What's happened between Boxing Day and NYE?
We went for a drive up the mountains on the 27th. It was a very slow and pleasant day. The kids took an eternity to go to sleep on the way up, and Hayzey didn't sleep at all on the way back. While up their we all went for a small bushwalk around the Leura Cascades. Both kids were fascinated by the rive and waterfalls. Neither wanted to walk back up the hills or steps ...
The days of the 28th and 29th were days of not much at all. We did a pretty good cleanup on the 28th and had some nice games on the 29th. We've even managed to get out the pools a couple of times.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Boxing Day
We woke up tired on Boxing Day - and knowing that it was virtually Christmas Day part 2. The only difference was slightly less gifts.
We had a fairly slow paced brekky and shortly after Grandma went back to Katoomba. Nanna stayed around to help with some food prep and the kids were highly aggravated by excitement and fatigue. We'd had enough of this by 09:30 so I took them out for a drive which, as hoped, turned into a sleep. I made sure it was a good long drive because it was far too easy to see them waking when we got home. As it turns out LGR did wake but Hayzey had a very good snooze.
Our guest started arriving a little later today. I think most of them felt the same as we did ... We'd lost Grandma but gained a Grandpa and Jan. Other than this it was all the same people.
We'd decided to BBQ today. This was a good decision - even though the BBQ ran out of gas about 3 minutes before I was finished :-) No matter. Lunch was taken in a more ad hoc fashion today with a number of folks choosing to eat outside. It made everything a touch disjointed but there was plenty of space as a result.
After lunch we opened some more presents. By this stage our garage was filling up very quickly with discarded boxes and wrapping paper - one of the hidden downfalls of having Christmas at your place.
The afternoon slowly wound down. Soon enough everyone had left except for Grandpa and Jan - meaing the kids slowed down a bit. They were in bed by 19:30. And without an argument!! After this it was very, very nice to sit back and relax for a bit.
We had a fairly slow paced brekky and shortly after Grandma went back to Katoomba. Nanna stayed around to help with some food prep and the kids were highly aggravated by excitement and fatigue. We'd had enough of this by 09:30 so I took them out for a drive which, as hoped, turned into a sleep. I made sure it was a good long drive because it was far too easy to see them waking when we got home. As it turns out LGR did wake but Hayzey had a very good snooze.
Our guest started arriving a little later today. I think most of them felt the same as we did ... We'd lost Grandma but gained a Grandpa and Jan. Other than this it was all the same people.
We'd decided to BBQ today. This was a good decision - even though the BBQ ran out of gas about 3 minutes before I was finished :-) No matter. Lunch was taken in a more ad hoc fashion today with a number of folks choosing to eat outside. It made everything a touch disjointed but there was plenty of space as a result.
After lunch we opened some more presents. By this stage our garage was filling up very quickly with discarded boxes and wrapping paper - one of the hidden downfalls of having Christmas at your place.
The afternoon slowly wound down. Soon enough everyone had left except for Grandpa and Jan - meaing the kids slowed down a bit. They were in bed by 19:30. And without an argument!! After this it was very, very nice to sit back and relax for a bit.
Christmas
Christmas has been and gone. Seemed to go on for a while too. It's New Years Eve and we still haven't disbursed all of our gifts. I'm sure we will soon enough.
We had a good Christmas. Very tiring but a lot of fun. Not really sure where to start. Maybe Christmas morning? Good enough ...
Somehow Mrs G and I woke before the kids. This meant that when they finally woke we were able to respond in a coherent fashion rather than sleepily stumbling around. Soon enough they did wake - and then Nanna and Grandma were also woken. Downstairs for presents and then some breakfast.
Soon after brekky we started food prep (again) and our guests started rocking in about 10:30. By 11:30 we were opening more presents with LGR's cousins, and Aunt LJ and UA. For some reason Nanna seemed to get a lot of gifts this year ...
Due to reduced numbers we were able to have a sit down lunch. It was quite nice - and much more sociable than having everyone wander around aimlessly. The food was reasonably good (I thought) and everyone got along swimmingly.
In mid afternoon the cousins and Aunt LJ/UA all left for their next destination. This gave us a grace period to have a bit of a cleanup and a bit of a rest. It was over all too quickly and soon after Uncle G was down and more present opening followed. Dinner ended up being a bit of a nothing event - as usual we had eaten far too much food.
We had a good Christmas. Very tiring but a lot of fun. Not really sure where to start. Maybe Christmas morning? Good enough ...
Somehow Mrs G and I woke before the kids. This meant that when they finally woke we were able to respond in a coherent fashion rather than sleepily stumbling around. Soon enough they did wake - and then Nanna and Grandma were also woken. Downstairs for presents and then some breakfast.
Soon after brekky we started food prep (again) and our guests started rocking in about 10:30. By 11:30 we were opening more presents with LGR's cousins, and Aunt LJ and UA. For some reason Nanna seemed to get a lot of gifts this year ...
Due to reduced numbers we were able to have a sit down lunch. It was quite nice - and much more sociable than having everyone wander around aimlessly. The food was reasonably good (I thought) and everyone got along swimmingly.
In mid afternoon the cousins and Aunt LJ/UA all left for their next destination. This gave us a grace period to have a bit of a cleanup and a bit of a rest. It was over all too quickly and soon after Uncle G was down and more present opening followed. Dinner ended up being a bit of a nothing event - as usual we had eaten far too much food.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Christmas Eve
We're all ready for Christmas. And in a surprisingly good state - apart from the constant fatigue.
The weekend has been quite busy but it won't sound that way when I write about it. We did the final swimming lessons for the year yesterday and then headed off to get some drinks with Aunt BJ. While at the shops we picked up our ham and turkey and got some medication for Hayzey. She had picked up a nasty bit of conjunctivitis overnight and a bit of a fever too.
From here it was home for some easy time and a bit of lunch. Aunt BJ shot through to pick up her Nanna from the airport and we went to do some grocery shopping for Christmas. Ended up getting a bit more than we needed but at least we'll have enough ....
The afternoon was spent cleaning up and getting ready to go out to Clan McK's place for dinner. It was a nice night. I got to drink some beer out of a can (not all that good) and we had a BBQ and let the kids run around. Hayzey passed out at about 19:30 but couldn't quite get comfortable.
Once home we finished wrapping presents and even had a surprise visit - we'd left Tommy the Teddy behind and Mrs McK kindly brought it around for Lochie's pleasure.
Sunday ...
Hayzey woke up at 05:30 and by 06:00 we were out running. In the rain as it turned out. I felt a bit because she was getting wet but by the time it started raining we were about 15 minutes from home and there wasn't a lot I could do about it.
In spite of this Hayzey was in a great mood when we got back - but still crook so the medication continued. I showered and dressed and then went out to get the fruit and veg for Christmas along with some bread and bargain priced meat. Back home and into the cooking - turkey and potato salad for me and Mrs G finished off some things she started on Friday.
Nanna and Grandma both arrived just before lunch and the kids were quite happy to see them. After lunch I had a quick snooze and was woken up by the sound of Aunt LJ unloading a heap of presents from her car. For the next couple of hours we all did nothing much but kept generally busy. I carved (and then hacked) up the turkey while others did .... other things. Eventually we all settled down to a nice antipasto platter and some chatting.
Eventually Aunt LJ and UA had to leave so dinner was cooked while the kids bathed. We ate, then played and then watched some Christmas TV. As I type the kids have just gone to bed and Nanna, Grandma and Mrs G are all sitting down watching some Christmas Carols.
It's almost Christmas day :-)
The weekend has been quite busy but it won't sound that way when I write about it. We did the final swimming lessons for the year yesterday and then headed off to get some drinks with Aunt BJ. While at the shops we picked up our ham and turkey and got some medication for Hayzey. She had picked up a nasty bit of conjunctivitis overnight and a bit of a fever too.
From here it was home for some easy time and a bit of lunch. Aunt BJ shot through to pick up her Nanna from the airport and we went to do some grocery shopping for Christmas. Ended up getting a bit more than we needed but at least we'll have enough ....
The afternoon was spent cleaning up and getting ready to go out to Clan McK's place for dinner. It was a nice night. I got to drink some beer out of a can (not all that good) and we had a BBQ and let the kids run around. Hayzey passed out at about 19:30 but couldn't quite get comfortable.
Once home we finished wrapping presents and even had a surprise visit - we'd left Tommy the Teddy behind and Mrs McK kindly brought it around for Lochie's pleasure.
Sunday ...
Hayzey woke up at 05:30 and by 06:00 we were out running. In the rain as it turned out. I felt a bit because she was getting wet but by the time it started raining we were about 15 minutes from home and there wasn't a lot I could do about it.
In spite of this Hayzey was in a great mood when we got back - but still crook so the medication continued. I showered and dressed and then went out to get the fruit and veg for Christmas along with some bread and bargain priced meat. Back home and into the cooking - turkey and potato salad for me and Mrs G finished off some things she started on Friday.
Nanna and Grandma both arrived just before lunch and the kids were quite happy to see them. After lunch I had a quick snooze and was woken up by the sound of Aunt LJ unloading a heap of presents from her car. For the next couple of hours we all did nothing much but kept generally busy. I carved (and then hacked) up the turkey while others did .... other things. Eventually we all settled down to a nice antipasto platter and some chatting.
Eventually Aunt LJ and UA had to leave so dinner was cooked while the kids bathed. We ate, then played and then watched some Christmas TV. As I type the kids have just gone to bed and Nanna, Grandma and Mrs G are all sitting down watching some Christmas Carols.
It's almost Christmas day :-)
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Holidays
I'm now on holidays. I suppose technically my Annual Leave doesn't start until next Wednesday but in my brain I am already on holidays.
Somewhat predictably we all finished up a wee bit early at work today. I came home to discover LGR had slept for 3.5 hours and then asked for 3 sandwiches for lunch. Once he had eaten, and Hayzey woken up from her own little sleep, we went outside to do some work in the garden. We started by putting some pebble mulch in some plants and doing a spot of watering, and then moved on to watering each other. Initially this went down like a lead balloon but before too long it was all fun ...
Next was some work in the front yard - planting a bunch of succulents generously donated by Aunt LJ and UA. While we were out there Santa rode up on an Australia Post and gave us some mail!! The kids were keen to help out and brought their little shovels and rakes to help dig holes. They even chose the location of the plants.
And that was about it.
---
There was a very eloquent letter in the SMH today - written by a chap called Les McDonald. I'm not sure that I agree with the whole thing but the way it is put together is fantastic. Here 'tis:
Somewhat predictably we all finished up a wee bit early at work today. I came home to discover LGR had slept for 3.5 hours and then asked for 3 sandwiches for lunch. Once he had eaten, and Hayzey woken up from her own little sleep, we went outside to do some work in the garden. We started by putting some pebble mulch in some plants and doing a spot of watering, and then moved on to watering each other. Initially this went down like a lead balloon but before too long it was all fun ...
Next was some work in the front yard - planting a bunch of succulents generously donated by Aunt LJ and UA. While we were out there Santa rode up on an Australia Post and gave us some mail!! The kids were keen to help out and brought their little shovels and rakes to help dig holes. They even chose the location of the plants.
And that was about it.
---
There was a very eloquent letter in the SMH today - written by a chap called Les McDonald. I'm not sure that I agree with the whole thing but the way it is put together is fantastic. Here 'tis:
Detachment, ethics and consistency are not notable features of the Australian character, despite the comforting myths to the contrary. It would be difficult to get a better instance of that than the juxtaposition of three seemingly unrelated articles on the front page of the Herald (December 21).
Steven Chaytor is the subject of the first ("Premier dumps MP over assault"). He, like Milton Orkopoulos before him, has had criminal charges levelled against him. Also like Orkopoulos, he has not been accorded the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. It is hard to blame Morris Iemma for this as the media, contrary to their constant bleating about just being the messenger, have shaped and driven the law-and-order hysteria in NSW ever since the triumph of the Rupert Murdoch school of yellow journalism.
The second was a fawning set of items on the retirement of Shane Warne ("Warne calls stumps, McGrath to follow"). One of these even sought to identify Warne, an admitted serial harasser of women, as "this county's second-greatest sportsman" after Don Bradman. Exactly where this leaves Ian Thorpe, who has beaten the best in the world in his chosen sport and established multiple world records, is not entirely clear, but you get the point. Warne's adoring media fans do not condemn him for his actions towards women but dismiss his multiple offences with an affectionate reference to being a "wayward larrikin". The forgiveness, and indeed approbation, given willingly to Warne, almost because of his many instances of offensive behaviour, is withheld from Chaytor, with the singular difference being that Chaytor isn't an Australian sporting hero.
The third article demonstrates an incapacity by officials to recognise that ethics play any part in public life ("Kickbacks tax-deductible"). The law was incompetent in finding the huge bribes paid to Saddam Hussein's regime were not criminal offences on the technicality that the money was paid to a regime instead of an individual. From an ethical point of view, that is somewhat beside the point. That the bulk of Australians, who obligingly pay their taxes and do not claim the costs of their participation in criminal activity as tax deductions, should now be required to subsidise the criminal activity of others says more about our capacity for ethical insights than all the pious pronouncements in the world by our leaders.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Really ...
This morning we had reason to move on to a new container of shower wash/gel type stuff. The new one is 'creme brulee' essence. What does that mean? I'm sure it made me smell pretty.
Time is currently in slow motion - at least as far as work goes. Every day drags on and on and on and on ... I can't actually implement anything because of the pending Christmas holidays. Why? Everyone goes on leave and there's so many public holidays nobody is allowed to actually do anything more detailed than work planning for fear of breaking something or introducing some weird bug or anomaly into 'the network'. It's understandable but also quite frustrating.
---
You may have noticed a bit of press recently about what to do about the allegedly high number of P-plate drivers crashing and dying on the roads. There's been a number of silly ideas out there which, if the information I am seeing is correct, won't do all that much to make a difference.
Where is this leading? I've been paying attention to the way I drive in the last couple of weeks and the way in which others drive and I can say that I am a touch distressed at the level of aggression and risk taking prevalent in a large number of drivers - young and old, male and female. I've been tailgated on a freeway by a grandma who was so close I couldn't see her headlights. I've seen plenty of lunatics shoot along the breakdown lanes of freeways even when the freeway is moving at a good speed. I've seen countless people move into a turning lane at a set of lights and then race the folks who are in the 'straight ahead' lane to gain a few car places. Everyone will cut you off. Virtually nobody drives at the speed limit. Left and right hand turns from non-adjacent lanes are plentiful.
Why do P-platers do stupid things? Because they spend their lives watching others drive do the same stupid things and it becomes ingrained that this is the way you drive.
FWIW - I've slowed down plenty since observing and leave more space in front of me. Some cars may use this to their apparent advantage but I can't say my travel times are obviously longer - and I'm much more relaxed about getting to places. Mostly.
Time is currently in slow motion - at least as far as work goes. Every day drags on and on and on and on ... I can't actually implement anything because of the pending Christmas holidays. Why? Everyone goes on leave and there's so many public holidays nobody is allowed to actually do anything more detailed than work planning for fear of breaking something or introducing some weird bug or anomaly into 'the network'. It's understandable but also quite frustrating.
---
You may have noticed a bit of press recently about what to do about the allegedly high number of P-plate drivers crashing and dying on the roads. There's been a number of silly ideas out there which, if the information I am seeing is correct, won't do all that much to make a difference.
Where is this leading? I've been paying attention to the way I drive in the last couple of weeks and the way in which others drive and I can say that I am a touch distressed at the level of aggression and risk taking prevalent in a large number of drivers - young and old, male and female. I've been tailgated on a freeway by a grandma who was so close I couldn't see her headlights. I've seen plenty of lunatics shoot along the breakdown lanes of freeways even when the freeway is moving at a good speed. I've seen countless people move into a turning lane at a set of lights and then race the folks who are in the 'straight ahead' lane to gain a few car places. Everyone will cut you off. Virtually nobody drives at the speed limit. Left and right hand turns from non-adjacent lanes are plentiful.
Why do P-platers do stupid things? Because they spend their lives watching others drive do the same stupid things and it becomes ingrained that this is the way you drive.
FWIW - I've slowed down plenty since observing and leave more space in front of me. Some cars may use this to their apparent advantage but I can't say my travel times are obviously longer - and I'm much more relaxed about getting to places. Mostly.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
New Blog??
I've migrated this blog from the 'old' format to the 'new' format and hopefully it will all be transparent to whoever decides to read this. I'm sure I'll get caught out with a few things ...
What's been happening? Not a great deal. Mrs G has been in Newcastle for a bit so I got to spend some time with the kids. This does have a downside however - a combination of having to drop the kids off at kindy (meaning a drive to work thru 'peak hour') combined with some good overnight rain meant the approx 35km trip to work took almost two hours this morning.
On the positive side the kids behave much better when it's just one adult around and they were mostly angels last night, and very much angels this morning.
Hayzey and I had a cute little argument - I put a bib on her for breakfast and she ripped it off, walked to the bib draw and started muttering "Christmas bib, Christmas bib" while searching through it. Eventually she found a bib with Santa on it - and this was considered good enough to wear for breakfast!!
LGR is mostly better - still a bit tired but eating again and he's stopped chucking up everywhere. Tuesday morning sounded interesting. It is alleged LGR had a chuck in a bowl and then managed to drop the bowl ... Very glad I wasn't cleaning it up.
We're slowly gearing up for Christmas. Tomorrow is the kids last day of kindy, and Mrs G's last day too. I finish up on Friday and then we all go back on about the 8th/9th January. It should be great.
What's been happening? Not a great deal. Mrs G has been in Newcastle for a bit so I got to spend some time with the kids. This does have a downside however - a combination of having to drop the kids off at kindy (meaning a drive to work thru 'peak hour') combined with some good overnight rain meant the approx 35km trip to work took almost two hours this morning.
On the positive side the kids behave much better when it's just one adult around and they were mostly angels last night, and very much angels this morning.
Hayzey and I had a cute little argument - I put a bib on her for breakfast and she ripped it off, walked to the bib draw and started muttering "Christmas bib, Christmas bib" while searching through it. Eventually she found a bib with Santa on it - and this was considered good enough to wear for breakfast!!
LGR is mostly better - still a bit tired but eating again and he's stopped chucking up everywhere. Tuesday morning sounded interesting. It is alleged LGR had a chuck in a bowl and then managed to drop the bowl ... Very glad I wasn't cleaning it up.
We're slowly gearing up for Christmas. Tomorrow is the kids last day of kindy, and Mrs G's last day too. I finish up on Friday and then we all go back on about the 8th/9th January. It should be great.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
How can it happen again?
For about 6 months LGR has been very keenly anticipating seeing The Wiggles at the Ent Cent. We had great tickets - 2nd row on the floor. We knew our lyrics and dance routines and even had the clothing sorted out.
Guess who got crook, threw up everywhere shortly before the show and spent most of the show barely awake on Mrs G's lap? Yep. You guessed it. Last year it was Hayzey who was crook - and spent most of the show asleep in my arms ...
In spite of this LGR still proclaims to have had a good time. Hayzey definitely had fun. She was dancing everywhere - on my legs, Mrs G's legs, the chairs and wherever else we gave her access to.
We did a few other things this weekend. Aunt LG and UA took the kids out to the farm on Saturday evening - which gave Mrs G and I the chance to finish off some Christmas things and sort out some details about the forthcoming festive season. Then the babysitting continued and Mrs G and I went out for dinner. Nice meal and nice conversation - many fanciful plans were hatched :-) We also had the pleasure of watching Mr Adam Gilchrist score 100 off 57 deliveries ... Not a bad effort.
Sunday was quite mellow. Our dilligent babysitters crashed at our place but I still managed to be awake since 04:00 due to a little girl who had sleep issues. I took the chance to go out for a mellow sort of run and see in the day at my own pace.
The day itself was kind of a nothing sort of day - we did some grocery shopping, had a BBQ for lunch and spent the afternoon cleaning out various aspects of the house. LGR was still intermittenly crook and this added an element of intrigue to the evening.
What's next? Mrs G is off on a business trip for the next couple of days so I have the fun of looking after the kids in a solo fashion. This isn't too bad - they usually behave better for either one of us then they do for both of us. Even if they don't it's only for a couple of days ...
Guess who got crook, threw up everywhere shortly before the show and spent most of the show barely awake on Mrs G's lap? Yep. You guessed it. Last year it was Hayzey who was crook - and spent most of the show asleep in my arms ...
In spite of this LGR still proclaims to have had a good time. Hayzey definitely had fun. She was dancing everywhere - on my legs, Mrs G's legs, the chairs and wherever else we gave her access to.
We did a few other things this weekend. Aunt LG and UA took the kids out to the farm on Saturday evening - which gave Mrs G and I the chance to finish off some Christmas things and sort out some details about the forthcoming festive season. Then the babysitting continued and Mrs G and I went out for dinner. Nice meal and nice conversation - many fanciful plans were hatched :-) We also had the pleasure of watching Mr Adam Gilchrist score 100 off 57 deliveries ... Not a bad effort.
Sunday was quite mellow. Our dilligent babysitters crashed at our place but I still managed to be awake since 04:00 due to a little girl who had sleep issues. I took the chance to go out for a mellow sort of run and see in the day at my own pace.
The day itself was kind of a nothing sort of day - we did some grocery shopping, had a BBQ for lunch and spent the afternoon cleaning out various aspects of the house. LGR was still intermittenly crook and this added an element of intrigue to the evening.
What's next? Mrs G is off on a business trip for the next couple of days so I have the fun of looking after the kids in a solo fashion. This isn't too bad - they usually behave better for either one of us then they do for both of us. Even if they don't it's only for a couple of days ...
Friday, December 15, 2006
Happy Birthday Grandpa
It's my Dad's birthday today - or Grandpa as he is more commonly becoming known in my household. So here's a happy birthday to Grandpa.
LGR bought home his art portfolio from kindy yesterday. It's full of art work and teacher's observations from this year. There was also a CD with some pictures of LGR and a few videos of him at kindy. It was all terrifically sweet. Hayzey has one also but because she was less insistent about it her's has not yet had the same level of scrutiny.
LGR bought home his art portfolio from kindy yesterday. It's full of art work and teacher's observations from this year. There was also a CD with some pictures of LGR and a few videos of him at kindy. It was all terrifically sweet. Hayzey has one also but because she was less insistent about it her's has not yet had the same level of scrutiny.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Happy Birthday Mrs G
It was Mrs G's birthday yesterday. And it was quite a frantic day. We both worked (after only a few hours sleep - Mrs G was out last night for a work thing and I stayed up until she got home) and then after work it was straight to the kindy Christmas party. It was quite a sweet little event which featured a visit from Santa and gifts for all the kids, and then a dancing show by the kiddies.
It was interesting to watch LGR do the dances to music, and then compare it to the way in which he dances at home. He seemed a lot more subdued in public - his movements were more controlled and with much less amplitude. When he dances at home the whole thing seems much more energetic and he sings the songs with a great deal more gusto than is used on the music they danced to last night.
We tried to have a little present giving ceremony when we got home but Hayzey was really tired and it didn't really work out. In the end we gave Mrs G her pressies and then took Hayzey to bed. LGR helped to put the candles in the cake and get out everything we needed - and then LGR and I build Mrs G's favourite dessert (the ingredients were very generously prepared and donated the previous evening by Uncle G).
At the appropriate time LGR decreed the lights should be turned off and we sang 'Happy Birthday'. Cake was eaten and then LGR was off to bed.
And that was about it. Mrs G and I stayed up for a bit longer watching a movie and eating the recently compiled dessert and then called it an evening.
It was interesting to watch LGR do the dances to music, and then compare it to the way in which he dances at home. He seemed a lot more subdued in public - his movements were more controlled and with much less amplitude. When he dances at home the whole thing seems much more energetic and he sings the songs with a great deal more gusto than is used on the music they danced to last night.
We tried to have a little present giving ceremony when we got home but Hayzey was really tired and it didn't really work out. In the end we gave Mrs G her pressies and then took Hayzey to bed. LGR helped to put the candles in the cake and get out everything we needed - and then LGR and I build Mrs G's favourite dessert (the ingredients were very generously prepared and donated the previous evening by Uncle G).
At the appropriate time LGR decreed the lights should be turned off and we sang 'Happy Birthday'. Cake was eaten and then LGR was off to bed.
And that was about it. Mrs G and I stayed up for a bit longer watching a movie and eating the recently compiled dessert and then called it an evening.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
'Smee Again
It's been a while since I last posted - and heaps has happened. A lot of my regular readers know much of it but just in case here's a summarised version.
On the 30th November and 1st December we were in Wagga Wagga. Unfortunately it was for a very unhappy reason and I can safely say that nobody who was there wanted to be there. There was a silver lining to the very dark cloud - the kids got to hang out a bit with Nanna, Aunt LJ and UA and even great Nanna. Both kiddies were very well behaved in the seemingly endless trip there and back and very few tantrums were had.
Hayzey had her 2nd birthday while we were in Wagga. It was very low key but she didn't care. We all gathered around a muffin at breakfast time; placed 2 candles in it and sang happy birthday. It was a very sad day to remember such a wonderful event and the extremes of emotions seen on this day were massive.
I've been to Melbourne and back in a single day. I suffer from vertigo and am mildly claustrophobic so the flights didn't impress me a lot. Especially when the plane rocked from side to side just before landing in Sydney. Or when we hit turbulence will being (seemingly) about 20m above the ground at Melbourne.
All in all the day seemed to be a bit of a waste of time - although I got to meet some colleagues and see the Melbourne operations. I also had some nice sushi rolls for lunch so it's not all bad ...
The other obviously worthy thing that's happened was a trip down to Canberra to see Pampar and Jan. It was pretty mellow - and I suspect Pampar wasn't too thrilled to be dragged into Civic just so we could try to get thru some Christmas shopping.
For me the trip is noteworthy because of my introduction to Crackenback beer. It's brewed by the folks at Bluetongue and is an entirely drinkable and satisfactory beverage. I shall have more. I was also able to sample some Bluetongue Ginger Beer. This was nice - not the same as the Lager but still good. Both were very pleasant surprises.
Sunday morning was quite nice - the kids both slept in (I had the pleasant of slumbering next to Hayzey in one bed and Mrs G shared the other bed with LGR), I went for a rambling sort of run and we all popped in to a nearby pool for a swim. It's fun to play with the kids in the water. The lessons may have made some difference but neither of them are close to swimming yet. All in good time.
The trip home was kind of funny. As we left Canberra it looked as though a massive fire was erupting in some bushland somewhere but I don't believe it turned into much. Apparently there was another one at Marulen but we didn't see that. What we did see was a pretty good storm between around Exeter. We even had to slow the car down. By the time we got back to balmy old Sydney the sun was out and it was hot ... but not our house. We'd left the air-con running all weekend. Oops.
So that's my summary. From now on I'll try to keep it a touch more regular.
On the 30th November and 1st December we were in Wagga Wagga. Unfortunately it was for a very unhappy reason and I can safely say that nobody who was there wanted to be there. There was a silver lining to the very dark cloud - the kids got to hang out a bit with Nanna, Aunt LJ and UA and even great Nanna. Both kiddies were very well behaved in the seemingly endless trip there and back and very few tantrums were had.
Hayzey had her 2nd birthday while we were in Wagga. It was very low key but she didn't care. We all gathered around a muffin at breakfast time; placed 2 candles in it and sang happy birthday. It was a very sad day to remember such a wonderful event and the extremes of emotions seen on this day were massive.
I've been to Melbourne and back in a single day. I suffer from vertigo and am mildly claustrophobic so the flights didn't impress me a lot. Especially when the plane rocked from side to side just before landing in Sydney. Or when we hit turbulence will being (seemingly) about 20m above the ground at Melbourne.
All in all the day seemed to be a bit of a waste of time - although I got to meet some colleagues and see the Melbourne operations. I also had some nice sushi rolls for lunch so it's not all bad ...
The other obviously worthy thing that's happened was a trip down to Canberra to see Pampar and Jan. It was pretty mellow - and I suspect Pampar wasn't too thrilled to be dragged into Civic just so we could try to get thru some Christmas shopping.
For me the trip is noteworthy because of my introduction to Crackenback beer. It's brewed by the folks at Bluetongue and is an entirely drinkable and satisfactory beverage. I shall have more. I was also able to sample some Bluetongue Ginger Beer. This was nice - not the same as the Lager but still good. Both were very pleasant surprises.
Sunday morning was quite nice - the kids both slept in (I had the pleasant of slumbering next to Hayzey in one bed and Mrs G shared the other bed with LGR), I went for a rambling sort of run and we all popped in to a nearby pool for a swim. It's fun to play with the kids in the water. The lessons may have made some difference but neither of them are close to swimming yet. All in good time.
The trip home was kind of funny. As we left Canberra it looked as though a massive fire was erupting in some bushland somewhere but I don't believe it turned into much. Apparently there was another one at Marulen but we didn't see that. What we did see was a pretty good storm between around Exeter. We even had to slow the car down. By the time we got back to balmy old Sydney the sun was out and it was hot ... but not our house. We'd left the air-con running all weekend. Oops.
So that's my summary. From now on I'll try to keep it a touch more regular.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
It's all about Hayzey
Our little universe of Jones seems to have revolved around Hayzey in the last couple of days.
On Saturday we had a birthday party for her - a week early but there are some very compelling reasons for why this is so. It was a nice day. Very hot with bugger all breeze but the crowd who turned up were a very pleasant bunch. The time of the year meant some folks couldn't make it and this was a bit sad but there were also some people there we hadn't seen for at least 5 years.
Not much happened. I cooked up a bit of a bbq (which seemed to go down well) and there were plenty of salads and nibblies. The kids more or less took care of themselves and the adults were left to be adults.
Aunt LJ and UA made the bold decision to stay at our place. I'm glad they did this. Poor little Hayzey developed a good fever and then started vomitting up whatever we gave her - including water and some Panadol to try to keep the fever down. Mrs G and Aunt LJ whipped her off to hospital at about 20:00 and by the time they got there her fever was up to 41 degrees!!
They checked her out for pneumonia (including chest X-rays) and tried to get a urine sample from her. Rumour has it Hayzey went from extreme lethargy to burst of intense energy at the click of the proverbial fingers and was asking where LGR was ....
In the end she was allowed to come home at about 01:00 after keeping down some water and Panadol.
LGR and I got out of bed just a few hours later (he slept through it all) and everyone else was up by about 07:30. We'd planned to go to Taronga Zoo for Mrs G's work thingy but I was hoping LGR had forgotten about it. No such luck; so by about 09:30 we were on our way. I expected Hayzey to sleep very soundly but it was LGR who crashed. It took about 30 minutes for Hayz to snooze.
What did we do at the zoo? We saw some crocodiles, and monkeys and gorillas. The seals were showing off a bit and the elephants were fairly lazy. The wombat was asleep (I've never seen a wombat sleeping before this) and the echidna's were moving around. We also saw Santa and the kids had a bounce on a jumping castle. Lunch was non-descript.
It was a short visit. Everyone got tired very quickly and we decided to cut our losses and head home. We'll be back - LGR's enthusiasm has been jumpstarted and he can't wait.
The rest of the day was fairly quiet - but not the night time. Hayzey had a shocking night - waking up several times and refusing any attempts to give her some medication which might control her fever. At least she wasn't vomitting. LGR woke up too - after a massive coughing fit which caused him to have a small vomit. We didn't get much sleep.
When we emerged into daylight on Monday morning Hayzey had a temperature and was very lethargic. I was the designated stay at home person. So I spent a day with her. We saw the doctor who told us she had, not surprisingly, an infection in her chest and another ear infection ...
Her fever came and went and her bursts of energy got longer as the day wore on. There were some very sweet moments - like when we read books for an hour, when we took turns eating slices of apple and telling each other how yummy it was and even when Hayzey helped me build her little tricycle. There were also some sad moments. Hayzey fell asleep on the lounge clutching a drink in one tiny hand and her Dora doll in the other.
I'm not sure how she is now. I started work at 04:00 (again) but she'd pretty much slept through up to the time I left home. I'll find out pretty soon.
And just so you know - LGR is fine. He has also had a fever but nowhere near as bad.
On Saturday we had a birthday party for her - a week early but there are some very compelling reasons for why this is so. It was a nice day. Very hot with bugger all breeze but the crowd who turned up were a very pleasant bunch. The time of the year meant some folks couldn't make it and this was a bit sad but there were also some people there we hadn't seen for at least 5 years.
Not much happened. I cooked up a bit of a bbq (which seemed to go down well) and there were plenty of salads and nibblies. The kids more or less took care of themselves and the adults were left to be adults.
Aunt LJ and UA made the bold decision to stay at our place. I'm glad they did this. Poor little Hayzey developed a good fever and then started vomitting up whatever we gave her - including water and some Panadol to try to keep the fever down. Mrs G and Aunt LJ whipped her off to hospital at about 20:00 and by the time they got there her fever was up to 41 degrees!!
They checked her out for pneumonia (including chest X-rays) and tried to get a urine sample from her. Rumour has it Hayzey went from extreme lethargy to burst of intense energy at the click of the proverbial fingers and was asking where LGR was ....
In the end she was allowed to come home at about 01:00 after keeping down some water and Panadol.
LGR and I got out of bed just a few hours later (he slept through it all) and everyone else was up by about 07:30. We'd planned to go to Taronga Zoo for Mrs G's work thingy but I was hoping LGR had forgotten about it. No such luck; so by about 09:30 we were on our way. I expected Hayzey to sleep very soundly but it was LGR who crashed. It took about 30 minutes for Hayz to snooze.
What did we do at the zoo? We saw some crocodiles, and monkeys and gorillas. The seals were showing off a bit and the elephants were fairly lazy. The wombat was asleep (I've never seen a wombat sleeping before this) and the echidna's were moving around. We also saw Santa and the kids had a bounce on a jumping castle. Lunch was non-descript.
It was a short visit. Everyone got tired very quickly and we decided to cut our losses and head home. We'll be back - LGR's enthusiasm has been jumpstarted and he can't wait.
The rest of the day was fairly quiet - but not the night time. Hayzey had a shocking night - waking up several times and refusing any attempts to give her some medication which might control her fever. At least she wasn't vomitting. LGR woke up too - after a massive coughing fit which caused him to have a small vomit. We didn't get much sleep.
When we emerged into daylight on Monday morning Hayzey had a temperature and was very lethargic. I was the designated stay at home person. So I spent a day with her. We saw the doctor who told us she had, not surprisingly, an infection in her chest and another ear infection ...
Her fever came and went and her bursts of energy got longer as the day wore on. There were some very sweet moments - like when we read books for an hour, when we took turns eating slices of apple and telling each other how yummy it was and even when Hayzey helped me build her little tricycle. There were also some sad moments. Hayzey fell asleep on the lounge clutching a drink in one tiny hand and her Dora doll in the other.
I'm not sure how she is now. I started work at 04:00 (again) but she'd pretty much slept through up to the time I left home. I'll find out pretty soon.
And just so you know - LGR is fine. He has also had a fever but nowhere near as bad.
Friday, November 24, 2006
A Day Off
Mrs G and I had a day off yesterday. It was supposed to happen a few weeks ago but for various (work) reasons it didn't eventuate.
What did we do?
We took my car in for a service after dropping the kids at kindy. While in the caryard we took a chance to look at a few vehicles but this lasted for all of 5 minutes. From here we meandered on over to some shops and did a spot of Christmas Shopping and had some lunch. After lunch it was some more shopping and then back to kindy to pick up the kids nice and early.
Next stop was a visit to a farm to pick out our new puppy. There were 7 of them to choose from and, in a nice twist, the one I was interested in (because he was laying on his back looking for a tummy rub!!) was the same one Mrs G liked from our pictures. So the choice was easy. Hayzey was pretty good with the puppies and LGR was ok (sort of) but the Mum pup scared them both ...
There's a still a way to go.
What did we do?
We took my car in for a service after dropping the kids at kindy. While in the caryard we took a chance to look at a few vehicles but this lasted for all of 5 minutes. From here we meandered on over to some shops and did a spot of Christmas Shopping and had some lunch. After lunch it was some more shopping and then back to kindy to pick up the kids nice and early.
Next stop was a visit to a farm to pick out our new puppy. There were 7 of them to choose from and, in a nice twist, the one I was interested in (because he was laying on his back looking for a tummy rub!!) was the same one Mrs G liked from our pictures. So the choice was easy. Hayzey was pretty good with the puppies and LGR was ok (sort of) but the Mum pup scared them both ...
There's a still a way to go.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Hayzey on Holidays
A classy little pic of Hayz getting stuck into some afternoon tea on the first afternoon of our very quick trip to Mollymook. We'd just come back from the beach - hence the reason she looks so clean and pristine. Within a few minutes we would be joined by a couple of food seeking feathered friends.
LGR Sleeping
This photo was taken the morning after Aunt LJ and UA's engagement party (Part 1). I 'camped' with LGR downstairs because the bedrooms were taken up by guests - including LGR's bed. He woke me up at about 05:00 but then went back to sleep a while later. I didn't have the same luxury.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Dog
We're getting a dog. A little Jack Russell. It's all arranged. The puppy is currently only 3 weeks old and we'll probably get him or her just before Christmas. The 4 of us are going for a little adventure on Thursday afternoon to pick out our little chap. From there on in it's a matter of getting all the stuff we need at our place, having some vet type things done and then taking delivery.
LGR is very excited about it. So excited he's pulled his little brown toy puppy out of storage and started dragging it around the house with him. LGR's puppy is called 'Energy' - because he has lots of it :-) LGR has also found a toy elephant somewhere and named him Peter.
As a result LGR slept with Tommy the bear, Energy the dog and Peter and elephant last night.
----
We had an unexpected visitor last night. The 4 of us were looking at some pics and videos of the puppies when we heard a little rattle at our front door. We looked around and our little 18 month old neighbour was trying to get in. It turns out she had managed to get out the front door of her place and independently made her way to our house to play with Hayzey.
Her parents were very relieved to discover she wasn't actually wandering around the street but was quite happily playing with our kids.
----
LGR went to his first athletics carnival over the weekend. It was an event known as a scamper and it was kind of a region based carnival for the smaller kids in Little Athletics. He had a ball - loved every minute of it. They ran a couple of races and had a few novelty events such as tug of war, an obstacle course and an array of parachute games. Both kids managed to get filthy - the track was very dry and had been top-dressed in the not too distant past. Most of the top dress had turned to loose dust. Our whites pretty quickly became not whites ...
LGR is very excited about it. So excited he's pulled his little brown toy puppy out of storage and started dragging it around the house with him. LGR's puppy is called 'Energy' - because he has lots of it :-) LGR has also found a toy elephant somewhere and named him Peter.
As a result LGR slept with Tommy the bear, Energy the dog and Peter and elephant last night.
----
We had an unexpected visitor last night. The 4 of us were looking at some pics and videos of the puppies when we heard a little rattle at our front door. We looked around and our little 18 month old neighbour was trying to get in. It turns out she had managed to get out the front door of her place and independently made her way to our house to play with Hayzey.
Her parents were very relieved to discover she wasn't actually wandering around the street but was quite happily playing with our kids.
----
LGR went to his first athletics carnival over the weekend. It was an event known as a scamper and it was kind of a region based carnival for the smaller kids in Little Athletics. He had a ball - loved every minute of it. They ran a couple of races and had a few novelty events such as tug of war, an obstacle course and an array of parachute games. Both kids managed to get filthy - the track was very dry and had been top-dressed in the not too distant past. Most of the top dress had turned to loose dust. Our whites pretty quickly became not whites ...
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
So much
There's been a crapload happen since my last post.
To start with - we went down to Mollymook for a couple of days. We stayed at a very nice little place about 200m from Mollymook surf beach and spent a couple of days doing not much.
From the beginning ....
Grandma, Uncle G and his smiling friend (LGR's name - not my name) came down for dinner on Thursday evening. We had some food and some wine and a nice old time. Grandma stayed but unfortunately Uncle G and his fried had to go home. I suspect they wanted to come to Mollymook with us but there were some time constraints.
On Friday morning we all got up, dressed and headed off at about 08:30. The first planned step was at Mt Gibraltar (aka Mittagong) but for some reason I couldn't find the lookout I was after. So we kept going thru to Fitzroy Falls.
This was a nice chance to get out and stretch the legs. LGR and Hayzey were suitably awed, and scared, by the enormous drop from the first lookout we got to. There's a steel grate at the edge of the lookout and nobody really wanted to walk on it. Hayzey got game quite quickly but I had enormous issues with even being on the lookout. For those who've been there might be some appreciation of why this is so.
Next was a quick trip down a very steep and windy road to Kangaroo Valley. We had some morning tea and then did a spot of venturing down the main street. I came across a fantastic little store selling imported things from all throughout Asia. We ended up buying the most magnificent photo albums and a few pressies for some folks. I have a very strong suspicion we'll be back at this place.
From here we went straight to Mollymook - and our little holiday house at Mollymook. The first impressions were very favourable (and time showed us they were also very accurate). We dumped our stuff and did a quick explore before heading out for some lunch and some groceries.
One shopping trip later and we were back 'home' unpacking, and then off to the beach. There was some initial trepidation from the kids but this disappeared quite quickly. We played some nice games of running away from the water and digging tunnels. I went for a run on the beach and we all got generally acquainted with the environment.
When we got back home we were enthralled by a couple of very bold rainbow lorrikeets - which quickly turned out to be pests. In the end we had to rush them off the deck because they were eating the food of Hayzey's hands ...
Not much else happened. We had dinner and went to bed.
Saturday was a sparkling day. After a massive breakfast we set out to find some water and nice sand. After a couple of false starts we found somewhere quite nice - although LGR and I managed to find somewhere even nicer just up the beach. We planned to go there in the afternoon but this never happened ....
Lunch consisted of a play in the nearby park and some fish and chips. Quite good too. Then the clouds came. And the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees. So we went for a drive to get some fresh fish for dinner. Wouldn't you know it? The shop we ended up at was owned by the guy who lived next door to the house we were staying at. Interesting ....
The only other thing of note on the Saturday was a nice 90 minute walk along the beach. We didn't take swimmers because we thought it was too cold. This obviously meant the kids both got soaked. In the end LGR had my shirt on (his was too wet) and I was wandering the streets of Mollymook mostly naked hugging Hayzey to stop her getting too cold.
Sunday wasn't much of an improvement. The weather was overcast and sometimes it looked like clearing up but in the end it just rained. We managed a trip to the markets at Ulladulla and picked up some more nice little pressies for people. The venture was cut short by rain ...
So we decided to head home. In the end we only left about an hour earlier than we had originally planned so we didn't miss much. We were thinking about stopping at Berry but in the end decided to skip it and have lunch at Kiama. Not a smart decision (in hindsight). We couldn't find anywhere that appealed to us and could fit us in so we had pies in the park while the kids played.
It was a good little trip. I wish it was longer but there just wasn't enough time. We'll be back though.
To start with - we went down to Mollymook for a couple of days. We stayed at a very nice little place about 200m from Mollymook surf beach and spent a couple of days doing not much.
From the beginning ....
Grandma, Uncle G and his smiling friend (LGR's name - not my name) came down for dinner on Thursday evening. We had some food and some wine and a nice old time. Grandma stayed but unfortunately Uncle G and his fried had to go home. I suspect they wanted to come to Mollymook with us but there were some time constraints.
On Friday morning we all got up, dressed and headed off at about 08:30. The first planned step was at Mt Gibraltar (aka Mittagong) but for some reason I couldn't find the lookout I was after. So we kept going thru to Fitzroy Falls.
This was a nice chance to get out and stretch the legs. LGR and Hayzey were suitably awed, and scared, by the enormous drop from the first lookout we got to. There's a steel grate at the edge of the lookout and nobody really wanted to walk on it. Hayzey got game quite quickly but I had enormous issues with even being on the lookout. For those who've been there might be some appreciation of why this is so.
Next was a quick trip down a very steep and windy road to Kangaroo Valley. We had some morning tea and then did a spot of venturing down the main street. I came across a fantastic little store selling imported things from all throughout Asia. We ended up buying the most magnificent photo albums and a few pressies for some folks. I have a very strong suspicion we'll be back at this place.
From here we went straight to Mollymook - and our little holiday house at Mollymook. The first impressions were very favourable (and time showed us they were also very accurate). We dumped our stuff and did a quick explore before heading out for some lunch and some groceries.
One shopping trip later and we were back 'home' unpacking, and then off to the beach. There was some initial trepidation from the kids but this disappeared quite quickly. We played some nice games of running away from the water and digging tunnels. I went for a run on the beach and we all got generally acquainted with the environment.
When we got back home we were enthralled by a couple of very bold rainbow lorrikeets - which quickly turned out to be pests. In the end we had to rush them off the deck because they were eating the food of Hayzey's hands ...
Not much else happened. We had dinner and went to bed.
Saturday was a sparkling day. After a massive breakfast we set out to find some water and nice sand. After a couple of false starts we found somewhere quite nice - although LGR and I managed to find somewhere even nicer just up the beach. We planned to go there in the afternoon but this never happened ....
Lunch consisted of a play in the nearby park and some fish and chips. Quite good too. Then the clouds came. And the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees. So we went for a drive to get some fresh fish for dinner. Wouldn't you know it? The shop we ended up at was owned by the guy who lived next door to the house we were staying at. Interesting ....
The only other thing of note on the Saturday was a nice 90 minute walk along the beach. We didn't take swimmers because we thought it was too cold. This obviously meant the kids both got soaked. In the end LGR had my shirt on (his was too wet) and I was wandering the streets of Mollymook mostly naked hugging Hayzey to stop her getting too cold.
Sunday wasn't much of an improvement. The weather was overcast and sometimes it looked like clearing up but in the end it just rained. We managed a trip to the markets at Ulladulla and picked up some more nice little pressies for people. The venture was cut short by rain ...
So we decided to head home. In the end we only left about an hour earlier than we had originally planned so we didn't miss much. We were thinking about stopping at Berry but in the end decided to skip it and have lunch at Kiama. Not a smart decision (in hindsight). We couldn't find anywhere that appealed to us and could fit us in so we had pies in the park while the kids played.
It was a good little trip. I wish it was longer but there just wasn't enough time. We'll be back though.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Catching Up
I had a pretty big weekend. For some it.
Saturday was fun. It was still raining but I spent Saturday looking after the kidlets. Mrs G and a busload of friends went on a shopping trip. From 07:00 thru to about 18:30 was time for the kids and I.
We started with swimming lessons. Hayzey had her first lesson without me in the pool and coped very well. She was a touch lazy (as she does) and only cried when another kid tried to push her in the pool.
After swimming we spent some time lazing around home - playing games, drawing, eating etc. Lunch was some fish and chips. LGR was excited about this until he found out I was making them ... He did enjoy watching Madagascar but at various times described the movie as being either too sad or too scary to watch. He ended up watching it all.
In the afternoon the kids had a sleep and then we went out to get some stuff for later that night. LGR told me he wanted prawns for dinner - but only after we'd arrived back home from the shops. It was still raining and there was nothing better to do so off we went again.
The rest of the day was more of nothing. And it was mostly fun.
---
Saturday night was also good. It was Aunt LJ's engagement party part 2. To cut a long story short there was plenty of food, plenty of drink and plenty of people. It was still raining. We had fun.
---
Nanna and Grandma both stayed over on Friday and Saturday nights - on Friday so they could go on the shopping trip and on Saturday so that Nanna could come to the party with us and for Grandma to babysit. It was much appreciated.
We woke up on Sunday morning (not much sleep was had) and the kids were very sprightly but Mum and Dad were not so great. Not hung over as such but definitely impacted by the night before. We took our time with everything. Grandma left at some stage of the morning, and Grandpa turned up at some other stage of the morning and the kid's dragged him off to jump on the trampoline and play ambulances. At about midday Nanna, myself and LGR wandered on out to get some groceries.
During the course of the afternoon Aunt LJ and UA showed up looking and feeling pretty much the same way Mrs G and I did. Aunt LJ finally got her birthday present and seemed to like it.
Then everyone left and we had the house to ourselves. We didn't do much. It was nice.
Bed time was interesting. The kids were adamant they weren't tired and Mrs G and I were very adamant they were. The adults finally won - but only after the kids wore themselves by thrashing in their beds for about an hour.
Saturday was fun. It was still raining but I spent Saturday looking after the kidlets. Mrs G and a busload of friends went on a shopping trip. From 07:00 thru to about 18:30 was time for the kids and I.
We started with swimming lessons. Hayzey had her first lesson without me in the pool and coped very well. She was a touch lazy (as she does) and only cried when another kid tried to push her in the pool.
After swimming we spent some time lazing around home - playing games, drawing, eating etc. Lunch was some fish and chips. LGR was excited about this until he found out I was making them ... He did enjoy watching Madagascar but at various times described the movie as being either too sad or too scary to watch. He ended up watching it all.
In the afternoon the kids had a sleep and then we went out to get some stuff for later that night. LGR told me he wanted prawns for dinner - but only after we'd arrived back home from the shops. It was still raining and there was nothing better to do so off we went again.
The rest of the day was more of nothing. And it was mostly fun.
---
Saturday night was also good. It was Aunt LJ's engagement party part 2. To cut a long story short there was plenty of food, plenty of drink and plenty of people. It was still raining. We had fun.
---
Nanna and Grandma both stayed over on Friday and Saturday nights - on Friday so they could go on the shopping trip and on Saturday so that Nanna could come to the party with us and for Grandma to babysit. It was much appreciated.
We woke up on Sunday morning (not much sleep was had) and the kids were very sprightly but Mum and Dad were not so great. Not hung over as such but definitely impacted by the night before. We took our time with everything. Grandma left at some stage of the morning, and Grandpa turned up at some other stage of the morning and the kid's dragged him off to jump on the trampoline and play ambulances. At about midday Nanna, myself and LGR wandered on out to get some groceries.
During the course of the afternoon Aunt LJ and UA showed up looking and feeling pretty much the same way Mrs G and I did. Aunt LJ finally got her birthday present and seemed to like it.
Then everyone left and we had the house to ourselves. We didn't do much. It was nice.
Bed time was interesting. The kids were adamant they weren't tired and Mrs G and I were very adamant they were. The adults finally won - but only after the kids wore themselves by thrashing in their beds for about an hour.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Raining??
I played golf this morning. Obviously this meant that it rained ... What is it about golf and me? The vast majority of times I've gone out for a hit this year it has rained. Maybe I should play more often.
For what it's worth I was hitting fairly well today. Contact was good and a couple of shots had some nice line and length. I played a delicious 6 iron from about 150m which ended up about 5m from the pin and also put in some deft pitches from 75-100m. I even came close to chipping in from the sand - the ball rolled into the flag and bounced off ....
The downside to the rain (apart from getting wet) is that it looks as though there is no athletics this week. LGR will be shattered.
---
Go here first - then come back and read the rest.
Now for the next one. I'm really not sure what to make of it. On the one hand they guy who wrote it does seem to have acted a touch unreasonably but on the other it gives the distinct impression of an organisation (or collection of organisations) who are more keen to be seen doing something than actually doing it.
Couldn't happen in Australia? I bet you it does.
For what it's worth I was hitting fairly well today. Contact was good and a couple of shots had some nice line and length. I played a delicious 6 iron from about 150m which ended up about 5m from the pin and also put in some deft pitches from 75-100m. I even came close to chipping in from the sand - the ball rolled into the flag and bounced off ....
The downside to the rain (apart from getting wet) is that it looks as though there is no athletics this week. LGR will be shattered.
---
Go here first - then come back and read the rest.
Now for the next one. I'm really not sure what to make of it. On the one hand they guy who wrote it does seem to have acted a touch unreasonably but on the other it gives the distinct impression of an organisation (or collection of organisations) who are more keen to be seen doing something than actually doing it.
Couldn't happen in Australia? I bet you it does.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Maybe it's good?
It's Aunt LJ's birthday today. So happy birthday to you Aunt LJ. 'Twill be good to see you over the weekend.
---
I got some confirmation this morning that the guy doing my data recovery may have been able to get just about all of my information off the busted hard drive. If that is true then I am a very relieved chappy. I haven't spoken to him yet, and more importantly don't have the disk that the information will be transferred to. I continue to hope for the best ....
My new 'puter is supposed to be delivered on Monday. I've been doing some research and am quite excited about getting the chance to build it. A lot of my research has been in the area of automated data backups to external media (eg CD/DVD and external disks).
---
I got some confirmation this morning that the guy doing my data recovery may have been able to get just about all of my information off the busted hard drive. If that is true then I am a very relieved chappy. I haven't spoken to him yet, and more importantly don't have the disk that the information will be transferred to. I continue to hope for the best ....
My new 'puter is supposed to be delivered on Monday. I've been doing some research and am quite excited about getting the chance to build it. A lot of my research has been in the area of automated data backups to external media (eg CD/DVD and external disks).
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Swimming
Hayzey has been moved up a level in swimming lessons. She's now gotten to the point where she spontaneously kicks and paddles when put in the water and she almost intuitively reaches for the side of the pool when she's in strife (ie if I happen to let go of her).
LGR is also coming along nicely. I'll know more next week (because I'm usually in the pool with Hayley when the lessons are on - but now I don't need to get in and they're at different times ...) but it appears as though he can almost swim. Not quite though.
---
Hayzey's command of English is getting better. She strung together a 4 word sentence over the weekend and sometimes calls Mrs G 'Mumma' - but it's still mostly Dadda.
The most command phrases at the moment are "Bye bye. Seeya" and "No".
Curiously Hayzey and LGR both know some Spanish. Hayzey knows it clearly enough for us to pick it up as Spanish and LGR knows it well enough to be able to tell us what the words mean. When we check the words in an English/Spanish dictionary he is always right. LGR is also starting to get the hang of basic maths and is comfortably dressing himself.
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What have we done recently? On the weekend we ventured into the city to look for some Christmas presents. We didn't buy anything but there was a 4 Wheel drive setup just outside the Motor Show and both kids were very impressed with the 4WD's going around it. LGR wants one now ....
We also went to a 'Sunday Funday' at a riding ranch/show farm near where we live. It was ok - I guess. We went on a pretty good length tractor ride and the kids both went on a horse. There was also a merry go round. The undoubted 'highlight' of the day was when LGR fell over on an old wooden bridge and got a couple of very good length splinters in his hand. He screamed when we took them out - more out of fear than pain he later admitted. One of them broke near the base and we ended up having to dig it out with a needle. He screamed when that happened too ...
LGR is also coming along nicely. I'll know more next week (because I'm usually in the pool with Hayley when the lessons are on - but now I don't need to get in and they're at different times ...) but it appears as though he can almost swim. Not quite though.
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Hayzey's command of English is getting better. She strung together a 4 word sentence over the weekend and sometimes calls Mrs G 'Mumma' - but it's still mostly Dadda.
The most command phrases at the moment are "Bye bye. Seeya" and "No".
Curiously Hayzey and LGR both know some Spanish. Hayzey knows it clearly enough for us to pick it up as Spanish and LGR knows it well enough to be able to tell us what the words mean. When we check the words in an English/Spanish dictionary he is always right. LGR is also starting to get the hang of basic maths and is comfortably dressing himself.
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What have we done recently? On the weekend we ventured into the city to look for some Christmas presents. We didn't buy anything but there was a 4 Wheel drive setup just outside the Motor Show and both kids were very impressed with the 4WD's going around it. LGR wants one now ....
We also went to a 'Sunday Funday' at a riding ranch/show farm near where we live. It was ok - I guess. We went on a pretty good length tractor ride and the kids both went on a horse. There was also a merry go round. The undoubted 'highlight' of the day was when LGR fell over on an old wooden bridge and got a couple of very good length splinters in his hand. He screamed when we took them out - more out of fear than pain he later admitted. One of them broke near the base and we ended up having to dig it out with a needle. He screamed when that happened too ...
Friday, October 27, 2006
Oh No ...
Earlier this week the hard drive on my home PC crapped out. Completely. I can't boot it at all - even into safe mode.
Why is this bad? Apart from the fact that the PC has a lot of study and techo documents on it is the tiny directory of pictures and videos I have of the kids. Most of which are not backed up ....
It looks a heck of a lot like my hard drive will be going off to a data recovery service for an attempt at retrieval.
On a more positive note I can confirm that LGR's arm is much better - back to normal in fact.
Why is this bad? Apart from the fact that the PC has a lot of study and techo documents on it is the tiny directory of pictures and videos I have of the kids. Most of which are not backed up ....
It looks a heck of a lot like my hard drive will be going off to a data recovery service for an attempt at retrieval.
On a more positive note I can confirm that LGR's arm is much better - back to normal in fact.
Monday, October 23, 2006
It's Always the Left Arm
Our beautiful little LGR has had another issue with his left arm. We initially suspected it was broken again but couldn't figure out how it happened. We now know that he had been bitten (attacked) by mozzies and his arm and hand had swollen like a balloon. Literally. His skin was very tight and quite red.
It turns out that very bad reactions to mozzies are treated by a combination of painkillers, antihistamines and steroids. So my 4 year old boy is on steroids!! They are very expensive but appear to have worked a treat. At the time of writing the swelling has gone quite a lot and there are no more complaints of pain. Mobility has come back and so has the sweet little smile :-)
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Hayzey took her first tumble out of bed last night. In a bizarre sort of way it was quite sweet. At about 01:00 Mrs G and I both woke up at the sound of a distinct thump. We both raced (literally) into Hayzey's room and found her lying on the floor, next to the bed, quietly whimpering but more or less asleep. I picked her up very gently and held her in my arms while Mrs G remade the bed. I don't think Hayzey even woke up ....
It turns out that very bad reactions to mozzies are treated by a combination of painkillers, antihistamines and steroids. So my 4 year old boy is on steroids!! They are very expensive but appear to have worked a treat. At the time of writing the swelling has gone quite a lot and there are no more complaints of pain. Mobility has come back and so has the sweet little smile :-)
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Hayzey took her first tumble out of bed last night. In a bizarre sort of way it was quite sweet. At about 01:00 Mrs G and I both woke up at the sound of a distinct thump. We both raced (literally) into Hayzey's room and found her lying on the floor, next to the bed, quietly whimpering but more or less asleep. I picked her up very gently and held her in my arms while Mrs G remade the bed. I don't think Hayzey even woke up ....
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Duo
For the vast majority of the time the kidlets get along magnificently. It's not uncommon for them to give each other a hug and a kiss, or to happily swap toys or food or push each other on the swings. Hayzey thinks LGR is the coolest thing going around and, for his part, LGR is very protective of his little sister.
Brown Eyes
I'm not really sure of the story behind this picture - but aren't they the sweetest little brown eyes you've ever seen?
Guitar
LGR
LGR was given a 3/4 size guitar for his birthday recently. It would be fair to say he liked it.
LGR was given a 3/4 size guitar for his birthday recently. It would be fair to say he liked it.
In The Park
You can't really tell by looking at this picture but LGR and Hayzey had a great time playing a cute little park in a natural setting by the side of a river recently. There was heaps of dirt and pine needles and some swings, a climbing rig and a slippery slide. What else does a kid need?
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Pickles
"Oh pickles"
That's a phrase I've been hearing quite a bit of lately. LGR has decided this is his way of exclaimingn dismay or irritation. It's quite cute and very amusing to hear him blurt it out.
Hayzey is getting along quite nicely in her own bed. She is tending to wake up a couple of times each night but usually it is because she is either cold or has managed to get herself stuck between the mattress and the wall. I'm not sure how she gets in there but it's always amusing - even when she does it 3 times in one night. We haven't had any issues getting her to sleep since we've moved her into the new bed - and are still a bit confused (but pleased) about the apparent ease of her adaption.
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Change of topic. Mrs G and I were having a chat about LGR a few night's back and we both agree that he seems to have matured somewhat since turning 4. It's almost as though he realised he was a bit older so he decided to act a bit older. He seems to be much more willing to engage in conversation and make considered decisions. There are still more than a few moments of childish petulance (he is a child after all) but his decision making and social adaptation skills seem to have increased exponentially recently.
Hayzey is also growing up - but we gauge this via vocabulary and actions. It's hard to explain without seeing her but of late it's become quite apparent that she is comprehending what is being said to her and she is also making much more of an effort to communicate in a meaningful way with those around her.
That's a phrase I've been hearing quite a bit of lately. LGR has decided this is his way of exclaimingn dismay or irritation. It's quite cute and very amusing to hear him blurt it out.
Hayzey is getting along quite nicely in her own bed. She is tending to wake up a couple of times each night but usually it is because she is either cold or has managed to get herself stuck between the mattress and the wall. I'm not sure how she gets in there but it's always amusing - even when she does it 3 times in one night. We haven't had any issues getting her to sleep since we've moved her into the new bed - and are still a bit confused (but pleased) about the apparent ease of her adaption.
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Change of topic. Mrs G and I were having a chat about LGR a few night's back and we both agree that he seems to have matured somewhat since turning 4. It's almost as though he realised he was a bit older so he decided to act a bit older. He seems to be much more willing to engage in conversation and make considered decisions. There are still more than a few moments of childish petulance (he is a child after all) but his decision making and social adaptation skills seem to have increased exponentially recently.
Hayzey is also growing up - but we gauge this via vocabulary and actions. It's hard to explain without seeing her but of late it's become quite apparent that she is comprehending what is being said to her and she is also making much more of an effort to communicate in a meaningful way with those around her.
Monday, October 16, 2006
New Bed
Little Hayzey is now sleeping in her bed. We decided to put her in their yesterday. There was an afternoon nap which went beautifully. Last evening we put her in the big bed and she went to sleep straight away. Same thing tonight.
It's a bit sad; but good too. Our little girl is growing up and doing it with style. She's starting to talk in sentences. Some of the pronunciation is not too great but she is able to get her meaning across quite well. What else is new? Hayzey is jumping on the trampoline by herself. She thinks it is great. LGR likes it too. They both get on the tramp and bounce around and giggle.
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LGR was pretty thrilled with some pictures he received in the mail today. Apparently someone out there had some kangaroos near their house :-)
It's a bit sad; but good too. Our little girl is growing up and doing it with style. She's starting to talk in sentences. Some of the pronunciation is not too great but she is able to get her meaning across quite well. What else is new? Hayzey is jumping on the trampoline by herself. She thinks it is great. LGR likes it too. They both get on the tramp and bounce around and giggle.
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LGR was pretty thrilled with some pictures he received in the mail today. Apparently someone out there had some kangaroos near their house :-)
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Birthday
Two birthdays in the Jones household. I had the pleasure of turning 31 on Monday and beautiful little LGR turned 4 on Wednesday.
My birthday was good - nice and mellow. The morning was a bit hectic. I had to get the car rego checked and some new tires put on it. We also had to take LGR to the doctors to get some medicine for his eyes. Eye drops. He hates them and we hate putting them in.
Once all this was out of the way we made our way out and about and found a nice park by a river and played some games. LGR and I went for a little bit of a run and Hayzey babbled endlessly about whatever took her fancy.
Lunch was next. We went to a fantastic pizza/pasta place. LGR ate 4 slices of pizza!! He said he liked it. Hayzey ate almost nothing but had a ball jumping up and down on the seats of the booth we were in. She also thought it was great to sit on the table and jump on Mummy.
The afternoon consisted of more games in more parks and some jumping on the trampoline.
Very mellow and very nice.
LGR's birthday was even more low key. Mrs G and myself had to work and the kids went to kindy. We packed a cake for them to take along and that was consumed at kindy with the other kids and happy birthday sung.
When we finally all managed to get home we ordered some dinner (LGR wanted honey prawns) and opened some pressies. Unfortunately it all got rather late and the kids (particularly Hayzey) got very tired and irritable. LGR was highly impressed that every time the phone rang the call was for him :-)
My birthday was good - nice and mellow. The morning was a bit hectic. I had to get the car rego checked and some new tires put on it. We also had to take LGR to the doctors to get some medicine for his eyes. Eye drops. He hates them and we hate putting them in.
Once all this was out of the way we made our way out and about and found a nice park by a river and played some games. LGR and I went for a little bit of a run and Hayzey babbled endlessly about whatever took her fancy.
Lunch was next. We went to a fantastic pizza/pasta place. LGR ate 4 slices of pizza!! He said he liked it. Hayzey ate almost nothing but had a ball jumping up and down on the seats of the booth we were in. She also thought it was great to sit on the table and jump on Mummy.
The afternoon consisted of more games in more parks and some jumping on the trampoline.
Very mellow and very nice.
LGR's birthday was even more low key. Mrs G and myself had to work and the kids went to kindy. We packed a cake for them to take along and that was consumed at kindy with the other kids and happy birthday sung.
When we finally all managed to get home we ordered some dinner (LGR wanted honey prawns) and opened some pressies. Unfortunately it all got rather late and the kids (particularly Hayzey) got very tired and irritable. LGR was highly impressed that every time the phone rang the call was for him :-)
Monday, October 09, 2006
More Parties
We finally recovered from the engagement weekend. Just in time to host our own little get together for LGR's 4th birthday. This was pretty low key - a bunch of LGR's mates and some family thrown in. It was a fairly laid back afternoon tea and it went well. The weather was fantastic and the kids mostly got along like the proverbial house on fire. LGR met one of his friends (a girl I should add) at the front door with a very spontaneous hug. My little boy might have a girlfriend!!
As the afternoon moved on folks started moving off to their various things they had to do or be at or whatever else. But not everybody. A small group stayed behind to assist with the consumption of beer and pizzas, and to maintain a healthy level of conversation, until well into the evening. It felt really late but it wasn't. The kids stayed up and went to bed very easily.
Sunday was nice. We had Grandma staying in the spare room and Aunt LJ and UA sleeping downstairs. LGR and Hayzey thought it was fantastic to have so many people around and were well and truly in their element. LGR was still excited by the previous day and got up at around 06:00 to play with his presents. Hayzey slept till 08:00.
At around 09:30 I bundled the kids into the car and we went off in search of a running shoe shop in Rozelle while Mrs G did some study. I eventually found it - after driving around Balmain and Rozelle in circles because you can't seem to turn in the direction you want when you want ... The shoes were duly purchased and we made our way to a nice little park nearby. Games were had in some very fierce heat and sunlight for a while and then the kids decided they wanted bananas.
So back to the car. Bananas became drinks and sandwiches - and then the request was put out to go home. So we did. While driving home we got caught in the massive southerly change which was coming over and blowing all sorts of crap onto the freeway. At some points the dust clouds were so thick you couldn't see more than 30m in front.
Not much else happened really. We went out for groceries in the afternoon and spent some time playing with the kids, ironing, studying and whatever else. Mrs G and I even tried to watch a movie but only managed to get halfway before deciding sleep was a fantastic alternative to being awake.
As the afternoon moved on folks started moving off to their various things they had to do or be at or whatever else. But not everybody. A small group stayed behind to assist with the consumption of beer and pizzas, and to maintain a healthy level of conversation, until well into the evening. It felt really late but it wasn't. The kids stayed up and went to bed very easily.
Sunday was nice. We had Grandma staying in the spare room and Aunt LJ and UA sleeping downstairs. LGR and Hayzey thought it was fantastic to have so many people around and were well and truly in their element. LGR was still excited by the previous day and got up at around 06:00 to play with his presents. Hayzey slept till 08:00.
At around 09:30 I bundled the kids into the car and we went off in search of a running shoe shop in Rozelle while Mrs G did some study. I eventually found it - after driving around Balmain and Rozelle in circles because you can't seem to turn in the direction you want when you want ... The shoes were duly purchased and we made our way to a nice little park nearby. Games were had in some very fierce heat and sunlight for a while and then the kids decided they wanted bananas.
So back to the car. Bananas became drinks and sandwiches - and then the request was put out to go home. So we did. While driving home we got caught in the massive southerly change which was coming over and blowing all sorts of crap onto the freeway. At some points the dust clouds were so thick you couldn't see more than 30m in front.
Not much else happened really. We went out for groceries in the afternoon and spent some time playing with the kids, ironing, studying and whatever else. Mrs G and I even tried to watch a movie but only managed to get halfway before deciding sleep was a fantastic alternative to being awake.
Where Have We All Been? At an Engagement Party!
It's been a long time since I posted. Much has happened.
If I go right back to the beginning I can start with my sister's engagement party up in the Mountains. This turned into a 3 day festival of fun, food and drink for some of us. My body was reeling by the end of it but it was a shitload of fun.
Day 1 was Saturday. At about 13:00 LGR and I were dropped off at my Mum's place and Mrs G and Hayzey took off to Grandma's. The afternoon was spend preparing foods for the Sunday party, putting up a tent to sleep in (for myself, LGR, Aunt LJ and UA) and purchasing beverages for consumption at whatever time was deemed appropriate.
At about 6:30 we met Mrs G, Hayz and Grandma at the bowl-o for some Chinese. Also joining us were great-Nanna and the cousin clan H from somewhere in the south west of country NSW (I know where they come from but in the interests of privacy I won't say where). We ate and talked and had some fun. In the end we had to leave because the kids were getting a touch tired. My Mum had to drive an unfamiliar car home and a bunch of fun was had watching her get used to it. She did a good job though and we were all delivered home safely.
Next stop was the camping expedition. We lit up a little campfire and toasted some marshmallows. LGR was still going strong. He was refusing to go to sleep until the camping was on - even to the point of making himself stay awake in the car. Impressive stuff from the young man!!
We decided to sleep at about 23:00 and all went well until the camp light went out. LGR started crying. He wanted Mummy and Hayzey to be with us; and he wanted us all to be in our beds at home. It was very sweet and in the end I hugged him to sleep. For me this was the best part of the weekend. Along with the request for a hug at 02:45, the proclamation that enough sleep had been had at 04:30 and his booming announcement to the whole tent at 05:30 that it was daytime and we should start playing :-)
The day of the party itself came and went. It was a good day and a good party. On a personal level it was tarnished a bit by Hayzey's illness - it had developed overnight and Mrs G didn't get any more sleep than I had received. Everyone had fun and was with a deal of sadness that Mrs and I realised we should take the kids home for some much needed sleep in their own beds.
We all had a bit of a sleep in on the Monday public holiday. For me it was up to about 06:00 but everyone was still asleep when I got home from my run. The day was spent doing some chores and groceries and very little. At about 13:00 we found out that Aunt LG and UA were going to pop over with cousin PH to pick up some baby things we didn't need anymore and for a bit more of a catchup. It ended up turning into a very good BBQ dinner with a solid amount of beer and more fun to be had.
It was very sweet to get to bed ....
If I go right back to the beginning I can start with my sister's engagement party up in the Mountains. This turned into a 3 day festival of fun, food and drink for some of us. My body was reeling by the end of it but it was a shitload of fun.
Day 1 was Saturday. At about 13:00 LGR and I were dropped off at my Mum's place and Mrs G and Hayzey took off to Grandma's. The afternoon was spend preparing foods for the Sunday party, putting up a tent to sleep in (for myself, LGR, Aunt LJ and UA) and purchasing beverages for consumption at whatever time was deemed appropriate.
At about 6:30 we met Mrs G, Hayz and Grandma at the bowl-o for some Chinese. Also joining us were great-Nanna and the cousin clan H from somewhere in the south west of country NSW (I know where they come from but in the interests of privacy I won't say where). We ate and talked and had some fun. In the end we had to leave because the kids were getting a touch tired. My Mum had to drive an unfamiliar car home and a bunch of fun was had watching her get used to it. She did a good job though and we were all delivered home safely.
Next stop was the camping expedition. We lit up a little campfire and toasted some marshmallows. LGR was still going strong. He was refusing to go to sleep until the camping was on - even to the point of making himself stay awake in the car. Impressive stuff from the young man!!
We decided to sleep at about 23:00 and all went well until the camp light went out. LGR started crying. He wanted Mummy and Hayzey to be with us; and he wanted us all to be in our beds at home. It was very sweet and in the end I hugged him to sleep. For me this was the best part of the weekend. Along with the request for a hug at 02:45, the proclamation that enough sleep had been had at 04:30 and his booming announcement to the whole tent at 05:30 that it was daytime and we should start playing :-)
The day of the party itself came and went. It was a good day and a good party. On a personal level it was tarnished a bit by Hayzey's illness - it had developed overnight and Mrs G didn't get any more sleep than I had received. Everyone had fun and was with a deal of sadness that Mrs and I realised we should take the kids home for some much needed sleep in their own beds.
We all had a bit of a sleep in on the Monday public holiday. For me it was up to about 06:00 but everyone was still asleep when I got home from my run. The day was spent doing some chores and groceries and very little. At about 13:00 we found out that Aunt LG and UA were going to pop over with cousin PH to pick up some baby things we didn't need anymore and for a bit more of a catchup. It ended up turning into a very good BBQ dinner with a solid amount of beer and more fun to be had.
It was very sweet to get to bed ....
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Busy, busy, busy
The last couple of days have been nuts in a professional sense. I think they've been the busiest and most harried work days I've ever experienced. I think having a couple of guys up at a conference in Queensland might be part of the problem ...
Mrs G got a new job this week. Same company but different role. She's quite happy about it - and I'm happy that she's happy.
The kids have been quite sweet. I was late home from work last night and when I walked in the door LGR asked me, in a very concerned voice "Why are you late Daddy? I was worried about you." Very sweet.
Hayzey continues to whisper. I'm not sure if my musings have been published or not - maybe they were in the post that was lost. Just in case ...
As we take her up the stairs to go to bed each night we've started whispering good night to her. Hayzey whispers good night back to us - "Night night Dadda". Mrs G gets the same thing. Right down to being called Dadda.
Mrs G got a new job this week. Same company but different role. She's quite happy about it - and I'm happy that she's happy.
The kids have been quite sweet. I was late home from work last night and when I walked in the door LGR asked me, in a very concerned voice "Why are you late Daddy? I was worried about you." Very sweet.
Hayzey continues to whisper. I'm not sure if my musings have been published or not - maybe they were in the post that was lost. Just in case ...
As we take her up the stairs to go to bed each night we've started whispering good night to her. Hayzey whispers good night back to us - "Night night Dadda". Mrs G gets the same thing. Right down to being called Dadda.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Curse Word
I just spent 15 minutes typing up some stuff and then the page refreshed and it's all gone.
Damnit!!!
Damnit!!!
Friday, September 22, 2006
Gone
LGR had his plaster removed today. His arm is not fully recovered but apparently it's good enough for the doctor to decide he doesn't need plaster. The skin looks a bit unhealthy and he doesn't move it much but I gather he's quite happy to have the plaster gone.
We were back at athletics tonight. Once organised it was fairly disorganised. LGR ran his first 200m tonight. I ran with him and he didn't stop talking for the whole race .... and he came last by about 40m. He thought it was fantastic.
Hayzey was keen to join in, and managed to do so in some places. She ran around (literally) and made noises but was very tired and managed to fall over quite a bit.
We were back at athletics tonight. Once organised it was fairly disorganised. LGR ran his first 200m tonight. I ran with him and he didn't stop talking for the whole race .... and he came last by about 40m. He thought it was fantastic.
Hayzey was keen to join in, and managed to do so in some places. She ran around (literally) and made noises but was very tired and managed to fall over quite a bit.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
The Things We Do
I picked the kids up from kindy today. As I usually do. We messed around for a bit and then made our way out to the car. Both kids were strapped in and we were just about ready to go. Suddenly there was a shriek from the backseat ....
"We can't do Daddy! I left my notepad in the big playground." There was a simultaneous deluge of tears and much misery. So we all got out of the car and convinced kindy to let us into the locked playground. The notepad was right where LGR said it would be :-)
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While I was eating my dinner tonight Hayzey climbed up onto my lap and proceeded to provide a commentary on my technique. I received claps and cheers for the trivial task of placing a spoon in my mouth and swallowing. She would point at the next bit of food I had to eat and took a lot of pleasure in being involved.
She didn't want to try any however ...
"We can't do Daddy! I left my notepad in the big playground." There was a simultaneous deluge of tears and much misery. So we all got out of the car and convinced kindy to let us into the locked playground. The notepad was right where LGR said it would be :-)
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While I was eating my dinner tonight Hayzey climbed up onto my lap and proceeded to provide a commentary on my technique. I received claps and cheers for the trivial task of placing a spoon in my mouth and swallowing. She would point at the next bit of food I had to eat and took a lot of pleasure in being involved.
She didn't want to try any however ...
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Questions
When I picked up the kids from kindy today I was hit with a barrage of questions from LGR. They were about the most innane things and it was driving me nuts - but it's very reassuring to know he still has a curious nature. We're still getting lots of questions about dying, and stingrays. Tonight LGR wanted to know if Steve Irwin was in the ground where the rabbits go or if he was in heaven. Then he asked if eyes still work in heaven ....
Not much happened this evening. Baths, getting dressed, some TV while I cooked dinner and then the usual hassle to get LGR to eat. No issues with Hayzey tonight - she had 3 servings of the pasta and was still hungry.
Hayzey still imitates me when I whistle. Her 'whistling' is getting louder and louder; and more enthusiastic.
Not much happened this evening. Baths, getting dressed, some TV while I cooked dinner and then the usual hassle to get LGR to eat. No issues with Hayzey tonight - she had 3 servings of the pasta and was still hungry.
Hayzey still imitates me when I whistle. Her 'whistling' is getting louder and louder; and more enthusiastic.
Monday, September 18, 2006
A Concert
Just before going to bed tonight LGR gathered up every doll, teddy and dinosaur he could find and very carefully arranged them into an audience. Then he put on a Wiggles concert. It was very sweet; and a very determined and deliberate action.
I didn't see it but apparently LGR asked to go into a music store today. Once inside he went straight to the instruments and started stroking the guitar strings :-) He was also quite impressed that they had cymbals.
Hayzey is growing up very quickly right now. She is starting to talk and her talent for mimicry is starting to show. I think she knows the sequence of numbers from 1 to 10 but she can't say them yet. Not properly at any rate. What she can do now is bath herself (in a fashion) and she can eat a bowl of yoghurt or ice cream with more neatness (and enthusiasm) than any other kid I've seen.
I didn't see it but apparently LGR asked to go into a music store today. Once inside he went straight to the instruments and started stroking the guitar strings :-) He was also quite impressed that they had cymbals.
Hayzey is growing up very quickly right now. She is starting to talk and her talent for mimicry is starting to show. I think she knows the sequence of numbers from 1 to 10 but she can't say them yet. Not properly at any rate. What she can do now is bath herself (in a fashion) and she can eat a bowl of yoghurt or ice cream with more neatness (and enthusiasm) than any other kid I've seen.
More, more, more
Time is beginning to flash by pretty quickly. Maybe I'm getting older. Each day I wake up with plenty of things that I want to get done. I go to bed with a longer list.
I went clothes shopping yesterday and couldn't find anything I liked. With one exception. I saw some pants I liked - but they were the wrong size. Is this another sign that I'm getting old? Do I have to shop for clothes in different stores now?
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We went back to athletics on Friday night. It was good. LGR got to race a few times - and he proved that he truly can race and talk to the spectators at the same time. He also did a bit of long jump and discus. Long jump for 3 years old is funny. They race up to the take off point and then pretty much run through the pit. Some of them stop for a game on the way through. Hayzey wanted to have a go but she's a bit too small at the moment.
We didn't do a lot over the weekend. There was some gardening - backyard on Saturday and front yard yesterday. LGR has figured out how to fill up a watering can with water and I think his new thing is watering the garden. He understands we can only water on Wednesday and Sunday and seems ok with this.
I went clothes shopping yesterday and couldn't find anything I liked. With one exception. I saw some pants I liked - but they were the wrong size. Is this another sign that I'm getting old? Do I have to shop for clothes in different stores now?
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We went back to athletics on Friday night. It was good. LGR got to race a few times - and he proved that he truly can race and talk to the spectators at the same time. He also did a bit of long jump and discus. Long jump for 3 years old is funny. They race up to the take off point and then pretty much run through the pit. Some of them stop for a game on the way through. Hayzey wanted to have a go but she's a bit too small at the moment.
We didn't do a lot over the weekend. There was some gardening - backyard on Saturday and front yard yesterday. LGR has figured out how to fill up a watering can with water and I think his new thing is watering the garden. He understands we can only water on Wednesday and Sunday and seems ok with this.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Back Again
Hi There. It's been a while since I posted. A week I think.
Where to start? Athletics. LGR started athletics last Friday night. He's joined a fair dinkum club and is in the Tiny Tots group. He's doing it with a couple of mates. I was proud as punch. LGR doesn't seem to have a competitive bone in his body - at least not when it comes to sport. He loved participating and was dead keen on the running. At one point I was walking along the side while he was running (in a race) all the while looking at me yelling questions: "Am I going fast? Do I look fast?" I was walking as fast as he was running!! It was brilliant and I felt just a bit sentimental.
When he woke up on Saturday he was still asking about athletics and wanted to know all about when I ran - "When you were little". It's at this point we decided he truly did have a great time.
We popped in for swimming lessons and then whipped over to the shops for some groceries and some clothes for the kids. Both Mrs G and myself were fairly disappointed with what was on offer - and more than a bit worried about some of the clothing produced for Hayzey's age. There were plenty of hotpants and skimpy singlets but not nearly as much 'sensible' clothing. This is a sure sign that I'm getting old. Regardless the kids needed some clothing so we took the best of a bad bunch.
Grandad came over for dinner on Saturday evening so we had a BBQ. The kids made quite a good bit of noise and I think a pretty good time was had by all. LGR managed to coerce Grandad into reading two bedtime stories. For some reason this struck me as very funny - maybe because I know we only ever read him one and he's seized an opportunity.
Sunday brought another birthday party for us - this time it was a 10 pin bowling party. All party goers duly assembled at the bowling place at 11am - and 45 minutes we were all waiting for some lanes. It finally got under way and both kids seemed to enjoy it. Hayzey was particularly taken with it - she would carry her own bowl to the lane, let me place it on the kids bowling frame and then joyfully push it down the lane. While the ball travelled down the lane she would wave goodbye, point at it (saying "Look! Look!") and then clap and cheer when it reached the pins.
LGR managed to snare himself two spares but didn't care that much. He wanted a strike and nothing less would satisfy. In the end he spent most of his time looking at the computer games ...
Where to start? Athletics. LGR started athletics last Friday night. He's joined a fair dinkum club and is in the Tiny Tots group. He's doing it with a couple of mates. I was proud as punch. LGR doesn't seem to have a competitive bone in his body - at least not when it comes to sport. He loved participating and was dead keen on the running. At one point I was walking along the side while he was running (in a race) all the while looking at me yelling questions: "Am I going fast? Do I look fast?" I was walking as fast as he was running!! It was brilliant and I felt just a bit sentimental.
When he woke up on Saturday he was still asking about athletics and wanted to know all about when I ran - "When you were little". It's at this point we decided he truly did have a great time.
We popped in for swimming lessons and then whipped over to the shops for some groceries and some clothes for the kids. Both Mrs G and myself were fairly disappointed with what was on offer - and more than a bit worried about some of the clothing produced for Hayzey's age. There were plenty of hotpants and skimpy singlets but not nearly as much 'sensible' clothing. This is a sure sign that I'm getting old. Regardless the kids needed some clothing so we took the best of a bad bunch.
Grandad came over for dinner on Saturday evening so we had a BBQ. The kids made quite a good bit of noise and I think a pretty good time was had by all. LGR managed to coerce Grandad into reading two bedtime stories. For some reason this struck me as very funny - maybe because I know we only ever read him one and he's seized an opportunity.
Sunday brought another birthday party for us - this time it was a 10 pin bowling party. All party goers duly assembled at the bowling place at 11am - and 45 minutes we were all waiting for some lanes. It finally got under way and both kids seemed to enjoy it. Hayzey was particularly taken with it - she would carry her own bowl to the lane, let me place it on the kids bowling frame and then joyfully push it down the lane. While the ball travelled down the lane she would wave goodbye, point at it (saying "Look! Look!") and then clap and cheer when it reached the pins.
LGR managed to snare himself two spares but didn't care that much. He wanted a strike and nothing less would satisfy. In the end he spent most of his time looking at the computer games ...
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Camping
LGR keeps insisting that we are going camping. He is very, very keen and has told me all the stuff we need - a tent, sleeping bags, a mattress, a fire for the marshmallows and some logs to sit on. His enthusiasm is amazing and it's very sweet to see him get so excited about something which is surely only a concept for him at the moment.
Hayzey seems to have learnt a new word - "No". That is how she answers every single question at the moment; even when she means yes.
Hayzey seems to have learnt a new word - "No". That is how she answers every single question at the moment; even when she means yes.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
All sorts of stuff ...
It's been a while since I last posted and a lot has happened.
I should start with Father's Day I guess. For me it was awesome - the best one I've experienced yet. The mood of the day was setup magnificently by LGR and Hayzey climbing into bed with Mrs G and myself and giving me the sweetest hand made card. LGR conceptualised and designed the card and Mrs G provided some assistance in actually making it. I now have it on permanent display at work (I spend more awake time sitting at my desk at work than I do any other single thing ...).
After the card and some pressies we ventured downstairs for some breakfast (Mexican sausages and eggs) and then checked our flourishing little herb garden (more on that later).
Our first stop was at the shops to pick up some pants for me. I didn't get any (couldn't find anything that I liked) but Mrs G did. Go figure ... While out and about I squeezed in a little exploratory walk thru the Asian grocery store and I was very, very happy with what I found.
From here it was off to lunch - back at Gledswood. The food itself was fairly typical buffet fair. The company was great - and the quantities of beer were fantastic. The kids all had a ball running around and getting filthy and I even managed win a bottle of port.
On the way home we tuned into the footy and I realised that I had just won the work tipping comp. $$$ for me :-)
The rest of the day was spent hanging around home doing nothing much. This was more than enough for me.
----
Herb Garden: It's just an assortment of terracott and plastic tubs and pots with a bunch of herbs in them. Half of the herbs were sourced from Helensburg and the other half from Cobbitty Markets. We have a magnificent assortment including basil, coriander, parsley, mint, asian mint, dill, french sorrel, watercress, sage, thyme, rosemary and a single, magnificent chilli tree. All of them are coming along beautifully and should be ready for eating in the coming weeks.
----
LGR has started to conceptualise what death is about - but still doesn't quite get it. Steve Irwin died yesterday in a very bizarre accident - and it's fair to say that LGR thought Steve Irwin was just about the coolest guy going around. He (LGR) has frequently run around the house/yard/kindy yelling out "I'm Steve Horwin. I hunt crocodiles". He can say Irwin properly now but it was gorgeous to hear him saying Horwin in the past ...
We thought it best to address the issue openly with him and explain what had happened - it was surely to come up in the news or at kindy or somewhere else and we wanted to have first shot. LGR's eyes got very wide and very serious and then he began to look very sad. We asked how he felt and the answer was "Not very good." LGR and Mrs G disappeared upstairs and then reappeared with LGR clutching an Australia Zoo map - "To remember Steve Irwin".
It was heartbreaking.
I should start with Father's Day I guess. For me it was awesome - the best one I've experienced yet. The mood of the day was setup magnificently by LGR and Hayzey climbing into bed with Mrs G and myself and giving me the sweetest hand made card. LGR conceptualised and designed the card and Mrs G provided some assistance in actually making it. I now have it on permanent display at work (I spend more awake time sitting at my desk at work than I do any other single thing ...).
After the card and some pressies we ventured downstairs for some breakfast (Mexican sausages and eggs) and then checked our flourishing little herb garden (more on that later).
Our first stop was at the shops to pick up some pants for me. I didn't get any (couldn't find anything that I liked) but Mrs G did. Go figure ... While out and about I squeezed in a little exploratory walk thru the Asian grocery store and I was very, very happy with what I found.
From here it was off to lunch - back at Gledswood. The food itself was fairly typical buffet fair. The company was great - and the quantities of beer were fantastic. The kids all had a ball running around and getting filthy and I even managed win a bottle of port.
On the way home we tuned into the footy and I realised that I had just won the work tipping comp. $$$ for me :-)
The rest of the day was spent hanging around home doing nothing much. This was more than enough for me.
----
Herb Garden: It's just an assortment of terracott and plastic tubs and pots with a bunch of herbs in them. Half of the herbs were sourced from Helensburg and the other half from Cobbitty Markets. We have a magnificent assortment including basil, coriander, parsley, mint, asian mint, dill, french sorrel, watercress, sage, thyme, rosemary and a single, magnificent chilli tree. All of them are coming along beautifully and should be ready for eating in the coming weeks.
----
LGR has started to conceptualise what death is about - but still doesn't quite get it. Steve Irwin died yesterday in a very bizarre accident - and it's fair to say that LGR thought Steve Irwin was just about the coolest guy going around. He (LGR) has frequently run around the house/yard/kindy yelling out "I'm Steve Horwin. I hunt crocodiles". He can say Irwin properly now but it was gorgeous to hear him saying Horwin in the past ...
We thought it best to address the issue openly with him and explain what had happened - it was surely to come up in the news or at kindy or somewhere else and we wanted to have first shot. LGR's eyes got very wide and very serious and then he began to look very sad. We asked how he felt and the answer was "Not very good." LGR and Mrs G disappeared upstairs and then reappeared with LGR clutching an Australia Zoo map - "To remember Steve Irwin".
It was heartbreaking.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Spatial Awareness & Body Hair
You read the title correctly:
Spatial Awareness & Body Hair
LGR is currently fascinated by each of these topics. How do I know? Well - apart from living with him ...
At least once a day LGR will stop and ask some sort of question along the lines of "Which room is above us now?" or "Who owns that window?". He's always asking these questions about our house and I can picture his brain ticking over putting the pieces of the three dimensional puzzle together.
As for the body hair ... He has developed a charming little habit of telling me that he has hairy legs - "just like Daddy". Then he shows me his hairy legs and changes his mind. "My legs are hairy but not like yours."
Very sweet and very innocent.
Hayz is reaching that stage where she is moving from being adorably sweet and innocent to a little but sneaky and more than willing to play on emotions. She's still sweet but has learnt the value of a good screech and some tears on the cheek.
Most importantly however - she still manages to enthrall people wherever we go and is talking more and more often. I might see if I can see some sound grabs of the kids talking/singing etc and put them on the other page.
In other news that isn't limited to the kids I can reveal that Mrs G got a pretty good result in her first assignment of the new Uni semester and she is also looking after herself (the person out there who was concerned can rest easy now).
My knee is getting stronger and stronger. It's still not perfect but my running regime is coming along nicely and strength is slowly returning. I've come up with a shortlist of races I'd like to do over the next couple of years and, at this point, I'm about 20.5 km away from being able to complete the shortest of them :-)
Spatial Awareness & Body Hair
LGR is currently fascinated by each of these topics. How do I know? Well - apart from living with him ...
At least once a day LGR will stop and ask some sort of question along the lines of "Which room is above us now?" or "Who owns that window?". He's always asking these questions about our house and I can picture his brain ticking over putting the pieces of the three dimensional puzzle together.
As for the body hair ... He has developed a charming little habit of telling me that he has hairy legs - "just like Daddy". Then he shows me his hairy legs and changes his mind. "My legs are hairy but not like yours."
Very sweet and very innocent.
Hayz is reaching that stage where she is moving from being adorably sweet and innocent to a little but sneaky and more than willing to play on emotions. She's still sweet but has learnt the value of a good screech and some tears on the cheek.
Most importantly however - she still manages to enthrall people wherever we go and is talking more and more often. I might see if I can see some sound grabs of the kids talking/singing etc and put them on the other page.
In other news that isn't limited to the kids I can reveal that Mrs G got a pretty good result in her first assignment of the new Uni semester and she is also looking after herself (the person out there who was concerned can rest easy now).
My knee is getting stronger and stronger. It's still not perfect but my running regime is coming along nicely and strength is slowly returning. I've come up with a shortlist of races I'd like to do over the next couple of years and, at this point, I'm about 20.5 km away from being able to complete the shortest of them :-)
Sunday, August 27, 2006
A Loooonnnnnggggg Weekend
We seem to have done a million things this weekend - but I'm sure that in telling the story it won't seem that way.
It started off with swimming lessons for Hayz on Saturday morning. She was very cute (again) and is almost, but not quite, good enough to go up a level. I'm not upset about this - it's a bit of fun to do lessons with her.
From lessons it was a quick trip home for a shower and to get some stuff together before heading up the mountains. I drove mostly over the speed limit and the trip passed quickly enough :-) We had a quaint little celebration of UG's birthday (which was actually a while back) and the kids enjoyed giving him pressies.
After lunch we went for a walk to the primary school Mrs G and I attended. It's changed a bit - there's very obviously been a safety audit done and some playground changes have been implemented. There's also a new indoor sports hall. The grounds were pretty dirty and we had a bit of a gaze into some of the buildings and they were also quite dirty. I guess this is because school's can't afford cleaners anymore .....
Mid afternoon we left Grandma's house to go to Nanna's house for TJ's party. Pretty much everyone on the Jones side of the family was there. It was a pretty good night. LGR loved playing with his cousins and there was a lot of very noisy and animated conversation.
Then came Sunday.
It started with a very nice run (for me) and then a trip up to the shops for some food. We were fairly efficient today and got out without too much damage on the plastic cards.
After going home to put all the beautiful new food away I took the kidlets out for an adventure while Mrs G did some study.
First stop was Woronora Dam - near Helensburg. It's been a couple of years since I was last there and the drop in water levels was quite shocking. It rammed home some of the significance of the ongoing drought. It also reinforced my strong feelings of vertigo as I held up the kids to see the water on one side fo the dam and the dry land on the other.
Next stop was a park in Helensburg. We found some play equipment and had a very nice game. There was also a picnic had (not much was eaten) and a phone call made to Mrs G to see how she was going. At this point I was reminded about our next destination selling goldfish and this was all the bait that was needed to get LGR into the car.
Next was the ZooCow nursery. We bought 3 fish, some herbs, a native tree with red leaves and two golden leaved shrubs. And some potting mix. LGR and Hayzey shared a milkshake and both of them enjoyed playing the water features. Somehow we managed to spend about 90 minutes at the nursery and nobody seemed to mind too much.
A quick trip home and it was time to plant the herbs. Both kidlets helped out in their various ways. I know a bloke who got a staff/staph infection from some potting mix a while back so I'm very cautious around it now - much to the displeasure of the kids. But they had a dig and this seemed to be enough for them.
Time for a bath. LGR didn't enjoy this too much and who can blame him? It was very awkward and his wash lasted for all of 3 minutes.
Dinner was next. This was a bit of fun tonight. We were given a pasta maker last Christmas (I think?) and today we finally used it. Everyone helped out and the pasta even ended up tasting good. Next time we'll make the recipe a little differently but know we've been through the technique once there's no reason not to do it again.
So that's about it. All little things but when it's all added up plenty going on.
It started off with swimming lessons for Hayz on Saturday morning. She was very cute (again) and is almost, but not quite, good enough to go up a level. I'm not upset about this - it's a bit of fun to do lessons with her.
From lessons it was a quick trip home for a shower and to get some stuff together before heading up the mountains. I drove mostly over the speed limit and the trip passed quickly enough :-) We had a quaint little celebration of UG's birthday (which was actually a while back) and the kids enjoyed giving him pressies.
After lunch we went for a walk to the primary school Mrs G and I attended. It's changed a bit - there's very obviously been a safety audit done and some playground changes have been implemented. There's also a new indoor sports hall. The grounds were pretty dirty and we had a bit of a gaze into some of the buildings and they were also quite dirty. I guess this is because school's can't afford cleaners anymore .....
Mid afternoon we left Grandma's house to go to Nanna's house for TJ's party. Pretty much everyone on the Jones side of the family was there. It was a pretty good night. LGR loved playing with his cousins and there was a lot of very noisy and animated conversation.
Then came Sunday.
It started with a very nice run (for me) and then a trip up to the shops for some food. We were fairly efficient today and got out without too much damage on the plastic cards.
After going home to put all the beautiful new food away I took the kidlets out for an adventure while Mrs G did some study.
First stop was Woronora Dam - near Helensburg. It's been a couple of years since I was last there and the drop in water levels was quite shocking. It rammed home some of the significance of the ongoing drought. It also reinforced my strong feelings of vertigo as I held up the kids to see the water on one side fo the dam and the dry land on the other.
Next stop was a park in Helensburg. We found some play equipment and had a very nice game. There was also a picnic had (not much was eaten) and a phone call made to Mrs G to see how she was going. At this point I was reminded about our next destination selling goldfish and this was all the bait that was needed to get LGR into the car.
Next was the ZooCow nursery. We bought 3 fish, some herbs, a native tree with red leaves and two golden leaved shrubs. And some potting mix. LGR and Hayzey shared a milkshake and both of them enjoyed playing the water features. Somehow we managed to spend about 90 minutes at the nursery and nobody seemed to mind too much.
A quick trip home and it was time to plant the herbs. Both kidlets helped out in their various ways. I know a bloke who got a staff/staph infection from some potting mix a while back so I'm very cautious around it now - much to the displeasure of the kids. But they had a dig and this seemed to be enough for them.
Time for a bath. LGR didn't enjoy this too much and who can blame him? It was very awkward and his wash lasted for all of 3 minutes.
Dinner was next. This was a bit of fun tonight. We were given a pasta maker last Christmas (I think?) and today we finally used it. Everyone helped out and the pasta even ended up tasting good. Next time we'll make the recipe a little differently but know we've been through the technique once there's no reason not to do it again.
So that's about it. All little things but when it's all added up plenty going on.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Plaster
Today was a bit sad. LGR went back for some more X-rays on his arm. For whatever reason Mrs G was convinced he would be better. He wasn't - and has come with a permanent cast. Apparently the splint type cast was for use while there was some swelling on his arm. LGR doesn't mind too much at the moment - he keeps knocking on the cast and asking "Who's there?".
Hayzey was very sweet this morning. I went in to get her out of her cot when she woke up this morning and am convinced she said "Hi Daddy. I'm sore." Mrs G heard the same words. It's quite possible because she has conjunctivitis. Again. And she still hasn't shaken off her ear infections. So we're getting her some more medication ....
When I was leaving for work I waved good bye to the kids. LGR waved back in his watching TV fashion but Hayzey started howling, then raced over to where I was and grabbed my hand. This was cute enough - but then she turned around to Mrs G (while holding my hand) and started saying goodbye :-) I'm not sure if she meant that Hayz was coming with me or Mrs G was leaving but either way it made me feel very special.
Hayzey was very sweet this morning. I went in to get her out of her cot when she woke up this morning and am convinced she said "Hi Daddy. I'm sore." Mrs G heard the same words. It's quite possible because she has conjunctivitis. Again. And she still hasn't shaken off her ear infections. So we're getting her some more medication ....
When I was leaving for work I waved good bye to the kids. LGR waved back in his watching TV fashion but Hayzey started howling, then raced over to where I was and grabbed my hand. This was cute enough - but then she turned around to Mrs G (while holding my hand) and started saying goodbye :-) I'm not sure if she meant that Hayz was coming with me or Mrs G was leaving but either way it made me feel very special.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
A New Era of Energy Production
Could the information in this link be true?
I'd like to think so. My children would like to think so; but they don't know it yet.
To read the articles it seems as though approx 30sq m of panelling would be enough to produce energy, year round, for my house. Excess energy produced during strong daylight periods could be stored and used when the sun disappears (eg night time, winter - although there's plenty of sun around in winter in the last couple of years).
Could this be the miracle breakthrough the world is waiting for?
I'd like to think so. My children would like to think so; but they don't know it yet.
To read the articles it seems as though approx 30sq m of panelling would be enough to produce energy, year round, for my house. Excess energy produced during strong daylight periods could be stored and used when the sun disappears (eg night time, winter - although there's plenty of sun around in winter in the last couple of years).
Could this be the miracle breakthrough the world is waiting for?
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Home Early
I got a call from Mrs G at about 13:45 this afternoon telling me kindy was claiming Hayzey had a fever and we needed to pick her up. Mrs G was in training so I graciously volunteered.
When I got to kindy I decided to check in on LGR first. I looked thru the window of the Pre-School and he was dancing around with his mates shaking a maracca. I was spied through the window and next thing I knew LGR and a bunch of his mates were all talking to me and telling me how fun they were having :-) There was no way LGR was going to go home just yet ....
Next stop was Hayz. When I walked into her room she was sitting quietly by herself. When she saw me she blurted out a croaky "Dadda" and I thought maybe she was sick after all. She'd had some Panadol but no food. Kindy did tell me she was looking a bit better.
Hayz and I got home (LGR definitely wasn't ready to leave) and she started eating. And eating. And eating. She wasn't overly active but at the same Hayz was having a grand time reading here books to herself. Every time she turned the page she would yell out "Banana".
In the end I got a couple of hours off work and Hayzey is not sick. The downside is that I have to start work at 04:00 tomorrow morning and have not had a chance to properly prepare for the work I have to do. Time will tell what happens.
When I got to kindy I decided to check in on LGR first. I looked thru the window of the Pre-School and he was dancing around with his mates shaking a maracca. I was spied through the window and next thing I knew LGR and a bunch of his mates were all talking to me and telling me how fun they were having :-) There was no way LGR was going to go home just yet ....
Next stop was Hayz. When I walked into her room she was sitting quietly by herself. When she saw me she blurted out a croaky "Dadda" and I thought maybe she was sick after all. She'd had some Panadol but no food. Kindy did tell me she was looking a bit better.
Hayz and I got home (LGR definitely wasn't ready to leave) and she started eating. And eating. And eating. She wasn't overly active but at the same Hayz was having a grand time reading here books to herself. Every time she turned the page she would yell out "Banana".
In the end I got a couple of hours off work and Hayzey is not sick. The downside is that I have to start work at 04:00 tomorrow morning and have not had a chance to properly prepare for the work I have to do. Time will tell what happens.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Dinner with the Kids
Today was a pretty typical day. Up nice and early to do some exercise and get ready for work. A quick chat with the kids then into the car to listen to Adam Spencer on the radio. At work just after 07:00.
Leave work about 16:00 to pick up the kids. Get stuck in traffic - particularly on the Motorway.
Arrive at kindy and hear shrieks of joy and a variety of questions. Spend about 10 minutes trying to get out the door :-)
But it was different when we got home tonight. Mrs G is at a work function/dinner thing so it was just me and the kids tonight. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary but it was very nice to sit down and chat and have their complete attention. They were both very well behaved and they even ate their dinner.
The highlight was pulling faces with Hayz. And watching her imitate LGR. And watching LGR enjoy being imitated.
Leave work about 16:00 to pick up the kids. Get stuck in traffic - particularly on the Motorway.
Arrive at kindy and hear shrieks of joy and a variety of questions. Spend about 10 minutes trying to get out the door :-)
But it was different when we got home tonight. Mrs G is at a work function/dinner thing so it was just me and the kids tonight. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary but it was very nice to sit down and chat and have their complete attention. They were both very well behaved and they even ate their dinner.
The highlight was pulling faces with Hayz. And watching her imitate LGR. And watching LGR enjoy being imitated.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Party
Today we went to a birthday party at Gledswood Estate. It was very cool. We got to do all sorts of things - milk cows, throw boomerangs, watch dogs chase sheep, watch kids chase sheep, watch geese chase kids ...
It's a really nice place - a total surpise to me. The place feels like it's on the edge of the world but it's only about 15 minutes from large shopping centres and residential areas.
I want to buy it and live there. I don't think I have enough $$$.
The other good thing we did today was get two little goldfish for our litte fishtank. LGR is very excited about it - but it took about 5 minutes for the excitement to wear off. The poor little fish looked a little despondent for a while but seem to have calmed down a little now.
Lastly - Footy Tipping. I had a shocker this weekend. 3 from 7. I was 0 from 4 last night and feeling quite crook. Coming into the previous round I had a lead of 5 points. This shrunk to 3 over the course of the round (no thanks to referees screwing up the Tigers game). I shudder to think we're I'll be after this round ....
At least the Eagles are winning.
It's a really nice place - a total surpise to me. The place feels like it's on the edge of the world but it's only about 15 minutes from large shopping centres and residential areas.
I want to buy it and live there. I don't think I have enough $$$.
The other good thing we did today was get two little goldfish for our litte fishtank. LGR is very excited about it - but it took about 5 minutes for the excitement to wear off. The poor little fish looked a little despondent for a while but seem to have calmed down a little now.
Lastly - Footy Tipping. I had a shocker this weekend. 3 from 7. I was 0 from 4 last night and feeling quite crook. Coming into the previous round I had a lead of 5 points. This shrunk to 3 over the course of the round (no thanks to referees screwing up the Tigers game). I shudder to think we're I'll be after this round ....
At least the Eagles are winning.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Ice Cream in the Sun
Hayz went back to swimming lessons today. LGR has some plaster issues which are preventing him from also attending lessons :-(
Initially Hayz was quite lazy but she warmed up when she was allowed to climb out of the pool and jump back in. She got bolder the longer the lesson went and by the end she was counting to three (in her own language) and throwing herself into the water!!
The next couple of hours consisted of some grocery shopping; Mrs G clothes shopping and LGR birthday present shopping. I'm very thrilled with what we've gotten him but you'll all have to wait until his birthday to find out what it is.
After lunch I took LGR and Hayz out for a drive so Mrs G could get some study/work done. We ventured to a nice enough park on the water at Rhodes (the water is apparently called Duck River - no ducks to be seen). After some awkward playing (the toys were just a touch too big for Hayz and LGR was a little bit unsure of himself) we went for a walk along the promenade to the shops to get some food for dinner. While we were there I was able to be talked into getting the kids some ice-cream.
The ice-cream was nice. I didn't have any but the kids were so happy and content to eat ice cream in the sun ... It only took about 15 minutes to get through it but while it lasted it was very peaceful and quite lovely.
From here it was a walk back to the car and home. Not much happened from here on in - but between Mrs G and myself we've managed to read to each of the kids for over an hour. Most of the time they were sitting on our laps in a very unusual display of prolonged affection, concentration and inactivity. No complaints about any of that from me.
Initially Hayz was quite lazy but she warmed up when she was allowed to climb out of the pool and jump back in. She got bolder the longer the lesson went and by the end she was counting to three (in her own language) and throwing herself into the water!!
The next couple of hours consisted of some grocery shopping; Mrs G clothes shopping and LGR birthday present shopping. I'm very thrilled with what we've gotten him but you'll all have to wait until his birthday to find out what it is.
After lunch I took LGR and Hayz out for a drive so Mrs G could get some study/work done. We ventured to a nice enough park on the water at Rhodes (the water is apparently called Duck River - no ducks to be seen). After some awkward playing (the toys were just a touch too big for Hayz and LGR was a little bit unsure of himself) we went for a walk along the promenade to the shops to get some food for dinner. While we were there I was able to be talked into getting the kids some ice-cream.
The ice-cream was nice. I didn't have any but the kids were so happy and content to eat ice cream in the sun ... It only took about 15 minutes to get through it but while it lasted it was very peaceful and quite lovely.
From here it was a walk back to the car and home. Not much happened from here on in - but between Mrs G and myself we've managed to read to each of the kids for over an hour. Most of the time they were sitting on our laps in a very unusual display of prolonged affection, concentration and inactivity. No complaints about any of that from me.
Friday, August 18, 2006
More Pics
I've posted the July pics at my other site . Have a look :-)
What's been happening? I've been working and it's been a very long week. I know there are plenty of people out there who have longer shifts and work more days per week; but my week was still pretty long.
We got a few things fixed around the house. The dishwasher has been on the blink for about two weeks. The nice fixer upper man came out today and was able to determine that the guys who put in our new floors had managed to introduce a kink into the hose - thus causing our problems. The issue was the way they had finished the floor to the dishwasher (but not under it - they claimed they couldn't get the dishwasher out ...). The finish meant the washer had to be pushed just a little further back and this introduced a kink.
Conveniently the floor people were also coming around today to fix a couple of little issues that had arisen. When they got here Mrs G asked them about the area around the dishwasher and suggested they should finish the job. The guy who was doing the fixing was not the same guy (or guys) who did the initial work and he was, by all accounts, a bit upset about the effort put in. Of more intrigue was that he was able to tell us who had done the original work - suggesting a bit of a pattern???
The fixer upper chap completed the job under the dishwasher and fixed up some of our other small issues. The dishwasher dude left our washer in the middle of the kitchen so it could be done - but didn't charge us anything. All that is left for us is to wriggle the washer back into place tomorrow (there's some silicon which needs some curing time) and we're all set. Hopefully.
What else? We had another disco tonight. Tonight's effor fizzled out pretty quickly. I would suggest this is because LGR has had a very active day and his arm was causing some discomfort. They still managed a nice dance and had some fun.
I also had a nice little game with Hayz. I was laying on my back and spinning around and she kept chasing my knees. The aim for her was to climb over my knees and onto my belly. It seems as though this can only be done via my knees - climbing onto the belly from the side is a big no-no.
Earlier this week LGR got very upset at his shadow. It wouldn't leave him alone ...
What's been happening? I've been working and it's been a very long week. I know there are plenty of people out there who have longer shifts and work more days per week; but my week was still pretty long.
We got a few things fixed around the house. The dishwasher has been on the blink for about two weeks. The nice fixer upper man came out today and was able to determine that the guys who put in our new floors had managed to introduce a kink into the hose - thus causing our problems. The issue was the way they had finished the floor to the dishwasher (but not under it - they claimed they couldn't get the dishwasher out ...). The finish meant the washer had to be pushed just a little further back and this introduced a kink.
Conveniently the floor people were also coming around today to fix a couple of little issues that had arisen. When they got here Mrs G asked them about the area around the dishwasher and suggested they should finish the job. The guy who was doing the fixing was not the same guy (or guys) who did the initial work and he was, by all accounts, a bit upset about the effort put in. Of more intrigue was that he was able to tell us who had done the original work - suggesting a bit of a pattern???
The fixer upper chap completed the job under the dishwasher and fixed up some of our other small issues. The dishwasher dude left our washer in the middle of the kitchen so it could be done - but didn't charge us anything. All that is left for us is to wriggle the washer back into place tomorrow (there's some silicon which needs some curing time) and we're all set. Hopefully.
What else? We had another disco tonight. Tonight's effor fizzled out pretty quickly. I would suggest this is because LGR has had a very active day and his arm was causing some discomfort. They still managed a nice dance and had some fun.
I also had a nice little game with Hayz. I was laying on my back and spinning around and she kept chasing my knees. The aim for her was to climb over my knees and onto my belly. It seems as though this can only be done via my knees - climbing onto the belly from the side is a big no-no.
Earlier this week LGR got very upset at his shadow. It wouldn't leave him alone ...
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Glamorous Industry
It is so glamorous to be in the IT industry; particularly when you work for a (comparatively) leading edge content company.
I got up at 03:00 to be at work by 04:00 this morning. To get to where I needed to be in the building I had to swipe my ID card at the front door, get past security, swipe my card again to get into a hallway, swipe again to get into a room, identify myself to a certain person and then get them to let me through two more doors before being allowed into a cage containing some highly sensitive and very important equipment.
Then I sat on a chair with my laptop in my lap (where else would it be?) typing away and waiting for things to happen. Every now and then I had to get up to move some cables or turn things on and off. At the end of it all I left via the same series of doors to emerge into the cool night air. From here it was a short walk to my building on the campus and the commencement of a day's work.
90 minutes later the sun came up ....
----
What's happening in the world of the clan? Not much. The last two days have been fairly mellow. Both kids are sleeping through and that is a very nice occurrance. I'm reading the second Billy Connolly biography - which is mostly, but not entirely, about him. Mrs G is back into the study thing after taking a few days following the completion of the first assignment.
LGR is learning that he has to be careful of his arm. There's been a few times when he has been messing around, bumped it and found himself in a world of pain. He did manage a couple of very cute things this evening.
First one: When I left him in bed after saying goodnight he grabbed his Clifford the Big Red Dog book and started reading to Tommy.
Second one: When Mrs G and I went to bed LGR was laying in bed with one arm very casually bend up beind his head; with his head resting on the upturned palm. It was the ultimate look of relaxation. The broken arm was lying perfectly straight by his body.
Hayzey is learning how to play 'the game'. That's the game where tears are used to try to manipulate Mummy and Daddy. She's growing up ...
I got up at 03:00 to be at work by 04:00 this morning. To get to where I needed to be in the building I had to swipe my ID card at the front door, get past security, swipe my card again to get into a hallway, swipe again to get into a room, identify myself to a certain person and then get them to let me through two more doors before being allowed into a cage containing some highly sensitive and very important equipment.
Then I sat on a chair with my laptop in my lap (where else would it be?) typing away and waiting for things to happen. Every now and then I had to get up to move some cables or turn things on and off. At the end of it all I left via the same series of doors to emerge into the cool night air. From here it was a short walk to my building on the campus and the commencement of a day's work.
90 minutes later the sun came up ....
----
What's happening in the world of the clan? Not much. The last two days have been fairly mellow. Both kids are sleeping through and that is a very nice occurrance. I'm reading the second Billy Connolly biography - which is mostly, but not entirely, about him. Mrs G is back into the study thing after taking a few days following the completion of the first assignment.
LGR is learning that he has to be careful of his arm. There's been a few times when he has been messing around, bumped it and found himself in a world of pain. He did manage a couple of very cute things this evening.
First one: When I left him in bed after saying goodnight he grabbed his Clifford the Big Red Dog book and started reading to Tommy.
Second one: When Mrs G and I went to bed LGR was laying in bed with one arm very casually bend up beind his head; with his head resting on the upturned palm. It was the ultimate look of relaxation. The broken arm was lying perfectly straight by his body.
Hayzey is learning how to play 'the game'. That's the game where tears are used to try to manipulate Mummy and Daddy. She's growing up ...
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Falling Over
As I sit here and type I'm watching a show on Discovery Science about what happens to food when you don't store it properly. Truly horrible. And horrifying. It also talks about over cooking food - which is not nearly so disgraceful but still a bit ordinary ....
We've had a pretty good weekend. Didn't do much. The fish tank got set up again yesterday and it should be ready for fish next weekend. LGR is quite excited about it. Hayzey went nuts in the aquarium shop - she was running around pointing at everything and shrieking in excitement.
Today was also cool. Aunt LJ and UA came around for lunch and told us they are getting married. There was much congratulating and cheering and we finally had a good reason to pop open the bottle of Moet. We (I) cooked a BBQ (only one bowl was destroyed during the creation of the meal) and had a pleasent, albeit huge, feed on the deck.
After LJ and UA left the real excitement of the weekend started. LGR took a tumble (over the BBQ cover) and landed squarely on his broken arm. At this point I should let you know he has two fractures in his forearm. Suffice to say he cried but the situation was recovered courtesy of some ice blocks.
Not too long later Hayzey took a tumble off the back of her bike and also cried quite ferociously. Some hugs later and all was well. The part of the bike that stops her from tipping backwards was also found and reattached.
During dinner, and while we were putting LGR to bed, we noticed the hand on the end of his broken arm was quite swollen. We're hoping this is a natural consequence of the days activity and not an indicator of some further damage. We'll know a bit more in the morning I suspect.
On a final note I would like to point out that Hayzey let me put her to sleep in my arms this evening. It has been a long, long time since she let me do this and I appreciated it very much.
We've had a pretty good weekend. Didn't do much. The fish tank got set up again yesterday and it should be ready for fish next weekend. LGR is quite excited about it. Hayzey went nuts in the aquarium shop - she was running around pointing at everything and shrieking in excitement.
Today was also cool. Aunt LJ and UA came around for lunch and told us they are getting married. There was much congratulating and cheering and we finally had a good reason to pop open the bottle of Moet. We (I) cooked a BBQ (only one bowl was destroyed during the creation of the meal) and had a pleasent, albeit huge, feed on the deck.
After LJ and UA left the real excitement of the weekend started. LGR took a tumble (over the BBQ cover) and landed squarely on his broken arm. At this point I should let you know he has two fractures in his forearm. Suffice to say he cried but the situation was recovered courtesy of some ice blocks.
Not too long later Hayzey took a tumble off the back of her bike and also cried quite ferociously. Some hugs later and all was well. The part of the bike that stops her from tipping backwards was also found and reattached.
During dinner, and while we were putting LGR to bed, we noticed the hand on the end of his broken arm was quite swollen. We're hoping this is a natural consequence of the days activity and not an indicator of some further damage. We'll know a bit more in the morning I suspect.
On a final note I would like to point out that Hayzey let me put her to sleep in my arms this evening. It has been a long, long time since she let me do this and I appreciated it very much.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Broken
LGR has broken his arm ... Poor little fellow.
It's a green stick fracture:
"Definition: Because a child's bones are much more pliable than adult bone, an incomplete, or 'greenstick,' fracture may occur. A "greenstick fracture" means that one side of the fracture has broken and one side is bent; therefore it is classified as an incomplete break.
Over the course of today the arm has gotten bigger and bigger and he has used it less and less. The GP took a look at it and then it was off for X-rays and then the bad news. As I sit type LGR and Mrs G are somewhere getting a cast put on while Hayzey patiently waits for dinner to finish cooking.
Should make life interesting for a while.
It's a green stick fracture:
"Definition: Because a child's bones are much more pliable than adult bone, an incomplete, or 'greenstick,' fracture may occur. A "greenstick fracture" means that one side of the fracture has broken and one side is bent; therefore it is classified as an incomplete break.
The name for a greenstick fracture comes from the analogy of breaking a young, fresh tree branch. The broken branch snaps on one side (the outer side of the bend), while the inner side is bent, and still in continuity. Most often the greenstick fracture must be bent back into the proper position (called a "reduction") and then casted for about six weeks. Greenstick fractures can take a long time to heal because they tend to occur in the middle, slower growing parts of bone."
It seems as though the incident occurred at kindy yesterday. Nothing was mentioned by LGR or kindy when we picked him up and it wasn't until almost bedtime last night he started mentioning his sore arm. We gave him some Nurofen and he slept pretty well.Over the course of today the arm has gotten bigger and bigger and he has used it less and less. The GP took a look at it and then it was off for X-rays and then the bad news. As I sit type LGR and Mrs G are somewhere getting a cast put on while Hayzey patiently waits for dinner to finish cooking.
Should make life interesting for a while.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
A Sweet Farewell
I had the pleasure of dropping the kids off at kindy earlier today. I was off to the physio again and this means I drop off and Mrs G picks up.
On my way out of kindy I leant over to give Hayzey a kiss. She gave me one - and then moved in closer for a massive hug and another kiss. And then another kiss and another hug. It was lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
On my way out of kindy I leant over to give Hayzey a kiss. She gave me one - and then moved in closer for a massive hug and another kiss. And then another kiss and another hug. It was lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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