Autumn

Today is the first day of Autumn. It certainly doesn't feel like it though. It's been hovering around 30 degrees all day. I know that the weather doesn't have a calendar, but I'm looking forward to a little bit of relief when the cooler weather hits. That was one thing that I loved about Melbourne. You generally got a bit of relief over night as the weather dropped back to a sensible level so that you could sleep. That hasn't been the case here lately.

To make matters worse, I feel like crap. I went out for a coffee this morning with the lovely Emma and think I had too much caffeine in one hit. It's been a while since I have had more than one coffee in a day, and had two in a sitting. But I came home feeling very ordinary. I put it down to caffeine overload, but after a 2 hour sleep, plenty of water and taking it easy, I still feel like crap.

The heat isn't helping. The air conditioner has just been turned on.

Thank goodness Ardyn was picked up from school by a friend, and has spent the afternoon there. And Bailey has been more than happy to potter by herself, and nap with me.

A little photographic catch up....

Ladybugs for Sonia:



These were the invitations made for Ardyn's birthday party held last December. The wings opened up to reveal the recipient's name and party details. I made 40 of them. Handcut. Had fun making them. The kids liked them, and that's all that matters.

I don't have photos of the party and more ladybug goodness, as I forgot my camera on the day (shock horror!!!) and I am still waiting for photos from Emma.......


Ardyn's gappy grin:


I am a little bit worried as the new tooth started coming in behind the old one before the baby tooth came out. It's just too big for that little gap. The tooth next to the gap is wiggly too, but I am a bit scared that the two giant-sized teeth that are going to try to force their way through the gap are just going to look crazy!

I have a "thing" about teeth.

I have been lucky to be blessed with naturally straight teeth. REALLY straight. People assume I have had braces. Cal, on the other hand, had braces, and loves to retell the stories (to me) about the tooth pulling and needles in the roof of his mouth, knowing that it freaks me out. They are getting crooked again, and he thinks he is too old to bother about straightening them out.

When we had kids, the only things I hoped for was that they had my skin (I'm olive-skinned and it takes a lot for me to burn, and Cal is fair and freckly and has had skin cancer cut out), and my teeth. Skin is yet to be determined as they usually have sunscreen smothered all over them outside and not a lot of chance to get burnt. Teeth, it looks like I may have lost out on that one. I'm petrified that they have inherited Cal's big teeth. And although I know that orthodontics have come a log in way in 20 years, I don't want to put them through it.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. :(


Bailey's self-styling effort for today:


Only a 3yo can get away with a bike helmet and fan combo.......

Later,
K xx

It started with blood and tears.....

.......and finished with pure excitement.

We put Ardyn to bed at about 7:45pm, as per usual, and at about 8:00pm she came down stairs crying with blood pissing out of her mouth.........not so usual.

Ardyn has been DESPERATE to lose a tooth. She feels like she's the only one in her year level who hasn't lost any. Then a few months ago the bottom two started to wiggle, and wiggle and wiggle........

Over the last couple of weeks she hasn't been able to keep her fingers out of her mouth. The left one is so wiggly she can move it with her tongue. The new tooth is coming out behind the baby tooth, so it wasn't actually pushing the tooth out. We had no idea when it was actually going to come out! Ardyn is not the most patient girl in the world (what an understatement), so she's been driving up nutty asking when it's going to come out.

Anyway........the story is that after I put her down, she was playing with her tooth, as per usual, and just wiggled a little too hard. It wasn't really ready to come out. But come out, it did. She came downstairs in all sorts of hysterics, catching blood in her hand, with this tooth hanging by the smallest thread of skin.

The blood scared the living CRAP out of her. She thought that she'd really hurt herself. There was a fair bit of it.

It took a little bit to calm her down and explain that it's okay, and that she wasn't actually hurt. It was okay.

I grabbed a tissue to pack in the hole, and the tooth came with it.
She wouldn't calm down until the bleeding stopped.
It didn't take long.

Once it stopped she was all smiles. She even posed for a couple of photos to show off the gap in her smile, but I had to use the flash, and you just couldn't see anything. We agreed to take some more tomorrow so that she could show of her gappy smile better.

So now her tooth is by the Fairy Door, waiting to be collected. No under the pillow in this house. We have a door straight to the Fairy Kingdom which means that the Tooth Fairy doesn't wake the kid up trying to get the tooth out from under their pillow. Best thing EVER!

Will post a photo tomorrow.
K xx

And so it begins.....................

My beautiful, adorable 6 year old daughter blatantly lied to my face this morning. I am heartbroken. Don't get me wrong, she's tried to lie before, but previously it was so obvious that she was lying that there wasn't even any point her trying.

This was different. If I didn't know for a fact that what she was saying was a lie, I would have believed her.
I am so scared that this will be the start of a bigger, badder habit. I know that sounds a bit melodramatic, but I'm just speaking from experience.

I was a liar as a kid. Not just the occasional white lie, I sometimes lived in my own little reality. Even now my mum tells me that she had no idea when I was lying and when I wasn't. And I got away with some doozies!
Sometimes I actually ended up beleiving the lie. I swore that if I took a Lie Detector Test I would have passed, and I really did believe the lie to be the truth.

I don't know when I started, but it has to start somewhere, and this may be the start.

I really wanted to have a relationship with my daughters in which they could tell me anything. I'm not naive, I know that kids lie, and I know that she still will. But how do I get her to understand that sometimes it's better (and safer) to tell the truth and get in a little bit of trouble, than get caught out in a lie and get in a WHOLE LOT of trouble?

I've told her this before, hoping that this day wouldn't happen so early. I guess I just have to keep telling her.

And to be honest, I'm not angry. I didn't yell. I'm sad. Disappointed. Heartbroken.
I think I got more of a reaction out of her than if I did yell.

We got home this afternoon, and I made the decision not to mention it at all.
We had been home for a bout half an hours, and the kids were having an afternoon snack. I walked into the family room to discover Ardyn giving Bailey a chocolatey treat (with one for herself in the other hand) telling her "don't tell mummy I gave this to you".

Grrrrrrrrrr.
Still didn't yell. Sat her down and explained my disappointment.
Got her something else to eat that was more acceptable.
Continued on my way.

She cried. And cried. And apologised.
And I told her that my trust in her is wavering and she has to earn it back.

I so didn't want to have to tell my 6 year old that.

Sad. Hearbroken.
K xx

Canada

OMG, we've been back for about three weeks, and I still haven't posted anything here about our wonderful holiday.

Two weeks in Whistler. It was a dream!! The kids had a ball at ski camp for 2 weeks. The adults had fun skiing and shopping and drinking and eating and just having fun.

I feel like it was forever ago, and anything I type about it doesn't give it the credit it deserves anymore. Bummer!
I have typed about 6 paragraphs, and deleted them, as they are just not coming out right.

I have posted a photo story (per se) on Facebook, but for those of you not 'on' FB, here is the public link to the gallery.
You can view the gallery here.

There are more photos, but Sue left her camera on the plane from Vancouver back to Sydney!! But it's okay, as Air Canada found it, but now she has to somehow get it home. She doesn't really want her Canon 50D travelling through the mail. I don't blame her. Hopefully it can make it's way back to her home soon. I'm sure she misses it.

Well.....I am really bummed out! I jumped on here hoping to detail our wonderful trip for anyone who wants to read about it (all 3 of you), and just so that I have it documented for my own sake.

If the urge comes back, and I can write and do it justice, I'll be back.
In the meantime, back to regular programming (blog posts when I get around to it, when I really want to make a blog post every day or 2 - only I can change THAT habit).
But that's a whole other post.

K xx

Oops sorry.....

Have been slack with the Canada stories and pictures. Back later.

xx

So sad.....but so funny

Bailey is obsessed with Wonder Woman at the moment.

She had taped some gold sparkly sticker things to her wrists on the weekend, and I called her Wonder Woman. And of course the kids had no idea what (or who) I was talking about. So we Googled her and came across some really cheesy YouTube videos to show the girls who we were talking about.

She is currerntly sitting at the other computer watching this, gasping at places and yelling at the screen "Go Wonder Woman!!!!"



What have we done????

2 sleeps to go

Canada baby!!!!

In about 38 hours we board a plane and make the 14 hour journey to one of my favourite cities in the world - Vancouver.
From there, a lazy 2 hours being driven through some of the most amazing scenery that I have every seen, to find our home for a couple of weeks in white, snowy, beautiful Whistler.

In the past, skiing and I have not really agreed with each other. Last time we went to Whistler (2008) I had a really good time, and learned from some of the best instructors in the world. I wish I could say that I looked like this when I was on the slopes......

or even a very respectable......

The truth is, I tend to look more like this.....

or even this.....


But see that smile?? I WANT that to be me. Who cares if I fall flat on my face, I want to do it with a smile on my face. I want to enjoy myself.
And as much fun as it was, I don't want to do what I did last time and end up coming down the mountain like this..........

and ending up like this.......

AGAIN!!!!

BUT..............

I do plan on looking like this at some stage.....


I'm really looking forward to this trip.
REALLY REALLY REALLY!!!

K xx