big school boys!

Last week was "back to school" Kyle moved up to 2nd grade, and Brody started kindergarten!

On the 1st day of school, Brody just marched right in to his classroom without looking back! I was soo shocked that I went in after him to make sure that he was ok. There he was sitting at his table with his thumb up. I said "Brody, you are soo big!" and he said "yup, I'm a man now!" and I asked him where my little baby went, and he responded with... "he's gone!" I left feeling pretty proud of my "man" but kind of sad my baby was growing up.



The next day he was not quite as manly...........
I dropped the kids off, and they happily went to their playground, but as I was driving off I can see Brody trying to run after me with two teachers holding him back and ushering me to "keep going" I was sooo sad to leave him in such a state, but when I called to check on him the principle had got Kyle to come and stay with him and he was fine.

Ever since, Brody has been great at going to school, he loves his friends, his teacher and doing homework!!





Kyle was excited to be reunited with all his pals, and of was anxious to find them as soon as we parked the car! He loves school, but is not as enthusiastic as Brody about homework!




sigh..... Why do they have to grow up?

a phonecall from the F.B.I.....

A couple of days ago, Kyle and Brody were playing happily with Lego in their bedroom. Owen was across the street at Mary's house, and I decided to RUN to the mailbox, with Ava on my hip we ran there and back and were home within 2 minutes. When I opened the front door, Kyle was there to greet me, his face was pure white! holding the phone toward me, with eyes as big as saucers, he whispered in a panic... "mum, it's the F.B.I on the phone!" "WHAT?" how did they find out so quickly that I had left my 6 and 5 year old unattended for 2 minutes???
I take the phone from kyle, clear my throat and nervously say..." er hello??"
"Hi this is william jenson calling from h.c.i healthcare collections..........."


(almost as scary!?

brodio........

Brody came to me today and told me...... "mum, I have changed my name to Ben. I am not called Brody anymore" (trying not to laugh I ask him) "why are you called Ben now?" and he answers (with serious face) ..."cos I don't like the name Kevin!"



He came through to my room with his t'shirt hiked all the way up and announced proudly.... "Hey mum, look at my 2 pack!"



what a boy!!!

The most beautiful girl in the world.........

Last night I trimmed Ava's hair just a bit. I just cut the raggy ends off. I think it turned out soo cute. I am just in awe of how perfect she is, I sometimes find myself just staring at her. Here she is all dressed up for church, (thank you auntie Pauline for the beautiful dress) x

the other woman...........

Mark has another love....... They have been together for 10 years. He spends hours of his day with her, He spends hundreds of dollar$ on her, He LOVES her!!! I use to complain about their relationship, but I have come to accept her as part of our life.......


I am referring to...... Mark's TRUCK!


It is with a heavy heart, that I report of her terminal state. We don't know exactly how long she has, but we know that it will be soon. Mark refuses to make a statement at this time (it is still too raw).

beautiful little people.............

These are the cutest little faces that I get to see all day. I am so lucky!

Our Hotel................

"What is that smell?"

"Why is that man pushing around a toilet?"

"Is this carpet damp?"

"Are fridges not supposed to be cold?"

"What is that stain?"

"Why is this plug socket baggy?"

"Where are the cribs we ordered?"

"Why is this sticky?"

"What is that galloping noise?"

"Is there a horse race going on upstairs?"


ahhh disneyland...... magical!

funny boys

We were at the doctors office today getting the little kids check-ups, and we were waiting in the room for quite a while. Brody was keeping himself busy by looking at all the posters on the wall, then suddenly he caught sight of a large poster of internal organs to which he said (horrified) ...."MUM, thats not modest!!!!!!



Kyle excited came to me today and proudly announced..."Hey mum, I dont bite my toenails anymore!!!!"

It was a big day for the pugmire family!

.............Princess Ava Grace.............

The whole world seems to be obsessed with Prince William and his soon to be wife Princess Kate. There is one little girl, that I am obsessed with.... My own little Princess Ava....


Dearest sweet baby girl,

My heart is filled with emotion as I recall this time last year. Your precious birth mother was about to endure the most difficult time of her entire life. I was excited/nervous/stressed etc... preparing for the birth of our new baby girl. The crib was ready with fresh sheets and blankets, the car seat was waiting by the door, the cupboards were filled with sparkly new bottles, the changing table was stocked with crisp nappies, The closets brimming with beautiful baby dresses, I was just aching to dress you in. I was already in love with you Ava, I just couldn't wait to meet you. I wanted you soo much, I was so helpless and vulnerable. We were putting our hearts on the line in the hope of you. With adoption ANYTHING can happen.

On Friday 23rd April, I got the call, that your birth mother was in labor and was heading to the hospital. Your daddy and I raced to the hospital with every emotion but mostly just excitement. We ran into the hospital and were stopped by the front desk workers, they told us that we needed to wait. Auntie Mayte was talking to me on my mobile and told us you were born!!! By this time I was crying and pleading with the lady at the front desk, I was desperate to hold you, to look at you, to smell you. I waited impatiently. Then a nurse came down with a digital camera with pictures of you. I stared at the pictures of you, you were soo beautiful Ava. It felt like an eternity when finally I was allowed to come and meet you. This little angel that we had spent soo many hours discussing and planning for. I couldnt help but cry when I held you, It was love.

A month later, we said a heartfelt goodbye to your beautiful birth-mother, A woman who will forever be a hero in our family.

The adoption process was the hardest roller coaster we have ever experienced, but the lessons along the way were priceless, we found our friends, our testimonies were strengthened, and most importantly we were able to kneel across the alter and be sealed to you forever. What a special day that was!


You are such a blessing Ava. You have filled our home with sparkle, you have such a bright personality. you are beautiful and we love you more than I know how to express. You are so loved Ava!

Tomorrow is your 1st birthday, you are growing up way too fast. You love your daddy and your 3 big brothers. You love to play with your stuffed animals. You love to play in the dirt, you love to EAT everything!! You are good at standing, not walking yet, you are girly, sociable and happy.

I am soo grateful to have you, It is an honor to be your mummy.


Happy birthday darling girl
we love you xxx

We love our white haired, toothy, darling boy OWEN

some of my fave owen pics....






A little story.........



Last year as we were otherwise engaged, working on adoption paperwork, Owen had his 1st birthday. We rummaged through some drawers and found a wrinkly orange balloon. We blew it up and alas .... it became Owen's birthday present.
At grandmas house after dinner we wanted to sing happy birthday to our darling little boy. But, we had no such cake to put the candle in. Horrified at the idea of a handheld candle, Grandma insisted that we put the candle in a marshmallow. We all sang happy birthday as Mark held a marshmallow with a candle to the birthday boy. We gave the marshmallow to Owen, who seemed offended and threw it on the ground.

This year we wanted to celebrate in style and pulled out all the stops for our little man. We had a BIG party at the park with family and friends, our neighbour made a fabulous mickey cake and we had pizza. it was perfect!!

Owen's new obsession!



my brothers would be sooo proud




Owen is at a fun age as he is constantly learning new things. He is the cleanest of my children. He hates having dirt on his hands, and is helpful about cleaning up his toys, he loves to put rubbish in the bin.
He wants to be independent and likes to do things by himself. He likes to sit in a big chair like his brothers. He is 24 lbs and in the 20th percentile for his age. His fave foods are strawberries, grapes, pizza, milk. He has a love hate relationship with Ava. She is his partner in crime, but he does get jealous of all the ava attention . Owen loves to sing and dance, he gets all happy and sticks his little front teeth out, he is soo funny and cute. He is still not saying many words, most often he says... "aggy" (daddy) "mummy", "A-ah" (ava), "bye bye" "aah coo" (thank you)"

He is a ray of sunshine in our home, he loves to make everyone happy. We are very blessed to have him. We love you Owen xxx

pizza for breakfast anyone????

This morning I stumbled upon this scene......

Owen had helped himself to the pizza in the fridge, and had made a little picnic for him and his best friend Ava.

.............The GUILTY!...........

..............The ACCOMPLICE........


Partners in crime!

e'll hae twa fish suppers an a packet o minstrels

A couple of weeks ago we made a spontaneous decision to go to Scotland!

We booked our flights for the whole family the Sunday before our departure date. We decided it might be fun, not to tell my parents we were coming, and just turn up on their doorstep!! Keeping my mouth shut has never been a strength of mine. But I managed and sure enough they had no idea!!! hahhaha it was so funny.

The flight was LOOONG but we managed.. and all 4 children were amazing! We made it into Edinburgh and arrived at the car rental place to discover they had given our car away and had none left for us.... As Mark tried to figure out another car (at another rental office) Brody took the fur trim off of his hood and he and Kyle decided to play a prank on their dad... please notice Marks "tail" ... (hehheh)


Finally we got a car (paid double what we wanted to pay) but non the less we were on our way!!! All 4 kids slept peacefully the 45 minute drive to Dundee.
When we reached Bright st, I could barely wait.....
We rang the doorbell and my mum came out and calming/confused said.. "hello" and then she gasped, she stood back shocked and started screaming for my dad... "DENNIS... You won't believe this!! DENNIS!" My dad came out and said.. "oh for goodness sake". It was such a good reaction!

My mum and dad have recently sold their huge house to Grant and Sara (my brother and his wife). My parents now live in a small part of the house connected to them. So kindly, Grant and Sara let us stay with them. They even gave us their own bedroom. We had such a wonderful time being with all the family. Then on Wednesday, Anna decided impulsively to drive up to Scotland with her girls.... It was such a nice surprise, then the next day Pauline and Shiloh came up from London.

It was sooo much fun seeing my children interact with their cousins that they really didn't know too well. By the end of our trip My boys were crying when we told them it was time to go home. The best parts of Scotland (according to my kids) were.. drinking fruit shoots, and playing with their cousins.




Millie had her 8th birthday while she was in Dundee, so we were able to sing to her and have birthday cake.





Cooper and Ava held hands all the way down town. Soo sweet!



I tried to get a picture of alot of the kids when they were at the park, but half of them ran away when I pulled out the camera.


Katie and Rosie, my twin nieces are just such good girls, they pushed this car around for several hours giving the little kids rides in it... such sweethearts.



Brody and Findley playing wii (of course)

Ava loved lapping up everyones attention, She would put her arms out to complete strangers and give them a cuddle. This happened several times on our trip including to the air hostess, who proceeded to walk round the plane with our charming little princess. Ava was soo charismatic that she even got an offer from a sweet Swedish lady who was so smitten, and wanted to take her home.



Ava and shiloh (13 days apart)

As always it was hard to say goodbye to the people and the country that I love soo much.

some one-liners.......

kyle comes in limping and breathing hard whilst rubbing his hip.... I asked him whats wrong and he bravely and maturely answers... "I've just hurt my spine" ME: "Your spine?" Kyle: (rubbing his hip harder) "Yes, I guess I have been using it too much!"


Brody has a sweet tooth. He has a little brown dot of decay on one of his teeth to prove it. Today in the car......Brody - "hey mum, my carseat matches my tooth!"



Kyle- "mum, can I have another boy scout cookie???"



I had to drop something off at someones house, while we were waiting for them to answer, Brody was peeking in the window and said..... "oooooh they have nice couches....... we should just live here!"


I seriously have the funniest cutest kids ever!

Mummy date with Owen.....

A couple of weeks ago Owen's pediatrician referred me to a pediatric urologist for a consultation. She was concerned about his "BOY" area, not looking quite right. (Owen is going to LOVE this post when he is older!)

Anyway so today was the big day, I dropped my other kids off at grandma's house and Owen and I set off to the doctor. The medical plaza was huge, and we were at the top floor (level 5)

We filled out paperwork and waited.........

Then we sat in the dr room and waited..........

Then out of nowhere the fire alarm started RINGING!!! It was LOUD!!! I opened the door and got a huge whiff of something burning. Everybody was frantic, (well I was) and started heading for the stairs, I couldn't believe it! The building was on FIRE!! The sirens were soo loud and lights were flashing. My poor baby boy was covering his ears. "We need to get out of here before we burn to death!!" (I thought to myself dramatically) a single tear rolling down my cheek, my bladder pulsing.
Then all of a sudden the alarms stopped ringing, and someone announced that it was a false alarm! "WAIT.... But I can smell something!" ( I think with accusation)... Long story short... A member of staff was making popcorn in the microwave and burnt it!!! First of all.... how do you burn popcorn in the microwave??? There is a button assigned specifically for popcorn.
Secondly, why am I slightly disappointed that it was just burnt popcorn?? Come on... couldn't it have been something a little cooler??? I feel silly now!
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have push that old granny out of my way!

Anyway so I stumble humbly back into the waiting room when the dr finally enters..... I took off Owen's nappy, The doctor takes one look and says... "yep, That's exactly how a little boy should look!!!" WHAT??? So now I have to decide, do I dwell on the fact that I drove an hour, wasted my morning, had a small panic attack, paid $30 when there was nothing wrong with my son. OR Do I feel grateful for the fact that Owen is a perfectly healthy BOY??

Before picking up the rest of the kids, I decided to go and get some lunch, It was just the 2 of us and it felt nice to be able to enjoy him all to myself. What a wonderful little person he is!!!! I love you O-weee x
some things I love about my boy.....

The way he puts his dummy/pacifier on his plate while he eats.
The way he puts his food onto his spoon by hand.
The fact that he loves his mummy sooo much!
The fact that his dummy is usually pink.
How much he loves to play outside, and attempts to play football and T' ball,
How he copies his big brothers in everything they do.
He is not in a hurry to grow up!
The way that he has created his own little Owen-ese language.
The way that I understand Owen-ese (for the most part)
And there are a million more things I love about my sweet little boy.

The moment I met her.... I was in love.

She was placed in my arms,
At the price of another's agony.
She was born from a hero.
When I saw her, It was love.
I am humbled by her.
I am honoured to have her.
Her story is so sacred.
She is an eternal gift.
I can't imagine my life without her.