Bolt is growing up!

Remember what our baby looked like on the day we picked him up?

Well he has grown heaps since then! Oh! And the adventures he has had....

 He has watched the movie Bolt about a million times and the boys are busily training him to do the "Superbark".

 He has done something no other Rickard dog has done before.......... Hoped into bed with Mummy and daddy for a snuggle. His favourite position is on top of daddy's head!

 We have found out he loves his tummy being rubbed!

 He often seeks Daddy's protection.....

 The boys gave him lessons on going down the slide. He has been quite keen to have a go himself!

 But kept trying to go up the wrong way!

For all those people have said "Oh Kelpies but they are such active dogs!" Have obviously not met my "such active" boys! At this moment they still wear him out! And I haven't even started walking him up the mountain yet!

 We have discovered he loves the sprinkler almost as much as he loves trying to round up the boys into the sprinkler!

 He has mastered the slide but still needs a hand up the stairs! (He has also overcome his fear of the trampoline but is yet to master those stairs as well!)

 His favourite game is the skipping rope that Matthew tied to his favourite soft toy. This can be a two player game or a one dog game! He drags it around chasing it for hours! I have the most fun helicoptering it over my head and watching him try to catch it!

 And he is still gorgeous and a bit of a camera tart!

He has fit into the Rickard boy mould so well. He has such a spunky personality and we cant imagine our family without him now!

Solar Power!

After seven and a half very long frustrating months we finally turned our solar power system on in November!

 This post could easily become a long winded vent of the inefficiencies of the government and the company that we used to install out system but I am saving that for a letter to my local member of parliament!

 Needless to say the system has become Nathan's new baby. He charts the energy production, cleans it and checks that it is working to maximum capacity often!

We haven't received out first payment yet but we are eagerly awaiting it whilst at the same time patting ourselves on the back for our green consciousness!

No more teachers. No more books!

We finished off the school year with both Matthew and Ryan getting merit certificates. (I don't have a photo of Ryan getting his because it was lost before it could be presented to him!)

Both Matthew and Ryan had a great year at school. Their reports were both very good. Matthew has however hit that age where the fact that he can be disruptive and easily distracted was noted in his report! All of us, including Aunty Teesh using her teacher voice, have spoken to him at length about the value of letting others learn and being open to learning yourself. He is big into pulling laughs from the other boys in the class and by the end of the year it became a bit of a competition to see who could be the stupidest!
Matthew pulled B's in French and of all things PE! He would have got an A if he improved his attitude! His skill levels are phenomenal however his win at all cost attitude is holding him back! It is super funny though because when Matthew tells people he is going to the Olympics for swimming, TaeKwonDo and Athletics they do not doubt him!
Ryan's report showed us how well he is doing in maths! For the kid that is most like me it good to know there is a little of his father in him because the maths genius certainly didn't come from me! Ryan has really developed socially this year. Being one of the youngest in the year and a little different has meant that up until this point he has struggled socially. Not with dire consequences but just enough for it to be a concern but by the end of the year his class room behaviour, ability to pull himself back into check rather than fall apart and his ability to build friendships was greatly improved so much so that his teacher commented on it in his report.
I am very grateful that all of my children are keen to learn and they love school. They appreciate not only the social side but also the academic too. I place full credit for this in the hands of the preschool teachers Debbie and Dorothy. I bid a very sad farewell to them both when Ben had his last day of preschool. I have long said that preschool is the best year of schooling! I have found preschool has opened the boys minds to learning, way more than i ever could. It has been a goal of mine to have smart kids. I've read to them from when they could hold up their heads, we have done puzzle after puzzle, only had education computer games etc but none of this compares to how this little play based early education program can expand their little minds. I have found it expanded not only their own interests but developed new ones spawned from the interests of their peers. And because it is generated from their peers they are much more susceptible to taking up the interest themselves. There have been other benefits from the program but for me this has been by far the greatest benefit from preschool so a huge thank you to the preschool team. Nathan and I are so grateful for your dedication and input into our children!

Only Ryan!

One of my kids is not like the others. He is different and we love him because of it and I greatly admire how comfortable he is being himself!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Christmas time in our house is just crazy! I start with the first Christmas concert at preschool tomorrow. I've been to three Christmas dinners so far! Throw in the added fun of Nathan being overseas and it is even madder. That is my excuse for the poor blogging!

I wanted to quickly share our Chrissy photo from this year!

I also wanted to share Matthews letter to Santa.

I second his request for 15 million truck loads of cash. I really hope the big red fella follows through!

Moo Poo

Many, many years ago there was a man called Ray who had a daughter called Bev. She was in her 20's when Ray took Bev to help him buy some bags of manure. The very helpful sales assistant told Ray not to worry about carrying the heavy bags out to the car, the boy with him would help surely! Bev eventually grew up (and grew boobs too) and had children of her own called Jodie, Jenni, Jacki and Noddy. Ray thought this was great more people to help cart manure!

By the time I grew up Ray no longer bought bags of manure, he bought trailer loads of it! I learnt to drive with a trailer load of manure following me! Now Ray was a massive joker and I spent most of my youth rolled, smothered and shovelling manure.

Ray is no longer with us but his spirit lives on......

Through his great grandsons who have spent the weekend carting, being rolled in and shovelling.....manure!!! It is a little bit funny that when I see manure I think of my Grandad!!!

Movember...Just for Uncle Brenton

Uncle Brenton is currently doing Movember. You can sponsor him here.

Now his mo, 11 days into Movember is a mix between a caterpillar that died on his top lip and breaky that he spilt his on his top lip!

For I while I have doubted his ability to grow a Mo. I've based this on his big brothers attempts last year! So for the last little while I have wagered money that my youngest son Ben could grow a better mo. And here is the proof.....

 It is as white a Uncle Brenty's is!

 And this is not the first time a Rickard boy has sported a moustache. Back in 2009 after a visit from Poppy all three Rickard boys grew Moustaches'. (That were better than Uncle Brenty's!)

Please sponsor Brenty! It is a such a good cause! The link is at the top of the page!