Mmmmmm yummy!

Yep that is a mentos squished into his hair! How it got there.....I could guess!
I think he may have spat the mentos out and replaced it with his thumb which then left the other hand with a mentos in it.
Big dilemma.
Thumb sucking requires simultaneous hair twirling. Solution......twirl mentos into hair!

No Mummy I wasn't playing with the computer camera!

But Matthew I have proof!
But it wasn't me!
Ummmm yes it was!
I guess I should be pleased he wasn't picking his nose!

He is just hitting 'that' ugly stage....

Poor Matthew! With his missing two bottom teeth and this being the first of many, I have come to realise that it is going to be a long time before he goes back to being my good looking man! When you think about it he is going to have random teeth missing for the next few years. Then once he has grown all of his adult teeth he will hit puberty when he will be all ears, nose, hand and feet! (Just like his father!) So goodbye my good looking kid, I guess we will see you on the other side..... of puberty!

Ryan's Pool Party

Mr Universe himself! He is always the first out because he is cold! At home we call him Monty Burns because he looks just like the character from the Simpson's!

Treb. Tried to hide from the camera. Now look Treb, you are front and centre on the blog!

Another really attractive man! Colin and Lynne. Colin is demonstrating how to look you best in photos. Suck it in!

The ladies, Cleon, Michelle and Ang.

Run free Benny. This kids did not sit still for the whole 4 hours we were at the pool! Actually that is the story of his life!

Meka and Harry. Benny's playgroup and now playschool friends. (Cute photo!)

Ben and his breast (not a typo, he refers to his friends as breast friends!) friend Eli, cheers-ing.

Here come the action shots. Miss Meka climbing out.

Great action shot! Jasmin and Cid. We did get Cid in and she did win the Crunchie for putting her face in the water! Well done Cid!

The stunning Violette. She did make a gorgeous pool side ornament. I did however get her in and under by the end!

Kale. This kid is Ben's other half. They are both 3rd born, they both think they rule their roost and the universe. They both write cheques their bodies can't cash!

Daniel and Violette looking pretty!

Eli in action!

He jumped so high this time I missed his head.

Ryan's school buddy and swim buddy, Lilly in action.

Colin in action! How talented you are Colin!

Matthew on a rare occasion with his head out of the water!

Ben on a rare occasion with his head out of the water!

Ryan. Ditto!

Nathan swam a few laps with his adorning fans looking on. However he had a real thud to earth when the poolie asked who he was and Cleon answered "Brenton Rickard's brother!"

Daniel had a crack to see if he could beat him! Well, no he actually just wanted to do a few laps with him.

The cake! Ryan chose a Carlton Blues cake this year. Go the mighty Blues! Nanna and Poppy we saved you a piece! Its in the freezer for your next visit!

Happy birthday to you! Rye, Rye!

All that remained of a gorgeous day with family and friends!

Happy 5th Birthday Ryan!

Happy Birthday my gorgeous boy!

He woke up and appeared to forget it was his birthday! It wasn't until he walked into our room and Matthew showed him the bike he remembered!

He got a big boy bike. Unfortunately it wasn't the Nintendo DS he wanted but he forgot that as soon as he saw it! (isn't Matthew a poser! He gets that instant pose when a camera comes out from his father!)
This is the surprise he gets from opening his card!

The present from Benny.

The required monster truck. No Rickard boy can have any occasion without receiving one!

What is it??????

A Meccano set from Nanna and Grumpy. By far and away the favourite present!

Gelli Baff

A friend bought the boys some Gelli Baff because her boys had such a great time in it.

My boys tried it......

Matthew loved it. Ben was a bit unsure. Ryan HATED it!

And out they got. Well except for Matthew who loved it!

It fell out......

At 4.30AM! Matthew came running in this morning yelling "Mummy, Daddy my tooth fell out!" My response, seeing how Daddy wasn't even here was "Put it here and go back to bed!" However at a more respectable hour I was able to inspect the tooth and the gap it left and make all the appropriate noises. Then I got my revenge on Nathan when Matthew called him (early oclock!) to tell him the news. Poor Nath was so disappointed. First of all because he missed it and secondly because he didn't get to use the pliers!
Hey by the way don't you love the slant the other tooth has been left with! This might be a costly week!