Remember this?????

This was James' and my favourite show back in the 90's. We love love loved it. Well on Tuesday we got tickets to go and watch the filming of the new series. Below was James' fave gladiator back then.

TOWER

AGE:29

HEIGHT:6’5"(196cm)

WEIGHT: 110kg

TOWER is big; the epitome of a GLADIATOR, towering over the opposition at more than 1.9 metres and backing it up with 110kgs of pure muscle power. This level of fitness requires dedication and discipline - TOWER learnt both well during nine years with the RAAF.

He regards his major advantages to be quickness and strength. These attributes are hone with running, sparring, surfing and up to five days a week in the gym.

TOWER has played both rugby league and union but is happiest in one-to-one combat sports such as kick-boxing which he also teaches.

His heroes? "Anyone who is a success in their chosen field."

TOWER travels the road of personal freedom on a Harley-Davidson.

And for relaxation? Keeping up with the news on TV.

Now Delta was my fave. I even named my first car after her. LOL.

DELTA

AGE:23

HEIGHT:5’7" (170cm)

WEIGHT:62kg

To DELTA, sport is life. Water sports and football provide DELTA with the adrenaline rush.

But can she sit still and just watch? "All the time! Whether to participate or just to watch! I love the physical contact, tackling people and ripping them off walls - it’s just so much fun!"

DELTA enjoys the thrill of pushing herself to the limits and her sometimes demure look hides a very competitive player. Her favorite event is Pyramid because it combines endurance, speed and tactics.

DELTA’'s daily workout on top of her work as an aerobic instructor equals f-i-t with a vengeance. She has been competitive all her life beginning with State Swimming Championship plus three consecutive years with the NSW Junior Netball side.

How does DELTA see herself! "I’ve got strength and speed plus I’m pretty aggressive mentally."

Modelling and some advertising positions have kept DELTA a busy lady in recent times.

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So on Tuesday we dropped the kids at Nanny's. I love Nanny and off we headed to the Olympic Show ground. Our enthusiasm soon waned as we lined up for an hour and a half with the rest of Sydney before we even got in. When we were seated we were given Thunder sticks which was kind of fun. LOL. They made us practice cheering. Which was to their detriment because by the time we had to cheer we were really over it.

The Australian Cricketer Andrew Symonds was there. His sister was one of the challengers. He got VIP seats and got to sit inside while we all lined up outside. Not that I am bitter or anything.

One of the Gladiators was Tatiana Grigorieva.

She is so beautiful in real life. Her gladiator name is Olympia. Kind of fitting hey?

Anthony Koutoufides was another Gladiator. His name is Kouter. Lame hey? The name that is, not him. Although let me tell you he is not lame in real life. He has muscles on muscles.

The host was Tom Williams - another one who is not lame in any way. He is gorgeous and very nice. Modest too. Always appealing in a man.

The lady host was Zoe Naylor. She was in McClouds Daughters. She was actually really really good. I liked her.

We were there for six hours. It was long and boring at times. Lots of waiting around and setting things up and then 3 seconds of action and then back to waiting and setting up. I was so glad the boys didn't come. They would have been going off their tree. James feels that the show has lost a bit of it's magic but I still enjoyed watching it being made. There was a lot of false things in it. Us just cheering cos they told us too, which they will edit into it I am sure. They moved us around all the time to make it look like a full full house. They even had homemade posters that they handed out to make it look like the gladiators had fans. Now that really cracked us up.

I had fun. Loved watching all the crap that the Gladiators sprouted and seeing the challengers get whipped. Can't wait to see ourselves on telly. Show Four. Look for us. We could be famous. We will be the ones with the fake smiles pretending to cheer.

Photos from our holiday

Last day of 2007

I just can't believe that another year is gone. The older I get the quicker the years go. Christmas is over and done with. I didn't take one single photo. How freaky is that? We are back from our holiday to the beach. We had a great time. Well most of the time. It was hard at times being cooped up in such a small place with so many children. LOL.

Bailey and Hamish particularly were in their element. Making friends with all the other kids and running around the caravan park searching for rabbits. Only coming in when it was nighttime. They had an absolute ball. They are exactly the right age to take camping. Charli on the other hand kept wandering off and never returning. Big sigh. Had to keep a constant eye on her, which grew tiring at times.

We did lots of swimming, walking, looking for shells, feeding pelicans, chasing rabbits and watching DVD's. Very very nice.

For my birthday we went shopping. LOL. I had a haircut, manicure and pedicure which was gorgeous. We had a nice lunch and then for dinner we went to the Hogs breath. Very nice there too. Came home, had some birthday cake and all went to bed. A great day.

I went home on the Saturday to Mums for my usual watch the Carols and celebrate my birthday sleep over. So nice to go to mums just by myself. It's nice to catch up with everyone being just able to sit and no kids around to make too much noise to hear. Mum and Steph made me a lovely birthday dinner. Lasagna made the way Carol Ann makes it. And for dessert a pavlova birthday cake. Yummo my favourite - Chris's (my brother) too apparently since he ate half the thing by himself. Where does he put it? I even got a sleep in the next morning. I slept until 9.30. That is amazing for me. My kids wake me between five and six most mornings.

Caitlin was sick on Christmas Eve all day. She just lay on the lounge all day and at one stage even went and hopped into bed for a sleep. Thats when we knew she was really sick. Thankfully by Christmas day she was all better. The presents seemed to brighten her up. The trampoline was a huge success. Very happy campers indeed. Now all of them are seasoned tramp jumpers and can do all kinds of tricks on them. Charli's trick is that she can jump LOL. Well she is only just turned two. We went to mums for Christmas and the kids had an absolute ball, they love going to Nannys. The food was yummy lots of prawns and chicken and ham. With all kinds of salad. Yum yum. We were suppose to have a yummy pav for dessert but in my haste to leave the house I left it at home. Ooops. Luckily Steph the super chef had made a home made Chrissy pudding. That girl is amazing.

Speaking of that girl she got all band sixes for her Year Ten Certificate and at prize day at school got 8 yes that is 8 awards. Pretty impressive hey?

Alison got her HSC results and got 77.5. Mum says she could have done better if she had studied but I am still impressed by that. It gives her enough marks to get into uni and do psychology. Yes thats right folks she is going to be a psychologist. Well my family will certainly keep her busy. LOL.

I think that is enough news for now. I have photos to add but really wanted to post something. I realised that the reason I haven't posted as much lately is because I haven't had photos.

Have a great 2008. May it be everything you want it to be.

A catch up

The girls felt so gorgeous in these photos. Why? Because the bows in their hair say HO HO HO and they were SO excited about that. We were getting ready for our Carols Service at the church. Now I didn't take my camera to that event (I know gasp, shock horror) but my friend took some really cute photos of Caitlin with her face painted as a butterfly. The girl said to her would you like a butterfly on your cheek and she said um no my whole face please. LOL. We also got some cute photos of Hamish on the mechanical bull. He had a great time. It was pouring with rain, we were absolutely saturated but we truly did have the greatest time ever.
It has been raining here for most of the school holidays so far and the kids have had cabin fever. On this day it absolutely bucketed down and hailed and thundered and you name it. Our back step always floods when it rains - it comes nearly up to the step. Once it was done. Caitlin quietly popped her cossies on and gum boots and was splashing up and down in the puddles. Having a lovely time. The boys saw her and begged to join in. So down to their undies they went and the whole backyard became a quagmire. They had so much fun. There was mud everywhere. I had to keep saying to myself, they are kids this is the stuff memories are made of. Chill out girlfriend. There was a box that had been left out in the rain and got all soggy and the kids played with that box in the water for SOOOO long. It's the small things hey?

These were photos taken getting ready for the school concert. Gideon and Hamish were angels. And Bay was a shepherd boy. Hamish was so funny in this concert. For some reason they had him center stage and he kept organizing all the children and directing them in the dances and songs. Incorrectly I might add. He would be really getting into it and then would turn and have a little cuddle with Claire Kelly and then a Kung Fu Fight with the boy on the other side and then all of a sudden he would be back to the dance and concentrating really intensely it was a major crack up.These photos were taken at Hamish's Boys brigade display night. He had the best time. He won an award, a little key chain of the Anchor boy logo. He performed This little light of mine - which was hysterical. And the highlight? He got to be the leader in the line. It made his night. Made him feel very responsible. He bossed those boys around all night. I am your leader he kept repeating. Sadly the other boys weren't quite as impressed. LOL. The display night went right up to the big boys and they all got to show us what they had done throughout the year. They all do amazing gymnastics. Not girly stuff but really physical stuff that made me gasp out loud, much to my embarrassment. LOL The little boys were in heaven watching all the tricks and displays, gasping and oohing and laughing and admiring. It really was a fun night.

In the dog house

This gorgeous photo is of Caitlin and Minnie. Minnie has become quite attached to living in the house and we are not wanting that so we have been encouraging her to go into her little house. Only problem is she doesn't like that idea. Enter Super Caitlin. I looked out the window before and what did I see but this.She is teaching Minnie to go into her house. She loves Minnie a lot. I think Minnie loves her too. Not sure.
At 2 pm this morning when Jim was sleeping on the couch with Minnie to stop her from crying we weren't so keen on the little puppy. I think I am going to have to write to Dr Harry. We need a visit. We rang the vet today and she said to bite the bullet and just put her outside, she will adjust. We are just a bit worried about the neighbours thats all. Well I guess we will let you know how it all go's.

Introducing Minnie

This is the latest addition to our family. She is gorgeous and we love her a lot. Minnie Berry Douglas. The kids have been so excited to have her , she is getting used to them but she loves James. It is so funny. She follows him everywhere.



This is Charli. She is not 100 percent happy or thrilled that we have a new dog. She keeps squealing in fear and smacking the poor pooch. Hopefully she will adjust quickly. Doesn't she look so gorgeous in this photo?


This is Caitlin's current specialty. If this girl doesn't join the circus I will be shocked.
She was a monkey in a former life I am convinced. Her most favourite part is if the boys spin the line and make her go round and round. She LOVES it.

A great comp

A special announcement from Sherrie Ashcraft and Christina Berry:

We cowrite books about relationships. We are a relationship. We want to dominate the relationship brand. And we want to have at least 500 subscribers to the Ashberry Lane Newsletter by the first of the year. Should we expect you to sign up and work hard at strong-arming your friends to sign up while you get nothing out of the deal? No way!
Compassionate as we are, we've worked up a HUGE new incentive. How better to promote our relational fiction than featuring other fiction that focuses on different types of relationship? Why don't we give our supporters a chance to win EIGHT autographed books? What a great Christmas present that would be! Or what a lot of Christmas shopping done for you!
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ASHBERRY LANE'S BOOK GIVEAWAY

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