Xmas Newsletter Photos

Hubby at the National Angling Championships in March - part of the winning catch!

I send out a Christmas Newsletter each year to family and friends, however the ones that get emails dont get all the photos as they are too big to attach to the document....

Here are some of this years photos....the above one is of Daniel umpiring one of his AFL matches.

Xmas Newsletter photos....

James at Lego Education Centre - Moonee Ponds..... during our Melbourne Adventure


Some of the many photos taken during 2009 - couldnt attach them all to my Annual Christmas newsletter......this one at Dreamworld.

Little Miss 6

Lauren turned 6 during the week....above is a photo of my two monkeys at Monarto Zoo here in Adelaide (free range type zoo).. and ONE of the birthday cakes....

Well hello from a stranger!!!

Yeah its been ages since I have been here..... I apologize - Has anyone seen Cindy yet??? Or Grotty for that matter??

School holiday time again.. Hubby took James up to the Mid North for a few days (respite) no fighting for almost 4 days....it was lovely.

They had a great time too, bushwalking, riding the Pichi Richi train at Quorn and exploring the country towns (James favourite activity).

F.I.R.E. Family is really everything !

What a memory !

The little guy was intrigued to see what 'brand' my wine was tonight.....I mentioned it was his first winery - Banrock Station - in the Riverland here in SA (on the way to a huge adventure playground at Monash)

He was quick to straighten me out by reminding me of our fateful trip to the Legoman in the Barossa valley (Mandy will remember the story when we drove for an hour to see this guys Lego displays only to be turned away and told to 'come back tomorrow')

We both needed consoling that day - me at Rockford Wines (Alicante' Rose) and a museum/traintracks for him.

It was also one of my first blogs - I needed to share my story with the world (AND I had drunk one of the bottles bought that day)

Have a good weekend all......Kim

OUCH

Had my first tooth removal in a chair late yesterday....the poor girl before me had all her wisdom teeth done - would hate to be in her head today!

It all went really well, had twilight sedation (which I can highly recommend) the only problem was waiting while the previous client was worked on (and listening to all the noises and seeing her stagger out afterwards) The surgeon looked worse for wear when he greeted me!

My reason for this post is that a few years back I complained of sensitivity at the dentists, and as I was in between xrays - one wasnt taken. Because I thought I had sensitivity and no other problems I didnt bother going back to the dentist.

Kept getting those pesty reminders, and just kept putting off going (even though the dentist is at my local shopping centre) Procrastination won the day (those who know me know I am the Queen of Procrastination!)

So, peoples, for the sake of the $24 it cost me for the tiny xrays - get them done to avoid this happening to you!

Ernest Walter (Bill) Bonfield

B 17/06/1915 - Flicking through my late Grandma's photo album, discreetly placed at the back was this gorgeous photo of my late Grandpa - Bill - aka Ernest Walter Bonfield.

Bill was a cheeky Grandpa - most fun after a few drinks. Some legendary partying stories have been passed on through the generations and will always be remembered behind his "Bar".

But Bill's most memorable stories will be remembered by his war diary we found after he passed away - the story of a young man in the early days of Australia being involved with WW2, leaving a new bride at home, pregnant and not seeing his daughter (my mum) until she was 4 (makes me think how my daughter would have been at that age without her dad). I will always think of him at 11am on the 11th of November.

He was a lovely writer too, we also found his letter of proposal to my Grandma, together with a whole secret stash of letters and postcards.....

Who said we shouldn't hoard things - I think its ok to save some things for future generations to enjoy!!

(Bigbloggers - you aren't seeing things - this post transferred from Bigblog due to upcoming closure of account)

Anzac Day is another day to remember ... Bill was a navigator in the Middle East WW2

Mobile blog test - happy easter to all

News

For all the latest Hosky news, please excuse me cheating here, head to

www.hosky.bigblog.com.au

Bit short of time, but trust me will be back soon with some photos......

Hosky's do Sydney

These were taken from my Aunt and Uncle's balcony in Manly

Darling Harbour food shopping

Taronga Zoo

Just had a long weekend away in Sydney with Lauren (5). Took her to places I hadnt been - Taronga Zoo, Manly Oceanarium, Botannical Gardens, Lindt Cafe and Guylain Cafe....oh and was forced to admire the cruise ship "Millenium" every day as we passed through Circular Quay....

The day of the derailment...

Silly Sunday requires an outing to distract the troups! Yesterday was spent at a miniature train park - with a minor derailment our only issue (which wasnt too bad)

Unfortunately - technology let me down and despite much googling couldnt locate the hours of operation - will have to give them a hand there I think. Anyways we were more than half an hour early and stumbled across this park (facing Prospect Road for the locals - called Prospect Estate). It was gorgeous - lots of waterfalls and even some little fish.

There was much quiet excitement tonight - I tricked the little guy into eating some pork fillet - told him it was steak and cut it into little bits.....I am quietly jumping up and down....

Trying to wear the kids out!

Saturdays are ok in the House Of Hosky - the little guy has swimming and all our activities are centered around that.

Sundays are a different story....if we dont have anything on, we NEED to get out of the house for 2 reasons - take the kids mind off fighting each other AND the feeling that I have actually done something other than just getting a good nights sleep (I dont get much during the week)

Today, somehow, we planned a trip on a train (or 2) ended up at Belair (in the Adelaide Hills). It was going well, until it started raining....and dribbling, and raining.... probably stopped me walking the kids too far, then not being able to get them to walk back to the train anyway...

The first thing we heard when we got off the train was a kookaburra, then there was some amazing gum tree sap, horse poo, that freshly rained on bush smell, lake with ducks, then an emu joined our bush-walk just to top things off.

Procrastination !!

This arrived in my inbox from a de-cluttering company here in Adelaide.

I love it - I have been guilty since a teenager and at the moment it is taking its toll....BIG TIME !!!!
****************************************************************************************************************************************
Tips for overcoming procrastination

Procrastination can be a minor inconvenience or it can have a crippling effect. Understanding the reasoning behind it helps a great deal in overcoming it. Here are some reasons why we procrastinate and some strategies to help:

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of the task:

• Break the task down into 'next actions'. Think about the very first thing you need to do and commit to just doing that.
• Use a timer and commit to a short amount of time to begin with (such as 5 minutes).

If you don't know where to start:

• Pretend you're delegating it. What would you tell someone else what it is that needs to be done first?
• Ask the person who delegated it to you what they think the first step could be. Asking for advice is infinitely better than putting it off until it's too late.

If you know the task will be unpleasant or difficult:

• Use a timer - if you know it will be only 5 minutes of unpleasantness you'll be more likely to get started
• Set yourself rewards for reaching milestones
• Don't wait or over-analyse; just do it

If you're lacking the confidence that you can do it:

• Just give it a try; you could be underrating yourself. You only fail if you never try.
• Are you lacking the skills or knowledge? Look for ways to resolve that.
• Analyse if it's part of your goals and strike it off your list altogether if it's not

You don't think you have time to do it properly so you'd rather not try:

• Relax your standards. Don't let perfectionism stymie you.
• Set a timer for however long you have and do as much as you can in that time.

A fun day for a change

No I havent been feeding the kids to the sharks.....this is an odd little b&b on the foreshore at Glenelg....it used to pride itself on its spa-baths now its turned into quite an interesting spectacle...

Took the kids out for the day - yes you can hear the cash registers going c'ching$$$ - but it wasnt too bad. Caught the tram to Glenelg - had vouchers for a free trip on the Big Wheel - it was pretty slow, but a peaceful experience - although James said he didnt enjoy it! Loves the tram ride though - maybe we could just go up and down city/Glenelg on it - like a progressive dinner. (from Maccas to Maccas!)
James did find something that he enjoyed...but eventually the noise got to us all...

Called into the Interstate Train terminal on the way home, to collect some brochures, and just as we sat down for (another) coffee.... the Indian Pacific pulled in....what a treat, then one of the kind workers offered us a peek at one of the new Gold Class carriages...

It was at this point the little guy lost it a bit - too much for one day I feared..

Anyway - we all had a great day....even hubby who was on a fishing club outing - returning with Whiting for tomorrow night's dinner!

Frustrated....

Everyone is home today....the TV blaring despite my attempts to have it off - kids chased flies for about 15 mins, now the TV is back on - damn you Nickelodeon !

Kids keep asking for stuff.....they have so much stuff in their rooms to play with, I dont get it (actually I do - they want me to play with them) Why don't I want to?

Might have to turn cleaning up their rooms into a 'game' I can play with them - and disable the bloody Foxtel! (which was actually my saviour during the holidays so I should stop whinging)

Had a lovely night last night - no work - always a good situation on a Friday night (normally dont get home until after 2am when I do work!)

23yo stepson came over and we chatted, ate and played games with the kids...

Had another "Spoooky" moment yesterday - that is 3 days in a row - turned on car radio to hear natural medicine guy discussing a foot complaint hubby had seen the doc about the previous day - recommended muscle relaxant type drugs - so passed this info onto hubby.,..

Good day yesterday too - slipped into lakeside pub for a quick 'free' cuppa - ended up winning a $65 jackpot, then $10 on the one next door (Mind you then lost a bit of it on that stupide Indian Dreaming machine! - I dont know why I perservere with that one)

Anyway stayed on to have lunch there - still trying to upload photos from my phone - a job in itself I can tell you. Then did the shopping - at Woolies - without my Flybuys card - to support the Farmers.....that was what I went there for....oopsie.... anyway the shopping trip had a lovely twist (until I reversed into a shopping trolley - lucky for the tow bar is all I can say)

Back to finding the photos on the 'wonder phone' be back later......cheers....

How Spooky !

Went into the petrol stations the other morning (1am) police car doing an interview.....later that morning put gas in the other car (9am) and low and behold - 3 siren blaring police cars pull in - false holdup alarm....

Today I saw a sprinkler going (my kids havent had much to do with sprinklers - or rain for that matter) anyways....I was mystified by it - how dare they - then I saw a shed close to front of the house - I could only assume it was housing a bore water pump...

Then I turn on my favourite talk back radio gal - she had the same experience....

2 spookies in 2 days...

Its nice to see lots of old bigbloggies here - what a lovely place it is!!!

As for my facebook post - well turns out I had set to friends AND network to view - the network being AUSTRALIA - so no wonder !

O M Gosh !!!!!

We all do it on occasions - its ok to admit it!

Just googled someone who recently passed away and up came a Facebook 'hit'....

So I googled myself - not on the "Australia" tab and was shocked what came up....

Kim Hoskin - Australia | Facebook

Kim Hoskin (Australia) is on Facebook. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Millions of people use Facebook ...
www.facebook.com/people/Kim-Hoskin/572380664 - 23k - Cached - Similar pages -


It was about the fifth link and it showed a summary of some of my friends, and other info....

I'm gob-smacked.... (and a little worried)

Blogging to the video clip of "Run to Paradise" by the Choir Boys....showing my age ... Hey ! BIG Saturday night in ! The Sex in the City marathon being over, and eventually getting sick of muting all the potential 'F" words from my daughter, switched over to Max - started with a bit of Blondie, now have had to crank it up.....no alcohol either!!!

Anyway, as you can see overdid the bubbles in the new spa bath the other day - hubby didnt know what to do with them - so scooped them into the most obvious place!!!


Someone else is enjoying the new bath too....

Managed to make 2, yes TWO things out of the Super Food Ideas mag - the Veal on the inside cover AND (due to a glut of frozen raspberries) a raspberry cheesecake slice - that said Milk Chocolate which I (incorrectly) assumed was going into the chocky bikky crust....think it was meant to be White chocky but takes ok anyway.....

V-Day - hubby took me out for brekky Friday morning, presenting me with a very heartfelt (love) letter which was nice, better than anything he could buy - even though the paper cost him a fortune! He proposed 14 years ago on Valentines Day - picking me up in a Limo, taking me to the Hyatt for dinner where the ring came into play!!! Stayed the night there, too excited to sleep - all the talk was around the honeymoon - which is, of course, the most important part of the exercise.

It did involve fishing though, but given that we were by then in the Whitsundays, sleeping under the stars in a boat, I was willing to overlook it....

Happy V Day to all......

Inside my brain ?!*

As I have said before I can't say too much over at Bigblog - due to family, friends, workmates etc frequenting - but hey! thats what I initially set it up for!

I'll start with some Adelaide news - for those that havent been here the city has a small water feature running through it - hubby rides his bike to work along it and was commenting it was starting to go a little green - on the verge of an algal bloom he thought.

Well overnight, something went very wrong mechanically and it was drained....oops

I don't know about you but I 'blog' in my mind ALL day long - funny, witty stuff that gets lost the minute I sit at the PC - and I can only Facebook from my phone so that doesnt help!

I have to admit - I am a little 'twisted' , bit 'obsessive' maybe, can I say the "D" word - well I did the BeyondBlue test a while back and just scraped in..... No reason to be I should add....

This is my 'mental' blog - should probably print it out for future medical appointments!

• I love buyin new cleaning products/tools but don't get around to doing much cleaning....

• I can't stop buying Super Food Ideas - but rarely cook anything new for dinner (I think I have every issue every printed)
  

• I also love stationery/home organisational 'things' but am very, very far from being organised.

• I continually food shop, but there appears nothing to eat past that nights dinner

• Have a wardrobe full of clothes - but nothing to wear (I'm not alone with this I bet)

There is soooo much more, but to write down will be admitting to my procrastination and sheer laziness (I think I have just diagnosed myself!)

Anyway, I have to have 3 weeks off of work soon - my plan is to get on top of this 'stuff'. I am also a hoarder/clutterer so hopefully removing some of this will free up my mental clutterness and give me a clearer mind.....lets hope anyway....

Sunday cruising !

James continuously scours his favourite book, the street directory, and knows most of the highway, bi-way and route numbers in the state. He has a fascinating mind (at times)

Anyways, he decided he wanted to check out this random road, in the foothills, and given the arrival of a cool change (and the fact we had hardly been out in a fortnight) I gave in.

Well the road, was more of a lane, unsealed but with a quirky enough name to get his attention - Hannaford Hump road. After this rough encounter we found ourselves at Humbug Scrub, on the way to the Barossa - dont get excited, me and 2 kids - no drinking!

Well I got completely lost, and it brought home just how dry the Adelaide surrounds were - I tell you I wouldnt have been on those roads if it was hotter or windier! Some of the trees were already very blackened.

We were in the Para Wirra National park it turns out - but couldnt entice him out of the car to visit the Wildlife Sanctuary or the Whispering Wall - both would have been good fun!

"The fascinating Whispering Wall has unique acoustic effects that allow you to whisper at one end, and have a friend hear your whisper more than 100 metres away. Children in particular love visiting the wall and testing its abilities.

The Whispering Wall is in fact a retaining wall for the Barossa Reservoir and provides a scenic view of the reservoir. A collection of water supply heritage items is also on display"

We had plenty of time for lots of conversation - when asked whether James knew the words to the National Anthem - his response was "I am an Australian, I just stand there! "

Had to laugh (and laugh) but Lauren just got car sick!!! Note to self - give her a quells before embarking on windy road adventures......

Joy and sorrow.....

Dont we live in a country of extremes....

While we are thoroughly, thoroughly enjoying the drop of temps (by 20 degrees) my joy quickly ended this morning (even though there was evidence of a drop of rain)

Heard the news about the fires in Victoria, and the joy dried up immediately......

Could you imagine not only being a volunteer firefighter, in 40 plus weather, in those suits, not getting much sleep, all those awful conditions......and then to lose your own house.....just heard about it. And then, you may have discovered some people that didnt make it....

And then there is all that flooding in Queensland - if we could dump some of their water over Victoria it would at least be put to good use!

I stopped whinging about our 2 weeks of extreme weather after the first few days.....I was lucky we had power, the kids had reasonable conditions at school, we could escape to our airconditioned offices.... We got used to it.....

I helped another family from school out each day, who dont have a car, and felt good in that I could make their day a little easier.....

Bad mum 1st tooth lost, toothfairy forgot to come!

Retail (air-con) therapy....

For those in the know, the bathroom work continues.....but the retail work hasnt been completed either....

We were still using our Engagement present towels....very sad since we have been married almost 13 years....so when we were away recently, went to Kadina Target Country during their post Christmas sales....good thing to do on holiday - only way to get hubby there.....anyways, we got some lovely 'denim' coloured towels and many accessories for the new bathroom....

Time for a vinyl backed bathmat......very difficult to find, but did so today for under $20 AND the correct colour and all....

PROBLEM though, ended up spending $150 at Big W and then a further $50 at Cheap As Chips! Expensive morning out - not sure whether to share all that with hubby.....

Managed to get an undercover carpark which was a real treat too......the car air-con is fantastic.....mmmm could drive around all day....

Was going to hop in the pool when I got home, but the power had 'tripped' and as I was down the side of the house the 'clean up crew' reversed down the driveway - sooo lucky they didnt catch me in my very sad swimmers!!!!

Weather report for Adelaide - Day 7 of 40c plus......

Hot as !

News just in....Adelaide made it to 44.7 degrees at 12.40pm - the hottest day in 70 years - so its the hottest day in my lifetime....

The above photo was taken on Australia Day on the Yorke Peninsula here in SA - it was a lot cooler that day - well about 10 degrees...Stansbury is very tidal and we had a lovely swim around in the warm water.... For the first time we saw a seal there, came in for a rest, then got tricked by the sudden tidal change.

Kids school air-con wasnt doing a very good job - lets hope they can head into the library later...I have been driving around in air-con comfort always on the search for a tree to park under....

Home is a different story - we have evaporative air-con so it can only do so much, it does a great job at night though - it only got down to low 30's outside last night. Can't complain though as until the kids came along, there was NO aircon in the house. One of the families at school have NO air-con so I am thinking of them.....

Well the shower screen went in yesterday, so I'll be able to have a proper shower tonight ...yippee....it has one of those special heads so it will be a treat.... here is a bit of the bathroom (minus paint) the spa is devine!

Hopin for a good week...

Had a few days away....a long, long weekend so to speak...

Lots of fresh air (and Happy Hours), not much net surfing - well as much as I could squeeze in on my phone.....

Expecting the bathroom to be finished off when the shower screen (finally) arrives later in the week...will get around to posting a photo - gee this blog needs some work....havent been able to get onto the computer during the school holidays...minute I sit down....they are over my shoulder whinging and fighting over who should go next.....(not Mum I can tell you)

Must head off to bed now....kids are back to school tomorrow and I have to set up for a huge party!

Cheers......Kim

Crappy Friday

It was one of those days that just keep getting worse.

Carpenter arrived at 7.10am UNANNOUNCED....hey lets get it over and done with, hubby goes off at him for his poor pre-Xmas work, I hide in the adjacent bedroom too scared to make eye contact with him.

Visitors due at 11am, trying to tidy up while negotiating with carpenter, phone calls, mms's to hubby to show correct positioning (and to avoid extra drama's) Visitors arrive amongst the work....cool, their dad is renovating, they understand!

Into pool, James drowns the clothed mum on the sidelines, then attempts to semi-submerse 3yo son...preparing lunch, while going back and forth to stop carpenter leaving before he has done all the jobs, food in oven starting to burn! Make rolls, young visitor knocks my arm and plate of prepared food scatters over floor AND black glass/ceramic type plate smashes over floor into smithereens - literally thousands of tiny pieces of plate all over tiled floor - never seen anything like it! AND did I mention the vacuum just died and I have 5 kids under 7 with bare feet.

3yo boy in tears that wont stop after James yelled and smacked him..phone rings - charity worker - not now! Carpenter exits, phone rings shower screen wants to come and measure - this day was meant to be a nice day with our visitors - barely got to spoke to the mum (which is why you ask school friends over isnt it).

This was just a summary of the day - it was sprinkled with other dramas....then to work at 5.30 - Fridays are my long day at work - ahhh a rest....NUP...busy busy, broken machine, exit work at 2.30am....hubby gets up when I climb into bed at 3am (did I mention I have been up since 7am?)

Hubby doesnt return to bed (what is going on?) Hubby wakes Hosky.....couldnt sleep MAJOR issue with the bathroom - work started on this back on October 13th, 2008 and we have been showering outside ever since (well at least it is summer!)

Turns out that we are just about finished - minus said shower screen - and the shower taps are spitting the wrong water - cold side of taps/pipes is hot water! A heap of the tiles will have to come off, plumber back, tiler back, tempers flaring all over again......

Oh joy.....its going to be a brilliant week !!!

So STUPID !

I am kicking myself.....over and over again!

Cleaning up my blog, deleting posts with big photos etc....very pleased with myself! Then it dawns on me, copy and paste the kiddie funny ones to a word document to keep (and print) for them...

Great idea Hosky! But wait, you just deleted some FOREVER!

OK start from this moment then!

So - for the last almost 8 years I have said I should be keeping a 'fun' diary for the kids - we do actually have lots of 'fun' moments, its just some time the 'bad' and 'dangerous' moments take over!. I also have a couple of thousand (yes bloggers I reckon there are 2000) digital photos floating around on the PC, memory cards and multiple cameras.

All this is wonderful, a lovely legacy for the kids! But wait....what to do with all the hours of almost extinct technology video footage.......

still trying 2 phone blog

May have worked it out,this is a test..can hide from the kids! The minute i turn on the pc the kids line up 2 kick me off.

Happy New Year

Like every New Years resolution, I fell over before I even got started......

Left over Lions Fruit Cake is not helping one of my causes.... Mum gave it to us, soaking it in brandy for a while to keep it moist....did the trick...

Driving home from our recent holiday - I realised its such a good time to talk to hubby.....he HAS to listen - something he doesnt normally do very well. It was a 2 hour trip and after the first half an hour my phone ran out of battery and that meant the end of facebooking.... So, I talked, and talked and talked his ear off....well he is always whinging he doesnt get enough time with me....

When we finally got home, the fridge was bare....and after lazing in the car for 2 hours I had an amazing amount of energy (hubby had nodded off on the couch by this stage) So....I cleaned the fridge out....the bins were due to go out...they too were very empty, so I ran around the house like a mad women filling them up with stuff that wasnt nailed down....

Unfortunately....that was as far as it all got....the following day I met my sister and we saw "Marley and Me" with only 4 tissues - take a pack of 10 if you go!

Now its midday, the kids are still in their PJ's and I havent had a shower yet - back to my lazy holiday ways again...

BUT I have made a Geotrax (Fisher Price train) video of James' recent track setup (we were inspired by some we saw over at YouTube)...and a few dishes have been done....

Off to work tonight, will be nice to get the brain back into gear again...