Wakey wakey

Very, very early mornings in our house look like this.

It does look very very sweet but I can also tell you it is very very early!

WANTED

So we were walking back from the beach while we were in QLD when Matthew timidly asked.

Mum is that a wanted sign?

Close son, but its a poster for the council elections however there are people out there that certainly think politicians are crooks!

Surgery X 2

Ben got his first set of grommets in February. I say first because one of them isn't working already! But anyway the morning came with a very nervous Mummy and Daddy. Thankfully we got a morning surgery because Ben had to be nil by mouth for several hours before.

I got to take him into the theatre which meant wearing this very fetching gear.

 By far and away it was the hardest thing I have ever done! Ben being Ben fought the anaesthetic and they had to up the gas a bit! Thank goodness a good friend told me about the jerking and writhing otherwise the Dr probably would have copped one in the mouth! But he was finally under and the surgery could begin....

 And the comfort eating could begin for me. Coke and chocolate at 8am. Yum!

 The nurse came and got us about an hour later and I dove into the bed to give my baby a cuddle. There may or may not have been tears! The nurses loved Ben. Apparently he was the cutest unconscious boy they have ever seen! One nurse told me that the second he started coming out of it he was foraging for his thumb. Apparently meters of gauze bandage was not going to stop him!
But Benny wasn't the only Rickard to have surgery. On the very same day Ben got his grommets Bolt lost his!

We ended up with two very sad, sorry and groggy boys or former boys!

A revisit: Kindy Assembly

The video was awesome but you just got a glimpse of the photos. So here are my favourites of the hundreds that Daniel gave me!

Please bear in mind that this was the last day of Ben's very first term at school. The weekend after we had driven to Brisbane and back in the space of 4 days. So that is why he looks super tired but also super cute!

Like father. Like son

Matthew was really keen to do the swimming carnival this year. We have tried to keep Matthew in particular away from competitive sports. He is exceptionally competitive (I have no idea where he gets it from) and he possesses a large amount of natural talent at more than one sport. (Gosh I sound like one of those braggy Mums but I am using my sports coaching background to make that assessment not my maternal pride. I promise!)

When Matthew grows up he would like to be an Olympian. He is going to compete at swimming (like Uncle Brenton of course!), athletics (because he came third at the cross country) and TaeKwonDo (because he loves it!) All of this though has to happen in the off season of the AFL when he will be playing for Carlton!

So with this in mind Nathan and I decided we want to protect him from burn out (and himself) so we have decided no competitive sport until well, we think he will be able to handle it. I think I do probably now have to add in a disclaimer here that competitive sport is probably different in our house than most because of our sporting backgrounds. For example we consider state swimming competitive sport. Club night at a swimming club is seen as fun....

Anyway school swimming carnival looms and Matthew is keen. So bearing in mind the kid hasn't had a swimming lesson in six months (Can anyone say cobbler's kids un-shod???) due to his brothers need to NOT swim we enter him only in the 50m Freestyle.

Where he comes second! By quite a long way!!!

 Unbeknown to me, he makes the qualifying time to go to regionals! Ummm decisions, decisions. We let him go to regional for cross country so we had better let him go to swimming...

The meet was held at the AIS pool. Where I spent many a year doing swimming carnivals and where my club trained. We called this statue thunder thighs. We loved her! In winter people would put a coat over her. Sometimes she sported a red silicon cap when we were sick of her bronze one. She is apart of my history. And now she is apart of Matthew's history. Although he was far more interested to know if Uncle Brenton had actually swum in his particular lane. (As a matter of fact he had. So had his father but that is not what is important!)
So Matthew swum his heart out at regionals. I unfortunately missed his swim as I had another meeting and his Daddy missed it as he was interstate. But the parents who were there cheered him onto 5th in his heat. They all commented on his speed off the block and the first 15 metre when a massive piano fell out of the sky and slowed his speed for the final 35 meters. (The piano is a swimmers metaphor, you will probably only get that reference if you swum but it means A LOT to Nath and I!)  But this is great news. Turns out he is exactly like his father!
Well done Matthew. I am sure this is the first over very many more swimming meets!

Ben: A self portrait

One of Ben's first tasks at school this year was to draw his self portrait....

That is Ben at the front. You can tell from the brown eyes. Standing behind him in what i can only assume as the angel and the devil on his shoulders are his brothers!!! Ryan with the blue eyes and the same hair colour as him and Matthew with the green eyes and the blonde hair!
Now I have never met such a strong willed individual as Benjamin Leslie Rickard. However how interesting is it that he sees himself as being a third of a whole!!! I cannot decide if this is a good thing or something we need to work on! I love how much he loves his brothers. These boys seriously personify hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil. They would fight to the grave for each other but can they be too close??? Before this picture I was certain that Ben knew his own identity but now I have questions....... Or was he just super, super excited to finally, in his mind caught up to his brothers and be at school?

Feb & March wrap up.

OK! So I have been MIA much of February and March but here is a brief rundown of what happened......

 Nathan turned 33 with no desire to have a Thirty Three and A Third party....Spoil sport!

 Ryan turned 7!

 I turned thirty-something-ish

 Ben got his first merit certificate in the social skills program He received it for being successful!!!!!

Matthew's year presented the assembly where he read a piece of his work!

It was super busy. I always thought that when they all got to school things would have a slower pace. Man was I wrong!!!

The last one! I promise!

I can guarantee this because Nathan has had enough of making them!

He also told me that i have to warn you all that they are big files. I don't think it really matters because they are so worth it!

This one is the kindy hosted assembly that was held on the last day of school. As we were driving to school Ben casually says "Mum I am reading today at assembly!" WHAT! We haven't practised! Turns out he didn't need to practise. He was perfect! Plenty of volume and no apparent nerves at all! He loved being front and centre! We were so proud of all of the kindy kids!

Mt Panorama V8 Race day

This is an oldie but Nathan only makes these awesome videos when he is in the mood and it's been a while since he has been in the mood!
Anyway, last Anzac Day we drove back from Brisbane with Nanna Bev and Grumpy via Bathurst to do a race day with Stevie Johnson and John Bowe. Grumpy drove several laps in a V8 Supercar and then Nathan and Grumpy did a couple of hot laps with John Bowe. They loved it! Needless to say I drove the rest of the way home to Canberra because the Captiva is NOT a V8 supercar! (And its a Holden hey Grumpy!)

Easter Holidays Part 2!

Easter Holidays Part 1

Just one of our easter fun activities with my family up at Bribie!

Disco Dudes

A couple of weeks ago now we had the school disco. Benny was busting to go because it was one of those things he felt he had been drastically missing out on by not being old enough. So he was super keen to go this year. The theme this year was something starting with R.

 So we had a Robot......

 A Rabbit....

 And Rich!

 These are some of their tamer moves!

Ryan did not stop. He owned that dance floor and he was going to work it for all it was worth! Ben followed him around busting out moves at random times!

Matthew got to participate in his first senior school event and went to the late disco. It finished at 9, two whole hours after his bed time! Unfortunately, it was like looking into the future for me at that disco. A group of four girls followed him around ALL night! He danced in a group of about 6 of his mates and they worked the floor too! It was interesting to see the difference a year makes. Year three is definitely all about the friendship groups and the cool kids are starting to develop! Eeeekkkkk!!!!

Anyway they all had a blast and were super excited and the good news is they all got their moves from their Mum rather than their Dad!!!

Super Busy

So I really must apologise for my absence. I have no real excuse other than i have gone back to work! Now I was so nervous about returning to work earlier this year. I had composed blog posts in my head about my trepidation and talked myself into having become a redundant, superseded potential employee, after 8 years out of the workforce. And all of this was just while I was thinking about looking for a job not actually getting one! So when a job fell in my lap rather suddenly and unexpectedly I felt I had no excuse not to take it! It isn't something that i have done before but it isn't much of a stretch past working in retail. I have become a merchandiser for a company that specialises in gardening equipment and seeds.
Now it is quite a cushy job, i only work between the hours of 9 and 3 on a Monday and Tuesday. It fits in perfectly! It still gives me a day to play netball, a day to study, a day to do the shopping, a day to do the washing, a day to do my volunteer work and a day to help out in the school. Notice all of those days add up to 9!
I've joined the working mother club! I've become a juggler! There are so not enough hours in the day or days in the week. And there are so many balls up in the air!
So I will endeavour to be more regular with my posts but this blog ball is one i can afford to occasionally drop. I am fairy certain it bounces!

Guest Blogger

Ok so with Matthew doing the NAPLAN test this year, we got thinking about ways to encourage him to write. Boys are often hard to engage in reading and writing. We are super lucky that all of the boys love to read. They are however a little more reluctant to write. A teacher pointed out recently and as a blogger I really agree, that writing for the sake of writing is not fun. Writing about a subject matter that interests you and writing for purpose, in this case to entertain all the people that love to read this blog are exceptional motivations. So lt me introduce you to our Guest blogger here at Rickard Ramblings...... Matthew Rickard who has prepared a procedure for you to read!

HOW TO MAKE A FERRIS WHEEL BOOTH

Aim: To make a booth
What You Need:

• 4 bits of glass
• 2 dobel sided lego
• 2 two by four lego pises
• 1 2 by 6 lego pises
• 2 1 by 6 lego pises

What to do:
1. Get the 2 dobel sided pieses and 2 Pieces of glass.
2. Get the 2 by 6 piece.
3. Stick them all together like this. (Put the dobel sided lego piece on the 2 by 6 tegether and the 2 by 6 on the glass and the other on the opset.
4. Get the 2 1 by 6 pieces and stick them on.
5. Put the glass on the other side.
6. Get the 2 by 4 on top of the galss.
Test:
See if it looks like the Photo?

Who knows what he will write next! He is super keen to have a regular spot on the blog so stay tuned!