Over the weekend Hayzey put on a wonderful demonstration of how the world can be powered over the course of her lifetime - via methane. She had the most amazing period of 'trumpet' on Saturday evening. To make it even better each time she 'got one off' she let out a little chuckle and grinned from ear to ear.
I love my little girl :-)
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Life is still busy. Possibly even more so. Last week I started at 02:00 on Tuesday morning and 04:00 on Friday morning. Today I started at 04:00 again, and Mrs G is off on another business trip today and tomorrow morning. This will be the pattern of our lives for the next while - for the next very long while.
So what's happened in the middle of it all?
Not much during the week apart from the mundane tasks of life. There are more than the odd moments of fun and excitement because of the kids but all in all we all have our little routines going and are well and truly into the new year.
The weekend just gone was cool - sort of. I was quite crook on Saturday and LGR managed a massive chuck also. But we also had a play in the pool and both kids managed a good sleep. I used close to a box of tissues and finished the day with a very red nose.
Sunday was better. Aunt LJ and UA came around for a BBQ lunch. The kiddies were very, very excited about this and made it quite apparent when they arrived. LGR was also impressed with the new car. So were we - but because it's big and it's red it's twice as good. Right LGR?
I'm going to blow my own trumpet for a bit now .... Lunch was great. I cooked up some smoky (sort of) Portugese chicken with a Moroccan carrot salad and a tomato/capsicum/olive salad. We were also drinking Rum and Cokes (Jamaican rum in case you are interested). It was all quite tasty. In my opinion.
After lunch Mrs G and Aunt LJ shot through for a bit of shopping and left the kids with myself and UA. Hayzey made it quite apparent she wanted to go with Mum. We ended up separating the kids - I took Hayz upstairs and LGR and UA stayed downstairs. And then the sweetest thing happened.
Hayzey curled up into a little ball on my chest (I was sitting in a recliner/rocking chair) and went from screaming to crying to sobbing to sleeping. I can't remember the last time she let me hug her to sleep - and I believe this may be the last time I get to do it. I enjoyed it so much I stayed in the seat for a touch too long and also had a snooze. This was good because, unbeknown to me, UA and LGR were doing the same thing downstairs.
The rest of the day was a combination of some drinks, some pool time and a pretty average dinner (cooked by me - lunch was much better). We all had fun and it must have been good because the kids were exhausted and went to sleep very easily.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Sunday, January 28, 2007
LGR Gets a Haircut
It's often said imitation is a form of flattery. I hope so, because LGR has decicded he wants hear just like Daddy. So we obliged him :-)It wasn't all beer and skittles however. Halfway through he ran out of the bathroom crying - "I want my hair back on!!" It took us about 15 minutes to coax him back into the chair and that was only achieved via subterfuge and misleading statements. In the end we finished up the job with the #4 cutter and he was keen to go shorter. I grabbed the #2 and tidied up the edges. This satisfied the young man and he was well chuffed with the results.
Mrs G and I are also quite happy. I'm sure those of who are familiar with a young chap in Woy Woy will be well aware of the more than passing similarity.
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We've had a pretty good (and tiring) weekend. Australia Day was spent at a BBQ at Clan McK's place. It seemed as though the whole world was there. It was also very hot. There's not really a lot of 'things' to report (apart from the jumping castle. I was king of the kids because I could do somersaults in the air!!) - it was more of a neverending stream of conversations, drinks and food with occasional appearances from the kids to remind us we were adults. The day kicked off at about 10:00am and I have no idea what time we got home. It was late.
The 27th was more mellow. We woke up late because of a late evening and the kids were dragged to swimming lessons while Mrs G tried to get the window on our soon be gone Ford fixed (Where's the new car? Still being built ....). We all reconvened at about 10:00 and did a bit of not much at all for a while before jumping in the car for a trip to Wollongong which was mostly to visit one of LGR's mates but had the dual purpose of an afternoon's play on the beach. Much to our surprise some very horrible cloud and wind came in while we were in transit - so we were stuck in Wollongong with our best summer gear on while we froze :-( It was a good visit however. A great chance to spend time with some folks we haven't seen for a while and LGR and his mate enjoyed the whole thing. So did Hayzey and her little pal. We ended up leaving at about 22:00 and it was just as well - I was almost asleep at the wheel when we got home.
Today was quieter. Much quieter. We did some groceries. I've cleaned out the garage (finally managed to get rid of some rubbish that's been in there for 15 months!!) and mowed the grass while Mrs G did other stuff. Then we all mellowed out nicely with some beverage of choice (Coopers Pale Ale for me, Sauvignon Blanc for Mrs G and an assortment of juices for the kids). LGR's hair got cut, and so did my own. Then we had a BBQ and ate out on the deck. We were delighted to discover our yard is developing shady spots.
So that's the weekend. It was good, and long, and is just about over. Bit of a hellacious week at work for me which only gets worse the week after so I'm glad I've had a good time.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Speedway
Over the weekend Clan Jones motored on down the Hume Highway to Goulburn to go to the speedway. I was very sceptical initially but it turned to be an awesome night and all 4 of us had a great time.
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Starting at lunch time Saturday ....
It was pretty warm and a very serious burst of concentration saw yours truly finally remember where we put the plugs for the wading pool. LGR claimed he knew where they were all along and was just tricking us. The jokes on him however because Mrs G couldn't find them on Friday and the kids missed out on an afternoon swim :-)
We had a swim. It was hot and nice. No breeze at all and lots of sun and games. Eventually we clued up about the time and started to get ready for our adventure. We had literally just finished putting our stuff together when Aunt LJ, UA and Nanna arrived at our place. We travelled in a small convoy passing several broken cars.
Soon enough we were also a broken down car!! For some reason the car started lurching really badly and was really struggling whenever I applied power. When it got to what seemed a suitably appalling state we pulled over in a relatively shaded and wide section of the road. We left the motor running but it kind of gasped itself to death less than 2 minutes after we got out ...
The NRMA arrived in pretty good time (specific mention of the 2 and 4 year old children were made when placing the call ...) but in the interrim we had gotten out the picnic mats and were lounging around somewhat comfortably in the shade.
Somewhat predictably the car started perfectly when the NRMA guy was arrived and drove like a dream all the way to the speedway!!! Grrr .....
The speedway itself is quite picturesque. It's on the side of a hill so forms a natural ampitheatre. Visibility is excellent and as you sit on the embankment you have great views of the hillside and paddocks behind the track. Very beautiful (in a dry sort of way) and quite serene.
Until the cars start.
LGR was very excited. He loved the noise and the speed and took many, many photoes. What it made more thrilling for him was that Uncle P was racing. LGR got to see Uncle P in his racing kit. Uncle S was also in his kit but LGR was not quite as awestruck by this ... It is quite apparent Uncle P is LGR's real life hero.
The evening turned out to be very pleasant. Once the sun had disappeared behind the mountain a lot of heat went out of the day and everyone felt just a little more relaxed about things.
The racing was cool; but even better was the small town feel to the whole thing. Everyone tried hard but it was quite obviously an amateur event. The drivers were out mixing with the crowd, folks were sitting in the back of their utes and wagons which they'd reversed up to the fence and there was plenty of space to do whatever. The commentary was quite laconic and the whole kind of placid in spite of the occasionally violent nature of what we were watching.
I love country sport. It's so much more sociable and family oriented than mainstream professional sport and 9 times out of 10 I'd choose to watch country sport live over professional sport.
We didn't manage to stay for the whole evening - by about 10:15 Hayzey was almost unconscious. She fell asleep within seconds of being put in the car. LGR was asleep before we'd driven the 500m back to the highway - in spite of assuring he would stay awake for the whole trip.
Last but not least I'm very pleased to inform my dear readers that there were no repeats of the car issue. The trip was very smooth, very quiet and and a very placid way to finish off a great evening.
---
Starting at lunch time Saturday ....
It was pretty warm and a very serious burst of concentration saw yours truly finally remember where we put the plugs for the wading pool. LGR claimed he knew where they were all along and was just tricking us. The jokes on him however because Mrs G couldn't find them on Friday and the kids missed out on an afternoon swim :-)
We had a swim. It was hot and nice. No breeze at all and lots of sun and games. Eventually we clued up about the time and started to get ready for our adventure. We had literally just finished putting our stuff together when Aunt LJ, UA and Nanna arrived at our place. We travelled in a small convoy passing several broken cars.
Soon enough we were also a broken down car!! For some reason the car started lurching really badly and was really struggling whenever I applied power. When it got to what seemed a suitably appalling state we pulled over in a relatively shaded and wide section of the road. We left the motor running but it kind of gasped itself to death less than 2 minutes after we got out ...
The NRMA arrived in pretty good time (specific mention of the 2 and 4 year old children were made when placing the call ...) but in the interrim we had gotten out the picnic mats and were lounging around somewhat comfortably in the shade.
Somewhat predictably the car started perfectly when the NRMA guy was arrived and drove like a dream all the way to the speedway!!! Grrr .....
The speedway itself is quite picturesque. It's on the side of a hill so forms a natural ampitheatre. Visibility is excellent and as you sit on the embankment you have great views of the hillside and paddocks behind the track. Very beautiful (in a dry sort of way) and quite serene.
Until the cars start.
LGR was very excited. He loved the noise and the speed and took many, many photoes. What it made more thrilling for him was that Uncle P was racing. LGR got to see Uncle P in his racing kit. Uncle S was also in his kit but LGR was not quite as awestruck by this ... It is quite apparent Uncle P is LGR's real life hero.
The evening turned out to be very pleasant. Once the sun had disappeared behind the mountain a lot of heat went out of the day and everyone felt just a little more relaxed about things.
The racing was cool; but even better was the small town feel to the whole thing. Everyone tried hard but it was quite obviously an amateur event. The drivers were out mixing with the crowd, folks were sitting in the back of their utes and wagons which they'd reversed up to the fence and there was plenty of space to do whatever. The commentary was quite laconic and the whole kind of placid in spite of the occasionally violent nature of what we were watching.
I love country sport. It's so much more sociable and family oriented than mainstream professional sport and 9 times out of 10 I'd choose to watch country sport live over professional sport.
We didn't manage to stay for the whole evening - by about 10:15 Hayzey was almost unconscious. She fell asleep within seconds of being put in the car. LGR was asleep before we'd driven the 500m back to the highway - in spite of assuring he would stay awake for the whole trip.
Last but not least I'm very pleased to inform my dear readers that there were no repeats of the car issue. The trip was very smooth, very quiet and and a very placid way to finish off a great evening.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Anniversary
Mrs G and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on the 17th. Sort of. She spent the night in Dubbo and I was at home with the kids. I reckon I probably had the better part of the deal ...
It was also my Dad's wedding anniversary this week so happy anniversary to him too.
It was also my Dad's wedding anniversary this week so happy anniversary to him too.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Photoes
I've setup an account at snapfish.com.au - it's an online photo album that (apparently) lets you store as many pics as you want. The only condition is you have to print at least one picture per year. This seems reasonable - the cost of prints is 19c each. I'm not sure about delivery charges. As an incentive they throw in 20 free prints after you set it up.
If anyone out there wants access to it let me know. It's not as simple as just posting a URL on the web - I need to do some work to allow the access.
I'll still post pics on here from time to time.
If anyone out there wants access to it let me know. It's not as simple as just posting a URL on the web - I need to do some work to allow the access.
I'll still post pics on here from time to time.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Another Week ...
I once heard somebody say that as you get older each year passes by faster than the preceding year. Not sure if that' s necessarily true but I do seem to having some problems getting time to update this page ...
We've had a bit of a sad week in the Jones house. Sox has disappeared and I'm becoming quite sure she won't be seen again. We heard a cat fight outside our house Sunday week back and Sox faithfully reappeared the next morning. On Monday night we heard another squawl but not quite as loud or aggressive sounding. The difference is that Sox has not been seen since ...
We were all quite sad about it. This surprised me. I only got 3 or 4 chances to sit down and 'play' with Sox and LGR barely touched her. By Thursday he looked like he was going to cry everytime we mentioned her and was insistent he had a picture of her in his room. Hayzey was inially quite confused - she would stand at the back door and yell out "Kitty cat" or "Puss puss" and then wondered why there was no response. By Wednesday evening she had given up - and turned to Mrs G and I and quite simply said "No cat. Gone." We haven't heard her ask for Sox since then.
I guess this means our cat adventure is over. It is sad. We all enjoyed having her around for one reason or another and we all miss her in our own little ways.
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During the weekend just gone Mrs G and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. It isn't actually until 17th January but we figured that babysitting would be harder to organise on a week night. We went into town and spent the night in a fairly nice establishment. We also went out for dinner and breakfast, did a spot of sightseeing, bought some clothes (I needed some shoes for dinner because I left my 'good' shoes at home ...) and generally had a great old time.
So, many thanks to Aunt LJ and UA for looking after the kidlets - who had a great time and gave a glowing endorsement.
We've had a bit of a sad week in the Jones house. Sox has disappeared and I'm becoming quite sure she won't be seen again. We heard a cat fight outside our house Sunday week back and Sox faithfully reappeared the next morning. On Monday night we heard another squawl but not quite as loud or aggressive sounding. The difference is that Sox has not been seen since ...
We were all quite sad about it. This surprised me. I only got 3 or 4 chances to sit down and 'play' with Sox and LGR barely touched her. By Thursday he looked like he was going to cry everytime we mentioned her and was insistent he had a picture of her in his room. Hayzey was inially quite confused - she would stand at the back door and yell out "Kitty cat" or "Puss puss" and then wondered why there was no response. By Wednesday evening she had given up - and turned to Mrs G and I and quite simply said "No cat. Gone." We haven't heard her ask for Sox since then.
I guess this means our cat adventure is over. It is sad. We all enjoyed having her around for one reason or another and we all miss her in our own little ways.
---
During the weekend just gone Mrs G and I celebrated our wedding anniversary. It isn't actually until 17th January but we figured that babysitting would be harder to organise on a week night. We went into town and spent the night in a fairly nice establishment. We also went out for dinner and breakfast, did a spot of sightseeing, bought some clothes (I needed some shoes for dinner because I left my 'good' shoes at home ...) and generally had a great old time.
So, many thanks to Aunt LJ and UA for looking after the kidlets - who had a great time and gave a glowing endorsement.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Sox - The Cat
We've got a cat. She's a sweet little tabby with browny/gold fur and some black lion like markings. She has a white spot on her nose and her rear paws are also white. We call her Sox.
We never planned on having a cat. I don't like them. But this one came to us. Around Christmas time LGR started freaking out because there was a cat in the backyard. Nobody else ever saw it; up until a few days after Christmas when Mrs G also saw it. We weren't sure what to do. After checking with neighbours it was apparent nobody local owned the cat so we decided to call the RSPCA to get them to come and catch it.
The problem was the Christmas and New Year timeframe - meaning nobody could come out until after New Year. So we decided to catch the cat ourselves. This was kind of hard work and after a day or two we came up with a cunning plan to lure the cat out with food.
This worked. Far too well. Once we got a clear look at her we thought it might be nice to give here a pat. And a challenge - because initially she would run away and hide whenever she saw us. In time she would sit and watch us; and then she took food we left out and gradually came closer and closer. Just after New Years day she was coming to within a foot of us but any attempts to touch her resulted in a hasty departure.
Suffice to say she finally relented and let Mrs G pat her. The following day she let Mrs G pick her up and we all got our first good look.
Over the past weekend we took her to the vet and had her checked out. Everything was fine and she was very healthy. We estimate her to be about 6 weeks old. She is now vaccinated, wormed, flea'd and chipped and living with us. Hayzey loves her to bits - and Sox is more than happy to let Hayz pick her up and walk with her.
Sox is still a bit cautious around people but she's quite happy to come to us. Everytime she becomes a little more kitten like and a little less wary.
I'm surprised because I think she's a beautiful little kitty. And I've even spent time with her. LGR is the only who's a bit cool towards her but even he gets a buzz out of patting her.
Overall it's been a very satisfying and rewarding experience. We now have 1 cat and 2 fish :-)
We never planned on having a cat. I don't like them. But this one came to us. Around Christmas time LGR started freaking out because there was a cat in the backyard. Nobody else ever saw it; up until a few days after Christmas when Mrs G also saw it. We weren't sure what to do. After checking with neighbours it was apparent nobody local owned the cat so we decided to call the RSPCA to get them to come and catch it.
The problem was the Christmas and New Year timeframe - meaning nobody could come out until after New Year. So we decided to catch the cat ourselves. This was kind of hard work and after a day or two we came up with a cunning plan to lure the cat out with food.
This worked. Far too well. Once we got a clear look at her we thought it might be nice to give here a pat. And a challenge - because initially she would run away and hide whenever she saw us. In time she would sit and watch us; and then she took food we left out and gradually came closer and closer. Just after New Years day she was coming to within a foot of us but any attempts to touch her resulted in a hasty departure.
Suffice to say she finally relented and let Mrs G pat her. The following day she let Mrs G pick her up and we all got our first good look.
Over the past weekend we took her to the vet and had her checked out. Everything was fine and she was very healthy. We estimate her to be about 6 weeks old. She is now vaccinated, wormed, flea'd and chipped and living with us. Hayzey loves her to bits - and Sox is more than happy to let Hayz pick her up and walk with her.
Sox is still a bit cautious around people but she's quite happy to come to us. Everytime she becomes a little more kitten like and a little less wary.
I'm surprised because I think she's a beautiful little kitty. And I've even spent time with her. LGR is the only who's a bit cool towards her but even he gets a buzz out of patting her.
Overall it's been a very satisfying and rewarding experience. We now have 1 cat and 2 fish :-)
Friday, January 05, 2007
Interim Part 2
This note goes all the way back to last year. Initially.
Aunt BJ came to stay with us on the 30th - and we duly provided entertainment by going 10 pin bowling. Hayzey won the game overall - although this was aided by a bowling frame, gutter rails and an outstanding final frame bowled by me which included a strike and a spare. It's a pity I couldn't do this for my own game ...
It was plenty of fun. Everyone picked up at least one strike and everyone had at least one clanger of a bowl. LGR had a few goes without the bowling frame and it was like watching the kid in Uncle Buck bowl - you know what I mean? "If they had a contest for resting the ball against the pins you would be the world champion!"
New Years Eve came and went in a pretty mellow fashion. LGR, myself and Aunt BJ hit some golf balls on NYE morning and in the evening Clan Jones saw in the new year with a BBQ, some dancing and the obligatory fireworks.
New Years Day was a BBQ at the house of Aunt LJ/UA. It rained. A lot. It poured at our place at about 09:00 (but in reality it rained for about 8 hours) so I called Aunt LJ to query the weather. "Beautiful. Couldn't be better. Bring your swimmers".
By midday it was pouring and all parties at the BBQ were scurrying for cover :-) It didn't change anything however and food was cooked and eaten.
Tuesday was our designated road trip day. We had a strong urge to get some rather exotic photo albums from a shop in Kangaroo Valley so we set out. It was pouring again. It poured the entire trip to Bowral, and half the trip from Bowral to Kangaroo Valley. Upon arrival at Kangaroo Valley it was sprinkling. We stayed in long enough to find a toilet and the desired albums before head towards Nowra for lunch.
The weather looked as though it was improving so we decided to head up the coast. We pulled in at Gerringong for some quick play on the beach time but moving rain clouds convinced us to pull up stumps. Within 5 minutes of leaving town it was pouring again. Decision well made!!!
The rain had cleared by the time we got to Wollongong so we visited the lighthouse at City Beach and then had a family meeting. It was decided to head home and have a proper beach visit another day.
Wednesday saw the boys and girls go in separate directions. LGR and I went into town for the purposes of:
We achieved each of these things. We were happy. LGR was very impressed to discover you don't have to wear seatbelts on buses, and that there are ambulance motorbikes in the city.
Thursday was quite mellow. We bought some new trees for the backyard, put away the Christmas decorations and then went for a swim at the local pool in the afternoon. The kids had a great time at the pool - even if LGR wanted to continually go in the coldest pool in the complex.
Then there's today. The day started with a visit to some shops to do a range of things; including pick up some jewellery that had been repaired, buy a photo album and get some more photoes printed. This all ended up taking about 3 hours.
In the afternoon we bundled ourselves into the car and travelled down south with most of Clan McK to go to the beach. We ended up at Austinmere. The water was cold but the kids didn't notice. We played in the water, in the tidal pools, on the beach and just about everywhere else. It was fun. Once the kids started turning blue (literally blue around their lips and nose) we got them dressed and meandered the approx 75m to the park for some dinner.
So that's the week (or so) in summary. There is one important element missing but most of you already know about 'the cat'. I'll put up some information (and probably pictures) soonish. I hope.
Aunt BJ came to stay with us on the 30th - and we duly provided entertainment by going 10 pin bowling. Hayzey won the game overall - although this was aided by a bowling frame, gutter rails and an outstanding final frame bowled by me which included a strike and a spare. It's a pity I couldn't do this for my own game ...
It was plenty of fun. Everyone picked up at least one strike and everyone had at least one clanger of a bowl. LGR had a few goes without the bowling frame and it was like watching the kid in Uncle Buck bowl - you know what I mean? "If they had a contest for resting the ball against the pins you would be the world champion!"
New Years Eve came and went in a pretty mellow fashion. LGR, myself and Aunt BJ hit some golf balls on NYE morning and in the evening Clan Jones saw in the new year with a BBQ, some dancing and the obligatory fireworks.
New Years Day was a BBQ at the house of Aunt LJ/UA. It rained. A lot. It poured at our place at about 09:00 (but in reality it rained for about 8 hours) so I called Aunt LJ to query the weather. "Beautiful. Couldn't be better. Bring your swimmers".
By midday it was pouring and all parties at the BBQ were scurrying for cover :-) It didn't change anything however and food was cooked and eaten.
Tuesday was our designated road trip day. We had a strong urge to get some rather exotic photo albums from a shop in Kangaroo Valley so we set out. It was pouring again. It poured the entire trip to Bowral, and half the trip from Bowral to Kangaroo Valley. Upon arrival at Kangaroo Valley it was sprinkling. We stayed in long enough to find a toilet and the desired albums before head towards Nowra for lunch.
The weather looked as though it was improving so we decided to head up the coast. We pulled in at Gerringong for some quick play on the beach time but moving rain clouds convinced us to pull up stumps. Within 5 minutes of leaving town it was pouring again. Decision well made!!!
The rain had cleared by the time we got to Wollongong so we visited the lighthouse at City Beach and then had a family meeting. It was decided to head home and have a proper beach visit another day.
Wednesday saw the boys and girls go in separate directions. LGR and I went into town for the purposes of:
- Catching a train
- Catching a bus
- Looking at boats
- Buying LGR some shoes
- Having an ice cream
We achieved each of these things. We were happy. LGR was very impressed to discover you don't have to wear seatbelts on buses, and that there are ambulance motorbikes in the city.
Thursday was quite mellow. We bought some new trees for the backyard, put away the Christmas decorations and then went for a swim at the local pool in the afternoon. The kids had a great time at the pool - even if LGR wanted to continually go in the coldest pool in the complex.
Then there's today. The day started with a visit to some shops to do a range of things; including pick up some jewellery that had been repaired, buy a photo album and get some more photoes printed. This all ended up taking about 3 hours.
In the afternoon we bundled ourselves into the car and travelled down south with most of Clan McK to go to the beach. We ended up at Austinmere. The water was cold but the kids didn't notice. We played in the water, in the tidal pools, on the beach and just about everywhere else. It was fun. Once the kids started turning blue (literally blue around their lips and nose) we got them dressed and meandered the approx 75m to the park for some dinner.
So that's the week (or so) in summary. There is one important element missing but most of you already know about 'the cat'. I'll put up some information (and probably pictures) soonish. I hope.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Interim
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.
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.
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.
---
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.
---
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.
---
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.
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