2007 Christmas Photoshoot!!

After our Santa hats being packed with the rest of our house contents... and not being able to find ANY decent Santa hats in Queensland a few days before Christmas... I decided to use tinsel and a Christmas reef... (my great chrissy bargin... $2.00 at Woolies!!) I organised the boys and the Puppy for our 2007 Christmas photoshoot....
AND
It was almost a disaster... Amazingly the 1st and almost the only photo I got with Ella in festive garb was just perfect... after this photo Aidan attempted to sit with her... but as you can see she made a very quick getaway and from then on... the New Puppy was missing in action so I never got any photos with her and the boys!!!!

And the photos of the boys... they are blurred but full of smiles and laughter.... and I love them!

So I am happy, as despite the mayhem and the perfect Christmas photos turning out NOT SO PERFECT... they are a true representation of the boys... and our new wild puppy at the end of 2007!!!!

Welcome Ella

Justin and I went up to Toowoomba yesterday to pick up our new baby... after spending the night in Toowoomba we picked her up this morning and drove home to two very excited little boys and Mum's very inqusitive male labrador... Boss.
She is a really happy puppy and just gorgeous... and did not cry or whine once the entire 4 hour drive... which impressed Justin alot!!! She has settled in extremely fast and is getting cheekier by the hour.... I am sure that she will liven our lives up ALOT!!!

A Christmas Tree Erection!!!

Tonight we erected the Christmas Tree.... The kids had a great time decorating the tree... and after being told to not buy Christmas Lights... Justin and I did... The set had 260 globes and it took what seemed like forever to get them all wound around the tree...

After they were all wound around the kids furiously decorated the tree with all the old decorations that Todd and I use to put on the Christmas Tree when we were kids.

And the person who had the most fun of all...
Was POPPY Chook... he was in his element !!!!

Our Last Supper!!!

Before we left last night we had dinner with Tracey and Bronte & Melena and Andrew... I wanted Chicken Cambenert (however you spell that delicious cheese!) one last time... so we went up to the PK Tavern and spoiled ourselves... Aidan ate the biggest meal ever. I never thought he would eat it all but he ate SOOO much which is quite amazing for Aidan.... he probably wont be hungry for a week now!! hahaha

It was a nice evening... Then the legend Tracey drove us up to the Airport... Thanks Mate... you are great...

We will miss you all...



The plane ride to Brisbane was so turbulent... it was quite scary... we were getting blown all over the place on the tarmac so you can imagine what it was like in the air... especially if you have experience that wind I loved so much.

But we made it and as Aidan said upon waking on the plane (yes him and Joshie slept.. and Justin and I ... well we had numb bums!) "its a new day"

Cheers.

Enchanted Scrapbooking Design Team

We have announced our Design Team...

Congratulations... it was such a hard decision and I am glad that we dont have to select member too often... Tracey and I deliberated and deliberated... but we finally selected two and have invited all those who participated in the DT competition to come back as a guest designer for a month... We thought that was a nice compromise and a nice way to say thankyou to those who participated and created such great LO's....

Check out our blog website to see the talented scrappers who made it... http://enchantedscrapbooking.blogspot.com/

Day Care Christmas Party

Today was the boys last day at Port Kennedy ABC .... Lucky for them it corresponded with the Christmas party and a visit from Santa... I managed to get photos of Aidan and his best mates together as well as Bronte looking so so cute in her Santa outfit....

NO Turning Back NOW!!

Well we have been SOOO busy this past week. Justin got home last weekend and since then we have been frantically organising everything: from the house rent/sale, to the removals (thankfully we didn't have to pack anything!!), to getting on the plane (thanks Tracey!!!!). Everything was packed up into two containers very tightly and I am so glad that we didn't have to do that... I could not believe how quickly they packed everything up... They were so efficent and fast... things were packed before you realised, and things that i wanted to bring with us are now on their way to Darwin... I was surprised at how draining it was to watch others pack up our house... so I can only imagine that those people go home very tired everyday.

The house looked massive after it was completely cleared of all our belongings... and once it was professionally cleaned (yes we cheated... but the Navy gave us money to it!!) the house looked great... and we wondered why we were moving out so keenly and why we had decided to sell the house... The pergola and backyard looked fantastic and so inviting and of course it wasn't windy!!! ... But those feeling apparantly overwhelm everyone... and I didn't cry or get emotional over the house... (I was more upset about the Territory getting picked up the week before????) so I am positive I must be ready to move on and have some new experiences......

Final Weekend in House

This weekend was our last in our house and we decided to have a small bbq with some close friends to say farewell... it was good. The weather was lovely, but the flies were horrid and out in force, especially once the bbq was finished cooking... but that is Australia in Summer for you!!!It was a good afternoon, thanks everyone for coming and we hope to see everyone soon....

Cheers jodi

Another PRICELESS Photo!!! Santa 2007

Yesterday we went shopping for some new sandals for the boys, and then the boys had their photo taken with Santa... Aidan was determined to NOT cry and you can see that determination on his face... Josh was determined TOO cry... and you can see the determination on his face... in the end Josh fought Santa SO much that he fell out of Santa's arms, rolled down his leg and belly flopped onto the ground!!! It was so funny.... Santa quickly made amends and gave him and Aidan a little teddy bear each... The RESULT: another PRICELESS PHOTO...

A New Baby!!!

We have a new baby.... She is a beautiful baby Labrador which we are going to call Ella... She is now 8 weeks old and waiting for us to pick her up upon our arrival in Brisbane in two weeks time. After the tragic loss of our beloved Coopydog, and now the stress of the house sale falling through... she will be keenly welcomed into our little family...

I decided to go for a female this time... and perhaps I might try breeding someday in the future... ... She is beautiful. The breeders have described her as boisterous, and attentive... So that sounds good??? And she will be our Christmas Present.... I found her via dogzonline a number of weeks ago but didn't want to say anything out of respect for Cooper....

.....But... Now I am excited and have to tell everyone.


I have been rather lazy lately after loosing my walking buddy, so I am really looking forward to hitting the pavement and bushland again with my new doggy soon......

Cheers....

Jodi

Ella: @ 8 weeks

House Sale OFF....'sob..bloody sob'

Sad news... last Thursday we learnt that the sale had fallen through for our house..... Bloody Finance Companies... We are not sure what we are going to do now. The contract with the agent ends in a week... (aren't they now keen and a little pushy) to get us to resign!!!! We are not sure what we are going to do!! We are moving in 3 weeks and with Christmas approaching and the house market quieting down it is difficult.. Cant afford to have it sitting empty for months while we try and sell it.... And we are mortified at how much a real estate wants in commission/ fees for us to rent it...

Justin has now sailed and gets back next week...so NO house decisions until then... and then the house contract will be finished and we will be free to decide!!! Something the real-estate is fully aware of!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then we have the big packup and move... OH it is all so close now. I have this week and next week of work left which equates to 5 days!!! And the boys have 9 days of daycare left... and then Aidan is leaving his best mates Connor and Fraser... I am leaving my best Scrapping mate Tracey and Joshie is leaving his girlfriend Bronte....

But we will never be 'COLD' again!!!

Cheers

Will check in again soon.....

Scrapjack competition... November challenge

Here is my November layout for Scrapjack.... This months Scrapjack was Celeste Vermeend... I loved this layout... it was hard to decided what photo I wanted to scrap but I am very happy that I decided to scrap this Photo of my baby Joshie on the beach in Albany...

Blackhawk Personnel Christmas Party

The Christmas Party at work early this year.... Divya and Sam (boss lady and boss man) are going to Kenya for a month in December and of course I am leaving (only 3 weeks of work left for me now!!)...

So we had it early... the 17th October... at the Witches Cauldron in Subiaco. It was really nice. And what looked like a small restaurant was actually massive...

Hope no one minds me putting their faces on my blog... but here is a pic from last night.

It was a good night and Merry Christmas everyone (oh and thanks Divya and Sam)

Aussie Scrapjack

I have discovered Aussie Scrapjack... this is a great Scrapping Blog which runs competitions which require you to draw inspiration from a selected Jackie (scrappers talk for someone being 'copied')... They are running a design team competition and I have decided to enter.. yes a little late but hopefully that wont matter?

Here is my Layout for the October challenge: Scraplift Megan Stephenson.

4 weeks to go & a Scrapbooking Revelation!

The first set of boxes for our big move arrived on Wednesday... it kinda made it more real now... we only have 4 weeks to go and I am sure that that will go REALLY fast...

I have been scrapping up a storm of late.... mainly for Enchanted Scrapbooking... I am loving our packs and they have reignited my LOVE for scrapping and I have found that they have inadvertendly made me realise how to scrap to achieve the best results... This realisation is ground breaking... unless you scrap you just would not realise the significance of this realisation... IT is like finding God... I am a scrapper that relishes in scrapping with a few chosen products and (this is the important part) then matching the photo to those papers... and products... Trully this is a revelation!! I AM born AGain... Now just stop me from Scrapbooking.......

Lucky we got that 4 bedroom house in Darwin???? ha ha ha

Here are some layouts to share with you all

Our Christmas tree last year .... after Santa had come.

Aidan's 3rd Birthday... yes it was 10 months ago...
Remember I just had the scrapbooking revelation and only now know how to I should scrap... despite scrapping for 3 years now...





These photos are recent... This was taken at Araluen in
September...
I love this picture of the boys running... This LO was done with one of the Enchanted Scrapbooking Fairy fun packs... 'Fairy Circles'

Yes another set of photos from a while back... This is Aidan determinately doing his morning ritual at about 10 months old... indoor gardening...

This LO was done for our Enchanted Scrapbooking Design Team Challenge NO1... you had to use purple and yellow and have an animal ... see the perfect LO challenge for these photos!


Thats all for now... will get back to you all when I have something more to say.

Cheers

Enchanted Scrapbooking

The little scrapbooking endeavour Enchanted Scrapbooking, Tracey and I have launched is going pretty well. We started out small, and it is still small; but we now have much interest and we are pretty happy with where it is at...

Here are some recent layouts I have done with our Fairy Fun Packs....

We have our NEW CAR for Darwin... Kakadu here we come!!!

Well finally after what seemed forever (but wasn't really) Justin picked up our new car... we had a few hiccups along the way... but that is kind of guaranteed when you deal with car dealers.... They tried to charge us double the internet price for a number of 'added extras' and said that the price discrepancies were due to fitting costs.. this included charging almost double for a cargo liner!! But Justin argued the case and we quickly got all the extras for the prices quoted by Ford on their website... Well done Justin... Well it looks awful spiffy for the Voute household and it seems so high... or as Aidan says "You just getting shorter!!"
Check out which kid is going to be the Revhead!!

Layouts for Cooper

Here are two layouts that I did for our scrapping blog Enchanted Scrapbooking -Penny-wise competitions...
Both are a tribute to my beautiful Coopydog....

A Territory to mend the grief!

It is funny how some react to grief...

We have bought a Ford Territory and it is an orangey/red colour... so the dirt in Darwin should 'hopefully' blend in!!! It is a limited SR edition with the sports body pack... It will be a little spiffy... and I will be one cool mumma!!!

We are now waiting for it to be delivered and then we are offically one of those 4x4 drive families that mum so often complains about when at the shopping centres.... We will be able to take over the road.!!!!!

We joked around Mothers Day when i got my beautiful Canon 400D digital camera that Justin would want a Ford Territory for Fathers day... well he was away for Fathers Day and then just when I didn't want to stay home we buy a new car... A car that Cooper would have loved... to make me happy... and Justin has gotten his Fathers day dream!!!

Well it is the perfect car for my next Labrador!!!

Goodbye Cooper

Warrander Pinjar Cooper
02 March 2001 - 08 October 2007

On Monday night I went and saw Coopy at the hospital for one last time. I made the heart wrenching decision to let Cooper go as his recovery just wasn't coming along and he was starting to become frustrated, and anxious... and it broke my heart the day before watching him trying to drag himself around after the boys.... My dog was too good a dog to let him suffer like that.

It is now Thursday night and the sadness is now setting in... I keep going to make his dinner, let him in so he can lay on his couch, put him into bed, say goodbye when we go out... but he just simply isn't there. I wasn't ready to loose the greatest dog in the world... but I wasn't ready to let him suffer and go through the rehabilitation and loss of dignity...

Goodbye Coopydog...

I love you...

love mummy....

Our Darling Boy...Cooper

Aidan and I went and visited Cooper yesterday in the Animal Hospital, and today we went again but today I decided to take Joshie as he was waiting for Cooper at the back door this morning and then wondered where he was when he never came.

Cooper hasn't made any progress in the last 24 hours... he is still at the vet needing physiotherapy and a lot of care. His right leg is responding to stimuli; but the left is completely useless still, and you can feel the looseness in his leg muscles already....

Aidan has asked numerous times whether Cooper is coming home now... but there is simply no way that I can look after him and give him the amount of physio that he needs, especially whilst Justin is away....

Justin gets home Wednesday lunchtime... So between then and now we are all praying for a little miracle...

Cooper is Sick

Yesterday after work I came home and took Cooper to the park to go for a walk/run and to play some fetch. And after about 20 minutes of running around without any issues we came home and he had drink and then soon after had his dinner which he ate. I then had to go to dinner at Traceys house so I left home and returned 3 hours later with the boys. I unlocked the back door and after about 15 minutes I was wondering where Cooper was because he never too far away from an opportunity to 'get inside and lay on his couch'. So I went outside and his two back legs were completely lame and he was laying under our pergola. He had complete strength and control over the front half but from the hips down he is completely paralysed. I managed to get him inside and he managed to get himself on a foam mat and slept well.

(On occasion in recent weeks his back legs had been a little shaky for the first 5-10 metres that he walked after getting up of his day bed but always came good and then had no evident problems after that.)

This morning I took the kids to daycare early, rang Gordon asked him to help me get Coopy to the vets. Using an old heavy blanket Gordon and our neighbour Pete loaded him into the back of the Rio and we got him up to the vets. And that is where he is staying for the next 48 hours, to see if he comes good. This morning he was completely pain free and would let me place all my body weight on him and let me lie on him...and he was happy to see me and our young children and my friend who came around to assist me with getting him into the car to take him to the vets.

The vet rattled off a number of things: a fracture, slipped disc, spinal cancer and this one below: (I got the information from Google)

Another type of paralysis is caused by a fibrocartilaginous embolism. This is a microscopic piece of disc material that breaks off and becomes lodged in a spinal artery. Nerves served by the artery will die when deprived of blood. The German Shepherd is especially prone to developing degenerative myelopathy. This is a deterioration of nerves in the spinal cord, starting in the posterior part of the cord. Dogs so affected will become gradually weaker in the hind legs as nerves die off. Eventually their hind legs become useless. They often also exhibit fecal and urinary incontinence. As the disease progresses, the paresis and paralysis gradually move forward. This disease also affects other large breeds of dogs. It is suspected to be an autoimmune problem.

And when the vet spoke to me this afternoon to update me on his progress she said she more and more thinks it is this fibrocartilaginous embolism.

The vet has said recovery can be quite long and we are moving interstate (via Brisbane) in 10 weeks and I don't know how he would cope with flights etc... and especially currently whilst he is paralysed. Apparently he is now starting to feel pain in his legs. Which is a good sign.

Has anyone ever heard/or had their dogs suffer from this this condition?

This has come as a complete shock to me as when I left for my friends house last night he showed no signs of injury from our time at the park, he ate ALL his meal standing, and he was completely fine. As you can imagine I am quite distraught. It is so shocking that this could have happened sooo 'out of the blue'.

Now it is a waiting game..............

Enchanted Scrapbooking

Tracey and I launched our new SCRAPPING Endeavour today... Enchanted Scrapbooking... Scrapping packs and Competitions...



We are very excited but dont expect to make millions....

Basically we are making up 2 scrapping packs up a month each, sending them to one another and scrapping them... but we are inviting others to join us and "buy" them and then post them to the Enchanted Scrapbooking Blog... We hope to get some response, and we have invited some 'celebrity' scrappers to scrap a pack each to increase our profile... So we will see how we go!

Here is one of the layouts that I completed with our packs this month:

It is sold

We have sold our house.... and got pretty much what we expected and wanted... More would have been nice; but I am sure that everyone would say that... and they agreed to do settlement at a time that suits us...

Settlement is the 14th December and we are jumping on a plane the following evening and doing the RedEye flight to Brisbane to have Christmas with Nanny and Poppy in the Sunny Sunshine Coast...

So it has all worked out. Justin (as usual) was away so it was a bit of a complicated process to get him to sign the documents but we achieved it..Thank goodness the Yanks invented Email!!!

So 10 weeks to go and we will be leaving Perth forever.... (unless we have to choose out of a posting to Sydney or Perth.. and then we will be back here!)

Babysitting Bronte

I have started babysitting Bronte in those weeks that we have remaining here... The boys are happy about it as they love to fuss over her and make her laugh...

I had forgotten just how fast your day goes when you have a new baby around...

Only 12 weeks until we move.... House better sell?

It has been awhile since my last post.. I did say that I would either be really vigilant or I would be rather forgetful and slack at making regular posts.....

WEll it is only 12 weeks until we do our big move to Darwin.... it is a little daunting but very exciting and I am itching to go... and I am also hoping that we can go over to Brisbane to have Christmas with Nanny and Poppy...

Our house is on the market and has been for 4 weeks now... had a few people here for the home opens but no luck so far... HOpefully someone will love it soon and whip it up... and then let us move When We want to!!!

My thoughts for Mel.

August started very well, despite me having the worst cold in many years... Lisa, Dave and Pixie visited and and that was good fun... But the end of August was a bit tragic....... Diagnosed with Breast Cancer exactly 3 years ago... the barstard of a disease return in July this year... She started intensive chemotherapy treatments... but the barstard cancer quickly moved onto the only place in the brain that chemo has no affect on: the Brain....

Shortly after Lisa and Dave left Mel got very sick and ended up being hospitalised and sadly given the terrible news that she only had 6 months to live... Finding this out Tracey and I went up to see Mel in Hospital that Saturday, and unfortuately it was the last time that I ever saw her... over the remainder of the weekend her poor body deteriorated rapidly and 6 days later she was gone...

She was trully one of those people that you not only remembered but her generosity, sincerity and ability to tell it straight were just a number of her qualities... She was will be trully missed and has taught a lot of people to not just take life for granted. She taught reaffirmed my passion for photography, scrapbooking and definitely made me appreciate all those special things in my life... my wonderful boys, my great husband, my fantastic doggy, and my friends and family....

It is just sad that tragedies like this, and my scare with endocarditis nearly 2 years ago have to occur to make you appreciate, love and live your life...

You will be trully missed you wonderful woman...

Pixie and the Boys

The boys were totally wrapped in Pixie... especially Aidan...

Lisa & Dave's Visit

It was great Lisa and Dave and baby Pixie all came for a short holiday to Perth to see us and it was really nice... despite me being sick! I haven't had a cold for about 2 years and the one week that my cousin comes to visit I get so terribly sick that I even LOST my voice... Typically, Justin made LOTS of comments as you can imagine.... "yippee. there is a god!!". But HA to him.. it has come back again!!

Well despite me being sick we all had a really nice time. The highlights of the week being a day at Fremantle and a day at Kings Park. For myself I really enjoyed the afternoon at Kings Park in Perth... That park is trully beautiful and all the wildflowers were beginning to bloom..

Tennis Lessons for Aidan

Aidan started Tennis lessons today and loved it... He was so excited and amazingly he went off onto the court with his coach Josh and hit the ball very well..

It was very basic and Aidan is use to moving his legs and being a little more tested when playing with his 'pushy' mum, but he did well and he also 'happily picked up tennis balls'... something that he never did willingly at home....


Go Aidan.....

Nice to meet you Bronte....

Today we went and visited Tracey and Bronte in hospital... She is a baby Adrian...

Looking at her you can not mistake it... Adrian is the DaD!!! She is so tiny, and you forget how small newborn are when they arrive in this world, and she was almost a pound bigger than either Aidan or Joshie...

Aidan was so excited... and whilst he was a little shy at first he quickly warmed to her and wanted a cuddle.

Joshie was apprehensive and enjoyed poking her but that was about it... Too many DOORS to open to worry about a newborn baby!!!!

Congrats again Tracey and Adrian .... she is beautiful