Ryan William

Ryan turns 9 today! So close to double digits! Ryan is a very unique individual! He has definitely been sent to us for a reason and I think it may have something to do with hanging on for the ride! 

At 9 Ryan is quirky and imaginative and alternative. I have two kids cut from the same cloth and one who is so completely different and it is so refreshing and so challenging at the same time. I really don't think Matt and Ben being carbon copies bothers Ryan and he definitely doesn't aspire to be just like them, he is very, very comfortable in his own skin and with his uniqueness although deep inside Ryan rests a competitive soul. Its just the laziness that resides in Rye more often than not wins out over his competitiveness! 

Ryan is affectionate and loving and kind. He has the patience of a saint.....until he snaps and goes completely postal! He loves to help with everything except work! Because his competitive side is often dormant he will be the one to take time out and help another child whilst Matthew and Ben are concentrating on whipping the inexperienced child's butts!

Ryan will endeavor to avoid getting in trouble at school at all costs until his curiosity gets the better of him and he suddenly finds himself in deep doo doo which promptly causes his to lose.his.shit! Last year when I casually asked his teacher if he had had a meltdown yet she said no and went Ryan, surely not! She rang me back a few days and went Whoa! His temper is slow to burn but ignites like a firecracker. We often see glimpses of Ryan's inner mongrel when he is on the footy field. It is impressive!

Ryan has a very developed sense of justice. Very heavily skewed in his favour of course! He knows right from wrong, he is just convinced he is never wrong (I really don't know where he gets that from!) He has always been our most outwardly sensitive child. Hurting Ryan's feeling is as hurtful to him as an uppercut. So being Ben's brother is often troublesome for Rye! Smacking is never, never, never an option as punishment for Ryan. It hurts his soul! However taking away his screen time works a charm!

Ryan is addicted to any form of screen. He has his own galaxy tab, chromebook, Wii, xbox and ds. He would love his own tv but that is never gonna happen. Like ever! If he could he would be on minecraft 24/7. And he has huge issues with Mummy's limited screen time policy and plays Daddy (who is much more lax on this issue!) like a puppet, which usually finds them both in  trouble!

So Ryan at 9 is the most loving, unique, quirky, kind and generous boy but cross him and he will go completely postal on your ass! He is the most comfortable of all my children in his own skin and considering how different he is from the rest that is something to be so proud of!

Ryan William, we love you and think you are growing into a fine young man! At 9 you had many many great qualities and some that are still a work in progress! But most of all Daddy and I love you very, very much! xx

Comic Challenge

Complete! All 4 boys have completed their comic challenge. This one was harder than I thought it would be! Ben struggled with his perfectionist tendency which created many an argument. 
Check them all out!

www.matthewswriting2014.blogspot.com

www.ryanswriting2014.blogspot.com

www.benswriting2014.blogspot.com

Next up a lego proposal and appraisal.......

The Adventures of Radical Ryan

Here is Daddy's attempt at a comic strip. Will it be better than the boys? Stay tuned to see....

Mummy's holiday Bucket list

The boys have all now written their holiday to do lists. While I was watching them slave away over them I decided it would only be fair if Nathan and I participated too. So I have already done a Christmas recount and am about to present my list, Nathan will be writing a comic strip and publishing it here soon! But for now here is my list.

1. Spend quality time with my family.
2. Walk my boys and Bolt up my mountain.
3. Take my boys to Questacon.
4. Enjoy a hot date with my gorgeous hubby.
5. Take my family to Brisbane.
6. Get enough beach time in Brisbane to last me all through the Canberra winter.
7. Have at least one pyjama day.
8. Finish my merchandising job.
9. Plan how I am going to spend all of my hard earned cash from my new job!
10. Walk my boys up Mt Ainslie.
11. Pick a mountain we haven't walked up and walk up it.
12. Hire one of the paddle boat on Lake Burley Griffin and paddle my kids around in it.
13. Make my husband paddle me around Lake Burley Griffin.
14. Play cricket with Grumpy and the boys in the park.
15. Pick a museum in Brisbane to take the boys to.
16. Only use public transport not available in Canberra to travel around Brisbane.
17. Laugh at Nathan when he gets sea sick on the ferry on the Brisbane river.
19. Go to breakfast or lunch with my two favourite Canberra girls.
20. Take my Mum, Nan, Aunt and sister out for morning tea.

*edited*  We are marking the ones we have done with red text.

Rickard Writing

My boys don't really like to write. So much so that after Matthew's NAPLAN test last year he told us he didn't actually need to use writing as he wouldn't be using it as a professional athlete! But unfortunately to get to the professional athlete part you need to suffer through years and years and years of school first. And schools LOVE writing! 

So when we got the boys report cards this year and two out of three had a comment about their lack of written skills I decided it was time to bring out the big guns! Using the same theory I used when they were little to encourage a love of reading which has been successful we are now encouraging lots and lots and lots of different ways to write! (With reading it was lots and lots and lots of different books every night.)


After Ryan read Andy Griffins "Once upon a slime" he was keen to publish, he really wasn't keen to write something to be published he just wanted to be miraculously published. So I came up with the idea of them writing their own blogs. I have blogged for years and I love doing it. It has become a catch phrase around here when someone does anything even minutely amusing "That's going on the blog!" They are always keen to feature on the blog so I am hoping when they can feature in their own blog we may be able to spark a tolerance if not a love for writing!

So for a while I nagged, goaded, encouraged, cheered, bribed, yelled and screamed and they each have written their first piece which they have published to their own blogs. Please check them out from the links below. Add them to your favourites. And please, please comment. Teacher friends and family, correct them! Their grammar is terrible. Much like their fathers! Help them with their there, they're, theirs because trust me, by the time they have got to the publish button Nathan and I have nagged, corrected and edited to the point where they will no longer listen. And if you say it, they just might think we know what we are talking about (or in Nathan's case, making up!) and listen to us next time!

We have a plan to assist with their blogging! The plan centers around delivering a written piece each week of the holidays. Week 1 was the Christmas recount, 2 a holiday bucket list (stolen from here), 3 a lego comic strip complete with illustrations, 4 a comprehensive lego design with rationale and analysis, 5 a narrative about Elfelfa the Elf Helper and finally 1 real and 1 made up recipe complete with method.

Thank you in advance for your support and you never know they just might entertain you!

www.matthewswriting2014.blogspot.com

www.ryanswriting2014.blogspot.com

www.benswriting2014.blogspot.com

Before Christmas comes....

The mischief Elfelfa got up to before he left! He painted every ones face to look like Rudolf! 

 Including Poppy's!!!!!!!!

 Then he wrote all over the bathroom mirror. He also wrote "So long Suckers" on the sliding door on his way out! We are still fighting over who should clean it off!

We took all of the family to see the World Record Christmas lights in Forrest. There were over half a million lights on the house and surrounding gardens!

But the boys were far more impressed to have their photo taken with the actual World Record certificate!

 

 The next day the boys were busy cooking and decorating cookies for Santa.

Aunty Kata had a ball too!

 Then Christmas Eve was the full on traditional dinner of Roast Turkey, Lamb, Pork and all the trimmings.

 Ben is a BIG fan of turkey! He gets it from his Uncle Brenton!

Wow! What a huge lead up to Christmas! But we are not done yet because here it comes...... 

Mummy's Christmas Recount

Everybody else has done their Christmas recount so I thought I had better hurry up and do mine!

 Christmas began with a very large delivery from Santa's sleigh! I'm pretty sure he would have needed to go back to the North Pole to restock after unloading this lot!

 Then at the prearranged time of 5.15 am three little men rose. Or maybe they re-rose as Daddy had put Matthew back to be at 1am, to discover that Santa had been. They hot footed it over to Cleon and Michelle's to collect Uncle Brenty and Aunty Kata.

 Then they had to wait and wait and wait until all of the adults got out of bed and got a coffee and then finally sat down ready to watch to proceedings.

 When the starting gun went of there was flying wrapping paper everywhere!

 Bolt wasn't forgotten and he loved his new bird and he promptly tore off an eye and a leg and is currently in surgery trying to remove the birdies squeaker heart!

But what Bolty really wanted for Christmas was the boys new Sherrin from Brenty and Kata! Look at the look on his face while he is looking at that ball!

 Daddy was thrilled to share Christmas with his little brother!

 Ben was thrilled that Mummy and Daddy gave him a tablet so now when he goes for Sunday morning donuts and baby chinos he has his own tablet to play. 

 This photo shows just how thankful and full of love he was for his Mummy! Trust me he put a lot of love in that squeezing hug!

 Ryan was super, super thrilled with his Chromebook. If you look closely it is written all over his face!

 Matthew was thinking his new go pro was going to help him make awesome lego movies!

 Kata and Brenton were just thinking if it was time to go back to bed yet! ;-)

 Nana was having fun but the coffee hadn't hit Poppy yet!

 Up there with Ben's favourite present was his Max D t-shirt that Santa got him from the monster truck show. He was super impressed that Santa was able to source it from the show and so far has been sticking to the conditions Santa placed upon his ownership of the shirt. Santa included a return address so if Ben doesn't comply with the conditions Mummy has to send it back!

 As you can see they were all very, very, impressed with their Christmas haul.

 But by far the favourite present for all three boys has been their flat caps. The first night I had to tell all three to take them off for bed and since that moment they only take them off for bed!

 Oh! Look the coffee has hit! Poppy is awake!

 Daddy love,love, loved the Mark Webber Red Bull F1 remote control car that Mummy got him. He took it out of the box for a very quick spin and then promptly installed it in the bookcase above his desk in his mancave study!

Lunch was a very lavish affair with table decorations, personalised name cards, candles and best of all buckets and buckets of food. Ben ate his body weight in prawns including 'prawn gravy' otherwise known as the brains!

After lunch the 4X4 remote control car and jump that Nana Bev and Grumpy brought the boys got a spin and plenty of air!

 Then this is what the afternoon looked like....

 Or this for those who had worked their guts out in the kitchen for two days!

I hope your Christmas was as Merry as ours!