52 photos...week ?!?

Oh dear.  I have simply let this get away on me again.  So rather than go waaaaay back into my photo files, I am just going to start fresh.  hee..

For everyone who is not familiar with my quest, I am trying to document more.  I have been attempting to tell at least one story from the past week, every week.  I guess it is my way of fumbling through Project Life. Ha!  As you can tell, I am no longer fumbling.  hee.. I have clearly dropped the ball!  

So in an effort to get back into documenting the bits and pieces that happen around here  I'll start with this exciting news.... Aussie of the Month!

week 20

Yay Ethan!!  Some of you may remember this...  Mr Smarty-pants was one of the first recipients to be awarded Aussie of the Month in its introductory year - which really was less than 12 months ago (August, 2011).  Here is a little background behind the award...

Every week sees students being awarded on Parade by their teachers and peers, by receiving accolades and praise. Every month, one student from each class gets chosen by their teacher to get "The Student of the Month" award. But the school has just introduced a new incentive for the kids to strive towards....

"AUSSIE OF THE MONTH"

Only four students from the junior school and four students from the senior school are awarded. Eight in total out of those 1300 kids. These kids are not chosen by their "biased" teachers (LOL!), but rather nominated by them. The school Principal has the final say.

The awards are nominated based partly on courtesy, not necessarily academic achievements, being a good sport and of course behavior levels.

 

 

Last week, Ethan was awarded it for the second time!  OMGosh!  I am so proud of him.  When I got the phone call from the school I was actually driving at the time so Tahlia answered my phone.  At my end, all I heard from Tahls, was.. "a-huh.  yep.  okay.  I'll let her know. thanks.  bye."  And she continued reading her book.  me: ?  (don't you just love it when the kids answer the phone?!  LOL!)

 

"Oh.  That was the school, mum.  They want you to go to the office when you get there..."  me:?

 

"I don't know.  She didn't say."  me: !!  Grrr..  LOL!

 

So, by the time I got to the school and found myself at the school office, I really didn't know what to expect.  :)  When they told me Ethan was being awarded Aussie of the Month again, I was quite surprised!  Not that he doesn't deserve it, but more because it is a new concept, and the school is so very large.  I just thought they might want to spread the love around a bit.  IYKWIM... 

 

I was grinning from ear to ear (proud mama moment and all..) when I turned around from the office window and made an instant decision.  Ethan didn't know about it and I wanted it to be a surprise for him.

 

Later that afternoon he stood proudly on the stage and accepted his award and badge.  A big grin on his face too.  He was the smallest kid up there!  And he kept waving to me the whole time!  hahaha!  Too cute.

 

I'll leave you with the words his Year One teacher used to nominate him...

 

"Ethan is respectful of teachers and students alike.  His manners are impeccable and he is polite and confident.  Ethan displays pride in his school and in himself through his conscientious attitude for learning."

 

sigh.  Did I mention I am so proud of my boy... :)  Thanks for visiting..x

52 photos...week?

LOL!  Okay.  I've had a bit of a rough {insert *crazy* here} few weeks and I have kind of fallen off the wagon with my 52 photos.  Soooo... Once again I am playing catch up..

week 14.. school holidays

Ethan is a bit of a camera hog at the moment.  When ever the camera is pointed at him, he immediately goes into rock star mode... or at least some sort of crazy pose!!! hahaha.  Here I think he was also partly excited to away camping, swimming and enjoying the great outdoors!

week 15.. warplane museum

Nanny came for a quick visit and we went to check out the local warplane museum.  Cam thought it was a huge playground, just running around in circles (as two year olds do!) with his big brother watching after him.  Thankfully we were the only ones there and his mischievous antics didn't cause any harm or interruptions... This time!  LOL!!

week 16.. school camp

Tahlia went off on her very first school camp this week.  She didn't go too far from home but I am glad she went.  Each year previous, when the opportunity has come for her to go on school camp, she has always backed out.  I'm glad this year she finally had the courage to let go and enjoy being with her friends.  We've missed her.  And can't wait to hear all about the exciting things she got to do.

Thanks for visiting..x

52 photos...week 11

{off the grid}

Yes.  I have fallen off the grid.  I have no motivation and have not much love for what I create at the moment.  I feel like I've had a blackout, much like the actual ones we had earlier in the week... I've also been busy working away on Master's projects and DT assignments.  Hence the lack of blog posts.... But I have used this time away from the craft room (& computer) to reorganize my space..again! AND I have big plans this weekend for a huge non-"Spring" clean!  hahaha!  So all those unwanted and underfoot kids toys better find a home soon because I am on a mission! LOL!

Hope your weekend is looking good...x

52 photos...week 10

{Enchanted to Meet You}

note:  Before we start... LOL!!  PLEASE ignore that scary looking man in the background of the above photo!  HAHAHAHA!!

Last night Tahlia received her Christmas present from her Uncle Ian and boy was she spoilt!!  My  little girl got to go to her very first concert.... Taylor Swift: Speak Now world tour.  She had been counting down for weeks and was nearly bursting at the seams yesterday morning before going to school.  That was when the countdown became serious and we moved from days to hours and minutes.  :)

Mark had also bought me a ticket as a Christmas present and together, Tahlia and I were really looking forward to the coming evening.  As soon as she got home from school yesterday afternoon, Tahlia started getting ready.  At this point she had a three hour wait before we even left home to go to the Entertainment Centre, and another 1.5 hours before the warm up act started.  LOL!  Tahlia really didn't want to be late!  Once she was dressed and ready to go, she sat (somewhat impatiently) at the front window, waiting for her Uncle Ian to come and get us. 

Can I just say that at this point or at any other point during the course of the evening, the boys weren't phased or jealous in the slightest, that Mummy and Tahlia were going out to a concert!  Thank goodness for that!  LOL!  The x-box and pizza treat was enough to keep them happy!

The sold-out concert was amazing!  The crowd was loud and excited and caught up in Taylor fever!  The entertainment value was seriously worth every penny spent and our seats.... what can I say... nothing but uninterrupted views of the stage.

Taylor Swift definitely knows how to produce a show.  Not a concert, because it was way more than that.  The on-stage dancers were fabulous and Taylor's (many, many) costume changes were hardly noticed.  The stage itself was a magical fairytale of bridges, balconies and secret alcoves.  And for this to be Tahlia's first musical entertainment experience.... well... the barre has been set very high.  :D 

BUT.. The highlight has to have been the moment Taylor Swift walked directly in front of us and high-fived my little girl!  I think Tahlia screamed the loudest then and there, more than throughout the whole evening put together!!!   She went to school this morning, positively giddy with excitement, rushing through the school gates to tell all of her friends... "I touched Taylor Swift!!!  She Hi-fived me!"  LOL!!  I don't think Tahlia could ever have imagined such an evening.  Or had such a sore throat the following day.



Yes.  Tahlia was definitely enchanted to meet Taylor.  I'm so glad we got to do this together and thanks to Ian who was the motivator behind the scenes (well and truly before Christmas) and a big part of the evening as well..x

52 photos...week 9

{the week of wet}

The weather of late has been unpredictable...or predictable in that it has been wet.  Very wet.  And it always, ALWAYS, seems to pour down raining right on 3pm.  School pick up time.

The grass is six foot high and really, that is not far from exaggeration! LOL!  And the back yard requires rubber footwear.  Unless you like that squelchy feeling of mud and grass between your toes.  Sorry.... ewww...  That's not for me.  The frogs are singing in full voice and the mozzies strangely enough, aren't too bad.  I can only put that down to the fact that we have running water through our back yard and it isn't a stagnant breeding pool.

As you can tell from Cam's shirt, the clothes washing isn't drying too well on the line and I'm at the stage where everything requires ironing!  bleh!  And who wants to do that when there is scrapping to be done!  LOL!

Every now and then we get the sun peeking through the storm darkened clouds and the kids race outdoors to stretch their legs.  Of course it doesn't help when they return indoors, covered head to toe in mud and leaving their dirty clothes on the laundry floor for me to work out the best method of washing and drying them all over again.  sigh...  And I tell you what.  My kids must think I absolutely love doing the laundry because the amount of clothes that have piled up over the past week has been phenomenal!

Anyway... here's hoping the sun will shine a little more today, tomorrow and maybe the next.  Thanks for visiting..x

52 photos...week 8

{blah.. blah}

Recently I went to my very first scrap crop at the very lovely Kim Jeffress' place.  It was so nice to be able to sit and scrap.  all.  day!!  LOL!  Kim was the most wonderful hostess and not only did I get to catch up with her, but Gail as well!  Yay!!  What a day.

But while I was there... I was inspired.  Not only by these amazingly talented ladies but also by the equipment they used.  Namely... one old fashioned writing devise.  The humble typewriter!!  LOL! 

So... I went searching on ebay.  My birthday was coming up and I had decided that I needed one too.  ha ha... (This is what I needed to be in the "in" crowd right?) And guess what.  I'm sure it was meant to be.  Listed on ebay was this Adler typewriter.  No bids.  $20.  Good condition.  AND... It was local!!  I couldn't believe it.

My kids look at it with a mixture of amusement and curiosity.  "How does it work, Mum?" "Where's the mouse?" "Do you need to get a monitor to go with it?"  Bwhahahahaha! Sadly I didn't make those questions up.  *sigh*

52 photos...week 7 (and a catch up!)

It's my party!

And the only crying I did was from tears of laughter!  And maybe a little bit of relief that my attempt at making a birthday cake turned out!  hahaha!

Thank you Pinterest for the inspiration!  I think the kids were just as excited as I was to see the beautiful rainbow colours.  phew... Six cakes all stacked up on top of each other!

And why did I make my own birthday cake... Well, Mark is usually pretty good at this kind of thing but... because of this...

It has been a little difficult.

Around here this week, it has been busy.  In the extreme.  Mark has had surgery on his elbow and is now at home recovering.  And as much as it is like "man flu" x 1000... It has been nice to have him home to help with the kids homework in the afternoons and spend the day with me on my birthday.  :)

We are also back at ballet and much to Tahlia's delight, in the new studio that was flooded just before dance classes resumed.  And when I say we... well... obviously it's just Tahlia and not Tahlia and me! LOL!!  Because I'm just the taxi driver at the moment!  hee hee..

Life is all "hussel and bussel".  The kids are really tired from the extra work they have happening at school.   The new curriculum is exhausting them, especially Ethan in Grade One.  The school has even taken away ten minutes at each break time to add to the learning time.  It's all go, go, go!  More reading, more maths and more science.

Thanks for staying with me through this rushed account of our lives for the week.  :)  I have some scrappy shares to show tomorrow and hopefully I'll be back to our regular blogging schedule soon...x

52 photos...week 6

{We are Learning}

It's a process right?!  One that encourages our children to learn.  Or is it more a survival instinct kicking in... helping them get a step up before they start school?  I've always tried to encourage my kids to love learning.  And so far...  It seems to be working.  LOL!  As it is, Prep/Kindy usually has a screening process now anyway.  Or at the very least, in my experience, your four year old gets to have an "interview" with the school Principal and they test them on their letters, numbers, colours, shapes etc...  That's what Ethan had to go through...  Tahlia and Liam just rocked up to school, pencil in hand, ready and eager to get started.  No pre-Prep testing, just the name of their teacher and what class they were in.

I guess the curriculum has changed since Miss T started, waaaaaaayy back in 2005!  And now students can be placed in classes that have others who are at a similar academic level as themselves..

So what does this have to do with Cam...?  Well he's busy learning.  Loving his numbers... two, frwee, hor, h-ive, shix, h-evan, nine!  Loving his colours.  Green, red, pink, blue, orange, yellow, rainbow!  No problems there. :)  And even though he loves looking through books, pointing out several things of interest, his favourite subject this past week have been shapes!  LOL!  Especially if he can make the shapes with his hands.

So, at home we've been busy.  Cutting out the shapes in play-doh, drawing "hircles", "quares" and "ti-angs" on countless pieces of paper and singing "Twinkle, twinkle little star", "Wheels on the bus" and "I love you".

I love this time at home with Cam.  And to be honest, I'm not going out of my way to have the brightest two year old on the block!  LOL!  I just love that he loves to learn.  I want to encourage and nurture that gift.  And hopefully I can do him justice.  Who knows what will keep his interest next week....  (Hopefully not tele-tubbies..LOL!) Hmmmmm.  That scares me!  hahaha!  I think I might need to break out the big guns.  Now where did I put that encyclopedia Britannica set??.... LOL!!!

Thanks for visiting and have fun learning this coming week..x

52 photos...week 5

{Cousins}

photo: A group of kids reluctantly having their photo taken.  Wanting to play and run and yell and chase...  A group of kids... four siblings and one cousin.  A cousin who they have met for the. very. first. time.  Introducing Leah.  She is my brother's daughter.  My niece who is three years old and I am meeting her for. the. very. first. time. as well.   :)

Leah lives in Darwin.  We live in Brisbane.  There is unfortunately a huge distance between us to travel.  And sadly, up until this point, we have not had the opportunity to spend time with her.  But for the last few days, Tahlia, Liam, Ethan and Cam have got to play with this wonderful little chatterbox and get to know her a little better.

This week has been about sharing time with family ...in between the bouts of rain and thunderstorms, flooding and road closures!  LOL!  But we made this get together happen.  Finally.  And it was definitely worthwhile..x

52 photos...week 4

{A Good Year}

Well.... maybe...LOL!  What this photo shares is... three kids, up bright and early, dressed and ready for school.  What it shares is the amazing amount of growing Tahlia and Liam did over the Summer holidays!  What it shares is the excitement of going back to school... for at  least one of them! LOL!

But what it doesn't tell is the story of being prepared to prevent the major getting-ready-for-school rush and flurry.  Or the anxiety and nervousness of entering a higher grade.  What this photo doesn't reflect on is the skip in my heart when I walked them into school and left them in the care of their teachers for the day.  My immediate sense of needing to use a deep breathing technique, as another year passes and they grow more independent.  :)

And of course, it doesn't share the nightmare of school parking on the first day.  Or the drenching rain, as we tried to get into the classrooms without needing a dry set of clothes...  Welcome back to school guys.  Have a great year..x

.................................................

 ps - Thanks everyone who left a comment about me leaving little snippets of family life on my blog.  It has helped me decide to keep blogging as per normal.  I appreciate it...x

52 photos ... week 3

{The line in the sand}

We've been camping.  But it was camping in the hottest week of Summer so far!  Thank goodness we went to a large body of water... Wivenhoe Dam.  And the kids were incredibly eager to get in the water.  Most of them would have stayed in there all day long.  If allowed.  But like I mentioned... It was the hottest week of our Summer so far and that meant sun safety.

Swimming was encouraged.  Oh!  It was definitely encouraged.  On the first day of setting up in 40+ degree heat, I think we all got into the water with the clothes we were wearing!  We went through litres of sunscreen.  And the hats had a massive workout.  But... during the hours of 10.30am til 3pm, there was strictly no swimming allowed.  The sunlight reflecting and bouncing off the water would have had us severely sun burnt within the first five minutes.

So we drew a line in the sand... sort of!  LOL!  We set up a large shade area down by the waterline and used the shadow it cast, as the barrier to which the kids could sit along and wait, not so patiently, until 3 o'clock.

On this day, it was sweltering.  They were all lathered up with sunscreen ready to go and watching the water and the time closely.  In fact, I got so tired of somebody asking me what time it was (and they started at approximately 11.30am) I made a new rule.  Each time the question was asked, I add an extra five minutes of waiting time before they could enter the water.  The twist was, it was added to the group collectively.  Not individually!  LOL!! I think they made the wait time last an extra 40 minutes!! (But we didn't hold them to it!)...x

52 photos...week 2

This week I am sharing two photos.  Mostly because they are of the same tragic story, just different angles! LOL! (and they are from my i-phone).

{Again!!!}

This is the third time.  Same arm, same elbow.  Broken, dislocated and completely tragic.  LOL!  The story is still on going, but this particular chapter started on the 29th of December, last year. The full story starts with the first accident way back in 2009, Boxing Day.   

The Quad Bike Accident - broken, requires sling and rest.  Scared the life out of me.  Mark and Liam rolled the huge quad bike and luckily survived with only Mark's injury to talk about.

Then last year, it was followed up with another chapter.  While at the snow on "Our Big Trip" in June/July, he thought he was younger than he is (sorry honey!!) and had The Snowboarding Accident- broken, almost needs surgery, physiotherapy required, sling and rest.

This time we were at Wet n Wild.  And I'd really love to say that he was doing something completely daring.  Trying out one of the new crazy-out-of-your-mind rides (can you tell I don't like torturing myself by performing feats of madness!!) and he smacked his arm really hard against the side of a water slide tube..etc..  But he didn't.  He didn't even trip over uneven ground and fall hard onto concrete.  But he did save Cameron from drowning.

We were entering the nice sedate cruisey ride at Calypso Beach.  It's one of those ride where you sit on a rubber tube and just float.  Just float.  Mark got in the tube first and reached for Cam.  I passed him over and placed him on top of his chest.  The line up behind us was a bit pushy and impatient.  They kept surging forward to grab the tubes as they floated past.  Liam was in his tube and had just started to enter the current that takes you around in a large moat.  

Cam got a bit scared with the crowd of people moving in and moved unexpectedly.  This movement overbalanced both Mark and Cam in the tube.  They both went under the water.  It all happened so very quickly.  And the lifeguard was standing right next to me.  Literally.

Cam was wearing a toddler life vest.  Thank-goodness for that.  And he cam bobbing straight up from under the surface of the water.  He's a little fish and it didn't phase him one bit.  It was the current of water that worried me.  Immediately as they both went into the water, Mark went to grab Cam.  Instinct kicked in.  That strong parental instinct where you'd do anything for your child.  He twisted his already damaged arm, in among a sea of eager swimmers and their arms and legs surging forward to grab the passing rubber tubes.  They didn't stop to help Mark who was clearly in pain.  Nor did they stop to pass a small boy back to me who could have easily been swept away.  What the people behind me did was grab the tube I was holding out of my hand and use it for themselves...

By this stage I didn't care who had the tube.  Liam was already moving along in the current and I yelled at him to go around once and then quickly return to me.  I couldn't stop him.  He was already a good five meters away from me.  I grabbed at Cam next and pulled him out of the water, alerted the lifeguard, who even though he was standing next to me was still watching the wannabe riders push past.

Mark had gone white.  Really pale.  He had seriously lost all colour in his face and was ready to pass out in the water.  I tried to help him up but I could see his elbow was clearly dislocated.  There was a golf ball size protrusion coming from his elbow socket that was definitely in the wrong area.  I now had Cam in one arm, clinging to me, and grabbing Mark by his rashy (sun safe swim shirt) to help him to the edge of the pool.  He was nursing his arm and trying desperately not to throw up and pass out at the same time.

The lifeguard stated to yell at the line behind us telling them to "back off!".  One lovely lady in her 60s came to my aid.  The only person who offered to help.  She helped me sit Mark up against the edge of the pool and tried to make him comfortable.  The lifeguard by this stage was trying to get medical help over the radio.

Liam still wasn't with us. 

This all happened in seconds.  But it felt like forever.  We were waiting for the nurse to arrive with a wheelchair, who was trying to get through the crowd.  Thankfully, Liam suddenly appeared from behind me and I then had to run off and find everyone else who was in our group (including my Mum, Tahlia and Ethan).  Luckily, some of them were in the same area about 50 meters away in a picnic/relaxing area.  We had traveled to the theme park with two other families.

After informing our friends what had happened, I found Mark in the first aid complex.  One long discussion with the emergency nurse, one torturous wait for an ambulance and one anxious drive on unfamiliar roads, found us at a hospital on the Gold Coast.

The staff at the hospital were amazing.  They were lovely, reassuring and very professional.  Mark had to have an x-ray to determine the damage and assess what needed to be done.  After the x-ray the doctor said he had two options.  1: Mark goes under anesthetic and the elbow goes back into place gently.  It gets put into plaster and there is a follow up with his own GP at home.  2:  Mark goes under anesthetic and the elbow goes back into place with difficulty.  It requires surgery and night in hospital and then we'll see what happens!

I want option one.  And thankfully that is the option that pulled through for us.  I think I had everything crossed that night - fingers and toes - for that outcome. phew...

Fortunately for us, Wet n Wild was open til late (9pm).  Our friends kept our older two kids with them to prevent having to sit them in a waiting room for a few hours while this drama unfolded.  It was also fortunate that despite everything, we managed to get into a hospital that was quiet.  There were hardly any inpatients.  The holiday rush of injuries had lessened. So timing wise, it was perfect.  Our friends left the theme park just as we were discharging Mark and they drove the extra fifteen minutes south so we could all travel home together.  Two hours north.  I am thankful to Calvin and Cindy too, who pushed me out of the driver's seat and took over the driving, so I didn't have to stress about getting us home.  I hate driving.  At the best of times.

So this is the photo story for week two.  Sadly, I have NO photos from Wet n Wild!  LOL!  But by the time we were at the hospital, I had enough humour to take some there.


Thanks for visiting..x

52 photos...week 1

Okay.  So I am going to try this.  Post one photo for the week and then tell the story behind it! Every Tuesday...hopefully!  LOL!  I don't know how successful I'll be. But I sure will try to complete this goal.  And it all falls under my wish to document the quirky stories that occur within my family dynamics.  Who knows what this will lead to.  And I have NO doubt at all that I will scrap some of these stories.  Well... That's bound to happen here.  Right?! hahaha..

I have to say though, to eliminate some of the pressure of posting only the best and most spectacular of photos, I will make a commitment to myself to only add photos that have a story to tell.  You know the ones.. they maybe grainy and have low light.  They maybe overexposed and have no composition.  But if there's a story to share behind the image, I want to document it.  All part of my 2012 plan to tell my story. ;D

I know this isn't a new idea.  Far from it.  LOL!  But by putting this out there, in blogging/cyber space... I might in some small way, encourage you to tell the story of a photo without the pressurized need to scrap it.  If you know what I mean.  After all, doesn't this idea make it easier to scrap at a later date?  Make your LOs become a little more focused?  Of course there is no right or wrong way to scrap.  My urge is plainly to tell the story.  Sometimes a paragraph, a series of note points or perhaps even an epic tale. Whatever is needed.  :D

So here goes.. Week One:

{Firey Shapes}

Tahlia: 01 Jan - our side yard.

Today we experimented with light.  Sparkles and light! And what a better way to bring in the New Year.  Our first attempt wasn't too great.  It really wasn't dark enough to capture the trails of sparks to make our shapes.  But it was fun.  And after dinner we tried again.  This time we had more success.  All the kids wanted to make shapes appear, as if like magic, in the photos.  We got adventurous too.  Not only did we have complete circles but Liam created a letter "L" and Simone produced the number "2".  Hahaha!  Very adventurous.  Unfortunately with fire comes heat and fingers were burnt.  Several fingers.  Normally the kids are very good and in control of not touching the "hot" parts.  But I guess the excitement and their eagerness got the better of them.  Happy New Year..x