4 sleeps to go

Time is rushing now and I still have a too large list of things to do before we leave on our holiday. After finally sorting flight from Vietnam to Cambodia and back the travel company has told us of additional fees by the bank (???). I can't even be bothered to argue with them at this stage but at least we don't have to deal with that until we get there.
Unfortunately I will have to nag the airline we are flying with to get to Vietnam as I booked with one passport number (long story) and went to change it to my new passport but can't do this easily. Nightmares followed about watching my family fly off without me, hopefully this will be sorted today or things may get ugly.
We are having our family Christmas on Wednesday night as we will be wandering around Angkor Wat (tomb raider territory) on the actual day - haven't quite worked out how Santa will find us yet...

fishing

Last weekend Geoff took Henry and Meaghan across to visit his mum on the coast (yay, much needed quiet time). While they were there they went fishing. Henry loved it. To top it off he caught two fish - too small to keep but great to keep the interest up. Meaghan was not so keen but still was game enough to put bait on hooks and sit still for quite a while.
A couple of days later we were in the news agency and Henry was staring intently at a magazine (very near the adult magazines). I hurried over to make sure it was nothing inappropriate and sure enough it was a fishing magazine - he has his eye on a big fish now.

School visits

Henry and his friends are readying themselves for Kindy next year by a couple of visits to Curtin School. They were met by there yr4 buddies who showed them around the school, finishing with a play outside. I am not sure Henry is quite ready to think about it yet - he is a take one day at a time boy but he will enjoy school I think (hope!!).
Tomorrow they get to go to the canteen to spend 10c all by themselves as well as having a lesson with a kindy teacher. Should be fun - Henry is keen to wear his uniform "just like Meaghan's".

so cold...

About a month ago (am having a catchup week at the moment) Jodie and a friend had a stall at the Hall markets. I swear it seemed to be the coldest day in months with a nasty wind blowing everything away. Poor Jodie couldn't have got a worse spot for her stall, in the shade with no protection from the wind at all (resorting to a doona for warmth later in the day). Such a shame as her stuff is so lovely - Kingston markets need her I think. Hard to imagine being so cold now.

Book of the week

Just finished a great book by Barbara Kingsolver (who also wrote the Poisonwood Bible - another favourite) about being accountable for what you consume. Her and her family lived on a farm that was large enough to supply most of their needs but it isn't a preachy book (look how clever I am...) rather she gives plenty of ideas how to live a more sustainable life, get fruit and veges when in season, use meat that has come from a real farm not a feed lot and realise taste is as important as convenience.
I flicked through an American magazine the other day and the food ads amazed me - all pre-packaged, packed to the hilt with sugar (mmm, sugar) that just screamed tooth decay (cinnamon flavoured frosted struesal or Knorr cheddar rice with veges - very attractive). Australian junk food looks practically wholesome in comparison. The drug ads for kids are also something else.
I am an appalling housekeeper (as you are probably aware, esp if you talk to mum and dad for more than 2mins) so I aim to start small (farmers markets, weeding and replanting the vege patch, and convincing Henry that veges don't actually poison you, as he helpfully informed his teacher) and try to think about food quality more.
If I could only convince Geoff that a couple of chooks wouldn't be too much trouble...

Iron Chef Matt

Matt has a health assignment due this week in which the boys had to cook a healthy recipe. Matt and a couple of friends got together on Saturday night, went shopping and then videoed themselves cooking one recipe each. For starters one boy did laksa soup, then another did flambe chicken and Matt had dessert - apple tart. Unfortunately we couldn't be there for the testing but apparently all went well and there is only the editing to go. Matt made two pies (what a good boy!) and bought home his second pie. Very tasty and so good for boys to have the confidence know they can cook something decent. Looking forward to more experiments in the future, especially if they work out as well as this one.

Liz and Ros' birthday

Yet another enjoyable night out with the girls at delissios. Geoff reckons I go out more than he does but I have many years of staying behind to look after the kids (curse the lack of babysitters) while he went out so it is pay back time. Fiona couldn't make it but the rest were there. A double celebration as both Ros and Liz had their birthdays over the holidays. I found a little book to give to Ros (one of the most thoughtful people I have come across)- 'kids view of God' which was hilarious, thoughts along the lines of "God invented religion because he liked to hear about himself" and "Jesus was a real person not just a swear word" with little kid pictures to illustrate - love it.
Looking forward to the next night out (that's for you Katie).

Thomas show

Just before school went back, Henry and I went along to the Thomas stage show. We bought the glowing Thomas stick and with what seemed to be half the population of Canberra boys under the age of 6 (the other half I assume went to the earlier show) filed into the AIS arena - not much pink on show!
Although we had poor seats (curse internet booking) Henry was beside himself. Once the fat controller and his friends started appearing then Henry got right into it. He clapped and cheered and sang - had a ball. I found it hard to listen to Thomas and Percy as the actors who voiced them were - a) not Ringo Starr or his sound alike replacement and b) had spent too long doing pantos and had very effeminate voices, but the kids didn't seem to mind too much.
Luckily the top of the stadium was only partially filled, so we changed seats for the second half and had a much better view. It was worth the money just to watch Henry.

We are off

After years of saying we must go on holidays...anywhere, we have bitten the bullet (and hit the credit card!) and have booked flights overseas. We were looking at a safari (great time of year to go) but would have cost several small fortunes for the flights alone - one to look at when we are rid of a couple of kids I think. Then new Zealand was our next option but Geoff had been and the kids weren't that keen. So Asia called. We fly into Bangkok mid December, head across to Vietnam for a week or so then into Cambodia for another week. We then fly out Jan. 5 from Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) back home.
At the moment I am in the middle of an organisational flap (passports, tickets etc) and I have to get a full birth certificate. how I got through 40 years without one I don't know.
After I did an initial budget (love the internet) am starting to curse airlines and flight centre as advertised prices and reality are poles apart. Taxes and airport fees are carefully hidden until checkout time and will add a not insignificant amount to the end cost. Luckily accommodation and food seem to be ridiculously cheap over there and we can use rail and boats for some trips.
I think I will start to get excited when all transport has been booked and I can relax then. Until then I reserve the right to be a bit uptight.

sydney aquarium/wildlife world

While visiting Trace and Rob (and Emma of course) we made the journey from Penrith to Darling Harbour. Geoff had to stay home for work so I decided that the kids might like a train trip into the city. This has confirmed for me that I am a country girl. Too many people and such a long time to get anywhere. The aquarium was great, the wildlife place next door would be good if you were from overseas as it was all native animals. I loved the butterfly house, the boys liked the reptiles and Meaghan liked anything fluffy. The trip made me more comfortanble about taking the kids on longer trips as Henry was so interested in everything and Matt was never more than two steps away from him at all times. A great big brother.

Emma

We finally got to meet my niece Emma this week. She is a very placid baby and the kids just loved her. Meaghan did not want to put her down, which suited both of them. Henry decided it was his job to entertain her (holding Emma was not quite successful) and got lots of lovely smiles. Matt is quite at home holding babies and couldn't believe how light she was (compared to Henry who Matt had been carting around the day before. Tracey and Rob are great parents, very doting (hope they have a couple more hint, hint...).

40th birthday LO

Thanks for a great night out girls (we won't mention the hat again ok).
Rhonna Farrer from 2peas digital elements.

Gold Creek Aviary

This is Meaghan's favourite place at the moment, the walk in Aviary at Gold Creek. We took Shannon and Gala there on Monday, bought some food for the birds and the girls (and Henry) had a ball. The parrots love the meal worms and will seem to eat endless quantities. There were quite a few people there but the birds kept eating. Afterwards we headed into town for some shopping and lunch (these girls are preparing for the teen years very well!!) and then the rest of the day at home. A nice low stress way to celebrate Meaghan's birthday.

layouts

Last summer was inspired by kate mason (Blue Bazaar) with a Poppy ink kit (love those kits). The other two are form painted summer digital kits from shabby princess - a great place to start digital scrapping as they have a lot of large free kits.

retro

Loving retro things at the moment - esp 60's/70's fabric(although I recently saw in a display house wallpaper that was inspired by the 70's and it was hideous). I made a pillowcase from a kit available at addicted to fabric as well as these toys (that the kids love) from a new book called softies. The giraffe (that looks like an alien) is called unsa munsa and the monkey is named muncher cruncher both Henry's names.

Learning journey

On Wednesday the senior school had their learning journey where the parents are invited in to veiw the work that the classes have done in that term. This term was medieval history and so there were lots of great displays that all the kids had done. I loved the 'stained glass' windows the classes had up around the school, it was obvious the school loved this subject. School was never this much fun when I went through (although I love the thought that our teacher made us write with aproper ink pen for at least one term, must have driven our parents mad trying to get ink stains out of our school clothes as well as having perpetually blue hands). The senior kids are studying the body next term which will be an interesting time for all concerned.

Meaghan's 11th birthday

Yesterday my girl turned 11. As always she seems to have been that age for a while anyway as, if asked her age she always replies "I am nearly 11" or whatever the next age along is. she starts this a good few months after her birthday so we get many months of getting used to her 'new ' age.
Yesterday seemed to go over well, we gave her a mp3 player and an idog (see photo) that lights upas well as being a speaker for her mp3 player. It came with a little bag that now gets carried everywhere. Henry is most jealous. Meaghan is taking her friends to the aviary at Gold Creek on monday and then back here for a party. Should be fun.

Most improved

Matt's hockey presentation was on Monday night. Can't say I was greatly looking forward to it as I know very few of the hockey parents (and can never remember their names) but as I had paid for the food figured I should stay for a while. Got talking to the principals wife, Patsy, who is one of the genuinely nice people of this world. Anyway Matt ended up getting most improved medallion for the 15/1's team. They had a slow start to the year but were very competitive towards the end, Matt really enjoyed playing this year - hopefully he will like cricket as much over summer.

Bike riding

For my birthday Geoff wanted to get me something to help improve my fitness (and lose weight!) so we got a bike from the wonderful Onya Bike in Belconnen. Last weekend was a lovely spring day so I went for a ride on the southern side of the lake, from our place to the National Art Gallery and then back along the foreshore towards the GG's house. I saw several families of swans taking their new families for a wander - too cute as Meaghan would say. Yesterday I rode around the Western basin of the lake but got near the museum and realised I had left my helmet behind. First time I can remember doing that and of course as soon as I became aware I had the biggest stack. Went round a corner near some of the office buildings near the museum, hit the edge of the concrete path and the bike slide out form under me (all in slow motion of course) luckily there was no one around so the embarrassment was minimal. ended up with a very sore wrist, shoulder and hip. Very lucky.

A big day for the kids

It was a big day for all our kids today. Henry had was VIP at preschool yesterday and as such gets to do the mystery box today. He chose to put a Lego digger inside to get the class to guess the contents. It has replaced show and tell which Henry loved. Henry also heads off to the lovely Dr Kerrie this afternoon for an asthma check up.

Meaghan's school, Curtin Primary, had medieval fair day run by the year 5 and 6's. Many of the kids dressed up as did all the teachers. Meaghan, Gala and Tilly ran one of the drinks stalls, with other kids doing face painting, food stalls, puppet shows and many other assorted stalls. The Medieval feast will be held next week (on Meaghan's birthday).
Matthew arrives back from camp this afternoon. I suspect he will head straight to his room for a computing hit and then bed for the weekend. Hopefully he will give a more in depth report of his week away than "it was alright".

A cardboard box

Yet again the arrival of a cardboard box created hours of fun for the youngest member of our house hold. When I received my market basket (no interest for kids) in a largish box yesterday it was immediately commandeered by Henry to make into a train - thank you Playschool. With Matt's boot box as a caboose and paper plates for wheels and a number, a train was duly created. Have to love the potential of a plain box.
When Matt was little he had our old fridge box and lived in it. It was his place to hide when he was worried or scared. He has always loved small spaces and would love to visit those Japanese hotels that have pods to sleep in. It was a devastating day when the box was accidently destroyed.

Turning 40

On the 4th of September I turned 40. Time to step out of my comfort zone and start pushing myself to do things I would never have considered previously, like starting a blog. My friend Jodie had started hers a few months ago, and it seemed like a good idea if only for me to keep a record of my life. A very handy resource for my scrapbooking as well. it is a small start to my mid life acceptance. Life got very busy after my birthday and is only settling back into routine now. I will revisit some of my post birthday week later. In the meantime I shall endeavor to post some LO's I have created as well as photos and musings about my life (and hope that it is vaguely interesting).