Onwards and Upwards!

I think it must have been awhile since I have written. There are 3 unfinished post sitting in my account!

We have been enjoying the beautiful Summer like weather here this weekend. It has been at 30+ degrees the past two days and will continue for another few days before dropping back down to more seasonally appropriate weather.

Apparently on Friday it was a public holiday to celebrate Grand Final weekend for the AFL...not we could actually care less about it. I am not even sure who was playing. But it was a perfect excuse for us to take advantage of the sun and head down to the beach in the city. It in no beach like we are used to but it was good enough for the kids. They had the best time, I don't think Auron and Izayah got out of the water for 3 hours or so.

On Saturday Aarahi went to play in the Greenvale Ward Table Tennis Tournament. It's all very serious business. I think it's the 2nd or 3rd year it's been going now. He came home a winner! He won the doubles with one of the other guys.

Lili is pretty much 100% now. She had been having 4-5 hour naps in the day for half the week but hasn't had to have a nap at all the past few days. It is so nice to have her back! Although it was hard to have her sick, I really enjoyed all the time I got to spend with her. She really is one of the funniest kids you can meet.

Auron has taken an interest in Chess this past week so Aarahi has been teaching him slowly. Each morning after breakfast he gets out the board and practices setting it up and learning the names of the pieces. When Aarahi gets home they have a couple of games and learn a new rule.

Ammon has been sleeping through the night...THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!! That is unheard of in this house like, what am I going to do with all this sleep I am getting at night?? I've been waking up at 5am which is not cool, hopefully my body clock will reset. But really, is this what it's like for all those people with kids that are good sleepers?? First time in 5 years I've not had someone yelling my name or crying at obscene times of the night. Aarahi and I have so much energy it's like we should go run a marathon or something. There's something to be said about sleep deprivation that's for sure.

The kids and the birthday girl...

Family Photo

Winners!

Lili earned her Happy Meal, learning all her letters

MMM white top + watermelon = bad idea

3 Little rascals ready to swim

Tuckered out after the party

September Started with a Bang!

Note: I wrote this on Sunday it's now Thursday. We had a pretty rough few days. On Monday Lili becoming increasingly more lethargic. For the past 4 days she had slept the majority of the day, but she was happy enough and was eating and drinking fine whenever she woke up. On Monday she was really hard to wake up and she wasn't drinking or eating much so I thought enough was enough and took her to the hospital.
They managed to get her to eat an icy pole and did some tests. They had the the paediatric docs come look at her. They were still baffled as to what was really wrong with her. She had no other indications of illness other than being tired. They were happy for her to go home and go to the GP the next day for her results. We were to bring her straight back if she got worse or we couldn't get her to drink.
Tuesday night we ended up taking her back as she had nothing to drink in over 24 hours and waking her up was terribly hard. "Thankfully" she had developed a cough and slightly red throat. This led the doctors to be more happy with their predictions of a virus instead of something quite serious. The admitted her overnight to pump her full of fluid. The next morning she was so much happier. Yesterday she only had a 1 hour nap as opposed to sleeping 20 hours a day as she had been doing since last Thursday.
It was a pretty worrying time and we have never been so thankful for a cough and a sore red throat! We appreciated all the love and messages and checking in.

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We hope all those lovely Daddy's and Poppa's out there had a fabulous day yesterday! Our week has been plagued by sickness but I'll get to that later.

Monday: Home school group. We left home about 10am and it was lovely and sunny so I told Auron to leave his jacket at home and he would be warm enough with what he was wearing. 30mins later it was freezing cold , the poor kids was miserable. He warmed up once we got to the park and could run around. I let Auron pick what we were having for lunch since and he chose a place called Schnitz. He declared it was his favourite place ever. I informed him not to get to attached as the price tag wasn't as appealing as the delicious food.

Tuesday: Today was a beautiful day so we went for a walk to Aunty Mel's to have lunch. It was actually really warm today, think tee-shirt and shorts weather. When Auron put on his jacket again he just looked at me and said "remember yesterday mummy?" Who was I to argue with that? He ditched the jacket a few 100m down the road.

Wednesday: I have absolutely no recollection of what happened on this day. This seems to be happening more and more often these days.

Thursday: This is where our week took a turn for the worst. I should have seen it coming! When the kids got up they were lounging around on the couch looking sorry for themselves. I told them they needed to change their attitudes or go back to bed. They both headed back to bed at 930am and didn't emerge again for another few hours. Auron perked right up but Lili on the other hand just had some lunch then went back to bed. For the next 3 days Lili didn't get off the couch. She is such a good sick kid, barely hear a peep out of her.

Friday: Aarahi had the day off work! We had big plans to go out and spend time together as a family for Fathers day but Lili was sick and Ammon was now sick too. Ammon was not a good sick kid!!!! The whinging and the whining was doing my head in. I was thankful Aarahi was there to share in the torment but felt bad he was missing out on his special day. On a plus note I got all the washing done. Aarahi did take Auron out to the city for a treat. They got ice creams, special hot chocolates and went to play in the arcade (something only Daddy would do)

Saturday: Oh dear now I'm down with whatever the kids have. I spent the majority of the day in bed whilst my dear husband looked after the kids. Unfortunately when you are a parent there are no sick days and you still need to get up and do some cleaning and help out with the kids. Lili was still couch bound so Aarahi was going to take her to the doctor but she started to perk up so he just took her for a ride in the car and let her pick a treat at the supermarket. Grapes and strawberries....no surprises there!

Sunday: Aarahi was speaking in Stake Conference today. I really wanted to go hear his talk, but was still sick and definitely didn't want to take all the kids! So at 8am I dropped Auron and Lili at my cousins house. Unfortunately conference didn't start until 1pm not at 10am like I thought. Poor Sarah lucked out there. She messaged me a little while later to say all the kids were asleep. Aarahi did a great talk on "Not Just a Casual Follower of Christ" After conference we went back to Sarah's for dinner and learnt that Auron was now struck down with the sickness and hadn't moved off the couch all day either.

Auron filled up his Alphabet Dinosaur and got his treat of a Happy Meal. He has worked so hard over the past couple of weeks to learn all his letters this was such a well deserved treat. 

My Husband is a Zombie Catcher

It was a much quieter week than the last, mostly because the weather was terrible and I slowly began to drown in laundry.

Monday: Much of the same. School in the morning then we went over to the cousins for Family Home Evening and dinner.
Tuesday: We went to the launch of the 100 Book Before School program. It was pretty average, and I would rather have not gone. The kids did score a book pack each though so I guess that made it somewhat worth it. I rewarded them for having to sit through speeches with Subway for lunch.
Wednesday: We caught up on some neglected school work and Lili, Auron and I did a bunch of baking for the week
Thursday: It was pouring with rain so the most logical thing to do is get the train to the visit the cousins and go shopping. Yep we are crazy like that. It was a terrible idea. The kids were all grumpy and by the end of the day Lili was really really pushing her luck with me. We had a few tantrums on the ground in Target. It's our first in a long long time, I was pretty exhausted from a long night with Ammon and probably didn't handle it as well as usual.
Friday: I realised Lili needed some time out just her and mummy. I know this is always the problem when she starts having melt downs. So we had some time out to read books, do cooking, play in the sandpit without anyone else. A few hours of one on one time and she becomes a different child. It's good for me too. It helps me to remember that she is still just a little girl with big emotions that sometimes just needs her mummy to be a little more patient and understanding with her.
Saturday: My cousin Cindy was down in Melbourne from Queensland for a girls weekend with some of her friends. Sarah and I were lucky enough to catch up with her in the city for a few hours. We went to a little cafe in one of the lane ways and got so ripped off it was painful. We should have just ordered drinks but instead Sarah and I ordered a quiche and an apple crumble. We paid good money and got piddles in return and to top it off it tasted gross. If that's what the rich people eat, I think I'd like to stay poor. Aarahi the brave brave man looked after all 5 kids by himself for the afternoon. These kids are hard work for both Sarah and I together, so you can imagine the task Aarahi had before him!!! He did fantastic and everyone was happy on our return.
Sunday:  My lesson for class was "I am Thankful for Food" naturally bringing cupcakes to decorate after our lesson was the best idea. I was only planning on having 3 or 4 kids but ended up with 7. They actually did really well and the mess was fairly minimal. The even got the whole point of the lesson. However later in the day during sharing time some other kid grabbed a cupcake off the table at ran out the door with it dropping it along with all its delicious coconut topping all over the floor. sigh... The kids made some Fathers Day ties at church. They had questions on the for the kids to answer about their dads. The first question was "What does your Dad do for work?" Lili's answer "He goes and catches the Zombies" Gosh I love that kid!!!!!!

We had a Fantastic Week

We squished so much into this week! The children have all been in bed early almost each night because they are just so tired. On one day both Lili and Auron didn't wake up until after 9am.

Monday: We had school time in the morning then later that afternoon we met up with our home school group at a nature park? I'm not really sure what it was. Well actually it was a huge community garden and nursery but they had other stuff going on too. The kids loved it and got covered in dirt and looked rather negated by the time we left. That's what being a kid is all about right??! Straight after the park we headed into the city to visit my cousin who is was in hospital. Unfortunately we couldn't stay long as Ammon we getting grumpy. By the time we arrived home it was past dinner, luckily I had put something in the slow cooker that morning so it was a quick fix to feed our starving bellies.

Tuesday: School work, housework, catch up on everything. I was having a pretty low day after writing my 3rd "memory" letter this year for someone sick with cancer. That disease gets everyone, and affects everyone, there just seems to be no escaping it. We went out for dinner that night to try and cheer ourselves up. It was a really lovely time. The kids really enjoyed the restaurant and food which is always a plus.

Wednesday: Off to the library for story time with our cousins. This weeks theme was crocodiles, which was right up Lili's ally. She is all about dinosaurs etc right now. It was such a beautiful day we took our lunch down to the park for a few hours.

Thursday: While we were at the library the day before we signed up for the 1000 books before school event. The kids are excited to stamp their chart for each book they read. I think we will get to 1000 pretty fast, They are already up to 30, Lili is a few ahead of Auron because she will sit forever and ever being read to. Auron prefers chapter books so he will take a little longer I think. Since we can read 10+ books a day I think we will have it out of the way before Christmas.
Auron and Lili both went to Lego class at the library and loved it.

Friday: This was the day the kids had been excited about all week! We were off to the science museum. We met our cousins at the train and were on our way. We thought that going during the week would be a good idea but we were SO wrong. The whole place was swarming with school kids. Big kids who were pushy and rude and didn't care about the little kids waiting patiently in line before them. In the end we skipped the first floor and went upstairs to the little kids area which was much more quiet (the school kids weren't allowed in there) Unfortunately we didn't really get to see the cool Alice in Wonderland exhibit or the Space one that my kids were excited about. The kids had a blast anyway and are already asking to go back.

Saturday: Clean clean clean that's what I did all Saturday morning. I always like to have the house back in order from the week before lunch on Saturday. After lunch the kids and I went to get some sand to refill their sandpit. I can't believe its that time of year again! Summer is coming and we CAN"T wait!!!!!! before long we will be able to put the pool back up.

Sunday: Ammon threw up this morning twice. He seems fine now but has already had 2 naps. Looks like whatever it was may have passed.

Hope you all had a lovely week too!

Haircuts, Doctors, and Ice Skating

We all had a fantastic week! It feels like we have finally finding our routine again which is amazing. I hate the feeling you get when everything is all out of whack and nothing is predictable. I prefer my life to be boring and well planned. The last 3 months couldn't have been further from that.
It 3am one morning I had the terrible realisation that Ammon was late for his 6 month immunisations. so I quickly booked those in the next day. He has been a bit delayed in his last two sets because he has been sick over winter but now we are all caught up until he is 1. He was a champ and didn't even cry. I think I am lucky that my kids take them so well.
The following day Ammon had his 8 month check up at the health nurse. He is still fat. a full 1.5kg over the 98th percentile, and 98th percentile for height and head circumference. All in one week he decided he was going to crawl and start pulling himself up on everything. I doubt it will be long before he is off walking. He is such a placid baby. The only time you hear him complain is if he is tired or hungry, the rest of the time he is busy busy busy. He loves to be invilved in whatever the other kids are doing. If they are on the couch, he needs to be on the couch, if they are colouring, he needs to have a pencil too. It is pretty cute how much he loves to be with them. Lili doesn't think it is cute at all and really hates all the "love" he gives her.
On Thursday we went to the park for a picnic. We caught the train to the park and Auron isisted on bringing a big box that had arrived that morning with school supplies. I told him it might be a bit difficult to carry the whole way but it was up to him. We got 100m down the road before he wanted to me to carry it. Haha tough luck kid, I made him carry it the whole way. HE told me later that next time he is going to leave it at home.
One day last week I took the kids out to go ice skating. They loved it. Thankfully it was a lot cheaper than the place in Palmy. The workers at the rink we so lovely, they actually got out on the ice and helped the kids holding their hands and teaching them how to skate. By the end of our time there all 3 of the kids were pretty confident little skaters.
We ended up paying off our car this week too. The bank has changed its policies for home loans and our trip to NZ in June really really stuffed up our finance. Simply because they took the month of June as their final snap shot for our income. Which wasn't a realistic portrayal since Aarahi had 3 weeks off without pay. So in order to save all the hassle of proving to them that we were out of the country and it was for a legitimate reason we just paid the car off and the final approval went straight through.
That's it for the week. We have some exciting things planned for the coming week that I am sure the kids will enjoy.

Ammon got his hair cut this week. This a photo both Auron and Ammons first hair cuts. Auron is on the Left and is 11 months old, Ammon in the right is 7 months old

Ammon loving Lili. See how much she enjoys it!

Waiting for the doctor

Auron and Izayah

Speaking of hair. Lili had hers straightened one day last week because I was sick of having to fight her to brush it. Those curls are hard to maintain! But this didn't even last a day

Mushy Brain Syndrome...it's a real thing

I couldn't even remember what we did last week, I think my brain has well and truly turned to mush. I have been searching for over 3 months for a big bag full of Auron's old clothes. I searched everywhere I could possibly think of, pulled out every other bag full of clothes but nothing. I was convinced someone had stolen it (logical explanation). Then I though maybe Aarahi put them in the clothing bin thinking they were for donating. But low and behold I go out to the garage to get something totally unrelated and there sitting right in front of me is the huge bag of size 1-2 clothes. I have no idea how I missed it it was literally right there. Anyway now I have a ridiculous amount of clothes because I had given up finding them and tired of squishing my sumo baby into too small clothes and went and bought him new stuff. I concede to mushy brain syndrome.

Aarahi took Auron to his Lego activity which they both really enjoyed. He took both Auron and Ammon while Lili and I did the groceries. Lili was way more into doing groceries and scoring herself a squishy yoghurt as a treat than playing lego. Speaking of groceries I have been totally slack at getting them done online and have been paying way too much by shopping in store. I have no will power and have bought things I really don't actually need...for example an electric blanket, 20 books, and a mattress protector (this is really really really nice though!) This week I did it online and got to $80 and was struggling to make it up to $100, I seriously wondered what I was actually buying before.

On Saturday we took the kids for a picnic at the park, Lili has been thanking me mulitple times a day since then. She is super cute, if she really enjpoys something she will thank you over and over again for weeks on end. She is still thanking me for taking her ti see the Minions movie months ago. It's usually at random times too, like she will yell it out from the toilet.

Auron also got to go out on a special trip to the movies with his cousin Sotarah which he LOVED. They went to see Inside Out and had some McDonalds and won a super cute Minion. The Minion is now Lili's though because she is the big Minion fan, Auron doesn't really care either way.

Yes I live with Super Heroes

Ammon was in fits of laughter as he threw bark on himself...

...Then ate it

Life just got too hard, and I needed a rest

Auron loves playing the game where you write a letter on the board and everyone else has to guess it. His letter knowledge is fantastic, his handwriting takes a fair bit of eye squinting most of the time haha

This crazy kid helping make banana blueberry "Puk-Cakes" for Daddy

Love this cutie!