Blog 18-29.9.12 Decisions decisions

Hi again and welcome back to our blog.It's now Spring in Oz and starting to hot up again.The boys have all ventured into the pool and not out of choice, so have I! Charlie forgot he hadn't got his life jacket on last week and jumped in the pool,closely followed by a fully clothed me!!It must have been a funny sight with my skirt floating around the surface of the water and my white t-shirt now soaked- and see through! Luckily there was only Lori and Kevin there to see my disgrace!But at least I saved my son-though not my dignity!

Thomas and his Spiderman cake

Thank you for all the kind birthday wishes,cards,emails and pressies we received as this time of year really is a busy one for celebrating in the Barratt household.

I can honestly say that I had a fantastic birthday this year.Paul and my friends made it very special and actually made me realise for the first time in years that you can't forget to treat yourself just because you have children.I felt really special and had a great time shopping with Kate and Lori for my gifts then going on to have a lovely dinner. I think I was lead astray on the spending front though!!Yeah right.

As you may remember from the last blog, we were due to go to Moreton Island with our good friends Lori,Kevin and Ben. This was a great adventure with the boys having loads of fun whale watching,swimming in the ocean,building sand castles and the dads doing a spot of fishing (or trying to, as all the fish seemed to have miraculously disappeared the day they decided to have a go)! It was such a lovely place to visit though there were some bush fires which got a little too close for comfort at one point and we were certainly glad to get off the island that day as a result. The whale watching was amazing and I had one of those WOW moments whilst standing on the boat watching them swim under and around the boat.It truly was an amazing experience and one which I won't forget in a hurry.

Thomas had a fantastic time celebrating his birthday with friends and he was treated to a special party at Laser force.They had a blast and it was a great success.I'm now busy planning Charlies 4th birthday party for next Sunday and although he asked for a street party,he is getting a Mount Coot-tha party!Basically,we're having a bbq in the local forest area with a few party games and a pinata thrown in for good luck. The street party will have to wait for our return to the UK!

Action shot

Quiet time

 The school holidays are here and I don't know about the boys,but I am shattered!They have been really good but entertaining them is so full on as any mum out there will relate to.This is when 1). I wish I worked and 2).I wish I had family around to help out as that 1 or 2 hours "time out" would make all the difference to my sanity!hehe. Thank god for meeting up with friends and their kids as at least they occupy one another better than we do!

Tom with Sassy

Thomas was invited to participate in a new Children's tv programme out here and he loved every second of it!He met the star of the show "Sassy"and educated her on many things I didn't even know he knew about!As you can see,I was sat watching him from a side room and I had a few chuckles to myself with how funny he was.He was then invited back for a second interview and to his delight, met a couple of Sassys friends. He should be on tv here next year so watching this space!

On a more serious note,we had some bad news this week which has really put us in a financial predicament.On moving out to Oz, there was an incentive to entice us over.This involved payment towards monthly rent and food as the cost of living out here is ridiculously high and the tax is just crazy.The government have now decided to put a stop to this (for workers from overseas but not their own citizens) which means that we are now having to decide what to do for the imminent future.This incentive has been running for years and is typical that it stops once we arrive!We don't really have many options due to Charlies health situation i.e. I can't work as he's too ill,we can't fly home so the only other feasible option (which we are trying our damnedest not to have to do),is sell our UK house as the mortgage on that will also go up as of October and we just can't keep losing money on it. It seems like we have one challenge on top of another with not many ways out. If only we could win the lottery hey! In all honesty, if we could fly home,I think we would as it is a very unsettling situation to be in knowing there isn't a way around it whilst we live in Oz. Having said that,we do still love it out here and don't feel we have served our time as yet. Money doesn't buy happiness but it certainly eases the burden.It will all sort itself out I'm sure but in the meantime I have one very stressed and worried hubby!

Last night I had a lovely evening out with my good friend Sharron.We went to see the theatre production of Jersey Boys and it was fab.We had a great time and it was just what we both needed. The show did remind me of my mum (she wanted to see it when she was over but we just couldn't fit it in) and I had to (rub it in) give her a quick ring when I got in at midnight to tell her all about it.

Before I sign off,I just want to say a massive thank you to Rhianna and everyone else who is involved in today's CLIC Sargent event.It would be so lovely if we could teleport ourselves over to join in the fun but Paul still hasn't quite finished the telport machine yet so that will have to wait I'm afraid! I can't wait to hear all about it and see all the fab photos.Thank you to all of you and especially to Rhianna,you are a star arranging such a big event as it can't have been easy.Well done and it should be amazing! (Kirklands Centre,Menston,11-2pm Saturday 29th Sept for those not in the know about it).

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero!