Cutting Kids Fingernails

There is no book, explanation, instructions to cutting kids fingernails. It can be one of the hardest jobs on this earth. It sort of gets easier as they get older and then sometimes it doesn't. It depends on their mood. Its also one of those things that you forget to do, until either they scratch you or you see a scratch on their face and then you think.....oh...fingernails!!! I once asked Brad if he wanted to do it, he promptly opted for NO. If it didn't cost too much to have them manicured, I'd probably give this a go. ha ha ha ha. So the next time you see someone cutting their kids fingernails, look at them in awe, its a bloody hard job to do.

Terrible Two's

I'm convinced we've hit the terrible two's early with Alicia. Ewan didn't go through that stage until his 3rd birthday. She started at 18mths. Yes, I know that it evens out almost but thats not the point.

Is it because she is a girl and a little more forceful, whereas Ewan was more laid back? I don't know. She knows her mind and will not compromise at all. Maybe she has learnt to defend herself. With an older brother (believe me) you need to learn every tactic in the book and create some on the fly. Most people would see this as creativity, even genius, we see it as defiance and down right naughtiness.

Is it a stage? Yes we keep telling ourselves. Lets hope it doesn't last long. I can almost hear you all chuckling in the background.

Tell me, would butter melt in her mouth?

40th Wedding Anniversary

Dee and Jim celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary the other day. My parents celebrated it last year, so there are people out there that are defying the odds. A huge accomplishment and I for one am in awe of this.

Congratulations to all those that are willing to compromise, sacrifice, love, support and cherish in sickness and whilst angry. Its hard work, but someone has to do it.

Brad Hates Shopping

Apparently Brad hates shopping. NOOOoooooo.

We all went shopping last night and before we even got there, he was complaining about how he doesn't like shopping. My comment was, "When was the last time you went shopping?" Only a couple of weeks ago because it was my birthday. However before then..........(this is Brad thinking) (maybe I should try and include thinking music) he couldn't remember.

All those Christmas presents I have wrapped (yes, me) I bought by myself. The birthday present the kids gave me, except one, I bought. God help him if I am unable to go to the shop for the Christmas food. He'd need a valium before and after the shopping experience.

I'm not saying that I don't like to shop but I certainly don't want to be hearing him whinge about shopping.

There he was last night, sitting on a bench in Big W, feeding the kids chocolate, whilst I mosied around. It was only when he got involved in the shopping and Ewan that the amount spent went up considerably. I should learn. Don't bring them for many many reasons.

Teething - you can't avoid it

We had a rough night last night. I think Miss Alicia is teething. This is generally the reason why she wakes in the middle of the night and then won't sleep for two hours.
I hate teething, or the impact of teething. I can only imagine what it feels like. I only know the after affects ie lack of sleep. I think it is worse because Alicia generally sleeps very well and through the night, so when we have an issue, it seems to feel worse than it really is.
All I can say now, is that we expect a few more nights like last night, because she doesn't really have that many teeth.
Oh the joys!!!

Vaccinations - the necessary evil

I am lucky enough to have a 4 year old, due for vaccinations and an 18 mth old, due as well. Seriously, someone must hate me.

Well we ventured out today to have these dreaded vaccines. I didn't tell Ewan (of course) and Alicia still has no idea anyway. I was armed with chocolates and as it turns out, so was the nurse. So we waited and waited which increased my anxiety until finally it was our turn. Well Ewan obviously remembers the last time we went into that room because he straight away was saying, "Alicia first, do Alicia first". So I was busy distracting him and discussing the pictures on the wall. He had an injection in each arm and by the second one he knew exactly what was going to happen. He did extremely well and so did she. She wasn't happy during and straight after but by the time we left the room both were silent and content just to be going.

I on the other hand didn't realise until after but I was a bundle of nerves. My hands were shaking and I was feeling like a really nasty mum. But we have to do these things and if you looked at both of them now, it is like nothing even happened. I suppose a trip through the toy section of the shopping centre helps heaps.

Thank god the next one I have to witness is Alicia's at 4 years. Maybe I will bribe their dad for that one.

Ewan and his Swimming

We have been swimming again today. The 3rd time in 5 days. We had a few make up lessons and I have never been so proud of Ewan. As some of you will be aware, Ewan has had 'issues' with swimming for at least a month or more. Issues, meaning that he doesn't want to put his head under water, he gets extremely scared and apprehensive. I have been thinking whether it was worth it, because he continually gets upset and I think not making any progress at all. Well, today he proved me wrong. He had a great lesson and he has progressed in leaps and bounds. I am hoping that this isn't a fluke. Not only did he swim unaided (I was so proud I could have cried) but he also jumped off the step, which he hasn't wanted to do for ages. Hence he was rewarded with 2 certificates. I gushed and gushed about how good this was and said that I thought his dad would be really happy. I think I even saw a glimmer of pride in Ewans eyes. So the perserverence has paid off, for this week anyway.

Alicia also did very well, for her first class as a Waterbabies Advanced. She was swimming by herself with floaties on. She thought this was funny and continues to laugh, splash, and jump.

I AM VERY PROUD OF BOTH THE KIDLYWINKS

Mother duck and her baby ducklings

You won't believe what we saw yesterday!!!
I heard a commotion out the front with the Miner Birds, assuming they were squawking at a dog I went to investigate. What I was confronted with was.....a mother duck and her baby ducklings ambling across the school oval. Of course it was a shock and then reality hit in. She was going to have to cross the main road. Now this road is not a main main road but nevertheless, its certainly busy. She aimed herself straight for it and once out of the school grounds was on a mission. I was feeling extremely sick in the stomach. Firstly, how did she come to being at the school in the first place. Yes, the river is not very far away but she would have had to cross the road the first time. Stupid women.
I was mortified, and convinced that all would not be well. So much so, I did contemplate stopping traffic and possibly getting hit whilst doing so. As fate would have it, she and her ducklings did cross safely and were last seen, waddling across another oval in the general direction of the river. Why does stuff like that happen to me. Was I supposed to help her? Is someone teaching me a lesson? I don't know.
Once I had calmed down, I continued to think about it. Casually asking Brad, "Where was the dad?" to Brads reply "At the pub, where he is supposed to be" If you know my husband, you know that he was only joking but he did answer the question quite quickly.
Anyway, I'm glad that all ended well because I'm not sure I would have been able to walk past the accident scene when on my way to the bus stop for work.

Holiday continued

From Halls Gap we drove into Melbourne and stayed at Braybrook. This side of Melbourne. We had more people to see including Dave Doyle (another Mad Max freak) and Steve and Kerry and their kids who we hadn't seen for years. The kids liked their next cubby house and were still content to ride in the car and obviously play with other peoples toys. Catching up with the guys and being updated where everyone was at was good.

Next stop, Aunty Fonas and Uncle Snots. But we had to visit the Melbourne aquarium first. Ewan thought it was great. We saw everything you could imagine, sharks, stingrays, Nemos and Dories, sea horses and jelly fish. The tunnel was a really good way to see them interact with other sealife semi naturally and of course there is a shop to buy a tonne of stuff after. Yes, we bought stuff. How could you not.

Melbourne Aquarium

We had lunch in at the Crown Casino and then were off to Fiona's. We cramped their style and actually stayed with them for 2 nights. Little Phoenix wasn't too well but she handled it really well and by the time we left, thought she had an older brother and younger sister. She was right into the whole sibling thing. Good luck with that Fiona.

Well that was it for our Melbourne Holiday, we were on our way back home, in two stages this time and not 3 as previously. I for one was not necessarily looking forward to this. We stopped at Ballarat for one night and caught up with a friend I met at BT. She has two gorgeous girls and this was the first time I had met either of them. We went for tea and returned to our last cubby house. (cabin at the caravan park).

Next day we set off, without a plan but a lot of humour. Thankfully we didn't need to use it. The kids were awesome. Ewan was content to watch for hours and hours the DVD player and Alicia watched the DVD player, slpt, played on the equipment after lunch, watched the DVD player and slept. How cool was that. Even Brad had a break from driving and sat in the back watching Batman Begins.

All in all, it was a fabulous holiday, one Ewan won't forget in a hurry, especially when he hears the word Melbourne. We should do it again soon, even if it is a shorter trip. We all bonded and actually relaxed. Everyone had their part of the holiday fulfilled and there were no grumble bums. I'm sure Brad will say this too. I will post more photos on flicked, so make sure that you check that out aswell.

More Photos from Melbourne Trip

Bouncy Pillow

Mt William

Deer and Echidna on the way to Silverband Falls

At Silverband Falls

Photos from Melbourne trip

McKenzie Falls

Reid Lookout

Boroka Lookout

We've been Away

You won't believe this, but we have been away on a family holiday.
This was our first family holiday ever (with Alicia) and the kids were great. We went to Melbourne via a few places first. I will recommend that you buy an incar DVD player first, if you intend to drive for long distances. The best $300 bucks we've sent for ages. So......
Firstly we went to Horsham via Bordertown and the white kangaroos. Ewan thought they were cool and a little weird. Alicia was just excited to be out of the car.

The stop didn't last long but no sooner were we back in the car, that we were out again getting photos of the 'Welcome to Victoria' sign. Boy parents can be slightly annoying. Little did we know that it was going to be the norm (getting in and out of the car because we had to see every lookout of course)

We got to Horsham okay and we had a meal at the local pub with some people Brad knew from the Mad Max forum. Yes, I know. As it turns out, he is one of the DJ's for the local radio

station. So Brad was happy to be talking Mad Max. I can't show you the picture we took because it involves two of the males in this family, kicking back, watching tv from the lounge with only their jocks on. Disgusting to say the least. You wouldn't catch Alicia and myself in such a predicament. Typical males.

Anyway, the first stop the next day was at McKenzie Falls, we were on our way to Halls Gap in the Grampians. We only walked half way down the falls but got a very good taste of what they were like. See photo in next blog. Next stop, Reid Lookout, where we had to fend for ourselves because a huge group of senior citzs happened to turn up the exact time we did. There were beautiful views for almost 360 degrees. It was a little bit sad to see where the fire had been and it came really close to Halls Gap. See photo in next blog. Next stop, Boroka Lookout. By this time, the kids and myself were a little bit over the whole landscape thing and just wanted to get to the next place. But we perserved and the wait for Halls Gap was worth it. See photo in next blog. The cabin was cool and the next best thing to an incar DVD is a giant pillow that can fit a lot of people and is really funny especially if there are a lot of big people bouncing and little people on it because they go flying like little birds in all different directions. It was hilarous. We were lucky enough to have a similar experience in Ballarat. We all went kangaroo hunting that night. We saw one kangaroo that didn't prepare us for the next nights delights. We just had to get through the next day first and that was an understatement as it turns out.

We visited Mt William because the lady on reception said that that is where the best views are and the path to the top was bitumen which meant that you can take the pram. Awesome. Sounds like something we could do. So we drove and drove, which then lead us to the turn off, so we continued to drive and drive and finally reached a car park. Cool. The sign said something like 2km to the top. Again sounds like something we could do. How wrong we were. The steepness was out of control. It had to be at least at a 35 degree angle. For 2km. Brad a I took it in turns to push the pram and piggy back Ewan. He did walk for a little bit but .... not much. Thank god there were little gecko things to look at and ponder for a second because this walk was turning into a battle of the wills. I couldn't get the image of the Neuschwenstein out of my head. And for those who don't that, its the castle that King Ludwig had built and to get to it, its about a 30min walk at a 45 degree angle. Hard on the way up, but harder on the way down. Well at least we can say that we did it, not that the kids will remember which means we will have to do it again one day but hopefully not dragging or pushing someone up. See photo in next blog. Yes the views were awesome but seriously there should be an easier way. There is a plaque at the top stating that Major Mitchell somone climbed this mountain in 1836. My first thought was, 'Why?' my second was, 'Bet you couldn't do this with kids' We did have a fairly pleasant walk to the Silverband Falls and thankfully came across a deer and an echidna which broke up the walk. The Falls themselves were only really tiny and seemed to go underground but the water was nice. We walked back and the deer and echidna were still there so we stopped again. It was pretty hot that day and we were all ready for a rest. One of the coolest things happened that night. We went for an icecream in the main street and came across a kangaroo in the main street whilst driving. It was a very casual fella and acted liked it hopped amongst traffic every day. That was cool. I think we saw the same one a little later on when we went for a walk down the main street. Brad and Ewan were able to get to a couple of metres away before it started to get gittery. I think Ewan thought this was great. Certainly something that doesn't happen every day. Halls Gap was beautiful and we had a really good time there. We will be back.

Stay tuned, there is more to come about the fabulous holiday.