Duncan is the newest addition to the McCrorey family.

He is an 18 month old kitty with a big fat case of the snuggles.

He was surrendered to animal welfare when his family were moving interstate to look for work and couldn’t afford to keep him.

He’s adorable and we’ve fallen in love with him already.

However, I did my duty a few weeks back and went along to the family trip to the zoo.  I was not looking forward to it.  I decided it was a good excuse to test out my new 500mm zoom.

I had a wonderful day and would highly recommend St Louis Zoo for a visit.

2009 was my first Halloween in the USA, it also happened to coincide with my girls visiting.

Our first taste of Halloween was visiting the Pumpkin Patch to choose our pumpkins with my niece and nephew.

Next, we had a family carving night.  Kids young and old had so much fun!

The front step, now resplendent with Jack-O-Lanterns.  Emily gets the prize for most evil, Susan gets the prize for most scaredy cat-like.

Scarefest.

St Louis is well known for it’s haunted houses.  No, not REAL haunted houses, but houses dressed up by Hollywood crews and inhabited by actors dressed as monsters lurking in doorways and camouflaged into the walls.

OMG

It was the most Awesome thing I had ever done.

UNTIL

We went to Knott’s Berry Farm, which at the time was called Knott’s Scary Farm.  It had also been dressed up for Halloween and had actors dressed as monsters, and the rides had been changed for the event as well.  I’d have had a heart attack on several occasions had I not been having such an awesome time.

Halloween 2009 ROCKED!

***I stole the two photos of Scarfest from Scarefest.com***

Oh shit, there it goes!

Meet my niece and nephew!  Gorgeous, huh?

Seriously Uncle Brad, get off your lazy ass and chase the damned thing!

Yesterday my eldest graduated from Sydney University with a Masters Degree in Education.

She had an army of adoring fans there to witness the event.  She looked beautiful and we were all SO proud.

Enough of the study, can someone please teach her how to cook?

Benni is a Rottweiler x Kelpie.

We found him 10 years ago, at 6 months old, in the local pound while looking for a kitten (long story!).  He was so cute sitting there, head tilted to one side…. just looking at us.  No excitement…. no going nuts like all the other dogs in their cages, no competing for our attention.  Just quietly sitting there looking at us, willing us to take him home.

That’s exactly what we did…. after making sure that he and our German Shepherd, Marley, would get along.

Benni had been badly mistreated at some stage in his young life, and was a frightened, fretful, skittish little thing .  He was terrified of brooms and mops… anything that looked like a stick.

Over the years he has become the most beautiful creature.  He lives to please, to be loved, adores his three (two legged) kids and is incredibly obedient.

At ten years old, he is one of the fittest animals I have ever seen.

This is Benni a few weeks ago …. at play.

Not bad for a ten year old, huh?

The World’s Most Beautiful Bride

Originally uploaded by Kerri McCrorey

My first baby, my darling niece, was married on the weekend in Bali.

When I first saw this photo I was reduced to tears, she is just so beautiful.

Congratulations baby girl, I love you very much.

With love from your favourite, most attractive and completely awesome aunt

P.S. I just love that you wore thongs!  It’s SO you!

50

Originally uploaded by Kerri McCrorey

I have been dreading this number for years, but now that it’s here, I’m really quite liking it.

I’m comfortable with the fact, for now, that today I am 50.

Brad, of course, will be running his tail off spoiling me rotten, as usual. In fact at midnight he took me to Krispy Kreme for my first birthday coffee, he has downloaded a girlie movie, that no self respecting male would admit to watching and he is currently baking me birthday oatmeal cookies.

….and it’s only 2:15am. Heh

So, it will be a Maccas birthday breakfast, followed by an Italian birthday dinner, with lots of birthday fun and snacks in between.

OOOOOO, maybe we can do a birthday Dark Knight screening?

The possibilities are endless!

40th dinner – Bob and Phyllis

Originally uploaded by Kerri McCrorey

I’m late for Mother’s Day and getting in by the skin of my teeth for Father’s Day.

Thank you for being such wonderful in-laws. It makes not having my own parents around a lot less depressing at these times.

I love you!

Do other people’s kids leave home?

Mine have been hanging around for 20 years and more and I’m still waiting for them to break the *choke* dreadful news that they are going to move out.

Don’t get me wrong, I adore my kids. It’s just that they’re messy little bastards and it doesn’t get better with age.

For those following along, you know that we are trying to sell our house. It is on the market now. The photographer came last Monday so we have great photos for the advertising campaign.

I have paid my $40.00 to our local council to get the “149 Planning Certificate”, which sounds terribly official, but all it does is give us permission to sell our house. Great little income rort there Rockdale Council!

The Solicitor is revved up and ready to go.

The Hawaiian and I have the house looking like a dream home…….

Then the kids come home.

Why is it that children/teenagers/young adults always explode all over the house when they get home? Is this only a problem at my place, or is it some sort of epidemic that I can blame some other bastard for? Who did this to my kids? It certainly isn’t MY fault, my kids have been brung up proper like! *smirk*

Ok, so Im a slob too, their father was a slob, and The Hawaiian is one too. It’s a little unfair of me to demand perfection from the kids when I can’t lead by example.

There are so many more important things to do than housework. Like playing on the internet, blogging, chatting, having a mani and a pedi, shoe and bag shopping…. the list goes on and on.

So if you want to buy my house, don’t try and come over to look at it without at least a half day’s notice, preferrably a full day. Best option for us is for you to just buy it from the photos.

Then we can get outta here and leave the damned kids in the empty nest! *evil grin*