Houses and Playgrounds

Busy week, stressful week. Most of this week we spent making decisions about our house. We poured over so many house plans that they started to all look the same. In the end Aarahi and I both decided on the one we both really liked. Yesterday we went in to talk to the "guy" I don't really know what you call him? He went over everything with us and took us out to view the land this morning. It's such a nice area I can't wait to move out there! The land looks like a whole lot of nothing right now, they have just started building our street. Building of our house will start in August and fingers crossed finished by Christmas. This timing works out pretty well for us so I am happy.

On Thursday I needed a break. It was hot and sticky and everyone was grumpy so I took the kids to the new indoor play centre. They played for like 2 hours while I sat and read a book. It was just the break we all needed. I learned my kids have no fear, Lili and Auron were both throwing themselves down the HUGE inflatable slide with out a care in the world.

Ammon has been super cute this week, he has just started giggling and babbling away to himself. He is such a good baby we are so blessed. I told Aarahi last night we should have some more, he looked at me like I was a mad woman. Obviously this last pregnancy hasn't quite faded from his memory yet! I'm sure there will be a few more kidlets to come though.

I have a huge pile of dishes needing to be washed but out of dish washing liquid, Aarahi told me to use Laundry Powder like his Sister in Law Kristen.....I may just have to do that.

Waiting for her lunch...Chicken and chips, which she barely touched

This one slept most of the time

Climbing the ladder to the top of the big slide

Slushies from Hungry Jacks as promised

Going out to look at the land. 

Valentine's Day Love

It has been a busy and exciting week for us. On Wednesday I felt like I could take on the world! I guess that is what happens when your baby only wakes up ONCE at night and your 2 year old stays in her own bed ALL night. It's safe to say on Wednesday I was convinced I was living the perfect life, with my perfect kids and perfect husband. When Aarahi got home from work I announced that we were going out for dinner to celebrate all this perfectness.

During the week the kids and I had been practising how to behave when we are out in public to eat. In the past their behaviour hasn't been terrible but it's not great either. So I was keen to see how our practising and training had worked out. THEY WERE AMAZING!!!!!!!!! they sat quietly, didn't get out of their seats, didn't yell or get grumpy, they ate their dinner without complaining and Aarahi and I were able to actually enjoy our dinner and have a conversation. It was a pretty fantastic end to my perfect day....then I woke up to Thursday, which wasn't quite as perfect.

On Friday Aarahi and I had an appointment at the bank for our home loan. I was nervous and excited at the same time. I knew we had worked hard to get where we are, but I was still worried it wasn't going to be enough. Once we sat down with the loan manager, and he looked at all our accounts and paper work he was blown away with how we had managed to accomplish so much on, one income, and 3 children. He gave us pre-approval for WAY more than we wanted, and told us to go find our house. It's the blessings of paying our tithing I have no doubt about it.

On Saturday Morning we celebrated Valentines Day with a special breakfast then headed out to deliver special Valentines goodies to some of our favourite people. Aarahi and I have been working hard to try teach our children to think of others before themselves and thought this would be a good opportunity for them to put that in to practice outside of our own little family. We have an acronym we try to use J.O.Y. Jesus first, Others second and Yourself last.

After delivering our gifts we headed out to the display village to look at houses. The kids thought it was fun and I think they would be happy to live in any of the houses we saw. Aarahi and I on the other hand were able to decide on what features we did and didn't like. I think we have nailed down a house that we like and will speak with the builders this week probably.

We later walked over to McDonalds to get a treat (go to the toilet). It was the strangest Mcdonalds we have ever been too. It was brand new and had too many "fancy"features. Lili wouldn't get out of the playground I had to go in and get her wearing a dress. I'm not sure if she was stuck or just being stubborn, anyway I was not impressed....can you tell my perfect family really isn't so perfect after all?! haha

This kid slept for almost 2 days straight only waking to eat. I suspect a growth spurt as he put on a full 1 kg in a week

Being nice a quiet in the restaurant

Auron so badly wanted me to buy these for Ammon "He will be sooo cute! it's just perfect for Ammon"'
I couldn't say no...

one of our Valentine's treats 

All ready to go

I love this photo of these cheeky two

Ammon is full of smiles these days...well mostly, he often looks at you like you are crazy too

Oh How I Love Summer

Not much to report this week other than SUMMER IS BACK! We enjoyed a week of blissfully warm weather which meant we spent most of the time outside in the sun. You would think I would take the opportunity to catch up on my laundry but no, there is still a pile of clothes and towels waiting for me to get done this morning.

The kids enjoyed getting back into the pool. I bought chlorine and cleaned the filter out etc just before it got cold so a crystal clean pool has just been sitting outside torturing my poor kids. One day though Auron threw one of his toys in and I made him go in and get it despite the freezing water. He kept say ''ahhh my butt crack is cold!" 

Sometime last week we got a payout from Centrelink. I was pretty slack with filling in all the paper work after Ammon was born so it's taken a looong time for it to get processed. On the upside, the back pay was a nice treat for our savings account. We still don't have his birth certificate so no passport which makes me rather anxious. I don't like knowing that I can't leave the country in a hurry if I need to. Hopefully it turns up in the next week or so.

On Friday the kids and I went to Story Time at the Library. It's pretty much a 90min class where they read books, sing songs and do an activity. It's been a while since we had been. Auron in particular was INCREDIBLY frustrated at all the other kids not being "obedient" and that it was taking a long time to get anything done because the teacher had to keep stopping. 

The topic for the day was on Pets. The teacher asked if anyone had pets, and Auron's hand shot up quick smart. He was so excited to tell her that we had PET mice. Haha I nearly fell out of my chair, thank goodness she didn't ask where they lived. On that note we bought these things you plug into the wall which send out a sound...they seem to be working, I haven't seen a mouse for a few days. 

On Sunday there was no nursery leader for Liliana's class so she hung out with her Aunty Marcelle which I am pretty sure was the highlight of her day, Either that or sitting in sacrament meeting eating up a storm from all treats she manage to scrounge off all the old people sitting around her. 

This was Auron's favourite part of the library trip. They made turtles...which really looked a lot like E.T.

We bought Auron an Iron Man suit during the week, he thought Ammon needed to join in on his fun. "Iron Baby" According to Auron.

Selfies in the car while we wait for Daddy to finish working in the office at church

Not The Weekend We Had Planned

To be honest I can't really remember a lot of what happened this past week. We did make it to the library on one day. We picked out a bunch of books then when to issue them only to realise that our card was expired. Unfortunately for it was Aarahi's card (because mine has way to many fines...) and I couldn't renew it. So we are stuck with the same old books at home.

The theme for our school work this week was on the Creation. We had some pretty funny talks about all the things God created including Spiderman's webs. We practised our cutting skills, Auron was focusing so hard on cutting out his stars he ended up cutting through all the other pictures on the page. His stars were cut out perfectly though!

On Friday our house was struck down with gastro. Oh my gosh was it bad!!!!!!!!!! It started with Auron just before lunch, by 2pm it had hit me. Ammon was incredibly fussy and upset. He had a good vomit and came right but still grizzly. Aarahi came home from work and dealt with us all until he was hit at 2am. The rest of the weekend was rather unpleasent as you can imagine. Lili thankfully didn't get it but due to our lack of parenting she pretty much ran wild all weekend and didn't sleep so by Sunday she was a right emotional mess. Now it is Monday and we are back to normal. The unfortunate thing about being sick while yo are a parent is that you can't just be sick. You still need to function somewhat.

Mischief found the lip stick!

found a few old photos

And another

reliving her baby days

School time

5th Anniversary and the Zoo

On Tuesday Ammon had his check up and is staking on the weight nicely. I'm finding feeding him to be the most difficult part of having a new born. I get horribly nauseous each time I have to feed him. Apparently it should resolve by 8 weeks so I'm hoping that's true. The guilt from even considering giving him formula is already making me feel terrible.

On Friday I took the kids to the zoo by myself. 1 bus and 2 trains later we arrived. I'm not sure if I was brave or insane. In the end we all had a great day. I packed the kids lunches which they wanted to eat straight away. Lili got yoghurt all over herself, but that was only the start of it for her. By the end of the day she was covered in ice cream, yoghurt, dirt and chocolate cake. Why I thought a white top was a good idea for her I will never know. When we arrived at the zoo I could smell a stench that was that all familiar new born nappy smell. This was the foulest smelling nappy I have ever changed in my life. Both Auron and I were gagging. Some had leaked out onto his pants and being the organised person I am, I didn't bring a change of clothes. Luckily it was a nice hot day so I striped him down to his onesie and away we went. The kids loved the seals and penguins the most followed by the butterflies and elephants. Earlier in the week I had made them little booklets to fill in and little activities to do while we were there. Auron and I sat down on the grass to fill in his, while Lili freaked out about the seagulls getting too friendly. I think we need to work on Aurons drawing skills, he definitely inherited my lack of drawing ability. Lili is way more on to it in the drawing department. Soon enough Lili was asleep so Auron and I got another iceblock and headed back to the train. This time I rang Aarahi to come pick us up from a different station so we didn't have to change trains. An exhausted Auron fell asleep almost as soon as his bum hit the seat. Once we got home Aarahi took them for a swim to cool down.

Later on Friday night my cousin came over to look after our big kids while Aarahi and I went out for dinner to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. It was a the perfect night out, Ammon was well behaved and we managed to hold a conversation uninterrupted. There's not much more we could have asked for. We went all out for dinner ordering mocktails and dessert....because we are crazy like that haha.

Today was church as usual. I should mention how much I hate afternoon church! After church was done Lili screamed down the carpark because she was desperate for a sleep. I couldn't really blame her, she usually has a good 2 hour naps but had skipped it so we could get to church. Sigh...I'm going to have to figure out what to do about that one. If anyone has any great suggestions let me know.

A half captured smile?

We have a mouse which has been escaping Aarahi's traps...he was successful last night in capturing him though.

Lili's protest to come out of her room fell on deaf ears and she fell asleep by the door.

Getting Back to Normality

This week I finally feel like we have some normality back. I think most of that is due to Ammon sleeping a lot better during the night. He has had a lot of problems with an upset tummy which we have managed to find a cure for. Now that I look back I think that was probably the cause of Lili's terrible sleeping which we are still suffering the consequences of.

The kids and I made a trip into town by ourselves on the bus which was kinda of liberating. I've been going a bit crazy feeling stuck at home. All went well and Lili and Auron were pretty excited to get back to our normal shopping excursions.On Friday we are going to take a trip into the city on the train to go to the Zoo. Auron has been asking for a few months to go so I thought it was about time. 

On Tuesday Aarahi slept through his alarm so we declared it family day and went to the movies to see Big Hero 6. It's a pretty awesome movie. Lili was a bit of a pain during the movie but it was a cinema full of kids and babies so we weren't all that concerned about her annoying other people. Auron gave me his new Spiderman that he got for Christmas from Grand-Nana, to look after at the movies. I some how lost it. I felt terrible, to the point I was losing sleep over it at night. Everytime he would say prayers he would ask to bless Spidey, and how sad he was that he was lost. We tried to find  a replacement but it seems they are all sold out. We did settle on a black Iron Man which I have been told is called War Machine. Auron calls him Washing Machine though which Aarahi and I find entertaining. 

On Saturday we went out for dinner to a New Zealand fish n chip and burger place. It was preeeeety good. Tasted like home that's for sure, complete with L & P, Watties Tomato Sauce and K Bars.

Now I need to go clean my house which was perfectly tidy when I went to bed last night....sigh

We are back

....And we are back. Well hopefully, I hope to be better at writing this year but life is busy. I kind of lost momentum when I got pregnant with Ammon but now that, I am past that long exhausting pregnancy I should be better. Not that a newborn is much easier.

The Matthews family are in for a big year. After a year of watching our pennies (probably why you havent seen much of us over there) we have started the process of building our home. All going to plan we should start the actual building sometime mid year. We have a wedding on the cards for July but that will most likely just see Ammon and I head over for....unless my mum gets sooky and pays for the other kids. We have also booked in a holiday to somewhere warm and tropical for later in the year. Aarahi has worked his butt off the past year and deserves a relaxing holiday so that's what we are doing. I even let him pick the destination. But as with everything who knows what the year will really bring. Plans may change and we will just have to roll with it.

Our newest addition is fitting in well, I think it's been easier with 3 than when I only had one. Auron is completely smitten by him, Lili has taken a while to warm up to him. On the day we brought him home she declared to all that would listen that "baby is yuck!'' We are praying Ammon doesn't follow in his siblings sleeping habits, so far so good. We haven't had an all nighter yet (touch wood)

Summer is well and truly in full swing here with 40 degree days nothing out of the ordinary. We bought an aircon unit so its been a lot more tolerable but it still sucks. I really really hate summer. Yesterday was 38 today is 18 though so go figure.

Auron is enjoying taking advantage of my lack of time and energy to enjoy watching far too much tv and way too many youtube clips. I'm giving myself another week before we are back in to our normal routine of school work and activities. We will be continuing with the reading eggs program, which he has done really well with, When we tested last his reading age was 4.75 but I imagine that it would have slipped a bit over the past month or so. He's enjoying pointing out the letter and words he knows in books and out and about. We will also complete the Heart of Dakota preschool program again. It's more fun than anything else.

Liliana is our Miss Mischief. Out of all of them she  is the one that will send me to the loony bin. It must be the curls. She loves learning and will probably join Auron in his school work this year. She desperately wants to read but its a bit beyond her although she likes to think she can, At the moment she is quite concerned about possession and who's things belong to who. Heaven forbid anyone use something that doesn't belong to them.

Aarahi took a permanent position at his work so now he gets more money, paid holidays, sick leave and rostered days off. He still enjoys his work and the crazy hours. Personally I think anyone who wants to get up to go to work at 4am is a little bit insane. He is look forward to all his extra work paying off with a new house and dishwasher.

So that's it for now.

I shall leave you with a few photos of our cute little ones