald Sutherland as the father actually. And the dreadful cousin whatshisname is actually kinda great :) But he's great in the BBC version too - he's just a great character, Jane wrote him well!

Anyway, then I loved Emma. I still love Emma. It's funny, I really liked the Gwenyth Paltrow Emma a lot, but now I think the movie's kind of ruined the book there too. Hm. I think maybe it's because the movies stick in your head so much you don't get a chance to forget the exciting little bits and pieces and side stories before your next read of the books, and it's like it's been overdone or something... hm... Meanwhile, I do NOT like .. whatshername... imdb...aaahhh Toni Collette! - Bless IMDB :) I don't like her in her role very much - not that I don't like her in general, I just thought the casting was all wrong! Anyway, I do love Emma though! I have a good friend... is it Stacey? Someone who was telling me she doesn't like Emma - the character... I really like her though! A lot :) (Bahahaha side note: In IMDB, the synopsis for Emma is: "In rural 1800s England things go bad for a young matchmaker after she finds a man for another woman.". Obviously not written by Jane.)

I also really like Lady Susan, and always have - I like the story through letters, it's interesting and fun, and I always enjoy reading it!! Did you know, that back in the day, Sense and Sensibility was also written in letters, but then Jane re-wrote it in 3rd person? Interesting - I would love to be able to read it the original way!! Her books also had a bunch of different titles, which don't sound at all appealing, and I am glad they were changed!

Anyway, I like Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey a lot too, but I can't put Persuasion down. You just know that Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth HAVE to end up together, and I'm never fully satisfied until they do! And I hope I NEVER see a TV or movie version of it so that it's overdone. I just love it :)

I love the last 20 pages of any Jane Austen - I love that every end is tied up neatly :) It's perfectly satisfying :)

While we're on the subject of Jane, I'd be semi-interested in getting a hold of this before it goes out of print again - the closest thing to a biography of Jane Austen, with excerpts from unpublished works. I don't know that I'd love reading about her life too much though, because it so closely does NOT resemble the happy endings present in her books!! But I want her unpublished works!!

Anyway, I really like Jane, what to read next??

(random side note - I randomly came upon a printout of the short story The Curious Tale of Benjamin Button the other day, and read it quickly. I haven't seen the movie, but what a strange, sad little book!! Curious... :))

It's The Hard Knock Life!

Last Wednesday night, Tammy and I went to see 'Annie' in town :) First of all, seeing as I'm all about embracing stuff these days, I stopped to get a picture in the poster, and I have to say, red afro? Kind of hot!


Lol okay, kind of awful :) And what was everybody thinking with the whole red hair red dress thing? Yeck! Tammy refused to get back there, even though I begged her to!! I bet she's regretting it now that I have a cool photo with Anthony Warlow!! And I only had to wait for like, three 7-year-olds to get theirs done first!! :) lol

Anyway, the show was wonderful!! The orphans were definitely a highlight!!! The littlest orphan has a big role - a lot of imitating Mrs Hannigan and singing parts, and she was great! She couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 though! And the dancing was fabulous - it's like these girls have been singing and dancing since birth. I've seen great shows with great children, but these children were in a whole other class. Often the children are very much their own presence up on stage, but these children were just... the orphans - they were fabulous. My favourite orphan part was when they sang 'It's the Hard Knock Life!' the second time, without Annie. Not that she wasn't great! - I just liked the orphan chorus better! Annie wasn't perfect, and throughout the show she got kind of worse as she got more tired or something, but she was pretty great!! I heard they had 3 different casts of Annie + children, and I can imagine one of the other Annies might be better (she was pretty good though!), but can't imagine a better orphan chorus!

Nancye Hayes who played 'Miss Hannigan' was wonderful - we started off not thrilled with her, but she just got better and better!! And Anthony Warlow, 'Daddy Warbucks' was brilliant - it would not have been anywhere near as wonderful without having someone so professional and brilliant playing that role!! He's wonderful to watch, and his voice is beautiful. Tammy was a bit devestated that his lovely assistant was blonde, instead of dark like she is in the movie, but she's got a thing about brunettes being depicted as blondes, especially in the New Era... lol ;) We both really liked the assistant though, she was lovely!! And although I didn't like the President too much, and Tammy did, we both loved 'HARMONY!!!!' :)

It was a fabulous night, and although I resisted the urge to purchase, I did go home and look up tickets for James and Maggie. Only his assurances that there would be other shows, and that Maggie would probably like and remember them more in a few years, made me stop. Oh, and it's a little pricey.. But it was funny, and fabulous, and so fun going out with Tammy, as usual (without whom I would apparently have nothing to blog about!! lol :))

Back when I was doing my fitness challenge, I bought a dress to wear at my Aunty's wedding in Adelaide, to celebrate reaching my goals, and never ended up posting the pic of me in it, so I asked James to take one of me before Annie. It's actually the first time I've seen myself and thought 'Huh. I kind of wish I was taller - I look squashed!' lol :) But here's the dress...OH, and look how short my hair is!!! It wasn't curling anymore after I had Ana, and so I made James hack it all off, in hopes that it would regain it's bounce. The cut ended up as karma for what happened back here (I knew that would come back and bite me!! SUCH a bad mullet!! - James really likes it, he says, but... I don't...), and the hair remains terribly un-curly. Not straight, just kind of limp, sigh. A few other curly-haired friends of mine have lost their curl after having babies too, and apparently it's just something that can happen, sob!! Don't know what you've got till it's gone!! But anyway, it's the shortest my hair has been and I've realised I kind of hate it and can't wait for it to re-grow!!


How awkward is it standing there to have a photo taken of yourself, by yourself?!! I didn't know how to stand, and felt SUPER awkward!! Maggie thought it was hot though - she came and joined me :)


Now that's style! :)

Book Joy

Books bring me joy.

I LOVE Books. Here are some of the bookshelves in our home (on that, for me, books are a big part of what makes our house 'home'!)(the first picture, is of the book AND toy bookshelves in Maggie's room - James thinks there are too many books in there. I think there are too many toys.):


In the next one the empty shelf is an awful blot, I know - an attempt to convince James that we don't have enough books, and we still have lots of places to put them. Everytime I bring home a new book I manage to put it somewhere else, keeping this shelf free for all the other books we have yet to fit in. He thinks there's a limit on the amount of books you should have...sigh... :) But he pretty much lets me have my way, and has been known to buy me books on occasion :)


Some of the random bookshelves around our home...


We may also have a basket or two...


I want to share with you my very favourite books :) (you should see my excited little grin right now :)) Here are some of my favourite picture books:


Let me tell you about them :D

Top left is one of my FAVOURITE favourites :) Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley. It won Children's Book of the Year in 2008, and it's really sweet. Since then the author, Aaron Blabey has written Stanley Paste, and Sunday Chutney. They're all really sweet and have great illustrations and messages. He's also written a book called 'The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon' which I know nothing about :) The other three are great for children though!

The next one across from that is 'Ruby Makes a Friend' - really sweet book!! Lovely pictures, cute story :) Next across, is one of three books in the picture collage illustrated by Katz Cowley. The other two are The Wonkey Donkey and Willbee the Bumblebee :) The Wonkey Donkey and Willbee the Bumblebee were both written by Craig Smith, who does the CD's that all three of the books contain. These books are FANTASTIC!!! And so funny! :) LOVE the illustrations, The Wonkey Donkey is definitely my favourite :) Such a funny text :) Maggie only currently has Willbee the Bumblebee - the other two I pulled out of the present box to photograph - she'll get them maybe for her next birthday :)

So that's three of the pictures. The last four are in the bottom left corner of the collage. Where the Wild Things Are is a classic, that has a movie made of it which I've never seen but heard not to bother. Maggie loves roaring her terrible roar and gnashing her terrible teeth along with the wild things! :) And the other three are just random books my Mum and Aunty Debbie gave me or Maggie, which are sweet or funny and have great illustrations :)


Then of course there are the Disney books. I love the classic storybooks (top) - and hunt out the old versions at op shops and second hand book fairs. I have done pretty well this way, and have most of them - not all pictured here. I used to have a bunch of new ones but I gave them away to my parents and sisters when I managed to find the 'real' (old) ones :) Hm - I just noticed there are two 'Pocahontas' books - who wants it? :) I also love Disney books in other formats - and in collections, like 'Adventure' stories or 'Friendship' stories pictured beneath the classics :) Beautiful pictures, and it's fun to read books when you're young, when you already know the characters or stories. It can be empowering and help children with confidence when they're learning to read.


Above are some of my very favourites for older children/young adults. Top left is 'Goodnight, Mister Tom', one of my very favourite all time books. I still read it every year or so, and cry at all the right bits. But it's a beautiful story. If it's on this page, it probably has a happy ending. I'm all about happiness :) Read that one. Next to it are 3 copies of Heidi. A picture book version, the original and a condensed version of the original. Heidi was always my favourite book when I was young. I just loved it, and it still makes me what to eat thick slices of bread with cheese whenever I think about it. I just love it. Bottom left is a two-in-one classics book, with The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. Gorgeous books for little girls. A Little Princess is definitely a favourite favourite, and The Secret Garden has grown on me with age. I really love A Little Princess though - all girls are princesses :) I like the way it teaches little girls to behave. All these old books are filled to the brim and bursting at the seams with good moral lessons and values - reading them now it's funny to me that I didn't notice it so much when I was younger! But I digress. One along from that is the 'What Katy Did' books :) My favourite is What Katy Did at School, and I always loved the chapter when Katy and Clover receive their Christmas package from home, and go through each sweet gift with such joy, and their friend Rose Red run in to join them. I often used to open it to there and just read that chapter. I did not enjoy the beginning, where Clover and Johnny went to stay with that old lady in her incredibly hot house. I usually skipped it. And the three collections on the right - Anne of Green Gables (just what I've found at book fairs - I want them all!), the Narnia Books (dreadful movie cover versions on a great sale! - I want them all too!), and Little Women/Good Wives - I would love Jo's Boys and little men sometime too - I am continuing my hunt :) Oh, and in the corner is a collection of the first 5 of the Little House on the Prairie books. Theses are oooold! If you want to learn how to do anything at all from scratch, read these - they're fabulously fascinating, and it's just wonderful to read about their isolated, happy, hard working existence!

What else shall I show you...


The Magic Faraway Tree and Wishing Chair series. Tammy bought these for me in an old set - semi rare, and such a wonderful gift, I LOVE them so much!! They've just actually released a new set of the picture books which is a relief for me on behalf of future generations. I wish every child could. They are perfectly wonderful imaginative books. My Dad used to read them to us all before bed, and I went to bed with all sorts of wonderful characters and faraway places dancing in my dreams :)

Enid Blyton was something of an author genius. She was wonderful, and I used to devour her books like chocolate (I know, right? :))

Here are some others of hers I've managed to get my hands on so far...


My parents bought me the entire set of Famous Five books for Christmas last year...!!! I have read these so many times, I loved them growing up, so much!!! :)

And here are a few I've randomly managed to pick up:


I would love to get my hands on her fairy books, and her 2 boarding school series. Mallory Towers and St Claires. A friend I've come to know lately went to boarding school for some of her high school time, and I feel like I've met a celebrity. Those books made boarding school such an exciting world, what a magical place to have been a part of! :) Again, these books are packed full of morals and values - vicarious teaching, love it :)

Okay I'm done with Enid Blyton for a bit, I promise :) What else have I got for you...

Ah these...


Are a little bit genius :) James' Nana and Koro got Maggie one ages ago - they live a long way away, and you record yourself reading this book to a child as a gift. Maggie freaked out a bit by it at first, but then asked for 'Nana Koro book' all the time, and loved it. So I suggested my parents do one for Maggie for Christmas as well - and they gave her 2 (the 2 on the right - the one on the left is the 'Nana Koro Book'). It makes me laugh to hear the way they recorded theirs, chatting to the girls. The girls love them though, especially Maggie (being old enough to notice it a bit more :)) and it's fun to have family read them sweet bedtime stories sometimes.

Oh, here's a tiny bit of Noddy. Fun fact: Enid Blyton wrote that too! :)


What else...


Ah, our every single night bedtime story! :) We are in the New Testament at the moment, and Maggie loves looking at the pictures, and pointing out 'Ana!' in all the pictures of the baby Jesus!! :) When I ordered these at first, I didn't realise there was a Doctrine & Covenants book as well so I got it recently and we haven't read it yet! As soon as we finish the New Testament this time we'll get it :) You can get them from here :)

But a book collection wouldn't be complete without some serious Roald Dahl! Here's what James and Maggie gave me for Christmas last year, much to my delight!! :)


Isn't it fabulous?! :) I just need a few more volumes to complete the Roald Dahl section of my book collection - Revolting Rhymes, Dirty Beasts and a few others. I love his poetry, it's brilliant. There's no fault to find in Roald Dahl. He's absolutely brilliant and fabulous and definitely an original :)

Oh and here's some Eric Carle:


They're gorgeous. One day I will buy The Very Hungry Caterpillar, something I can barely believe I don't have!

Oh and you may have seen them in the picture before, but can I tell you about some of these in more detail?

Dr Seuss. If you don't know who that is, I don't know where you've been all your life. But they're fabulous. See that collection up the top there? The Wonderful World of Dr. Seuss? A Christmas present this year from Mum and Dad, yay!! :)



Little Golden Books. Need I say more? Even James loves these - his Mum used to buy them for him with the groceries sometimes - we collect them at Op Shops :)


And I love these - the book set to the left, below. They're from Target, and Maggie really adores them. She loves reading the 'Sorry' book and saying 'sorry' with me on every page, and 'thankyou' and sharing and being kind and learning why we use manners, etc. I love them, and I love it that she loves them! They've been great for Family Home Evening lessons! :) I didn't know they'd be quite as cool as they have turned out to be for Maggie.


The three books below which are published in the same style are by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley. The first one, Diary of a Wombat is an international bestseller, and won a bunch of awards. It's cute and funny, and I love it. The other two - Josephine Loves to Dance and Baby Wombat's Week are cute too, but not quite as good as Diary of a Wombat :) Oh, and have you seen 'Gallop' or 'Waddle'? You can buy them at bookstores and at Target too - they're scanimation, they're a lot of fun :)


As I got older I fell in love with this series:


The Billabong books, by Mary Grant Bruce. I'm missing 3. One day I'll get them. I love them. On the left of the first, is 'Golden Fiddles', also by Mary Grant Bruce. I've read this one many times too, love it. These are all kind of teenage fiction, but they're definitely old. I don't know how teenagers would respond to them today. But they are set in Australia in the early to mid 1900s in the outback :)

Now for an all time, favourite favourite favourite bunch of books:


I know, you love them too. Who doesn't? :) I love them all. Every single one. I want all the volumes individually, but can't yet justify buying them, seeing as I own the entire collection already. I'm feeling like some classics at the moment, I think I'm on the brink of my annual Jane Austin complete works read :) At that time of year I start speaking like I'm from the books. I expand my vocabulary and wish to converse more :) Nobody ties up all the loose ends nearly so nicely as Jane, except, I'm told, Charles Dickens. I haven't read a lot of Dickens, but I actually just bought a few classics on a great sale the other day, which I haven't read the originals of before:


I've just started the Prince and the Pauper, and feel so sad to know they're in these awful switched realities until the end of the book! I'm excited to read these though :) Don't you love the feel of a sweet smelling classic? New Paper? :) Or old? :)

I also love biographies:


I hope to have all the biographies of the Prophets before too long. The next one I want though is the old President Kimball Biography!

And I love their teachings. Once you finish reading their biography, you want to read every word they ever said or wrote! :)

Here are some other great church books (and the biographies again, sorry about that! :))


Faith Precedes the Miracle is wonderful. I love it. I love the things Spencer W. Kimball wrote and said! He was so loving but straight! And Lectures on Faith is kind of a must have. Mum and Dad have bought us such beautiful versions of The Holy Temple, and the books in the middle - The Autobiography of Parley P Pratt, Jesus The Christ and The Infinite Atonement. We also have a leather-bound Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, but James keeps that - he loves that book! They're all such wonderful books too - I used to read The Holy Temple when we were first married and I was home alone at night, to help me feel peace (I always freak out :P). It's wonderful. I love the beautiful copies of things, so was stoked (along with James) when Tammy bought us the heirloom copy of The Book of Mormon for Christmas this year (top right)!! :) It's awesome - it's got places for family trees, ordinations, baby blessings, baptisms, missionary service, children, etc. I want to put it in a special box away somewhere, but James wants to use it and see it often. At the moment we're in a compromise-ish - it's in our bookshelf, not in its box! :)

Doesn't this bookshelf look great?


I can't imagine why James doesn't like books everywhere!! They're gorgeous! :)

Speaking of church books though, I love John Bytheway! I realised doing this that I only have a few of his books:


But we have a lot of his talks on CD on our computer.

And I love books like these:



That are the uplifting, motivating kind of 'Professional Development' books for me as a wife and mum :) I like reading these while I'm on my fabulous treadmill. Especially The Greatest Career - it's such a 'get up and at 'em'boost! :)

Here's what's on my bedside table at the moment:


A lot of parenting stuff :)

In other books, I LOVE this semi-new book!! (new compared to most of my old classics collection!)


I couldn't put it down :) They didn't even do too bad a job with the movie!

I have some other books here and there, tucked away in different places, and a few good children's church books that are in our church toy bag, but those are some of the very favourites that I own.

Here are some very favourites that I would LOVE to own, but don't yet:

The Work and the Glory by Gerald Lund - a nine book historical novel series, following the early history of the church from before the church was organised, to when the pioneers arrived at the Salt Lake Valley. Love!

Cynthia Voigt's Tillerman series (including 'The Runner') Hard to get a hold of, unless I rob my parents, but really good. I don't know if students still read 'The Runner' for middle school English, but we used to!

The Twilight Series - I'm almost ashamed to write this on my blog! But back before the movies were rocking the socks of every teeny bopper on the planet and making me groan with disgust, I loved the books, which are 1,000,000 better than the movies, in every way, and just way different! My plan is to not look at the movies or think about it for a few years, try to forget it all, and then read the books again, and hope I can still enjoy them. My least favourite movie adaptation of a series, ever, but I couldn't put the books down. 'The Host' is quite interesting too - a good read, totally weird :)

Harry Potter - modern classics. I want them :) I want a pretty box set, and to add them to my 'read every semi-often' rotation of books :) They're really quite brilliant!

The Hobbit - I always found it a little easier to digest than The Lord of the Rings, though I'd like that too. I can't wait to see what they do with the movie! I love that The Hobbit is kind of the younger version of Lord of the Rings - I enjoyed it around age 10, but Lord of the Rings definitely took longer!!

The Hunger Games - Totally awful but fantastic. I hate awful horrible things, so my family are surprised how much I loved these. LOVED these. Looking forward to seeing what they've done with the movie in March!

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter - I used to love this when I was a girl. I think I must've read it at least 10 times when I was younger, but it made a Vinnies trip when I wasn't around - I don't think anybody thought anybody read it. I recently looked it up and it's available on second hand websites, so hopefully I'll be able to pick it up at a good price one day.

The 'Drina Dances' books - 'Drina Dances in Italy', and 'Drina Dances in Exile' we used to own, but somehow they made it to Vinnies along the way as well. There are 11 though, and I'd love to have them all one day! I think they were fun little girls books.

There are some other interesting books I've read in the last year or two - Mum lent me 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society' which I really loved. It's set back in World War II I think, and was such a different perspective. Mum has found a lot of excellent reads from going onto the goodreads website and seeing them recommended. I haven't done it yet cause I'm afraid of getting addicted!! But I just take all of Mum's recommendations :)

I also recently loved the Vampire Academy series!! Not exactly Jane Austin, but not exactly easy to put down once I picked them up, either!! Don't judge them by their covers - I don't know what they were thinking with their cover art. There are 6 books in it, and then there was a spin off series, which I read the first one of - big mistake, since the rest aren't out yet!! But I really enjoyed them. Just an easy, addictive read :)

And on that note - I'd better go and do some housework :) I just wanted to share some of my book love. Because I really do love books.

It's a wonderful thing for children to love reading - it will give them such an amazing foundation for their schooling. If you can read to your children just once everyday, and if they can see you reading, and if books are around in your home and they learn to think of books in a positive way, it will help them so much at school! If your child goes to school with negative feelings towards reading it can put up a block that will impact their schooling, and not just in English - mathematics and literacy are very much linked! Everything they'll need to do will be based somewhat in reading! So my love of books is not just for them in themselves, it is for helping my children learn to love reading, and all children to learn to love books and the wonderful lessons you can learn and the stories they contain, and the wonderful help they can be in learning literacy and equipping you to be successful at and most importantly to enjoy learning at school! :D

Can you see why I want to become a teacher librarian if I ever go back to work?? :)

Does anyone have any other recommendations of fabulous books??? Childrens?? Adults?? History?? Church?? Novels?? Series?? :)

I love books :)