Movie Night

We decided to take the boys to see "Hotel Transylvania" at the cinemas tonight. Gotta love cheap Tuesday.. And as the Hogs Breath Cafe is under the cinemas and kids eat free on Tuesdays, what better way to end the day! The Hogster even paid a visit but Connor was the only one game enough to get a photo lol.

It ended up being a rather educational night as we were sitting near a large group of Ugandan Orphans www.watoto.com, that are travelling round Australia were at Hogs Breath as well. This led to discussions on why/how they may have been orphaned, as well as a discussion on the similarity in their looks and how our ancestors, and heritage are what gives us our differences in skin tones and hair colour etc. Love the way my boys are always so thirsty for knowledge.

Have a good one!

 

First week of the Holidays...

Oh what a wet and miserable week the first week of the hols was... It rained constantly all week and was freezing cold.. 

Monday I thought I would start sorting the boys rooms out... best laid plans and all that.. I had a lovely sleep in and woke up to Declan telling me someone had thrown up in the bathroom.. yup.. not in the toilet but all over the wall etc at the other end! and strangely none of the boys remembered doing it.. So after the fun job of cleaning up the mess I decided bugger it and went back to lie in bed and read a book... it was holidays after all..lol... 10 Minutes later the boys came in to ask it they could play electronics.... After I said no Brodie climbed into bed and fell asleep... I think I know who was sick.. and I honestly don't think he remembered..  Anyways.. I put the book down to give him a cuddle and fell asleep too... lol.. so we had a very quiet day ... 

After discussing it at school I had booked the boys in to workshops run by the Queensland Association for Gifted and Talented Children Inc. (QAGTC) On Tuesday Declan did a 'Build a Bug' Workshop and Connor did 'Survivor: Outplay, Out-Think, and Out-Strategise' and then on Wednesday Declan did 'Bucketloads of Brainteasers' and Connor did 'Mind Challenging Puzzles and Games'. They Loved it ... had lots of fun and their leaders said they did very well. 

Meanwhile on Tuesday Brodes and I went to a Parent Information Session until about 11.30.. He was really good playing with the old iphone.. and then he got to go to Lollypops Playland with Liam, His best mate and partner in crime from Prep..lol.. Was quite nice chatting to Liam's Mum, Louise, while the kids ran amok..

then on Wednesday we had another Parent Information Session but this time I was unorganised and so to keep Brodes occupied I gave him my phone to play with. He was again very well behaved but when I got my phone back I found a dozen photos and about 8 videos..lol. 

Rat bag! lol.. 

I left the Sessions feeling very confused, excited, guilty and relieved..lol.. Up till now I thought had very smart boys... but apparently there is a name.. 'gifted'.. and yup that is their technical term.. How gifted I am still unsure but after those sessions I think I need to find out. It was amazing that a lot of the comments I have had from teachers have been heard by many other parents too. I certainly have never been the type to push my kids.. I just want them to do the best they can and be happy at the same time... but I think to achieve that I need to do some more investigating and chat to the school so that we can help Connor in particular from underachieving. and make his life a bit better at the same time. Will see what happens when I have a chat to the school.. Hopefully it will all work out ... 

On Thursday I got stuck in and sorted out Brodie's room while the boys had a quiet day at home.. took me all day, got rid of about 3 bags of rubbish but gee it looks so much better... Now I just need to replace the flooring, window treatments, yellow glass, repaint and decorate... lmao .. but hey .. the first step is finally done! 

Anyway I am exhausted so that will do for today... Hope you are all surviving the holidays! 

Love a good BBQ

Sunday was soo busy... ran around like a loony trying to get the rumpus room visitor friendly lol. Was a mess of boxes, toys and other junk.. Got my small Expedit put up so I could organise all the dvd's and games. We then had a wonderful afternoon with friends Andy, Row and little Ewan. Greg made yummy Lamb chops with Babganoush for nibbles, then the most beautiful Rib on the bone in the BBQ with salad and Mushroom Skewers.  All followed with a Fruit and cheese platter and a delicious White Chocolate Cheesecake... Yup the diet kinda went out the window for the day..lol.. but oh it was good... a few wines, good company... what more could you want on a Sunday Afternoon.

I got the recipe for the White Chocolate Cheesecake from a good friend of mine and thought I would share:

Easy to make and yummy!!! Hope you enjoy!

Saturday

Saturday, Connor's team had their first game on turf.. Against a team that had flooded them 8 nil last time they met. And I have to say I am soo proud of the boys. They lost 2 nil but gee they played a good game! Especially as turf is completely different to playing on grass! I got heaps of pics but on my proper cam so will have to upload some later!

And after a nice nap and some cleaning the madness in my house started.  lol..

A Photo a Day - June #24

Bent ~ My boy is bent! He pinched Daddy's Jersey to play with the taggy and when Greg wanted it back cause he wanted to wear it Brodes said no cause he was wearing it! I live in a madhouse I tell ya!

A Photo a Day - June #23

Bells and Whistles ~ Suncorp were very popular giving these out to kids at Beef week! Lol the sounds of Cow Bells ringing through Rocky! Mine is great for getting the boys attention when they downstairs.. And the neighbours too I imagine .. Lmao

A Photo a Day - June #21

Bargains ~ Got these baskets at Ikea.. $5 down from $13.. Love a bargain!! And getting slightly addicted to Ikea! 

A Photo a Day - June #20

Baked Goods.. ~ Haven't baked in a little while so thought I would put up a cake most wouldn't have seen yet.. Connor's 3rd Birthday in 2005.

A Photo a Day - June #18

 Baby its Cold Outside ~ My Murphy not silly he know where to stay when it's cold outside!

A Photo a Day - June #17

 Baby ~ Here is my baby holding the the Ted I bought him while I was pregnant which he dressed in baby clothes he got from the Arts & Crafts stall at the fete today.

A Photo a Day - June #16

Award ~ Greg was given this Bicentennial coin as an award for winning the 12 years & under Poddy Calf ride at the Wallumbilla Show in 1988.

A Photo a Day - June #15

 Autumn ~ The 'fairy Iris' in our front yard. It flowers in Early Autumn.

A Photo a Day - June #14

 Artificial ~ The only artificial sugar I find bearable in my tea or coffee. So miss the taste of real sugar!

A Photo a Day - June #13

 Architectural ~ Some of the many overpasses we see on the way to Hockey. Traffic and the roads something we've had to get used to in Brisbane.

A Photo a Day - June #12

Antique ~ Not quite antique.. But some 1931 encyclopaedias that I have. Unfortunately not a full set..

A Photo a Day - June #11

Angel or Devil... ~ These are my gorgeous grandparents... both Angels now.. But I had to live with them briefly when just as I hit my teens and honestly.. most of the time.. Nana thought I was a devil... and Grandad thought I was an Angel...lol.. Miss them both...

A Photo a Day - June #10

Aged ~ We have bought a bottle of red wine produced during the year our boys were born. Hopefully they will age nicely for their 18th!

Last week of School!

Oh nooooo .. there goes my sanity. Lol

A bit of a rough week this week.. These kids are going to send me grey!
Was lucky enough to get to go to the Dentist Tuesday morning and just got home and the doorbell rings.. It's our neighbour Bruce, with a bag of rubbish wondering if it looks familiar! Damn kids have been throwing the rubbish over the fence instead of in the wheelie bin! I was mortified. Luckily Bruce seems like a nice bloke, him and Greg watched the State of Origin together, and he wasn't too upset. But I sure as hell was! Tues night is bin night so I informed the boys that they would be cleaning every bin in the house Wed arvo as punishment.. They didn't like that idea!

We'd morning I got to go to Connor's classroom to see some of the work they have been doing. They had the cutest hat on as they have been learning about Captain Cook and he rushed around showing me everything. Was very proud of the marks and comments in his workbooks and his fabulous website on Rockhampton. Then I got to go shopping at Ikea with a girlfriend and hopefully can now get the boys rooms properly organised.

Connor came home sick on Thursday at lunchtime so I mainly got more washing and cleaning done.. Especially as Brodie hadn't been putting his uniforms in the wash so guess who wore a dirty uniform on Thursday! He'll learn one day!

Got the three report cards this week to. All as expected from our discussions with the teachers but Connor and Brodie both need to put more effort in to show their full potential! We've also been told Declan & Brodie both have fine motor issues. So we need to get Brodie assessed by an OT so I figure we might as well get Declan done too. I had always just thought they take after their father with their writing. Still can't read his!! Lol

I'm finally about 3/4 Of the way through Olivia's and Grants Wedding invites. Hopefully I'll get them over and done with very soon!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

School Fete

Last Sunday was an extremely busy day with the School Fete. I helped out with a few different stalls and the boys had performances which were very cute then they spent the day racing around like nuts. Declan went on the sizzling spinner or whatever it was called about 6 times and Connor had a ball with the Laser Skirmish. Brodie loved racing around on the Dodgems and all of them managed to spend all their money on games, toys and whatever else took their fancy. Lol by the time we got home I was exhausted and fell asleep on the chair!

Hockey..

Had a huge morning of hockey this morning.. Had the U7/U9 Carnival first thing this morning so Brodie and Declan's teams had their first games against other clubs. They played 3 half hour games each. Don't ask me who won but I'm fairly certain our teams didn't lol. But they had fun which was the main thing! And also got to play on a jumping castle and get posters and lollies from a couple of Hockeyroos! Somehow I managed to get volunteered as official team photographer so got plenty of pics but none on the camera. So will upload when I get to edit etc. Got my exercise because two teams played at a time so I had to get back and forwards to two fields..

After that Connor got to play two games. His team had a great game and tied 2 all against Bulimba. Got quite exciting and I had a little bit of a sore throat at the end lol. He then filled In for the U11/1 team. They too had a great game just getting beaten by 4 to 3. So by the time they all finished up we didn't get home till after 1.30 and I soo needed a Nanna Nap! Lol Greg and I are now gonna sit down and watch a movie if these boys will ever go to sleep!

This week...

What a week!! Tuesday I had Appointments.. So spent the day washing, folding, ironing And running around lol. Good news is I went to the dietician and I have officially lost Over 9kg and 19 cm from hip and waist! Yay me!! Must admit though starting to waiver a little with all the running around I've been doing so need to pull me head in and get stuck into it!

My turn on Canteen on Tuesday night so at least I got to stay out of the wind!! Prob is after I finished and went to the field they set off the sprinklers on the Tiger turf fields and the spray was freezing!!!!

Wednesday I had to take Murphy to the vet.. Poor little man been losing weight. Anyway, more blood tests needed cause the vet suspects he might have diabetes or hypothyroidism.. And his teeth and gums are a mess. So he's happy he gets raw chicken wings to eat!! Lol. Hopefully we get it all figured out and my boy be all good soon!

After that I got to go shopping with Tori at Carindale. It's silly how little we see each other now we living so close but that's busy lives I guess. Anyway I wasn't missing the chance to catch up
While she was on Hols so housework be damned, off I went! Lol had a lovely day.. Picked up some new towels for the kids, some early b'day presents as well cause National Geographic was on sale lol. Lots of chatting and relaxing and prob a few too many calories.. But oh well! We so need to do it again!!

Thursday Connor had his very first Inter-school Chess Tournament. As the regular organiser was on hols I've been helping organise the transport etc. so got to go and spend the day watching. The kids all did really well and I must say I was so impressed with their sportsmanship, attitude and behaviour on the day. Win or lose they all held their heads high, and just carried on! Connor did so well. Overall he was 24th out of the 66 kids that competed in C Grade. And that was kids of all primary school ages. Their records show he - Won 3, Tied 3 and Lost 1... But he believes he won 4, Tied 3.. So I'm going to get them to check it out. He was disappointed at the end because if he'd won 4 he'd have been eligible for a Ribbon. But he handled it well. And he realises just how good he did considering he only started this year!

After we got back to school we the had Teacher interviews with Connor's and Brodie's Teachers. Both have some improving to do.. Mainly with behaviour and effort. But overall not too bad. Unfortunately I don't think Connor is going to get the marks he's capable of but we will see next week when his report card comes home. Brodie has won his teacher over with his charm but he still has learning to do on not pushing the boundaries! Lol yup that's me boy! And they've picked up that he has fine motor issues.. So I need to get in touch with an OT.. Hopefully we will get him and Dec sorted on that front quickly!

Today I intended to get the housework caught up after I popped in and help set up the craft stall for the fete on Sunday. But I ended up at school all day helping.. So yup house still a mess.. Lol. Was good fun though and finally getting to meet some other mums. Brodie and Declan were impressed when I bought home some shorts someone had made incorrectly. No good for babies but great for teddies! Lol

Anyway I'm off to bed! It's nearly 1 am and we have Hockey from about 7.45 till 2 tomorrow!