Easter 2011

Cross Country

Today was Cross Country day at Miles Franklin. We had been very eager for this day to arrive ever since Matthew announced that he was going to win this year!

 As you can see they were both very excited about the day!

 Ryan was first off. This was the start of the race! I told Ryan he was the winner because he had the biggest smile on his face the whole way around, which must have meant that he was having the most fun!

 This is Ryan just after the finish line after he had come third last! I told him he finished 25th and he was most impressed with himself!

 Matthew was next up! I had spent most of the week talking him up about winning with equal parts of "it not if you win or lose, it's how you play the game!" We wanted to encourage him to try his hardest but we didn't want him to be devastated if he didn't win!

So anyway the 8 year olds set of at a cracking pace! It was a one k run so all of the parents were shouting out to slow down! But off they ran into the bushland, for the most part of the race you could only see flashes of red and blue in the distance! It isn't until they run up onto the oval that you could see who was where....

Turns out my eldest was in third position! So he is now off to the district carnival next term! We are so proud of him! He was thrilled with how he performed and only a little bit disappointed that he didn't win. However he is now convinced he is going to win districts so guess who is off to do some training with him? That right me! But I am going to ride my bike while he runs! It is the only way I can keep up with him!

The Perfect Day

Nathan has been working crazy hours recently. Stupid things like being in the office at 5am and leaving it at 9.30pm! So when he had the chance he took a few days off. One of those days all the kids were at school so it was the first time in like 7 years that we had time together in the daylight without having to worry about how the kids were going and if the babysitters were ok or if we should go back home because they might need us! We had a glorious morning. We all went to school together, the boys got to show Nath where their classrooms were then Nathan and I got to go and have a cuppa together with out having to say "sit still!", "Don't eat the sugar sachets!" or "please don't crawl under the table!"

Then after that we did a spot of shopping and then came home and walked up Mt Rogers before cooking lunch together and then going to get Ben. It was so lovely to spend quality time with my husband. It was even nicer to know that after 8 odd years of marriage I was excited to spend time with him!

Nathan also took the Monday off as well. We had the day with Ben but it was still lovely! It didn't hurt that it was a stunning Autumn Canberra day!

 We had noodles for lunch. It was a stunning day on Lake Ginninderra.

 Ben quite liked his noodles but found they were a bit tricky with a fork!

 But after watching Daddy using chop sticks......

Benny decided to have a go!

So now the work-a-holic has gone back to work but I will always have the memories! I have also made a new rule that when I start to feel neglected he will have to take a day off!

Grand Prix Melbourne

Most of you would know that Nathan in a mad keen Mark Webber fan. So with the opening race being on on the weekend Nathan spent most of his time here.....

 Watching the live telecast whilst keeping an eye on the timing website on his phone!

Earth Hour

Unfortunately I wasn't feeling well for Earth Hour this year and I had a house full! Thankfully they were regulars so were more than happy to entertain themselves! Cleon made a fire in our new brazier, we couldn't find the marshmellows so we just sat around the fire telling ghost stories and singing songs!

 We got the telescope out but just as we got it set up along came the clouds! Funnily enough just as we were coming back inside the cloud dispersed!

 The boys told the funniest ghost stories.They were basically ramblings about stomping footsteps and lots of "woooooo woooooing!"

The best thing about Earth hour this year was the boys understanding what we were trying to achieve, still hasn't stopped them from leaving the lights on at times other than Earth Hour. Our goal is to have that stamped out by next Earth Hour!

Disco Dudes!

Last Friday was the school disco. Matthew and Ryan were very excited about going. Ben was surprisingly good about not being able to go. But he did insist on having his hair sprayed and being in the photos! He really can't wait until next year when he will be old enough to go!

 Isn't Matthew looking grown up! It was just a pity he didn't act like a grown up! He cracked it about 15 minutes into the disco saying he didn't want to dance! He then proceeded to sob for the next 45 minutes! Nothing could stop him!

 So how do you think Daddy went on their hair styles???

Oscar

We were given the responsibility of looking after my parents Sharpei, Oscar while they went to Adelaide. Now Oscar is an inside dog who is used to living with two quiet, retired adults. So living with a family of young boys with an allergic mother was quite an experience for him! He started out just sleeping inside which gradually became spending any time that the boys were outside, inside to just basically inside all day!

 He has such a funny personality! It kind of goes with his funny looks! He loved me. I knew this because when I patted him he would get my fleas for me (you know that nibbling thing that dogs do?!) He would try and sit on top of me and was eventually comfortable enough to get in bed with me! So I pretty much spent the week washing my hands, vacuuming and washing my sheets!

 There is one word that comes to mind with Oscar and it is tolerate. He would tolerate Nathan in his presence and he would just barely tolerate the children in his presence. Michelle asked me if he had something wrong with him because he cringed every time she touched him. I had to tell her he couldn't tolerate her touch!
The funniest thing he did all week was when Ben came inside crying and Oscar who was already practically sitting on top of me looked up at me as if to say "Help me that creature is screaming!" And then when I pulled Ben onto my knee instead of Oscar I think I broke his heart!

This picture demonstrates how tolerable he was of little children! Jonah (from down the road) was super, super excited to meet Oscar but Oscar really wasn't so excited to meet him back!