I need help deciphering this.......

Last night Matthew gets out of bed, walks into the lounge room and says to us "Mum, Dad, I'm ok when I'm cuddling puppy, I'm ok when i'm eating breakfast, I'm ok when I'm playing with friends, I'm ok when I'm eating lunch, I'm ok when I'm playing with my brothers, I'm ok when I'm underwater, I'm ok when I'm eating BUT all the other times I'm not!"
Well, by the time he got to being ok when he was underwater I dissolved into giggles. As he finished his speech I looked over to his father to pass on the parenting baton to him and HE dissolved into giggles! And we still don't know what he was banging on about! Aren't we in line for parents of the year!

Autumn

We're going to the coast

So I drove the boys to Batemans Bay today. The workaholic couldn't (or wouldn't!) take time off so we went by ourselves. We hit the sand just before 11am.

Matthew and Ben hit it running!

Ryan made it in slowly but got there. In the end he was just a courageous as Ben and Matthew.

Ben did NOT stop running the whole time we were there!

Ben showed Matthew how to get really wet.

Ryan tried and decided it was too cold! Although later on he was fully submerged.

Ben was first on the boogie board. Uncle Brenty this is how you surf apparently!

And when you get really good you can do this!

Matthew was too fast for the massive waves!

Ryan just completely missed the whole concept of "catching" a wave. Mostly the waves caught him! But he had a blast anyway!

Check out that leg action! As an experienced swim coach that is awesome!

Ben tired of the wave running after a while and decided to chase the sand. He started with the wet sand.......

Then ran around the beach scooping up sand from all over the place. A scoop from here, run, a scoop from there, run!

Then it was back to the boogie board. It is the same size as he is! He kept running with it directly infront of him so he couldn't see a thing!

Then it was time for monster trucks! (as only a Rickard boy can!)

Then when the chaffing from all that sand got too much.........

it was pants off!

This is the word most heard in our house!

Wednesday

It was off to Questacon and the Art Gallery today! First up, Questacon! Which was surprisingly empty for the school holidays! They had a new show on today titled "On a plane, the principals of flight!" The presenter asked the audience what the 4 factors that affect a plane. Matthew's hand shot up to answer the first one. Gravity he replied. She then asked what the opposing force was? I whispered in his ear "Lift." His hand shot up and when asked he replied "Lift". The presenter looked at him and said "That boy must be a genius! She asked what the 3rd force was? I whispered in his ear "thrust!" Matthew's hand shoots up again and as no one else's hand is up she asks him. He replies "Thrust!" By now the presenter is thinking she is dealing with an awfully intelligent child and when she comments on his genius once again I replied "Or it could be his Dad is an Aeronautical Engineer!" Everyone laughed so she moved onto the final force which I told Matthew was "drag". By now the presenter tried calling on anyone else other than Matthew by now he shouted out "drag"! She then decided he would be an awesome assistant and called him down......

to be Isaac Newton! (Just think, if I had girls with curly hair they would be so gorgeous!)

Cute! If not a little embarrassed!

Here he is contemplating gravity!

Then they conducted a little experiment.

And now he holds the whole world in his hands!

After we had wondered through Questacon we had a little picnic on the lawns of Old Parliament House.

This was our view.

We then walked along Lake Burley Griffin to the Art Gallery. The boys made me tell them which country belonged to every flag! (Once again proving my brilliance by reading the names at the bottom of every flag pole!)

A kind lady thought we were tourists and offered to take our photo!

Looking back from the lake to parliament house.

Russell Offices, Daddy's work! And the Carillon.

My gorgeous boys and the gorgeous Autumn leaves.

We then wandered through the Sculpture Garden. Which was a huge hit with the boys. First of all they loved wandering around trying to find it all and secondly they enjoyed the physicality's of the art!

This was apparently their favourite artwork! (In their defence it is shiny and metal like the past piece!)

This ball sculpture thingy is one of my favourites. My first fav is the fog garden (misters placed throughout the gardens!) but it wasn't working today!

We then moved inside where I showed them the Monet that I like. It got a lukewarm response. We wondered around checking things out. They didn't run or touch anythings so i was pleased with their behaviour. They seemed to enjoy the sculptures rather than the hanging art. We spent quite a while looking at Blue Poles debating whether we would be able to make on like that at home. Which will be our task for tomorrow arvo!

2nd week!

I have no idea why school holidays are 2 weeks long! We had a blissful first week but this week I could have easily packed them back off to school! So after a pj Monday that was not peaceful. I decided we were going to have an action packed week. First off on Tuesday we went to see How to train your Dragon. Great movie except my boys go at lightning McQueen pace. They like movies about racing not sleighing dragon! And whilst there was no blood it was a bit too full on for Ryan and Ben, who spent the movie on my knee! But it was still an experience. Watching Ben inhale popcorn in was entertainment enough for all of us!

Farmers Market

On Saturday morning at early o'clock our across the road neighbours dragged (well just me!) us to the farmers market. They have been singing the praises of the quality of the food for ages so we thought we would give it a try. And we did and the produce was gorgeous! So good in fact that you get free caterpillars with your corn! And whilst it was slightly more expensive than my usual fruit market the freshness more than made up for it. So we will becoming regulars. Sorry I meant Nathan will becoming a regular! Me, I'll be in bed snoring while he goes!

Cockatoos

There are a lot of screeching cockatoos in Canberra. The boys have now taken to saying "Hi Cock!" every time one goes screeching overhead. So yesterday the boys were playing soccer in the backyard with Uncle Brenty when Matthew yells out "Hi cock!" At the same time Ben kicks the ball and says "I've got a big cock!" What he meant to say was I've got a big kick! Rickard boys! *shakes head!*

Remember my baby Matthew

He is now so big he cooks dinner!

He cooks spagetti bol once a week. (He would like to cook it every night and his brothers would like to eat it every night!) He does it all except for cutting the onion. Daddy does that but the rest he does all by himself (with supervision of course!)

His Dad has been relieved of Spag Bol night and is being promoted to Tuna Pasta night.

Matthew is loving cooking! Ryan wants to know when is he old enough to cook too!

Holidays!

I am loving our school holidays! On Monday we had a pj day. We started out with some colouring in.

Then they made a train that they drove up and down the hallway.

Then they played on their tractor outside in their pj's.

On asking the boys what the favourite part of pj day Matthew responded with "Playing outside in our jarmies!" Ben liked that too. Ryan liked it best when he got dressed at 2pm! Classic!

I am thoroughly enjoying my children these holidays. They have played beautifully, shared and laughed together. I spend most of my day listening to them and thinking Awwwww. I'm not sure whether they have just hit "that age" or they are just too tired to argue! I think apart of it is that Ryan feels more connected to Matthew now they are both at school. I am really happy that my boys are more than just brothers they are mates. I really think they also have the kind of connection that will last their whole lives. Yes they argue and fight but it really isn't that often and they are getting quite good at sorting it out themselves.
The other interesting thought I have been having whilst having the children home is about parenting. I know a few mothers who cant wait to get rid of their kids. The holidays come and they ship them off. I find that so sad. I have to share my kids with school and friends so when school is over that's my time! And I am reluctant to share it! And I'm not talking about just a visit or brief stay with the grandparents. Because I think things like that are so important to a young person. I know of a lady that sends her children off every holiday for the whole holiday. She sees that time as her time, her holiday. When does that family have time to just be a family. I know from experience it can't happen during school time. The pace is just too frenetic. I find it very hard to understand why people have so many children but don't want to raise them. (And I'm not talking about working mothers, who in my book work harder than anybody else. The ones I'm talking about are stay at home mothers who appear to have no interest in actually mothering but have many, many children!) I understand parenting is hard work. It is relentless. Parents don't get sick leave or holiday leave. I know that you know about these things before you have kids but how many people actually understand what it means. For me, the pace and the constantness is so worth it. I am tucking this precious time into a little pocket in my heart to bring out when times aren't as pleasant and fun as they are today!

You spin me right round!

After our bear hunt today we hung out at the park!

Swinging. Ben's breast friend (not a typo that is what he is!) Eli taught Ben how to swing and now they are both obsessed by it! We must stop at every swing set!

He can get going!

The roundy roundy thing!

Getting a bit dizzy!

I couldn't resist filming the after effects!

It's not fair being the youngest

Some times it is just not fair being the youngest. I mean why are Matthew and Ryan allowed to go to school every day?

On Friday (the last day of term!!!) Poor Ben (we aren't allowed to call him Benny anymore! He reminds us constantly his name is Ben!) had a melt down! And it was all over this.........

Ryan had misplaced his lunch box. As i had finished making his lunch I left it on the bench and told Ryan to find his lunch box and then pack his lunch himself. Well, by the time Ryan had found his lunch box his lunch had disappeared! After much searching for it we found it......... in Ben's lunch box! Which started the crying fit!

Can everyone remember the I want my birthday video? He hasn't changed much over the years has he?

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

We're going on a bear hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. We're not scared. It's a beautiful day.

Oh! No! A troll bridge! We cant go over it. We cant go around it! We'll have to go under it!

Ahhhhh! Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhhh!

We're going on a bear hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. We're not scared! It's a beautiful day!

Oh! No! Long wavy grass! We cant go over it. We cant go under it! We'll have to go through it!

Swishy, Swashy! Swishy, Swashy!

We're going on a bear hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. We're not scared! It's a beautiful day!

Oh! No! A big,huge mountain. We cant go over it. We cant go under it, we'll have to go up it!

Huff, Puff! Huff, Puff!

We're going on a bear hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. We're not scared! It's a beautiful day!

Oh! No! A huge boulder! We cant go over it! We cant go under it! We'll have to go round it!

Trudge! Trudge! Trudge!

We're going on a bear hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. We're not scared! It's a beautiful day!

Oh! No! A short cut! Will Mum let us take it?
No! She wont! Whinge! Moan! Moan!

We're going on a bear hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. We're not scared! It's a beautiful day!

Oh! Yes! A faster form of transport! But we don't know how to drive it!

Boo! Hoo! Hoo!

We're going on a bear hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. We're not scared! It's a beautiful day!

Oh! No! A jungle gym! We cant go over it! We cant go under it! We'll have to stop here and have a picnic!

Yeeeeaaaayyyyyy!


We're going on a bear hunt. We're gonna catch a big one. We're not scared! It's a beautiful day!

Well our bear hunt was a walk up the mountain and we are too puffed to walk down it............



We had a gorgeous walk up mount Rogers today! Ryan was whingy about 10 meters into it. So I turned it into a bear hunt. (Some of you may be familiar with the book, Matthew made his very own copy in playschool!) Anyway, that got him moving! Then they had to make all the decisions about our obstacles. If Matthew had have had his way the Troll bridge would have been the Bridge of doom. The boulder, the boulder of doom and the short cut the short cut of doom! Talking about the boulder scroll back up and see all of the little rocks on it. The boys put them there on Tuesday when we walked up and they decided the walk wasn't hard enough, lets carry rocks with us too!