little catch up on life...

So my printer died. I had to get a new one. It locked up one night (after a lightening storm) and wouldn't turn off (or do anything - print/scan etc). I turned it off at the powerpoint, and it never turned on again. The scanner bulb lit up when I turned the power on, but the printer just wouldn't turn on appart from that. So... as I always swore this was the best ever printer, and if it died I'd go straight out and buy the same thing again... I pretty much did. This is the new bubba of the family. It's pretty much the same thing, but this prints my CD's too :)





But... how could I bring my nice new printer in to a study that was, well, an absolute pig-stye! Seriously... so my task for the rest of that day was to get the study clean. And believe me it took THE REST OF THAT DAY! I took so much crap out of here. Still need to organise a bit more, but am happy with things as they are for the time being. So have a look at how much stuff was in here that didn't need to be! It's amazing how much bigger the study feels LOL. That Clipsal box... it's been in here since we moved. I decided that if in over 3 years I hadn't opened it, then I didn't need it. Had a quick check through to make sure I wasn't throwing out anything really important, and tossed, tossed, tossed. Flylady would be so proud :)
The next week at school Liam had a fairy tales day, and they had to go dressed as a traditional fairy tale character. He chose Peter Pan. I thought it would be pretty easy to find an outfit... it wasn't. Two days and about 8 stores later, I found one (I refused to go to ToysRus and spend $65 on one!) He wasn't at all fazed that he'd have to wear girls tights LOL. We put two pairs on, cos one pair was still a bit see-through, and it was, well... just plain weird! LOL. Put the skivvy on to keep him warm, and put a big size 10 t-shirt over the top, so it was long. Was going to cut the bottom of the t-shirt and the sleeves all jaggared, but he didn't want that. (my boy likes straigh lines and things neat - well, except for his bedroom it seems), anyway, mum had an old belt that we re-punched the holes for and cut the rest off, and she whipped up the hat for me from two squares of felt, and a few feathers. It was kind of the perfect character for him. He's so small and pixie like :) Here he is with my mum and dad.

After that day, both boys went to stay at Brett's parents for the weekend, while Brett stocktaked, and I went away for the girls weekend.

Monday, Liam didn't feel great so he had the day off. Tuesday he went to school. Wednesday he woke with croup... and had the rest of the week off. Ooooohhhhh it's been a long week! I tell you my boys have not stopped annoying each other all week... and the thought that I have two more weeks of it to come. Well... I don't know what to do. I need some fun activities that will keep both of them busy, happy, and attention filled, so they don't feel they need to do things to get more attention. Lately, Ethan has been driving Liam mad, buy standing in front of the telly, running away with his toys, giving him things, then taking them away the second Liam puts his hand out for it, kicking water in Liam's face while they are in the bath, drinking from Liam's cup (Liam will NOT drink from a cup that anyone else had had a drink from). Oh I could go on and on. It's not really anything all that new, it's just that it seems my extremely patient and tollerant little boy had had ENOUGH! He is a good boy though. He won't hurt Ethan, by hitting or kicking or anything. He'll try and grab his toy back, but if he know's it will hurt Ethan to pull it out of his hand etc, he won't do it... so he asserts his feelings, like he had been taught to do, and tells him "stop it Ethan, I don't like it"... to which his pesky little brother, laughs... well it's more of an evil cackel really, and runs away with the item. So he winges. And winges. And whines. And then mumma... well she just wants to go run away LOL. On Friday Liam was still sick, and Ethan went to daycare. Gee it was nice to have Liam home alone. There was not one fight. He was helpful. We made Becky Higgins mint brownies (see her blog for the recipe), we played some games, he let me get some work done. Oh I forgot how easy it is just having one child LOL. Of course I adore my boys, and it was nice to go get Ethan. I noticed when I picked him up that his little nose looked a little red, and when he talked I could hear a little squeak in his voice. I knew it! I just knew it! He also came down with croup a few hours later :( Liam is on the mend, Ethan's not so good though. Hopefully it won't last. It's everywhere at the moment. Liam's class only has 7 kids there this week (out of 14), two of the babies I have recently photographed have been in hospital with bronchiallitis, it's terrible.

Today I photographed a beautiful 6mth old girl, then a 7yo girl, and her 5yo brother. It' was a good day :) Tonight I've been to Paper2 for a crop... which is why I am still up at 1.40am. Having a little trouble winding down.

I have pics of a recent session to upload. Will do that tomorrow.

End of financial year :) Katie Toland Photography's first full year. It's been a brilliant year. This time last year I set myself a goal which I did think I'd be dreaming to meet, but I did. I beat it by quite a bit. So, so blessed. Thankyou to everyone who has supported my business. I really do appreciate it. It's been a big learning curve, but at the moment I seem to have found a perfect balance between work, leasure, and mummy-hood (and wifehood of course). And here's to the next year I have still more plans in the works at the moment, and am really looking forward to the next year. THANKYOU :)