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!