School, stitches and a little Possum

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We’ve had a big week so far – school continues to be great for Jess. She has settled in really well, bought home her very first readers (level 2 – Big Grin for Jess) and loves sports day when she can wear her green skirt. After the first day she informed me that the school had “3000 toilets and the girls toilet has a picture of a girl wearing a dress, but the boy is naked”. They also pray each morning to “Gawd” so we are working on elocution as well!!

On Sunday Justin, Holly Amy and I went for a walk around the mountain while there was a break in the rain. We left Meg and Jess playing with GND (Girl next door). When we got home there was a distraught neighbour babbling on about ..Jess…tree…hospital…arm…

It turns out Jess fell out of the tree, gave her arm a really deep and long gash and they took her to Emergency. I drew the short straw and had to dash off to the hospital to see the blood, face the tears etc. Strong, brave, manly Justin choose to stay home with the other kids! Jess was the brave one apparently, with Meg being a trifle upset about the incident (she is always the one who has the greatest empathy for others). So we waited at the ED for about 2 hours before being taken in. Mum graciously came and sat with us to keep us company. The Doctor was lovely and calmed Jess down who was freaking out about having a needle, but then didn’t even notice when it was going in. “Have you done it?” she asked him incredulously. He was a good sport! 7 stitches later she was all done and jumping out of her skin to get home and show everyone. The bandage around the spot also gained a lot of mileage.

Monday was to be my first day alone (as in with all the children in official “care”) with Amy starting Possums Playschool, but Jess stayed home as a result of her injuries. That was OK. She just took it easy and we had a nice day together.

So… Possums!! Dropped off Miss Independent at 9.15am. Sam was there so she had all that was important to her. “Bye mum”. 9.20am back in the car and leaving my baby behind. I knew she would be ok, but I have to admit I did miss her! Having Jess home filled the void, but Tuesday I was on my own, laughing all the way to the shops, enjoying 2 hours walking around, coming home and doing what I wanted (Oh sweet Oprah it has been too long since we last met), then picking them all up. She had a ball. She was dirty and tired, but full of chat and keen to go back next week. She is fairly exhausted now (Wednesday) so we are having a quiet day to regroup our energies.

Bootcamp is going great. I just love it. Monday we boxed and ran, did millions of push ups and many minutes of wall squats. My thighs are getting very strong (Justin did comment that I looked like Serena Williams but insisted it was a good thing after I socked him over the head with my shoe). This morning we did more running and then stations – one was lying flat on our backs doing lift ups with tyres, another was throwing medicine balls and the other was lifting kettle bells. In the running (2 laps around the oval) the Boy beat me, but I kept pace and made him work really, really hard for it. I was working hard too!! When I got home I told Jess about the young whipper-snapper who beat me and she said, “Well that is because he is in the Olympic Games”. Jess, my champion, of course no-one could beat her mum who wasn’t of Olympic caliber!

Holly and Meg are taking part in a Triatlon on Sunday. It takes in a 100m Swim (in the AIS Pool), 3km ride and 500m run. It is just for fun and not a race, but they are pumped and I hope they compete well and in the right spirit. Keeping fingers crossed for no rain.

I’m going out to dinner tonight with my best girls. Been trying to arrange it for ages. One delicious Thai meal coming up.

Take it easy till next time……….


in the thick of it

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Homework….the school is really cracking down on reading, spelling and maths. This is great and I am all for a bit of work at home. However, I am realizing that with 3 children needing supervision while homeworking I’m not going to get much done. I have actually begun to make this statement in my head “This is about the children – my home duties have to come second and I am just going to have to do this and get over it”. The girls get too distracted if I am not there on hand to help out, and then they muck around, and homework time goes on and on. It is overwhelming. I need a strategy and I am hoping that a dedicated homework time is the answer. Simple – seems so. Managing 3 of them doing homework is a tuff gig. We’ll see how things go this week. Maybe this is what other people do and I am just realising it? How do full time workers manage? It is for the good of the kids…It’s for the good of the kids

Jess cried today when I dropped her at school. Big fat tears rolled down her cheeks. It broke my heart, but the teacher said she’d be ok when I leave (ie please leave!). Went on to have morning tea with some mums who have become good friends of mine. They say the right things and understand. Funny isn’t it – how you think you are muddling along all alone, but we are all feeling the same way underneath. I love my friends.

Ok, enough of the melancholy stuff for now. Jess really got to me. Might need another coffee!!!


Full-Time School

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Jess is there – all day! She was a bit worried this morning. She had a cry and it all tumbled out. That she might not know what to do; it might be hard; Amy will be at Possums and I’ll be all alone. Ahh – precious girl, worried that I might be lonely! I assured her that the mounting pile of work on my desk meant that I could never be lonely. She toddled off happily when I dropped her at school, and I’ll be collecting them shortly, so I really hope she was OK.

Amy was dressed in her usual array of fantasy outfits on the weekend and I got this photo of her with the HUGE dog over the road. Sadie is just a puppy…..
Amy and Sadie

We went to Possums Playschool this morning for Orientation. Amy played solo but had an absolute ball and didn’t want to come home. She will be OK there. I’m just worried about what might happen at the time she normally has a sleep and there is no blanky there! I guess she’ll learn to cope – the others had to!

This week we are back into full swing with dancing, swimming etc. The schedule is getting more complicated as they get into the older agegroups, so a bit more running to and fro. I guess this is only the beginning in terms of the taxi service.

Bootcamp is going great. Twice a week I’ve been pounding the oval with a group of women (Lisa included, she got me hooked) at 6am till 7. I just love it. Worked hard this morning and am exhausted. Just had a sleep for an hour or so and that is not like me at all! The trainer had us running, then pushups, lunges, squats, jumps and dips. Even though it is tiring, I feel that I have to put in extra effort (seeing that I am making such an effort to get there) and it is paying off in terms of how strong I have become. I think I have some side abs! I am more toned and fitter than ever before. Push-ups on my toes were once only a dream, now I can do lots of them. It is helping with my overall fitness and making running a lot easier. I did a 6km run yesterday and it felt easy compared with 5km that I did say this time last year. While the body holds up, I’ll keep going. Also, we had a boy come to class today and I had to kick his butt. We just can’t have young blokes rocking up thinking that they can whip us!

xx


Kindergarten Girl

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The day has finally come. As she came down the stairs this morning, all sleepy and rustic, I actually got all teary. We had a cuddle and an upbeat talk about the day. She was very excited to have her shoes on, uniform neat and tidy and lunch in her lunch box. After yesterday’s debacle we were ready to go with time to spare.

First day for Jess 2010
Off we go
Arriving at school was great. She went straight into her class, found her name at her desk and greeted her friends. She was OK!
IMG_5404

She is home now (they only had a half day today) and she is full of news about what she did. I’m very proud of her (and proud of me for not crying!).


Holiday Wrap up

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6 weeks is a long holiday right? Haven’t really had a chance to update over that time because life is pretty hectic and also I have a 9 yr old who loves being on the computer!

    Holiday highlights:

Went to Dubbo with James and Rowena, stayed in a great place with 3 pools and plenty of space and went to Western Plains Zoo over 2 days. It was a great break and the kids had a ball with Oscar, especially Amy, who loves him dearly.
kids in Dubbo 2010

on the hippos at Dubbo
We took a day trip down the coast. Had lunch under a beach umbrella, kids boogie-boarded, and I got extremely sunburnt. Not a good look to have skin falling off you while you are at work!
Us in Dubbo 2010

It was Holly’s 9th Birthday. She had a few friends over. Justin took them to the movies, and we ate a lot of cake!
Holly's 9th Birthday

On Australia Day we headed out to Casuarina Sands and had a BBQ while the kids swam in the Murrumbidgee River. It was blissful. We went back again on the weekend and the girls boogie-boarded there. No waves, but some great space to get some speed up.

Jessica mastered riding her bike without the training wheels, and Amy is learning to ride hers with the trainers. Big milestones for both of them, and both equally proud of their achievement.

The rest of the holidays were a jumble of swimming, friends over, going to friends places and more swimming. I even took the kids into work to test their hearing because I thought that over the break they had lost some – it turns out they were just ignoring me!

It was super to catch up with Laura and Giri, home from the UK at last; Gavin and Louisa on hols from Melbourne; and the ENTIRE family over here on New Years Eve where we took this amazing photo of us all. 4 generations, 12 kids and 26 of us in total (including James and Sascha’s baby bump).
1 January 2010 078

Back tomorrow!! xx


Oh My..

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Haven’t the holidays been LONG!

Today is the first day back at school and I have to admit that I am pleased. The hols were great, but I am a bit overdone, a bit tired and cranky, and in need of house order again. Having said that, this morning we got up and were on time to get the girls to school. We walked out the house to take some pictures and locked the keys inside. With no time to spare, we ran/sprinted/walked down to school and arrived late. We couldn’t find classes, there were people everywhere wanting to know why we were late, I just wanted to cry!! Not a great start. Thankfully it wasn’t Jess’s first day, that is tomorrow when I shall surely shed a tear or two.

So here are my 2 big girls, Holly (year 4) and Meg, year 2, off to their first day.

Meg and Holly
on first day of school 2010

And here are my four beautiful daughters.
Girls before school 2010

Will post a pic of the new Kindergarten girl tomorrow.

xx