Mwahahaha! Revenge!

Remember how Matthew asked to be kissed in the private area of the school yard so that his friends couldn't see him.....well I got my revenge!
On Friday after school we were walking down the hill at the back of the school yard when Matthew put his hand in mind and held it. I responded with and "Ahh so you want to hold my hand now do you? Well if you are going to do that I'm going to do this!" I then tackled him to the floor and proceeded to cover him in kisses! When I allowed him off the ground he grabbed my hand again so we skipped down the hill with Mummy yelling "Mummy loves Matthew! Mummy loves Matthew!"
Paybacks are sweet!

Now what is happening to my baby??

This morning we were walking into the school grounds and as we got to the janitors shed at the back of the school Matthew asked if he could have his kiss now! This may or may not have come about after he kissed me at the preschool gate yesterday in front of  all of his friends. Suddenly I am uncool! At least I should still be thankful I still got a kiss! Even if it was out the back of the sheds!

What's happening to me?

I was in a bookstore with the boys the other day browsing when Matthew brought me a book stating it was the funniest book he had ever seen! I looked a the title and my heart dropped to the floor! I was sure I had another 20 or so years before we had to start discussing these issues! The book that Matthew found so hilarious was "What's happening to me" by Peter Mayle. You might recall it from your own childhood. It was the book your parents might have accidentally left on the coffee table or it was the book snickered at but very much thumbed through at the library.
Anyway so Matthew brought it over and we had a flick through it. He giggled hysterically at the boobs that rested on the table. It was less hysterical on the page with the maturing boy pictures then we got to the maturing women pictures his jaw shut with a audible click!
So then when Nathan got home I told him what had happened and told him it will be a lot easier if we started talking about these issues now with Matthew and the other boys, while it is still hysterically funny and not mortifyingly embarrassing!
So guess what our bed time story is tonight!!!!!

Now that is a sandwich!

Does this remind you of anyone you know??????????

 It was the sandwich that kept giving as everyone had a go!

It was full of ham, salami, lettuce. tomato, cucumber, carrot, cheese and mayo!

It was however consumed in the one sitting (thats because it was so yum!) and was not dragged around until it was festy! Thank goodness!

Happy Birthday Cleon!

Last Thursday was Cleon's birthday. Cleon and Michelle both take their birthday's off work which means we usually get to have afternoon tea with them.The boys and the girls from down the street spent a whole afternoon decorating cupcakes for her! But they also spent a whole afternoon eating them. Unless you were Ben where you spent the whole afternoon icing them and then only eating the top!

The boys couldn't wait to give her her present. Prank Patrol is a favorite show in this house so I worded them up about a prank that was often played in our house as kids. We found the biggest box we could and filled it up with newspaper and put Cleon's tiny present at the bottom of the box. We then wrapped the box. Well the boys thought that was pretty hilarious but they thought they could do better and decided to add a fake spider into he box!

It would have worked better but they had shaken the box several times before Cleon unwrapped it and the spider was no longer at the top of the box. So she didn't get a huge fright but they we happy that they had prank patrolled her!

Happy Birthday Cleon!

A Beautiful Morning for a ride!

Nathan rode his bike to work this morning. It was minus 3.5 degrees! Yes there are icicles attached to his sleeve. They were also attached to his helmet!

I found a new gift to give all new parents!

I have been wanting to do book reviews for a while now and this book is so fitting for my first!

Every parent I know has been there! I certainly know I have! It is funny, well written and NOT for kids! So instead of "Guess how much I love you" and "You are all my Favourites" as newborn book presents it will now be "Go the ... to sleep"!

I just found this awesome clip of Mrs Playschool herself reading this funny as book! Now it is profanity laden so if you have kids about well you had best wait until the have gone the f@*k to sleep!

Friday night fun!

For a while now we have had Saturday movie night. Often we are joined by neighbours and bucket loads of popcorn to watch a double feature. The first movie is a family one. So far we have watched all three Mighty Ducks, Karate kids and Honey I shrunk movies! The second feature is usually more mature! The last one being the disturbing Black swan when we started with 6 adults and ended with 3. Some people are only tough enough for "Tangled" hey Jose!

Anyway with movie night working out so well I decided we would make Friday night games night. We have started with Monopoly Junior.

The boys seriously love it! Well they don't love paying their brothers money as much but they enjoy the rest of the game. We have instated some "house" rules to encourage the numeracy aspect. For example you either have to pay with two notes or state how much change you will be requiring. (Addition and subtraction)

So far Ryan has refrained from robbing the bank but I am sure it is just a matter of time!

This week we are going to give cards a go. We are going to start with fish and then try something a little harder. I'm all for poker!  It might be the only way Rye becomes a millionaire! What do you think?

Back to our Easter Holiday

Now it not been because i have been too lazy to blog these photos I have been saving them until it has been absolutely freezing here in Canberra. I've done this to remind us that we have felt warmth from the sun once upon a time!

So Mum and dad retired recently to Bribie Island in Qld. Well they are technically not on the island but on the mainland side! Anyway they are a block away from the beach. Again it is technically Pumicestone passage but to people who live in Canberra which is technically very, very far from the beach it counts right! Anyway while we were there we loved walking along the water. However it can be a bit slippery as you will see....

 Ben struggled! Which was surprisingly hilarious!

 The boys loved exploring a different environment. When we walk here they bring back things like pine cones and rock and snow and stuff! There it was sand, shells, crustaceans and mud.....

 And mysterious sea creatures! The story actually goes that dad spent a lot of time telling me how often Bull sharks are found in the passage. Anyway we had wandered apart for a while before Dad came running back to tell us he had spotted a shark!

 We watched for a while before we spotted the "shark". The infamous "shark"  turned out to be a stingray! I was confused as to why i could see 2 fins before it occurred to me why!

 Nathan also captured a jumping fish!

This picture is where I am imagining myself as I sit here freezing my butt off! Oh well less than a month until we will be there again! Yay!

Preschool is brilliant!

The boys have learnt some amazing stuff in preschool. This term they have been learning about the body. To say the kids have enjoyed it is an understatement. You should hear the comments they make! Ben said to Matthew recently "Matthew do you know you have a balloon inside you? Its called the bladder. It's where your wee goes!" Ben's friend Eli was told to go to the toilet by his mother recently and he replied with "Sorry Mum my large intestine is not full yet!'

Some people may think that learning about biology in preschool is too much but trust me after watching three boys do the same thing over the last few years all it has done in pique their curiosity of the body. The way preschool does it, as a solidly play based learning environment really does encourage their curiosity and willingness to learn.

Oh! And you cant forget the kidneys!

The poor middle child

The poor kid! This is the first photo I have taken of him since he lost his first tooth..... at Easter! Ahem, it has been weeks since he lost his second tooth! Bad bad mummy! He so suffers from middle child syndrome! So here you go Rye your own blog post..... finally!

The end of an era.

Recently the blue car has been causing problems. Mostly from being neglected because Nathan either rides his bike or catches the bus to work. And it got expelled from the driveway onto the road because it was leaking oil over the driveway. All of this culminated in it breaking down on the rare occasion that Nathan drove it to work. It carked it in the middle of a major intersection just near home. Our friends had a field day driving past it. One set of neighbours who shall remain nameless even took the time to stop and put on note on it saying "LOSER!" Finally a couple of weekends ago it was broken into. It was the one weekend Nathan decided he wanted a sleep in and not to join the neighbours at the weekly farmers market. Well guess who got a call at sparrows fart anyway? Nathan! Because Jose found the blue car parked in front of his house with all the doors open and a window smashed. It appears that the worlds dumbest teen aged thieves attempted to hot wire it. They flogged a brand spanking new pair of pliers from Kmart( I know this because they left the packaging and pliers behind!) and used them to tear apart the steering column. When they couldn't find the wires with the words "hot wire here" they tried smashing apart the key casing. Nathan thought they might have been out there with their smart phones googling hot wiring 101. But duh the blue car has been sitting out the front of the house BROKEN DOWN for weeks. No amount of attempted hot wiring was going to get that baby started! LOSERS!!

Anyway so that is how the blue car came to the end of an era. Nathan and I have done so many things in the back of that car. Like.....

Bringing Matthew home from hospital. Get your mind out of the gutter people!

Harvesting time!

We have had an interesting time with our veggie patch this winter. In Autumn just after planting we lost all of our broccoli, caulis, brussel sprout and cabbage to those darned cabbage moths! To counteract them we put netting over the veggie patch but on most occasions you would find one or two of the bloody cabbage moths on the inside of the net. In the end we gave up our organic credentials and used derris dust and the netting. Luckily it worked and we have been harvesting our own broccoli for a while.

 It is exceptionally yummy!

 The cauliflowers are cute! Still a little while until they will be ready but they are growing and it gives the boys something to check on every time they go out in the garden.

 The boys were very impressed with their farming abilities! Matthew is often heard to exclaim every time he walks past the garden "Aren't we great farmers!" He thinks it is about time to get him a pair of denim overalls!

There were no complaints at dinner time. Not that there usually is!

Dreamworld

Ages ago, like at Easter we went to Dreamworld as an Easter treat.

The boys had a go at most things. They drove cars.....

And I am glad it will be along time before Ryan is back behind a wheel!

 Matthew drove one by himself. Just think it is only like 9 years before he will be able to be out on the roads for real!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

 They patted koalas after we elbowed all of the Asian tourists out of the way!

 They had Rosy Tea with Dorothy.....

 They tried to have a cuppa with the Wiggles. But they weren't home apparently! I thought they might have seen us coming....

 I searched everywhere for Captain Feathersword. I've always wanted to try out his feathersword...... But alas he wasn't home either!

 We briefly walked past the tigers. The boys were all like "Grace (the cat from next door) is scarier!!!" She is too! She hisses and swipes at us all and is quite unsociable!

 The boys all had a go at the Spongebob ride...

 They had a go at the Blues Clues ride although we have no idea who he is!!!

 The swings were fun!

 We then met up with my great mate Nicole and her three boys. Nic and I managed to choose the dry seats on the rapid ride.

 And stay dry!

 I wasn't so lucky on the log ride! Lachlan (my godson) insisted on sitting in the back seat. He must have done this ride before....

 Because guess who ended up saturated!

 Ryan was thrilled to meet Spongebob and Patrick. He has been a fan for a long time. He would have only been 2 at the most when he corrected Cleon telling her very solemnly that it was SpongeBob Squarepants! Not SquareBob sponge pants!

 The ball pit that was huge with ball firing cannons was a huge hit. Daddy helped the boys with their aim....

 How good is the photography! Have a look at the top left corner, you can see the balls shooting out!

 Do you know how hard it is to get six boys to all look in the one direction and smile?????? They are lined up in age order. Matthew 7, Lach 6 (20 days older than) Ryan 6, Ben 4 who is 2 months older than Ethan and Caleb.  Six boys born with less than three years between them! That is a whole lot of boy energy right there! And we only managed to loose one of 'em the whole time we were there!

This was the last thing we did before leaving! The V8 Supercars. Anyone who knows my boys know that they are bogan rev heads! I am growing my collection of my boys standing beside some kind of vehicle!

It was between now and the middle of dinner that Ryan lost his first tooth! And when I say lost I mean lost! He came to us in the middle of dinner saying he had lost it. When I asked where it was he shrugged his shoulders and said "Dunno!"