What’s new? What’s news?
Firstly, living with my folks is going considerably well. We have been here since middle of Feb this year and we envisage another 3-4 months of saving before we get a pre-approved mortgage and seriously start looking. The good news is we know where our kids will be going to school… well 90% sure. Bimbadeen pre-school for 3 & 4 year old kinder followed by Bimbadeen Heights primary school. As it turns out our good friend Kristin who is currently studying to be a primary teacher has done some part time work there and hopes to work there fulltime when her studies finish. Kris says she is really impressed with the school and so am I. I’ve viewed the website, read the annual school report and all is positive. I visited the school today and got a good feeling from the vibes there. They have some good extra curriculum activities for children who show promise in leadership, arts, maths, literature, language and physical education.
VISION:
To instill in children a life long love of learning.
MISSION:
To provide each child with the opportunity to develop their full potential for intellectual, social and personal growth through the support of peers, teachers and community.
CORE VALUES:
Our core values reflect the belief that an effective school is one that embeds student safety and wellbeing throughout all school practices. The focus on developing positive, supportive relationships between all members of the school community is a key component in our teaching of these values
Check out their website.
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We’re looking at moving to the hillside of Mooroolbark. A very nice established neighborhood with good schools and services nearby. We’ll be looking at the older homes, around the 300k mark. What we’ll be really looking for is an investment property. An older home on a big block where the house is situated at the front of the land with a view to subdivide the land and sell the back block making a nice neat profit and paying of third of our mortgage. Possibly invest in this way twice, whilst staying in the same area so as not to disrupt the kids schooling. This way we can get ahead and not have such a large mortgage.
Thomas and Emily are really shining now. We’re incredibly proud of them. At story times (playgroup on Tuesdays and library on Wednesdays) they’re both sitting up the very front and answering questions and paying attention. Singing and dancing during dance time. Thomas is especially confident and is Rowanne’s (the librarian) little helper. He pushes the trolley for her and helps sets up. Thomas loves to dance, really loves to dance and if we go out in the evening to see a band he just loves it!! He is so serious too, such a little man. Emily is practising her ballet. She loves to show us her splits and is now practising her twirls on one foot. She also has a very special head run where she runs along twisting her head from side to side…. Uuumm she is quite the space cadet at times and we love her that way. She does the strangest things sometimes which are very funny and very strange. Hee hee
Thomas and Emily are much about the same height – well above the average 3 year old. Thomas is often mistaken for a 4 year old and Emily would be too if it wasn’t for her baby face. But yes they’re a head taller than the other kids.
They’re both enjoying creche. Every Monday from 12.30 to 4.pm. Gerry is great with them and they love her. Last week they were commenting on how polite Thomas and Emily are, and it’s true they are very polite children who behave very well out in public. Now I really am proud because I can easily forget having to chase Emily screaming and crying through Kmart only 3 weeks back with an amused but tear stained face Thomas sitting in the trolley. Yes now that I think about it there are quite a few spats still and it’s almost always when they can’t have something they want. Surprise, surprise.
I can’t believe that only a month or 2 ago I was nearly pulling my hair out because it was taking the kids 45 minutes to eat their breakfast on their own. I often gave in to spoon feeding them because we would never get out of the house in time; and now Emily finishes all by herself in under 10 minutes and Thomas who still needs a little help is finished in 15 minutes. How quickly things turn around face – with a new challenge on the other side of the coin. Thomas is toilet trained now. They were both so easily trained it’s almost wrong to call it training because once I decided to just let them decide when they were ready they did it. Thomas just got up one day and no longer wanted to wear nappies. He’s had a few accidents but not many and Emily’s been in nappies since March. Still wearing nappies during the night though. Might wait until they’re 3yo for that.
Emily loves jigsaw puzzles and has good patience to complete it. Very focused when she is at work which I remember now thinking when she first started building sandcastles at Glen Waverley when she was only 1.5 yo. Very focused and strives for perfection. Thomas enjoys jigsaw puzzles too but you can see he finds it difficult to sit there for longer than 10-15mins and wants to move on to something else. As long as he is getting guidance along the way he is happy to give anything a go.
We have spent many weekends out in the countryside, so much so that the kids often ask to go walking in the country. We have walked Mount Lofty by the Yarra River, the kids walking all the way themselves – a 2 hour journey, they’re fit and strong. Visited some really beautiful gardens at the Alfred Nicholas arboretum with an art noveau building where horticulture science took place back in early 1900s. Alred Nicholas and his brother George developed the Aspro painkiller. It was originally a German discovery, the supply of which halted during the first world war. George a chemist, re-discovered the formular, the Aust Gov awared the patent and the Nicholas fortune grew. The gardens, ponds, bridges, waterfalls and boat house are truly beautiful and we spent many house there. One hour sitting by a pond with the kids pretending to fish with their long sticks – the current favorite game: fishing. Thomas naturally fell in. He is always the one that falls over in water and returns drenched to the car where wisely we keep dry clothing & shoes for everyone now. We also all have our beloved gumboots, even Andrew.
We’re really looking forward to summer now, we all miss swimming. The kids ask to go every other day. We have a beach holiday planned shortly before Christmas. Our good friend Mel is celebrating his 40th birthday in huge splendour by hiring a large venue by the sea for a week, not far from the Great Ocean Road. Loads of bedrooms, huge kitchen, indoor pool, bike paths and all set on something like 12 hectares for a whole week!! So we’re going for a few days. Give us the sun!!!
Running late for our 11.00 regular story time at Lillydale Library, Emily screaming on the floor not willing to let me put her shoes on… at least I think that’s why she was screaming. In truth she probably forgot why she was screaming. Anyway get to the library carpark at 11.05 and there’s not car spaces left, we drove around 3 times before I gave up at which point Emily started screaming and Thomas sobbing and I just lost it and screamed for them to cut it out which naturally didn’t help matters. So I turned the radio up loud and drove around for 30mins ignoring them. When they had calmed down I stopped beside a field where we watched the cows for probably close to 30mins munching. They were curious and came nearby the car. It was really quite relaxing. I wound the windows down and we listened to them mooing and looked at their different painted faces and watched a few spats between cows, they can be quite bullies if one starts chewing on one’s patch. I love cows, adorable creatures. I must stop eating them.
That was all yesterday. Today we had a lovely day with Julie, Anouk and 5mth old Damon. We walked to the park and let the kids play for a while before returning to the house and a lovely lunch. So nice to talk to Julie and hear she too feels like a slave and is experiencing obedience problems as we are too. The kids are really pushing the boundaries. Mind you this is an extremely cute age too. They are so curious, mischievious and their sense of humour hilarious. For instance Thomas was doing his usual of asking the same question over and over and over…”where’s nana” and I told him it was really annoying when someone does that and could he please stop asking because he knows the answer anyway. So Emily steps in “Mummy, where’s nanna?” And the smile on her face, cheeky, cheeky monkey. Irritating but we couldn’t help but laugh. She doesn’t miss a thing that girl. You think she’s not paying attention oh but she is, and she’s a good observer too. She just loves the gear puzzle set that Andrew picked up for them at a garage sale. She plays with it everyday. It has gears (cogs) that you clip together to make a carousel, or a gear chain, powersaw whatever and it has a little motor that sets the gears going. All different sizes so you have to think about it when you’re building something. She’s great at it. Clever girl.
How our little ones are growing up, and who is looking after who?? It seems there are more and more occassions now when I’m told to be careful or what to do.
Andrew driving home from an outing the other night got a little lost on our way home, we only lost 10mins it was no big deal, but the following day when Andrew was driving us all home from the shops Thomas says “Please don’t get lost again Daddy”. Word for word. And today when I was looking for a bakery in Blackburn on our way to Julies house he asked me not to get lost because he wanted to see Anouk. I explained I knew exactly where I was and I wasn’t lost and he replied “that’s ok mummy, it doesn’t really matter”.
Reversing the car out of the driveway “careful mummy, there’s a parked van behind you”. Yes Thomas I can see that, thank you. ha ha ha Such a little man, has always been but not always will be little.
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My Sister’s daughter
Me and Mum – laughing because I was trying to hide my wide arse behind her.
My Adorable Son.
Emily happily sitting on a model cow.
Sat in bed and unwrapped my long stripy green socks, spotty and striped socks and short pink ones – all good fun girly socks, nice choice Andrew – thanks 
The kids enjoyed presenting me with the pressies and had practised well ‘Happy Mothers Day’, hee hee very cute!! They made some really excellent cards at play group with photos on themself on their very own decorated plates - I’ll be holding on to those forever. I also received some very nice Red Door smellies.
We spent most of the gorgeous, sun filled autumn day in Healesville. Mum and Dad were there too which was really cool. Sadly my sis Shell couldn’t make it. Early lunch at the big bakery in town there followed by a walk, stopping by the bridge to kick and play in the autumn leaves – good photo opportunity too.
Coffees in cafes. Mum and I browsed some gift shops, we saw some very sparkly crystal candle stick holders. Could have easily spent 100s in that shop. Andrew got us a delicious lunch of fresh damper bread, sundried tomatoes, anchovies and hot chips which we gobbled up enthusiatically sitting on the grass in the park.
It was a really lovely Mothers day. Thanks Andrew.
We all had such a brilliant time, so much fun and excitement. As soon as we entered the foyer the kids noticed the dinosaur skeleton and from there on the oohs and wows never stopped flowing from their mouths as they ran from exhibition to exhibition with us in tow. There was even a little bit of tug-of-war going on as we all ‘but yeah come and look at this!…’ Andrew checking out the gigantic spider crab, the kids the polar bear and me the butterflies.
The Bugs Alive section was just great, every conceivable bug on display, most dead, some alive and some spectacular ginormous robotic models suspended from the ceilings too. Aaagh the live tarantulas spiders were something not to behold!! It was satisfying too to show the kids the bull ant colonies which showed the ants above and below the ground – for often we have sat and watched outside but this time we could show them the tunnels and larvae we so often talk about. There was also the live bee hive exhibit, I’m sure the kids appreciated this one too for they know about bee acitivity.
There were beetles of every color, shape and size – and I took great pleasure in pointing out the dung beetles which were pinned down next to the poo specimens they inhabit and feed upon. Now this the kids thought quite amazing as they’re quite fascinated in poo – they find it unbelievable that the cows, bulls, rabbits and horses and many dogs that we see on our nature walks do not use toilets and instead poo on the ground.
Reptiles, mammals, ocean life, prehistoric life…. it was all absolutely brilliant and I don’t think I’ve ever really appreciated or enjoyed the museum as much as I did on this day, Thomas and Emily’s first trip to the museum and they loved it all so much they didn’t want to go home after 4 hours. Andrew agreed too that he enjoyed this trip far more than when we visited ourselves 4 years ago. Seeing everything through our childrens eyes was marvellous and to see the wonderment and joy in their faces was truly uplifting.
We also sat in the virtual room with our 3d glasses on and watched some fascinating programs, Thomas wanted more but Emily was a bit frightened especially when the dinosaur show came on. The ‘Childrens Gallery’ was a success too where they played with puzzles, lighted icicle blocks, puppets and more.
And Andrew would be disappointed if I didn’t mention we stopped in and saw the 4th computer built in the wold and Australia’s first (the size of a large caravan) employed at CSIRAC in the 50s.
A perfect day had by all.
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Emily at the WMBA playgroup.
