For Helen

Here you go Helen a change of scenery lol ;-)

Take care

Cheers, Connie

Quick update & running away from home.

Hiya Everyone



Sorry it has been truly ages since I blogged. Life is one of those things that just goes haywire sometimes despite your plans to the contrary. I have tonnes of photos to post, we've had birthdays, fundays, normal life kinda stuff and also Harry being back in hospital. Its been a crappy winter for so many families with all the bugs and viruses floating around and I hope you are all doing ok ! To all the Mums out there, look after yourselves, make sure you get some TLC to re-charge your batteries. We Mums are the bolt that holds the family together usually and if we get snowed under then so does everyone else.



I will be back to update everything properly in a week or so, I am running away from home on Friday, yippeeeeeee! Pierra and I are being sent to Thailand for a weeks worth of R & R by our dear Husbands. The guys have taken a week off and are going to play stay at home Dad while we sit on the beach, try cocktails in every possible colour and shop til we drop... Ahhh Bliss.



Wishing you all the best in whatever your situation is at the moment.



God Bless

Cheers, The Couttses Liam and Molly picked me some flowers to cheer me up, they know that yellow is my favorite colour and couldn't wait to show me.

We had a party to celebrate Bruce's 14th and Molly's 3rd birthday, Molly couldn't wait to get stuck into her birthday 'cupcakes' and started while everyone was still singing.

These were 2 of Molly's favorite presents, a new dressing gown in her favorite colours ( pink & purple) and a toy vacum cleaner, She was out the very next morning playing with them.

Yep we are still alive and kicking

Hiya everyone

Just wanted to pop in here and say 'Hi' to everyone, it has been yonks since we blogged but I want to say thanks for the really nice emails and comments people have sent wondering if we are OK?

I has been a bit of a roller-coaster ride here over the last few months. Harry was/is still waking about 3 - 4 times a night and after sleep deprivation like that you become a little unglued LOL. We are trying to sleep train him ourselves or the next stop will be Ngala. His weight is average now and he loves his solids so there is not a real good reason for no sleeping !!!

I have got lots of photos and I will try and post them in the next week, for the rest of us , well all are doing fine. The kids are hanging out for school holidays, so is Murray cos he has 2 weeks booked off. The boys saw the new nail gun he has bought and are saying "Dad can we build Liam and Molly a cubby house?? how bout some vegie garden beds for Mum" funny how short 2 weeks can seem all of a sudden.

Also we are very grateful that Mum could come home from hospital today, she was there for a week and a half with gallstone trouble and then a dose of pancreatitis. We are so thankful that God cared for her and blessed the treatment and surgery she had. Welcome home Mum and take it easy hey !

Ok I think that's all I can muster right now, we have had the power out all day and I have come home to find I now have 2 freezers full of mush.... yuk !

Hope you are all doing well, Jen I just showed Murray your photos of Bali and it just makes us want to go back there. There is something about the place isn't there? glad you got back safe.

Anyhow g'night from all of us.

Bits and pieces & my favorite song at the moment.

Hiya Everyone

Thought I had better write a bit of a spiel to keep you all updated because its been so long, It has been a couple of really grey weeks here.

Kids have had colds, Harry got a sudden outbreak of mouth ulcers and we had an uphill battle to stop him going backwards, this poor little kid was so hungry but it just caused him so much pain to try and feed. We would dip his dummy in a local anaesthetic solution to try and numb his mouth. I have been becoming a little unglued ( to put it mildly) because the sheer lack of sleep and mopping up after a refluxy bub catches up with you , Harry still feeds every 2 -3 hours through the night and some days it is hard to keep up a wobbly smile. However I still have so much to be grateful for so that's the end of my little sook session.

I don't have time to put of photos at the moment but there is something I wanted to share with you all.

Stephen Curtis Chapman is one of the most popular Christian singers at the moment and his song 'Cinderella' is my favorite song. He explains the story behind it after the song and it is well worth listening to. We all rush through raising our children and sometimes don't stop enough to savour the moments and memories. This song is about slowing down to enjoy our childrens growning years because before we know it they are gone.

On Wednesday his little 5 year old daughter Maria Sue was killed in an accident. She was one of his daughters who gave him the idea and inspiration for the song.

I hope the link works and I hope you all enjoy the song as much as I do.


Hope you all have a great week

Cheers, Connie


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLYxtuC0oRk

Meet Sophia

Hi everyone

We would like to introduce you to 'Sophia', she is a little girl our family sponsors through ChildFund.

Sophia is 4 years old and live in the war torn african country of Angola. She and her 2 sisters live with their parents in a mud wall hut with a dirt floor and no sanitary facilities. The family has a borehole for water and kerosene lamp for lighting.

At the risk of sounding like Oprah, Sofia has been an eye opener to our family. With the comparative material wealth we have she helps us to always think of those in far less fortunate circumstances.

It makes for some great chats with the kids too ! digging up on a map ( google earth was great for this) to see where Sophia lives, sometimes one of us will just ponder out loud " I wonder what Sophia is doing today"

We pray that through us God blesses her and her family with health, food and faith.

Are you drinking from your saucer?

I love this poem, it is our human nature to see the hard side of life first, we can be prone to having a whinge about how hard life is, the constant work, illness etc etc. This is one about putting it into perspective. Hope you all like it as well.

Drinking From My Saucer

I've never made a fortune and it's probably too late now.But I don't worry about that much,I'm happy anyhow.

And as I go along life's way,I'm reaping better than I sowed.

I'm drinking from my saucer,'Cause my cup has overflowed.

I don't have a lot of riches,and sometimes the going's tough.But I've got loved ones around me,and that makes me rich enough.

I thank God for his blessings,and the mercies He's bestowed.

I'm drinking from my saucer,'cause my cup has overflowed.

I remember times when things went wrong,My faith wore somewhat thin.But all at once the dark clouds broke, and the sun peeped through again.

So God, help me not to gripe aboutthe tough rows that I've hoed.

I'm drinking from my saucer,'Cause my cup has overflowed.

If God gives me strength and courage,when the way grows steep and rough.I'll not ask for other blessings, I'm already blessed enough.

And may I never be too busy,to help others bear their loads.

Then I'll keep drinking from my saucer,'Cause my cup has overflowed.

~ John Paul Moore ~

This morning when I was waiting for Murray and the boys to come home from church I was doing all the usual stuff, getting all the cups out for everyone's milo's, coffee & cake etc, this line of cups made me remember the poem because I had been having a really crappy weekend and left a pile of washing to face on monday and general mess everywhere but this long line of cups made me realise just how blessed I am with the family I have.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Cheers, Connie

You'll need a cuppa and Tim Tam.......

........ cos its been a while since I updated so theres a fair bit to look at, perfect excuse to put the billy on first.

When kids get your camera..........................

Every now and then when I go through the camera to clean up photos, I find some very 'suss' ones of oddities. I have figured out that the culprits are the kids who like to take random shots and practise their skills. I promised them it would get a spot on the blog, so here goes.

Harry with his dorky hat Mum insisted he wear.

Jack who couldn't help but 'pose' when he saw his brother with Mum's camera, yes they confessed to this one under duress although I get a giggle out of it now because it is so typical of them.

Yup ten toes, dunno what this one was about. Abstract maybe?

Nothing like a close up shot huh Liam?

Anzac Day

This year we went to the dawn service and Anzac march in rockingham because Bruce was taking part. He goes to Police Rangers ( cadets ) there and they were doing the breakfast for the Diggers and public after the dawn service and then taking part in the march afterward.

Aussie Aussie Aussie..... Oi Oi Oi

Opa comes in handy when you are too short to see

It is always a special day but it makes it moreso when your own kids are involved.

Afterward he caught up with his Uncle Andrew ( Murray's brother ) who is in the Navy and was marching in the parade as well.

Bits N Bobs

Just wanted to share a few pics with the general goings on at our place, here goes.....

Molly helping with building the chook house, always helps to have a female influence huh Molly?

Our very own Bob the Builder..... Liam

Jack having a ball with Dad's tools and nails........................ until Dad caught him of course !

This is 'Mouse' , our new cat and Molly was insiting he wanted cuddles although by the look on Mouses' face I am not sure he agrees. He really is so patient with the kids.

Christopher will never forgive me for getting this evidence, I told him its good Husband training lol.

Happy Harry, you can't resist stopping for a chat if you walk past because he rewards you with the best smiles and giggles.

Christopher's Birthday

Happy Birthday Christopher

Our second eldest turned 12 ! I know everyone feels this but ... man don't they grow up way too fast. Here are a pic of the day.

Yay School holidays

Morning all.

Have been a bit slack with this lately, but YAY school holidays ! I know a lot of parents seem to hate them but I love them. It means you can relax more , eat breakfast later and just generally chill out with routines a bit.

We have been adding to our family here, we have had a pet drought for a few years and broke this about a week ago when we went to the Animal Protection Society and got a kitten. He has made himself right at home, beautiful little black thing and is quite happy despite being named 'Mouse' by the kids LOL.

Also out the back now we have 4 chickens, I was whinging about the price of eggs the other day and Murray and the boys built me a chook house so hopefully in about 6 - 10 weeks they will start laying.

I will post some photos when I can but at the moment the photo thingymagig is playing up.

Anyhow, hope you all have a great week, may it be safe & fun.

Cheers, the Couttses

Ok Dog's revenge

Ok for the Dog lovers here's a couple of LOL Dogs.

Have great day all !!

LOL Cats

Anyone who has ever known me will tell you that I love cats, I rekon they have so much personality. Like 'real' people you will get snooty ones, mischevious ones, lazy slobs and ratbags. Probably why I like the LOL Cat pictures so much, if you haven't seen them before ( there are websites full of em ) they are photo's of cats with funny little sayings as though that's what the cat would say. Anyhow I plan to post at least one a week here, hope they give you a smile !

Cheers, Connie

A relaxing day out

Anyone with a few kids (especially littlies) knows what a nightmare it can be to try and get out of the house.



Obviously Murray and I were suffering from memory loss cos we thought we would give it a shot on Easter Monday.


Can't be that hard can it?? lots of others do it ! after all what's so hard 'bout chucking the kids and assorted accessories into the car.......... Delusional huh? probably but we needed to 'get out'



Anyway we made it to Fremantle, I think half of WA had the same idea cos the whole foreshore area was packed. Absolutely gorgeous day though, kids had a ball kicking the footy around in the park and then we went to Kailis for tea.










Jack and Liam

Liam sitting on the dock with the

PP class pet whom he had to 'babysit' for the weekend

Christopher in the heart of Dockers land ( where all good fans should be.





Liam and Dad patiently waiting for tea to be ready.














Molly, who knew that just hanging on to the soccer ball and not letting go would really get up her brothers noses.

The boys " hey no arguing with the Ref ! "

Nothing like an ice cream on a sunny day hey Molly?


Ya know what ?, all the hassle and busyness of the afternoon were well worth it, the kids loved getting out of the house for some 'fun'. They have had a really stressful past year and I think they needed it as much as us, hopefully we will get to do it more often and get back into the swing of it.


Hope you all had a great Easter as well.






Cheers, Connie




P.S please accept my apologies if you originated from the Netherlands and happened to hear someone yell " Hey look mum... Dutchies !!! " that was my 11 year old son yelling out the car window when he saw some fellow Free Reffies.

Big blessings in a small bundle

Murray and I are quite amazed at the sheer difference in Harry in just 4 short months. It seems like only yesterday that he was born so tiny that we felt like we were handling a fragile doll, then he became critically ill and lost even more weight. We so very nearly lost him, man I don't think we have ever prayed so hard. Thankfully God is stronger than anything this world can dish out and carried Harry ( and us) through that very difficult time.




Look at the difference in 4 months !!












The day after he was born, 5 lb 2 oz hardly a handfull for Dad





Then in Neonates ICU in Princess Margaret Hospital where he stayed for 2 weeks.

To our Little Man as he is now, we have started him on cereal already to try and help with his reflux, hopefully this will help him keep more calories down !

Truly a ' Happy Harry'

Harry's deep and meaningful conversations

Harry is a baby who thrives on someone paying Him a bit of attention, make eye contact and you are in for a deep conversation. He just loves to babble away especially to his brothers and sister.

With his great grandfather ( Murray's grandpa) on the day he was baptised. There is 92 years difference between the two of them.

With Opa

Heuvink

With big brother Christopher "Whaddya mean you'll give me $10 to be a Dockers supporter??"

"Dude it was this big.... honestly"

With big brother Bruce

My sad sense of Humour

I know I know , I have a sad sense of Humour but I get a giggle out of this pic everytime I see it LOL

The sometimes ramblings and goings on in our lives.

Hiya all

Nothing to see here....... not yet anyway. I have a dream that one day I will have a spare 5 minutes to set this up properly, hopefully that day comes soon and we can share some of our family stuff with you.

Of course I will need to get some updated photos of the kids cos poor old Harry didn't make it into this photo taken in Kalbarri.

Cheers for now

Connie ( and the rest of em!)