Happy Anniversary Baby

Yesterday we celebrated twelve months since Bubba stepped off the plane in the this wonderful Country. He caught the train and arrived to Quirindi, NSW in a mix of heat, nerves, anxiety, frustration, wonder, bewilderment and excitement. Bubba blogged about his arrival here all those long twelve months ago here

So much we had planned and thought would happen has changed or fallen over but at the same time things we never dreamed of, or ever saw possible for our family, have become a reality. There have been lots of doors closed that we didn't see needed to be, and others that we knew needed to be weren't sure how to do it. There have been doors opened that we have been trying to open for years but couldn't quite reach and other doors that have only been able to open once others were finally nailed shut.

It has been a long road but we are thankful for EVERY minute of it, for EVERY person who has made it possible, for EVERY bit of help we have received NO matter how big or small it was it ALL helped. We are thankful for ALL the PRAYERS and THOUGHTS that everyone has given us over the last twelve months. For every new ADVENTURE and STRUGGLE we have been through.

What a twelve months it has been and here's just a few memories....

So here is a toast from Bubba's Facebook last night:

'Well i have survived 12 months in aussie today. Its been an awesome time one of the best jobs i've done seen my kids grow alot whilst here and of course my rock of a wife who has been so strong and has held this family up. Love to you Jess. And cant forget all the great friends we have met. Roll on another 12 months.'

When I asked for the champers I was told I hadn't been here twelve months yet and I had to wait my turn. Men. Huh! 

Hello stuff!

Well our consignment was finally delivered on Tuesday. It feels like a very long time it has all been gone but then with so much happening in between we haven't missed it too much. A lady in a truck arrived with our goods and informed me that it had been stated no unpack necessary. Hmmm! We pay for this service. I at least wanted our washing machine and television unpacked to insure no damage and that it still worked. But someone, somewhere had decided that it didn't need to be unpacked and if I wanted our stuff now I had to agree, otherwise it would be brought back when they had time to send more people with the consignment. Which with the time it has taken them to get it from Sydney to us I imagine could be quite some time.

So this is what we got:

 

So my mission for Tuesday afternoon was to unpack as soon as possible to check for anything broken or damaged so that we may claim back on our shipping insurance. I was asked to sign paperwork which stated I had received the goods in the same condition in which they were taken. I asked the woman how on earth I was meant to sign this without seeing the goods. She answered me with either I signed it and got my goods, or I didn't sign and they were put back in her truck - she also isn't on my list of favourite people since arrive in this country!

I thought my best attempt at making a claim, if one was needed, was to make sure I photographed each box, what was in it and the condition in which it arrived. This meant a lot of unpacking Tuesday afternoon and checking everything over which equals a very exhausted me! The positive is that nothing was broken and everything was tidy and put away in it's new home by dinner time, the TV was put together and installed on its new cabinet and the washing machine was plumbed and operational and doing its first load of washing! Yes I have a bit of a problem waiting for help and I didn't it all by myself before Bubba got home.

Jaybug was my helper - although I think she was more interested in finding her things only! She was my harping annoyance motivation to open all of the boxes listed with toys and books first. I then sorted into boxes of Quacks, Jaybugs and Squeaks. Next was linen and pictures, then washer, t.v and lastly Tupperware. 

The only box I still haven't unpacked is my craft stuff - as I don't quite have the picture in my head yet of what I want my craft room to look like and how I want to arrange things. So the box is sitting carefully in the front room awaiting inspiration. I am keenly searching pinterest and the internet for ideas....

So if anyone has any ideas or inspiration for me it would be much appreciated if left in the comments... Pictures or links kind received! 

The Newbies

So we arrived to Australia a few weeks ago now. Since then we have managed to see a few things and do a few things in the first week that we were here. We had hired rental cars while Mum, Kev and Mosie were here. But for the last week and a bit we have been a little more home bound as we just haven't found the perfect vehicle for us to purchase yet.

We are living in Regional NSW, just out of Muswellbrook. It is a lovely town with a school straight across the road and the main street is two blocks over.

This is our house from the front - I plan on doing a proper house blog once of shipment arrives and I have some stuff to fill the space!

We have an awesome long driveway which is perfect for bikes, scooters, skateboards etc. I was a little worried at first about the property not being fenced at the front but the kids are doing surprisingly well. Apart from one incident while minding my friends children while she was in hospital. I tell you losing your own kids is terrifying but thinking about having to make the call to let someone else know you have lost one of there's - serious meltdown material!

Our backyard is bigger than the front and is perfect for games of cricket, football and rugby. I am lucky enough to have 5 decent size bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 living areas, dining room and an office (which I'm plan on claiming as my craft space). The only down side is cleaning a house this big, I think I am beginning to imagine I work in a hotel or something!

The local Public School is straight across the road. It couldn't be more handy!

Found out this morning this is Quacks classroom.

We also have a Catholic church (not that we are Catholic), an RSL, a zebra crossing, a war monument and a playground all on our street, so it's a pretty happening place.

The kids love this playground.

And then 2 streets over we are in the main street. Our main street boasts numerous cafe, an IGA, a hardware store, post office, 2 pubs, a library, a craft shop, a lawyers, an emergency department, a takeaways, a gift shop, a general store, a lottery shop, a saddlery, a vets, a second hand clothing store, a petrol station and dvd store, a pet grooming place, a hairdressers, a reality office - I know I have forgotten a few too.

Wow! Its huge for such a small place!

I love the look of this shop. I haven't let myself go in yet as I am afraid to fall in love with everything.

The town hall that now houses the hairdresser and beauty shop

A quaint looking Cafe

Not todays petrol pump - just a historic one in the street

The emergency rooms

So even being stuck here without a vehicle isn't so bad. we are pretty well serviced. The thing that isn't so fun is being the newbies. Everyone here is pretty friendly and its seems like a great place to live. It is just hard not having friends and family to call around on or to have come for coffee. As the kids start school - Quack today and Jaybug on Wednesday - I hope to meet some other Mums, over time. There is also a Monday morning library playgroup for Squeak. But all in all its pretty scary having to put yourself out there and start from scratch.
I mean what if no one actually does coffee groups here? Or people are friendly in the street, the shops or the school yard but what if it never goes beyond that? What if people don't like the kids? Or me?

It really is hard being the newbies in town but this is also a new country too. There are lots of new words and normals for us to get used to. I'm sure the kids will pick up on things a lot quicker being in school. We went to the takeaways store the other night and trying to find a hotdog was a nightmare. Bubba ended up explaining that we were new here and the lady just laughed at us and said "and? so am I?". She isn't in my list of nice people I have encountered here. Then we asked for hotdogs and her and the other lady started giggling and asked us if we meant sausage in pastry? I thought it was batter but ok we will go with pastry.
Turns out they are called Pluto Pups? Strange huh! But seriously no need to laugh at us for not knowing people.

I am worried about things that the kids may say and be laughed at for. Things like jandals, slides, water fountains, felt pens and togs all have different names here. I guess slowly people will get used to these strange Kiwi's that have hopped the ditch but for now it is a heck of a nerve wrecking time.

Goodbye New Zealand - 12th & 13th Jan 2012

The time quickly rolled around to the 12th January 2012 - a day we will forever remember; our last day in New Zealand. We aren't sure at this stage how long this Aussie tour may be for but for now we know it is where we are to be.

So once again we were faced with the dreaded goodbyes. It was hard saying goodbye to my Grandparents. My sisters and I have been lucky enough to have them in most of our lives. They have lived usually where Mum was or she has followed them. So to know that the kids and I will see them less is very sad and will be a huge adjustment.

We soon discovered that we had a bit of a mission on our hands when all the bags were packed. We had 5 large suitcases (all mine and kids) and 1 smaller one (Mum, Kev and Mosie's allowance), 7 carry on bags, 1 camera, 1 laptop, 3 car seats and 1 mountain buggy. All to be carried by four adults, with three children to also keep in line. Hmmmm I see a problem! Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the piles upon piles of stuff but I'm sure you can imagine it.

We ended up having to take 2 vehicles due to the amount of baggage. Once we finally packed Mum's van we celebrated. We were on the way to the beginning of our next adventure.

We were smart enough to tie red ribbon to all of our bags so the could be quickly identified.

So next was off to Auckland.
We met one of my lovely friends who caught the New Plymouth bus as her husband and her bought our Honda.
Then off to the mall for lunch which was super bus due to it still being school holidays.
My wonderful cousin Van then invited us to hang with her and the girls for dinner and until we had to be at the airport at 3am.

Short version of this story is I had a bit of a meltdown about leaving NZ and the nerves were ramped up. Thank you to my wonderful Mummy and sister who managed to get me on the plane!

I have a lack of pictures of our trip as there was so much happening. We got split on the plane, even though we booked our tickets together. So there was the three children and I at the beginning of one section and then Mum, Kev and Mosie down the very back of the section. I thank God for an amazing young man who got sat beside Quack. He was truly a Godsend. He chatted to the kids, helped them with their headphones, t.v's, food, let them play on his brand new computer he had just purchased before boarding. He was so incredibly helpful.

Mum ended up with Squeak and somehow managed to get him to sleep. I cannot sleep while traveling, whether it be plane, car or train. So I was a little tired and grumpy but somehow we survived. Our plane was over half an hour late leaving so I was getting a little anxious.

We flew with LAN (even though we booked Qantas) which was a South American airway and everything was first announced in Spanish, then English. Jaybug and Quack told the lovely young man beside them that they knew Spanish thanks to Dora! Haha kids are awesome. I soon decided that if there was an emergancy I would have to take note of the Spanish speaking people and there reactions and actions as there may not be time for the English translation!

We arrived in Sydney and had a bit of a hassle collecting all our luggage and then had a foot it to the other end of the baggage collection to pick up the car seats and buggy. We were starting to sweat for time to reach the connecting train as we had to be there half an hour before departure to check our bags.

We got through customs and silly me had insisted on bringing a block of chocolate that I hadn't eaten from Christmas and Mum was sent through the lines to have her bag check. Only she didn't just have her bag she had about 6 of ours as well. This took quite some time and the panic that we were going to miss our train was becoming very real. There is only one train a day up the Hunter line with Countrylink and we were looking at missing it and losing the $170 AUSD that it had cost. Mum finally got through and we headed toward the arrival exit, bags beginning to wobble, eyes red with tiredness and stress and hands numb trying to carry far too much load.

We headed out and standing there was my Great Aunt and Uncle. They hugged us, said hello and then took over with directions and help of bags. It too was evident that someone upstairs was looking out for us. My Aunt and Uncle had come two hours up to Sydney to meet us and help. We wouldn't have done it without them and I am so truly grateful.
My Aunt directed us to the airport train and managed to help us get all our luggage on as we weren't allowed to take trolleys through.

We were all packed into a small carriage with bags spilling everywhere! There was much apology to anyone who tried to enter our carriage at other stops. One thing though people were super helpful - I don't know whether it was the worried looks on our faces or the shock of all our gear but they told us how to get around the Central train station, when our stop was coming, helped us get our bags off and even one man picked up the buggy and got it off without saying a word and just walked off once it was placed down. Thank you Thank you I was calling after him.

The Countrylink train departed at 10.05am and we arrived at 10am! Talk about stressful! Once again though we were helped with our bags, the kids were put on the train for us and everyone was super friendly and didn't give us any lectures about the fact we were to be there no later than 15 minutes before the train left. We had only got everything loaded and we were off. My Aunt and Uncle got stuck on the train and a red alert had to be called to release the doors to let them off. I didn't even get to say thank you or goodbye. Without them there is no way we would have possibly made our train. I am looking forward to going and catching up with them once we have settled in and bought ourselves a vehicle.

The train ride was pretty good. There was landscape and towns to look at and a food carriage which had decent food. Apart from the fact that everyone around us sounded Australian it sort of didn't feel real that we were here. It was just about a four hour train journey which felt like forever when we knew that there was someone excitedly waiting for us at our destination.

So tired Quack fell asleep eating!

  

We were met off the train by someone who has been waiting 10 weeks for us to arrive. Everyone was so excited I forgot to get out my camera. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur of tiredness and grump. We had to go pick up rental cars, drive the 20 minutes to our new abode (which is huge! more on this later), shopping at Big W for some essentials for the house and then rounded off with an amazing dinner at the Denman pub - seriously if you come and visit I am taking you here!

Eventually we all fell into our beds - yes my husband is amazing enough to have got us all beds to sleep on including the 3 extras. 

So it is real, we are here, even though it doesn't feel like it.