Boys stuff

Sam is now singing along to songs, he sings the last word in songs such as peekaboo, pop goes the weasel, and the Thomas theme song.  He can point to different parts of his body and when asked what is in his belly, he points to it and says \’pup\’.  He jumps really well with 2 feet and loves skipping around the house with his brother. He calls cows Moo and can make sounds like a pig.  He loves it if he can make people laugh, enjoys acting the clown especially for his big brother.

Aiden is enjoying preschool, was a bit worried today about another boy there but didn\’t want to talk about it, I think it was that the boy said Aiden wasn\’t his friend, but on arrival he was quite happily talking to the boy.  Aiden rode his bike all the way and back from tennis last night, over a km in distance, he loves riding everywhere.  Got to have some nice cuddles with him yesterday which doesn\’t happen often enough, he was happy watching cartoons with his Mum.  He likes to read numbers when we are out and about and is trying to learn some words in his favourite stories.

No rain but sun

Having some lovely weather if you like it dry and warm.  Busy last week with fire brigades, kids stuff (ABA and playgroup) and Jases work keeping us rolling right along.  I had the pleasure of being able to go firefighting again last Wed night and all day Thurs last week, got to crew lead the truck with help from Steve who was driving (he has lots of experience, can learn lots from him).  Really enjoyed time out doing something physical and getting dirty.  Then Fri last week we hosted the ABA meeting which was fun but full on, had about 24 kids in and around the house, Aiden loved having his friends here. 

Sat we went to the show, tried to get Sam on his first horse, he sat there for about a minute then cried to get off.  Aiden had a go and was happy as long as I was right next to him.  Aiden had fun on the rides with his mates Luka and Nat.  Went to the RSL for a photo with other guys from the RFS for the paper.  The RSL donated a grand to the fire brigade.  Sun we went to the fire shed and did some paperwork and Jase cleaned out the foam we had put into the tanker.  The boys had fun in the rocks and dirt.  Met up with the president there who was in the doghouse so had to get out for a while. 

Mon went to playgroup and the gym, Tues gym and putting up posters for ABA BEC class coming up.  Yesterday planned a nice day at home but Sam started pooing blood in mucous so took him to the hospital then the doctors who took a sample for pathology, he seems fine now.  Went to playgroup again today, Sam and Leam had a ball, Leam spent most of his time on a bike when he wasn’t busy eating.  Sam had fun in the sandpit, still getting used to the idea that you don’t eat the sand.  Playgroup was really nice and relaxed today, the kids all had fun. 

Jase had a meeting at work this week where the boss had to inform everyone that they have to reapply for their jobs as they have had a decrease in govt funding and some position may be lost, not sure yet, don’t know when it will all start to happen, just that contracts will run out in June.  The bosses have been good about it, and are trying to keep as many in work as possible. We are not too worried about it, I’m sure something will work out OK.

Back from the inferno

Jase made it back last Sat but returned to Vic on Thurs, flew back home yesterday. Very happy to have him back, boys have been sick with a high temp but no other symptoms, stayed home for the last 4 days, Teanna baby-sat them Fri night so I could go to the ABA trivia night. Had a great time out. Exhausted Sat all day, recovered Sun. Am needing to get the camping trip to Killalea organised. Sam is trying hard to pedal Aidens bike but his feet don’t quite reach the pedals properly. He loves saying knock knock, whos there, Daddy, Daddy who. He did a somersault on a mat on the weekend and is singing along to hey diddle diddle and pop goes the weasel. Going to the Mudgee show on Sat, got an ABA meeting here on Fri. Still loving the gym and netball.

Algae invasion…

The fish have been over-run by a bloom consuming about a quarter of their tank, had to turn the filter off as it was making a funny sound the other night, good job for Jase when he gets back.  Aiden had a great time at preschool again, he’s quite happy there with his friends.  He demanded to sit next to Nat at morning tea and squeezed in between her and another kid at the table.  Bibi is over her broodiness so Henny is now allowed back on the nest  Looking forward to Jase getting back, being a single mother is constant job with little rest times.  Plans for the trivia night are coming along well, looks like we have quite a lot of prizes and there are already 6 tables booked.  We have at this stage a babysitter for the night, Teanna has said she is available so Jase and I can both go. Need to do some cleaning up while Sam is asleep.

Quiet day

Staying home after 7 days of going out somewhere, need time for a rest and for the boys to be silly at home for a change.  Awful news that a firefighter from ACT died after a tree fell on him whilst he was on the back of a truck.  Jase has said that the trees were the biggest risk over the last few days while he has been helping out in Vic.  Warned Rell about this the other day as she looks to go there soon.  Wemt out canvassing for goods for the ABA trivia night, getting some goods in which is great.  grass in the yard is green again after 5 consecutive days of rain.  Jase is on his way to Hoppers, he’ll be home Sat.  Been teaching Aiden more about the body out of the anatomy colouring book, he loves to know what is going on inside of him, he loves learning about the joint, bones and lungs and heart, moving the bones and feeling himself breathe via the movement of his chest.  He practices different movements e.g. walks around high stepping demonstrating how the legs move when riding a bike.  Sam is trying to ride Aidens bike, he can climb on but his feet don’t quite reach the pedals.

Cold and wet

We have been having some cooler temps with 5 days of rain on and off, had to go out and buy the boys some jumpers as they had grown out of most of last seasons ones. 

Jase is in Victoria helping with the firefighting efforts, he has been working around Rubicon just south of Eildon since Sat, due to finish up tomorrow.  He is planning on visiting Nicole, Graham and Anne afterwards then flying back to Sydney a few days later.  Anne and Nicole went up to Hazeldene yesterday to look at the house, it has been destroyed by the fire.  Anne was so lucky to get out alive, they only went to town to check with the CFA as to what was happening because the power went out, CFA said to get out so they chucked a few things in the car and went to Flowerdale hall, another CFA guy saw them there and told them to get out of Flowerdale and go to Yea by following him, they had fire surrounding them as they were driving up the road.  They later found out that Flowerdale had burnt as well as Hazeldene. 

Anne and Nicole managed to salvage a couple of Anne ceramics that she has made a few years ago and a dinner set which was in a box in a shed, it was the only thing left I think.  Nicole said it was awful travelling through the affected areas, with the smoke around looking eerie.  The Gillespies have put a deposit on an RV.  Annes going to stay with Nicole and Graham.  Narelle is possibly going to Beechworth to help the DSE guys with the fire there tomorrow.

Aiden has been having a couple of nightmares this week, last couple of days he has been making up stories about monsters, his monster is liney and my monster is pinney, they get a train each when the track is set up, Liney’s favourite train is Percy and Pinney’s favourite is Dennis.  Yesterday Aiden said that they liked to sing and that their favourite song is rub a dub dub three men in a tub. We had to wait until they started to sing it, Aiden had set up the nursery rhyme book on the floor for them to read from in the kitchen, when they started to sing Aiden joined in of course. He’s not scared of the monsters, he seems to like them and they are happy monsters.  In the nightmares he sees pictures on the wall in his room.  I told him he can’t have nightmares if he goes to sleep laughing so that seems to help, not being too hot in bed also seems to help.  Also told him that the nightmares always go away when you go back to sleep.  Sam is learning new words every day now, he can say mine (very important), Bibi (his chook), car, more, poo (loves looking for it in the yard), daddy, mummy, hat, over there (when he wants to go somewhere he points and shouts this out), up, nods his head for yes to everything, bath, duck, and loves seeing planes. He’s over 14 kg and is 90 cm tall, going to be big later on.

Mum will probably be home this week from her visit to NZ.

Worst bushfires in Victoria/ Australia

Today Victoria has been devastated by worst ever bushfires in Aust history, more than 76 dead and more than 750 homes burnt.  Jase’s Mum is at the moment safe in the town of Yea on the oval with her cats, car, some clothes and her nintendo.  Jase hasn’t been able to speak to her as her phone is near flat, no car charger and she is saving the battery to keep Nicole updated.  Nic has said to Jase that yesterday Anne, Fay, Grub, George and Jayden heard the neighbours go screaming past so they went to town (Flowerdale)  just north of where they live to see what was going on, they went to the hall where they evacuated to last time. A CFA volunteer saw them there and told them to go to Yea to the oval, apparently the hall later burnt down.  It sounds like Anne and Fay and Grubs houses may have burnt.  The fire burnt through their area from Kilmore in the north west through to Kinglake where 95% of the houses in that town have burnt. We won’t kn0w anything until who knows how long until people are able to get back into those areas around Kinglake and Whittlesea. We know Anne’s post box has burnt at the post office in Kinglake West. Naturally we can’t help thinking about Anne and how she is coping at the moment, hope to speak to her soon.  Hope to go down to help out if poss this week.

Wet arvo

Went to the pool for the arvo with a picnic for tea, beautiful in the water.  Aiden is swimming so well on the noodle now and happily climbs into and out of the pool with supervision from the side.  He is starting to swim under the water since watching his mates Emily and Josh doing it at Narrabeen last weekend.  Sam is now happy about going in the pool, the start of the week he didn’t really want to get his feet wet, now he stands on the side of the pool and jumps towards me to get in.  He is ok with being pulled through the water and will sometimes put his mouth in without choking.

Sam fell asleep on the way home in the car, Aiden and I ate chocolate icecream then read his new favourite book, my old anatomy colouring book looking at bones, joints and tuberosities.  He had his Mum wiggling her bum to show movement of the pelvis after he first demonstrated himself how it is done, much to his mothers enjoyment.

catching up again

has been a while, but must give an update so can get this happening regularly again.  the boys are both out today, Aidens first day at preschool, Sam is with Annette, we have a swap care arrangement which has started today.  On alternate thursdays we will swap boys for the day while Aiden and Natalie are at preschool.  Aiden is going 2 days a week.  Christmas was heaps of fun this year.  We went to Gran and Grandads til the 27th then down to Nagambie lakes to visit Jases family and Barney and Denise and Tyler.  Christmas day was great, Sam and Aiden had a ball, Aiden got the idea of Santa visiting and was very excited.  We recovered from gastro just in time to enjoy ourselves then Mum and Kev got it.  Nice relaxing in the stock trough on the verandah on boxing day.

Camped at Nagambie for 3 nights, beaut spot on the goulburn river, Nic, Graham and Nanny all had a ball camping, said they would go there again.  Nice to spend time there with them as well as Barney, Denise and Tyler.  Aiden and Tyler rode bikes, played games and kept each other awake at night pretending to go to sleep.  Lots of swimming and reading and ticket to ride as well as chasing boys.

Went back to Mum and Dads for new years, had a drink at Bribbaree pub then back to the farm for a barbie and more drinks, was struggling by this stage as had gone off wine due to gastro and only drinking beer.  Mum was in fine form and wanting to pester anyone that was available.

Home on the Fri for 2 weeks spent it getting odd jobs done.  Bought a new weber bbq, so much better than our old clapped out beast given as a wedding present.  Still learning how to use it, a bit complicated really.  Very flash model.  Organised ourselves to go down the coast to Killalea near shellharbour.  Visited Chris and Michelle, my old uni mates hadn’t seen for about 10 years.  They have a cute blonde boy named Lachlan and are happily living in a really nice house in Windsor.  Great to catch up on their news. 

Spent 4 nights at Killalea, could have stayed longer.  Went swimming every day.  Aiden and Sam made friends with other kids there and had a ball riding their bikes around the paths.  One older girl Kayla took Sam under her wing, he was star struck. Jase played golf one day and I took the boys on the trailer bike down to the farm beach.  Nearly pegging monos trying to ride up one of the hills, got off at one point and pushed it, may as well have been carrying it the hill was so steep.  Sam was a bit timid of the waves, happy enough to go into the river where the water was flat.  Aiden enjoyed the sea creatures and had great joy in moving them around with his bucket and watching them make trails in the sand.  Went snorkelling one day in bushrangers bay at bass point, lots of pretty fish etc.

Drove up to Narrabeen via Manly Dam, nice quiet spot behind Manly.  Camped at Narrabeen 4 night with Kerri, Ruby Andrew and Jasmine, Rell Rob Emily and Josh, Karlene and Jacqui.  Such a nice place to stay on the lake, right on the beach, had a swim, had a fish, had awalk, went to star wars exhibition at the powerhouse museum, lying around on the sand and lolling in the water.  Sam and Aiden again had a ball on the beach as well as playing in the caravan park. Sadly had to come home on Mon but still life doesn’t end, with the start of preschool etc.

Getting better now

All is well over the last couple of days, just a couple of nights with some asthma for me but nothing else.  Was sick with respiratory infections and allergies for the past 6 weeks approx.  The boys had infections as well, Jase has also had a cough/ cold and is seemingly a lot better than he was.  am back at the gym a coule of times this week.  Have put my name down for boot camp starting mid Oct.  Jase has put his name down for tennis and has been playing golf again.  He played in a charity golf day on Mon.  Had a ball, bought home 3 bottles of wine and got to hang out with guys from the local wineries etc. 

Went to busy bods playcentre yesterday with the boys, they really enjoyed themselves.  Sam climbed up to the top of a flight of stairs which are around 5 m high and climbed all over the equipment etc.  Had a go at the baby slide on his own and the big slide with his mum.  He is throwing balls all over the house now and playing t ball with toys sitting on mums knee, he is accurate with his hits, calling HA loud as he whacks things along.  At busy bods Aiden had fun riding in cars, throwing balls, pushing a forklift around trying to pick the toys up and going on the slides.  He is doing somersaults on the floor now without help and has been watching wiggles again having a dance etc.  He has some favourite shows on the TV namely playschool and rory the racing car.  He received an enrollement letter from preschool this week so will be enrolled in Nov to attend next year starting 29th Jan.  He will go 2 days a week.  We went to the preschool open day last week, Aiden fitted in well and involved himself with the activities and the games that were happening while we were there.  He will be going with most of his friends from playgroup.

Henny Penny has laid herself an egg for the first time this week.  She laid herself another one yesterday as well. Aiden was pleased to see that his chook is getting big now.  Showed Aiden a coconut and asked him what it might be.  He suggested that it was a fish as it goes glob glob when you shake it and it has eyes and a tail

Had some rain this last week, Mum and Dad had 24mm over night this week.  We will be going there tomorrow to give them a hand with lamb marking and tail docking. Aiden wants to take his cook book with him that Gran gave him so obviously has plans to do a bit of cooking while we are away.  Next weekend we will be going to Bungonia for the long weekend camping with Ruby, Laura, Kerri, Karlene and possibly Lucy and all of their families.  Rell and Rob will be away in NZ for the next 3 weeks.  Barney and Denise move into their new house in Bendigo today which is exiting for them to get out of the condemmed house they are currently living in.  Rell had a big dust storm at Balranald this week but on a brighter note has been given a pay rise through her award along with Jase, 12% over the next 4 years.  Sheril is having fun balancing all she has to do while looking after 2 kids, finding a balance can be tough.

Have been more involved with the ABA, am coordinating breastfeeding education classses which will start end of Nov.  Has been a very positive experience so far.  Have put my name down for navigation/ mapping training through the RFS in Queanbeyan over the second weekend in Nov. Can’t think of anything else going on apart from a mate fixed 2 lamps that needed new switches which I very much appreciate.