Where are the Boy Folk?

After saving his funds all year, well almost all year (a few dozen packs of pokemon cards were purchased along the way) boy-child has saved up enough money and gems* to trade for an iTouch.  He was saving up for a DS but as I am not a huge fan I offered to split the cost of an iTouch to encourage him to get one over the DS.  (I have since seen more about the DSi that I really like, but I am stubborn and pigheaded so I refused to change my mind or the offer.)

Anyway, moving on, the final count left him with a grand total of $150.70, a whopping 70 cents more than he was required to save, and to say he was a little excited at the prospect of having his own iTouch would be an understatement.

Almost the owner of an iTouch!

Man-child is not disappointed to not have to share his iPhone and games any more either!

So right now the boy folk are out purchasing an iTouch and discussing the apps and games he should load.  Girl-child and I are having a quiet day in.  She is snuggled on the couch, under a blanket not feeling too great apparently hay-fever has hit her for the first time ever.  I am simply enjoying the peace and almost quiet for a change.

* Gems are an additional bribery tool we use around here.  Random acts of kindness can be rewarded with gems that can be later traded for 10 cents however it also acts as a swear jar of sorts and bad language and inappropriate behaviour can cost gems.  It works a treat, you don’t have to be consistent or anything, the randomness of a bonus gem or 3 can be a great motivator.

Happy to be 6 or Weekly Winners #5 (a few days late)

I think that girl-child is happy to be 6!

Waking up as a 6 year old.

She was so excited to finally be 6, she couldn’t stop smiling.

Reading a Birthday Card

Instead of ripping through the presents she stopped to read a card.

ooooh, Shiny!

I bet I know what this is – I bet it is a new charm for my bracelet, yay.

Hooray!

Looking at the photos, girl-child had a great birthday playing with her friends all afternoon in the park, enjoying the sunshine.

When I tucked her in to bed tonight I asked her if she liked being 6.  I expected that she would gush about how much fun it is but instead she became quite introspective, paused for a second and then said she didn’t want to be 6.  She went on to explain that she couldn’t be everywhere when she is 6 and it isn’t fair that she has to share herself, she wants to be 0, 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 all at the same time.  Her reasoning was that if she could be all those different ages she could share herself with more people, that she could play with all her friends at the one time and everyone would have much more fun.

Happy birthday my beautiful Boo, I can’t believe that you are 6 already.  I love you, thanks for being so much fun.

Weekly Winners #3

Well this has certainly been one of the craziest weeks I have ever lived through.  Not since the days of living in the sleep deprived world of a new parent have I had so little sleep, but for so many different reasons.  First there is the general insanity of school holidays to keep a person awake, then there was the puke bug that set up temporary residence here.

Next there was this wonderful distraction.

Barely 14 Hours Old

Closely followed by remembering and celebrating this wonderful day.

Going to the 'Chapel of Love'

And then partying in style!

The Fanciest Dress

It has been an amazing, eventful and exhausting week full of events that deserve a post all of their own.  For now the few photos will have to do, sleep is calling.

News Just In

Welcome Billy, born at 2.01am on 30 September 2009

Beautiful Billy

Congratulations Lil Sis, awesome effort!

Awesomely Awesomeness

It has been a while since I have loitered in these parts and normally the reason for my hibernation is that I feel like the whole world is going to implode, either that or my head is going to explode and I feel like crap and am sick of complaining all the time.  Well today things are different.  I have been away because I have been busy, insanely busy, but I am happy.

It is the middle of the afternoon on Father’s Day.  The house is momentarily quiet, boy-child has wandered over to a friend’s house to watch a movie and man-child has taken girl-child to visit a friend during half time of the football.  Of course all that peace and quiet will shatter in minutes when man-child returns to watch the rest of the football.  The awesomely awesomeness of the week may will change depending on the score of the football.  Currently his team, Collingwood is 10 points down but by the sounds of the sporadic cheering and shouting it sounds like it is a great match.  Of course that is half time down according to the TV and delayed telecast when in actual fact his team is currently 4 goals behind (24 point) at three quarter time.  I am making the most of my good mood by posting now rather than this evening when I am listening to his melancholy mopy moodiness.

So I hear you say, what has made me be in such a good mood?  Surely it can’t be work?  Well as strange as it sounds, I have been working insane hours and haven’t even had time to follow blogs.  Instead of working my typical 6 hour days and then going home to the kids I have had a few 12 hour days.  Sure they aren’t typical days, they have included dinner functions.

One of the dinner functions I was fortunate enough to be invited to a Ramadan celebration.  Now I am not a religious person at all, in fact I am quite oblivious to religion and what it involves but I do appreciate the sense of community and belonging that it can foster.  I admit that I was apprehensive before going to the dinner, so apprehensive in fact that I drove 30 minutes in the opposite direction to be able to travel to the dinner with colleagues!  I needn’t have worried, the other dinner guests (there were a few hundred more of them) were all wonderful and welcoming.  There were many different presentations throughout the night, as well as time for the practicing Muslims in the group to pray at the appropriate times.  I have to say that not only was the food amazing, but the evening was educational too.  I managed to learn more about the Muslim religion and culture in one evening than I have learnt in many years.  I was also pleasantly surprised that instead of being annoyed at my ignorance, the people I was sharing a table with were happy to explain elements of their belief to me and even to point out similarities between the religions of Islam and Christianity.  I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening and it has left me wanting to learn more about religions and the communities that they foster as a result.

The second after hours work function was at an award ceremony, celebrating volunteers within the community.  My boss had encouraged me to nominate a volunteer that I have worked with this past year.  Another cross-sectorial colleague nominated the wife of the person I nominated.  Together we were very apprehensive, the nominees are selfless volunteers within the community and feel that they have already been recognised for all of their tireless work through the smiles and thanks of the people whom they constantly assist, that they really didn’t want or need to be recognised publicly.  That said, together they did win an award celebrating their excellent work within the community.  In their thank you speech, they were very humble and grateful for the award and recognition but again emphasised that they has already been recognised for their work by their friends in need.  It amazed me at just how selfless a family can be, I wish there were more families like theirs in fact I wish I wish I could be more like them.  Hopefully some of their beauty can rub off on me and I will also become a better person.

Speaking about families, have I mentioned that my family is ace?  Yesterday was a nothing day.  I say a nothing day because we had nothing planned but much to do.  Nothing exciting, grocery shopping and shoe shopping that involved a detour to a local park, watching the kids (all three of them) running wild and burning off excess energy and for me a chance to lie in the sunshine again.  It was relaxing and enjoyable, surprisingly it was even productive.

That brings me to today, Father’s Day.  It has become a tradition of sorts to catch up with friends for brunch.  We used to spend many a day together relaxing at the beach, playing in parks or exploring museums but with moves to different suburbs, additional children and now kids at school every day, the time to catch up is few and far between.  We made the effort today, well actually they made the effort to come over and eat at one of our local cafes.  Again the food was delicious, the company was great and the following walk along the river was enjoyable.  The kids spent the afternoon splashing about in the hot tub until the football began.

Man-child is the only one of us interested in the teams playing today. Actually he is the only one interested in the footy so everyone else drifted away, younger kids to have a sleep and older kids to play with other friends.  Me, I get an hour or two to catch up, get dinner ready and just enjoy the afternoon.

The football is about to end (in real life) and the scores aren’t in man-child’s favour.  We have friends coming over for an impromptu dinner so the mopiness will be improved by the great company.  It should be the perfect way to finish a great week.

In other news of awesomely awesomeness, friends have just travelled to the Philippines to complete their family.  After many many years of waiting their family of three is now a family of four as they brought home a beautiful little 2 year old boy to share their hearts, their home and their lives.  I am so happy for them that each time I think of them or see photos of them I am so overcome by happiness and love that my eyes well up and my chest feels like it is going to explode, I am over the moon happy for them.

Yesterday, a great day

Yesterday was awesome.  I only worked for half a day yesterday as I had much better things to do – I had a school concert to attend and friends to spend time with.

Yesterday was the big day, the day of the whole school performance.  Naturally being a ‘whole school performance’ both kids were involved.  I had organised to go to the evening performance and man-child was going to the afternoon performance before finding out that friends from Tokyo were in town and only free last night to catch up.  That was all the encouragement I required to take the afternoon off work to go to the matinee performance.  One of our Japanese friends didn’t want to miss out on seeing the kids, so he asked to come along to the performance also.

I have to admit that if I were in another country for only a few days, going to a primary school performance would be the last thing that I would want to do, especially if said performance was in a language that I barely understood yet there he was, grinning from ear to ear during the entire show.  Yoshi clapped more vigorously than any other person in the audience and he took more photos than the proudest parents in the room.  He had a fantastic time.

The show itself was great (for a school concert).  I have to admit that I didn’t see it all, it was so hot in the hall that I had a coughing fit and had to go outside to recover.  I did see both performances that my guys were in and no doubt I will end up buying a copy of the dvd to sit on the shelf, unwatched.  The important part is that I was there and I cheered along with the rest of the crowd, even taking happy snaps that are practically impossible to see.  Instead look at girl-child the puppy, boy-child wasn’t interested in sitting still for long enough to have a photo taken.

The Puppy (& narrator)

After the performance and the surprise of having Yoshi in the audience, we all went out to grab a coffee and wait for a second surprise, more visitors.  My parents had driven to Melbourne to surprise the kids.  I really wish I had my camera out when my parents and Lil Sis walked in to the cafe.  The look on boy-child’s face was beautiful.

The afternoon was fantastic.  I never realised until then that my mum and probably my dad also, has never actually met a Japanese person before.  It isn’t because they are racist but because the area in which they live, the area in which I grew up is very caucasian.  When I was a kid the extent of racial diversity in town was a lone filipino woman and her caucasian husband who lived in town for a few brief years.  When I went to larger secondary school there was a little more diversity, but not much.  It still amazes me that I now live in an community that has more ethnic diversity than the entire town and schools that I attended!  What was more amazing and also amusing was seeing Yoshi and my dad happily chatting away, again not because it was a shocking situation but because my dad is partially deaf and whilst Yoshi speaks English really well, dad struggles with accents!  Cultural diversity aside, it was a great afternoon.  The kids didn’t know who to spend their time with, their grand parents, Lil Sis or Yoshi so they spent their time running from one to another.

After we dropped the kids off at the venue for the second concert performance with my parents and sister, I headed out to dinner with my best friends and Yoshi, his beautiful wife and daughter.  It was a great evening, reminiscing about my trip to Japan, my friend’s times in Japan and more importantly planning new adventures with another trip to Japan next year.  My visit to Japan was sans kids.  I know that they would have had a fantastic time in Tokyo and are really looking forward to visiting there.

My favourite photo of the day, girl-child and Yoshi, hand in hand walking along the road together.

Great Friends

If only I had the camera out a second earlier when they were skipping along the road together.

Awards and Dinner Conversations

Sitting around the dinner table tonight chatting with the kids and catching up on the days activities, I remembered that the kids had convinced me to stay for assembly at school that morning and for once I was glad I did – boy-child won an award.  I didn’t have my camera with me but managed to get a photo with my phone.  Of course when the presentations are taking place at the front of the hall and I am sitting right at the back, this is the type of picture you get.

Boy-child wins an award!

Of course I knew the picture was going to be way below ordinary so when the assembly was over I quickly ran around to the exit to do the overbearing mum thing congratulate him and of course take another photo.  Now one would think that standing outside with very few distractions I would be able to get a decent photo of him AND his award.  Unfortunately, not with my photography skills.  I managed to get a blurry photo of him, I just couldn’t seem to get one of him with the award.

Enough with the photos!

Now looking at the photo you could almost imagine him saying ‘Mum, you are embarrassing me!’  In actual fact he was impatiently waiting for me to hurry up and take the photo so he could give me a cuddle kiss before running off to class!  I love my boy, and I hope he is always happy to give me a cuddle kiss in public.

Now back to the story…

When he was prompted about his award, boy-child quickly ran to his bag to get it out and show us.  His award was for ‘confidently taking on different roles in our performance’.  Naturally the conversation then drifted to the upcoming whole school performance next week.  Girl-child has happily chatted about her role in the concert for weeks, she is playing the dog in the story of the Gingerbread Man.  In fact it has led to tears on many an occasion when she has wanted to help with costume production instead of sleeping.  (Actually I should be finishing costumes now.)

Boy-child finally disclosed what his roles in the performance were going to be.  The story they are re-enacting is the Leaf, a book by one of my favourite authors but I haven’t had a chance to pick up a this book yet.  Aparently boy-child has a few parts in the performance, one of which is as a fly-catcher.  Now I assume that the book is about plant life, but I wasn’t quite sure so I asked if he was a person who catches flies or if he was a plant.  Instead of taking the easy option and saying he was a plant, he went on to describe the plant.  ’You know I am that plant that looks like pacman and it chomps on flies not ghosts!’  Clearly a sign that boy-child has been playing with my iphone again, but I think he may have something…

Almost Awesome

I had planned on posting last night.  I wasn’t planning on much but I thought the awesomeness of the day needed to be mentioned.  Dare I say it but work rocked.  The day I had planned was off-site and going to be frantically busy but by some miraculous alignment of the planets everything fell into place and was better, much better than I could have anticipated.

After picking up the kids from school I realised that I had a few things to do in the office so we all jumped in the car.  Now generally the kids don’t really enjoy being dragged along to work with me but they hadn’t seen my new office so were interested to come along.  When I arrived a colleague had the same idea, she needed to tie up a few loose ends so she dragged her kids into the office also.  Amazingly all 4 kids played together the entire time we were in the office and there were no ‘can we go yet?’ comments at all.  In fact they were all mildly disappointed when we declared it was home time.

We walked outside and all of the kids ran off together.  We looked up just to see them walking into the local library.  We were mildly concerned that they would just go into the library, or any unfamiliar building, without us but soon discovered that they were lured  inside by the balloon giveaway they were having.  Each kid left the library not with books but with helium balloons, 3 each.

Finally we made it home with just enough time to get dinner ready.  Normally a rushed dinner isn’t very appreciated but both kids went back for more, in fact they both ate more dinner than I did and it was healthy – bonus!  There were no arguments when I declared that it was real bath time as opposed to time for a hot tub and book selection was a breeze.  The kids settled on reading a chapter book that has been sitting on the shelf, unread for some time.  The book Fast Food and No Play Makes Jack a Fat Boy is a look at the eating and exercise of our children.  The book probably isn’t aimed at kidsbut the way it is written allowed us to actually read a chapter, discuss what Jack was doing tha might be unhealth and what he could do that would be more healthy and then looked at the actions listed to assist Jack become healthier.  Now not only did the kids get the subtleties of the branding in the book, they understood why the fast food and sedentary lifestyle made Jack overweight and unhealthy.  Not only was that impressive but we already do most of the actions listed.  Yay us!

When it was time for  bed I was thinking that the day had gone far too well, that it was time something went wrong.  Fortunately I was wrong, the kids bombed out pretty quickly.  I had grand plans to go for a nanna nap but was sidetracked attempting to clean my study again/still.  Even wading through mess wasn’t enough to dampen my mood – my day was awesome.

That brings me to today.  There is no way the planets could stay aligned for me (or anyone else) to experience two awesome days.  Again I was wrong.  I had an early start to go to a training course.  Now the last time I had to catch a train in to the city during peak hour I stood on the platform and watched 3 trains pass by, too full to fit another passenger on without a few dozen Japanese train boarding assistants.  Last time, after an hour of waiting for a train I gave up and cancelled my training day.  Today the first train that arrived had enough room for me to board.  It may not have been comfortable but it wasn’t quite like a sardine tin.

I arrived at the training centre extra early and had time to do a little work before the day began.  The course itself was actually really interesting, well presented and most importantly it ‘cut to the chase’.  We didn’t waste time learning about irrelevancies we focused on what we actually needed to know and would use – a totally foreign concept for many of the training courses I have attended.  Since the presentations were so concise I was actually able to get back in to the office to finish of a few final reports enabling me to take tomorrow off – hooray!

The after school madness included dancing for both kids, girl-child has finally decided that she wants to dance again.  She joined a great class at the same school that boy-child attends and their class times are only 15 minutes apart in start and finish time.  Just to make the afternoon even more surprising was meeting some of the other parents, shock horror but they were actually nice, normal even.  I was almost in a state of shock.  It is great to be at a dance school that keeps both kids happy but when the parents are user friendly and not catty it is a bonus.

That brings me to the evening.  Man-child was home in time to bbq some meat for us for dinner so I quickly whipped up a salad to go with it and again the kids ate all their dinner and asked for more.  We continued to read the same chapter book and again I was pleased to see that we already do most of the recommended actions.  Bed time arrived and the kids jumped into bed with no hassles and didn’t complain when I turned off the main light.

Although they were later to bed than usual because of dance, they were still settled by 7.45pm giving me time to get ready for netball.  Still thinking that everything was going to well, I am time for something controversial we played netball and won.  Again I don’t know how our team is competitive but I wasn’t complaining it is actually nice to win for a change!

I returned home from the game, suitably hot and sweaty to a lovely quiet house with a bottle of chilled bubbles waiting,  knowing that my favourite TV show Rush was available for streaming.  I settled in for a long relaxing evening.

So how is that for an awesome couple of days?  I am still in disbelief that I could have such a good few day at work and at home, to be followed up with a day off to catch up with Lil Sis and then it is the weekend and dinner out with friends.  Totally freaking awesome.  The only thing that has marred this evening is boy-child waking complaining of a sore throat and aching knees.  Fortunately a quick cuddle and head pat seemed to soothe him and he drifted back off to sleep and I was able to get back to my awesome relaxing and enjoying.

Fingers crossed that the awesomeness will continue and also that you have some awesome in your lives too.  Good night.

I’m a Winner

Hooray, I’m a winner (for the second time ever).  I want to skip around and dance to celebrate.

Back in 1998 at the school fete I entered a raffle and for the first time in my life I won something.  Of course with my winning came the fear of having to catch the school bus home with my winnings and then to explain that the guinea pig I had in my school box was really mine!  Fortunately Squeaky the guinea pig was welcomed into our family with very little trepidation or anxiety.  He lived happily in our yard for many years keeping the grass neatly trimmed.  

Until today Squeaky was the only thing I have ever won.  Today when I eventually had time to open my non-work emails I was pleasantly surprised to find an email from Robyn at the Craftivist letting me know that I had won a competition she was hosting.  I am now to be the proud owner of a book that sounds amazing – Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist.  Now I must be honest, I had not heard of Shauna before but after reading Robyn’s review of the book and how it renewed her faith in humanity I knew I wanted to read more so I entered the competition.  Actually I was really interested in the book and I entered the competition again over at Robyn’s other site, One Small Action.  Lucky me, I won.  

 

Cold Tangerines – image from the author’s blog

I can’t wait to read Cold Tangerines.  Once read I will even attempt to tell you about what I find but I can’t promise anything, I don’t actually do reviews but did I mention that I am really really really looking forward to reading Cold Tangerines.

—————–

And in other completely random news… I had to wake the kids for school this morning at 8.35.  They were dressed, fed and cleaned in 12 minutes – a new personal best.  I then ran around frantically for a further 3 minutes trying to find the car keys.  Finally I found them and we jumped into the car and were on our way.  The kids were walking through the school gates as the bell rang – perfect timing and a sleep in for the kids.  

Back Again and Feeling Refreshed

So I have been away for a while now with lots to update but I will leave that for another time.  Instead I will tell you the story of a great day – TODAY.

The day starts off not unlike any other; the sounds of the kids playing filter up the stairs before the sun has risen.  A quick shout down the stairs from the comfort of my toasty warm bed reminds them that it isn’t wake up time until 7am.  Surprisingly they both retreat back to their own rooms and quietness engulfs the house again.  The geriatric cat had climbed off my head as I shouted and I had the ability to roll over and go back to sleep for an extra sleep cycle without the noise of her incessant washing.  I wandered downstairs much later to find the kids dressed ready for school having already eaten their breakfast.  (Did I mention my kids rock?)  With only a little prompting teeth were brushed and readers were read.  Soon lunches were packed and we were all ready to go out into the world for the day.

The walk to school was meandering, entertaining and involved much discussion about whether a mummy or a zombie would live in an empty cardboard box and what would be the best halloween costume; a zombie or a pokemon?  (Pokemon won the vote 2:0)  

Finally we made it to school as the music began to signify it was almost time for the school day to begin.  Girl-child, anxious to get into her class line before the bell rang, ran off.  She tripped over on the asphalt and grazed both her hands and also her knee and elbow.  Before I even had a chance to run to her, her buddy ran to her, helped her up and gave her a hug.  There were a few tears but she still made it into her class line with no further mishaps and was happy to start the day.

I left both kids happy at school (no mean feat in itself) and wandered over to catch up with a friend T who had arrived from NZ last night.  This is the same friend who when she found out just how craptastic the start to the year had been for me, booked me in for an aromatherapy facial in the city.  Well today was the day.

Our appointments weren’t until noon so we started off the day by wandering down to Racecourse Road to get not just a hot chocolate, but one of the best hot chocolates ever.  With our steaming chocolates in hand we set off on a stroll towards the city.  We stopped on the way to have a look at a shoe factory outlet.  I found a new pair of slippers that I hope to go back and buy when I don’t have to carry them around all day.  My friend found a gorgeous pair of ballet slippers that she can wear here and still be able to pack to take back with her as they are so tiny and lightweight.  We continued wandering into town, chatting easily and enjoying the beautiful sunshine and blue skies of a not so cold winters day.  

We arrived in the city in plenty of time so made a detour to get a delicious juice to keep us energised.  Finally it was noon, the time of bliss was upon us.  

For an hour an a half, my face and neck were scrubbed, cleansed, exfoliated, masked and massaged.  It didn’t stop there.  As the masks were doing their maskey goodness my arms and legs were massaged.  It was a blissful time that passed far too quickly.  We both could have stayed there all day, relaxing and enjoying the pampering but all of that walking followed by all of that relaxing was exhausting and we were both famished so it was time for some lunch.

We wandered through Melbourne Central and over to GPO to get some udon noodles.  My time in the city was rapidly coming to an end, I had to head back to collect the kids from school and T had some more time to reacquaint herself with the city she once called home.

Fortunately I had no public transport dramas today and was back at school minutes before the bell sounded for the end of the day.  Boy-child had arranged to go to a friends house so it was just the girls heading home to get ready for soccer.  

Girl-child wasn’t terribly pleased about the prospect of having to go to soccer training (she doesn’t actually play) but was appeased when she saw treats in the snack bag I had packed.  We arrived at soccer and set up.  We were on time but almost everyone else was late.  That didn’t matter, the sun was shining and it was great to be outside.  When the other players turned up, girl-child was happy to have someone to share her picnic with, someone who also had no intentions of playing soccer.  

It was our final soccer session for the winter and we played until it was too dark to see each other or the ball.  We made plans to start training again when the days are longer and we can stay out later and headed home.  

Boy-child had had a great time at his friends house and made further plans for an upcoming sleep over.  I am just happy that he is fitting in better at school and making friends again.  

Dinner was uneventful and since no-one had immediate plans we decided to have a soak in the hot tub.  Man-child was waiting for a delivery so I jumped in with the kids.  We soaked away for ages playing ‘pass the story’ and invented a story about John the king of the Britains, his dog Boris, cat Scruffy Licia and emu Mr Pickles and all of their adventures.  When story time in the tub was over, the kids climbed out of the water and into their jammies.  I had no such luxury, I had to put sports gear back on ready for netball.

Despite the lack of motivation to go out to play sport at 8.45pm, we had a great game.  It was competitive, hard fought, aggressive without being angry and surprisingly a lot of fun.  To top things off we actually won.  

That pretty much brings me up to now, it is almost time for bed.  I am feeling good.  I have actually had time to catch up reading a few more blogs that I have been missing as well as catching up superRelish.  The house is kind of tidy, I don’t have to work tomorrow and I have plans to sit around all evening with friends watching So You Think You Can Dance.  One great day blending into another.  I am really starting to love this life!