School is in Session

I can't believe it is the last day of January already. The year is just flying by. We have such a busy year ahead of us that I am kind of excited for the year to get going. This year we are loosening the purse strings a bit so to speak and spending some money of some super fun things. Next year we will be back to the grind as we get set buy a few more properties that we have our eye on.

We started back at home school work this week. This is our first official year so to speak as Auron should be starting primary school. In Fact the school we would have sent him to had to be evacuated on Friday due to a bomb threat. Things like that weren't the reason we chose to keep our kids home but it sure does make me happy. Auron is doing Math U See Alpha, All About Reading L1, Lili is doing All About Reading Pre-Reading and they are both doing Latter Day Learning's curriculum for the remaining subjects. I think their favourite subject so far in History. Each night Auron gets out  his folder and gives us a lesson on what he has learnt that day. It always amazes me how much they manage to retain. Both Lili and Auron are really enjoying learning about counties at the moment. The have a map and a globe that they can find about 10 or so countries on (although Lili calls the USA, Minions Country)

Aarahi gets to be Big Boss Man at work for the next month while the actual boss is away. He said he has enjoyed getting the learn how to do something different, we shall see how the next month goes! BUT after that month we are going on holiday!

Teina is home from the hospital, he still looks a bit Hoppy Duck but his legs are arm work again and he can taste a few things but his face is still droopy on one side. Mum said hopefully that will keep the girls at bay for awhile haha. In all serious though, we just hope he's not stuck like that forever. He spent his 15th birthday in hospital and couldn't even taste the special birthday food he requested, and Claire dropped his cake. Mum thought it was about time to "give her a chance" and then she let her walk the stairs with the cake. See obviously spending 2 weeks in hospital has damaged Mum's mental capacity somewhat.

Mum is also FINALLY getting the new carpet for our family home that she has been waiting to get for....probably 10 years. But there has always been the problem of KEVIN. You would think he would be able to control a cup by now but sadly he is pretty usless and it is probably the one area he falls short in being "kevin from Heaven" and the "Golden Child" who can do no wrong. He is a chronic drink/food/wax/anything that stains spiller. But Mum has this new carpet that has like Lino or something covering the wool? I don't really know but it doesn't stain. I am sure Kevin will give it a run for it's money.

As you can see not much happened in our life this week so you got to hear about my family's life back in NZ. Trust me there is never a dull day in that house!

Look at that poor Hoppy Duck boy

The kids love Lego. They can play for hours and hours. 

We found YELLOW watermelon at Safeway this week. It was our special grocery treat. The kids say it tastes just the same. 

Happy Anniversary to Us

Last Thursday was our wedding anniversary. Six years. We got married exactly a year after Aarahi returned from his mission. He chose the date, it was a Thursday too. For this anniversary Aarahi surprised me by taking two days off work so we could spend a long weekend together celebrating the day our family became eternal. The day started out much like our wedding day. It was drizzling, overcast but still really warm. We drove to the temple...this time with 3 kids in tow. It was important to us to show our children that the temple was an important part of our family's history. Even though it wasn't the temple we were married in, the feelings and covenants made are the same. After the temple we went to get some milkshakes. They looked pretty delicious but to be honest they were rather sickly and gross. I only had two sips. The kids enjoyed them though. We carried on up into the Dandenong Ranges which is BEAUTIFUL. I told Aarahi I was going to buy a house there. He rolled his eyes and said whatever. (I actually came home to see how much it would cost..not too bad) We visited a place called Sky High which is nestled right in the top on the ranges. We took the kids through the hedge maze which they loved and went on a little bush walk. We finished our trip with lunch at the restaurant with some AMAZING views.

On Friday we went into the city to the National Gallery of Victoria. The had some really neat kids activities on. I felt sorry for the security workers there were a tonne of kids there and they were trying to keep them from touching and getting too close. It was a terrible place to take a bunch of kids really, but once you got past the exhibition parts to the outside it was really neat. They had these big bean bag things laid out on the lawn and it looked super foggy from the water sprayers they had going. The kids really enjoyed running through them. There was this one kids the took off all her clothes and was running around naked. Her mum was surprised and kicked a huge stink when they told her to put clothes on her child.

Later on Friday night my cousin Sotarah came over to watch the kids so Aarahi and I couold go out for dinner. We went to an amazing Korean place. We have lived in Melbourne for almost 6 years now and never really understood the "food capital of Australia" thing. Sure there is nice food but nothing that spectacular. Aarahi says I am hard to impress because I have grown up with amazing food. I can't deny that, Mum, Teri and Mel are all incredible cooks. I remember even when we had no money Teri could make the most amazing curries and stews with next to nothing. But this Korean place was delicious! If you come to Melbourne some time we will take you.

On Sunday afternoon we skyped to watch Aarahi's niece Shinehah open her Mission Call. She is going to Iloilo Philippines mission. Which is the same mission two of Aarahi brothers served in. I was rooting for the Netherlands but no one was on my team, the general consensus seemed to be Auckland or Philippines.

Hoppy Duck

Mum emailed me yesterday to ask if I had written a blog for last week yet. I don't know why she emailed me when she was texting me at the same time. She is not friends with technology.

This week has been a pretty unnerving week for our family. My little brother Teina has been in hospital since Sunday with Stroke like symptoms and lost feeling in his arm feet and half of his face. The doctors a a bit stumped about why it is happening but likely has to do with when he was assaulted a couple of weeks ago in town for not handing over his phone to some idiot teenagers. But when the Doctors start throwing around words like Tumour, Blood clot on the brain etc things start to get serious. Hopefully we will get some news today that will give the Doctors at least some direction is how to help him. Mum send a photo of him yesterday, he looks pretty Hoppy Duck (inside family joke). I might not put it up here though, I don't know if he would want the world to see him in that state. Mum assures me he is still his normal painful self, and that being cooped up in a hospital bed is driving both of them slightly mad.

Ammon got his 12 month immunisations last week and has been grumpy and sooky ever since. He also had two teeth come in at the same time. So it probably wasn't the best time to take him. He seems to be coming right now.

Auron and Lili told me they wanted to have their lunches in a lunch box like school kids. So I bought them some cute little lunch boxes and have been making their lunches each night alongside Aarahi's lunch. It has worked out SO well. My kids are picky eaters at the best of times but for some reason if you put it in a lunch box it magically becomes more appealing. Aarahi think we should feed them all their food from a lunch box. It also make my day much easier if they can just got get their own food when they are hungry for a snack. We are all about independence in this house.

I took the big kids to the Trampoline place on the weekend. It was fantastic but I honestly don't know how kids have so much energy! They jumped the entire time and by the end of it Auron was so sweatly it looked like he just got out of the shower. So gross ew. I did however learn from last time that after 3 kids my pelvic floor muscles are, how should  I put it? Non-existent! I came prepared this time. Another ew yuck factor of the day.

If you spend much time with Lili you will know that she is a champion WHINER. Oh my goodness it drives me absolutely bonkers. Lately every time she opens her mouth it's a whiny voice that emerges. So far nothing I had tried had worked.  A few days ago when she had pushed me to the point of about being ready to admit defeat and jump of the cliff, we instead sat down together and had a long (read 2 min) talk about how we need to work together to stop the yucky noises. I can tell that she has been working hard. We both have. I have had to remember to praise her when I hear nice voices and not jump at her if she forgets but instead calmly remind her to use her nice voice. I have also talked to everyone else and asked them to actually acknowledge her when she speaks to them the first time so she doesn't have to get to the level of frustration that requires her to have lose all control.

The kids were playing Pirates and wanted a boat. After a bit of searching and a few failed attempts they managed to make Ammon's little paddling pool work. This is what Summer is all about

Ammon was grumpy, I gave him a yoghurt, Ammon wasn't hungry so he just squirted it all over the place. We were 30 mins from home so I had to go wash him in a shopping centre. I thought I had spare clothes, I didn't. I put on a semi clean...mostly dirty shirt on him and called it a success. 

My kids have an awesome Dad. He has the patience of a Saint (unlike me) and always makes time for them. This was taken after he had worked 4am-4pm and had only walked in the door 5 mins prior. We are all so blessed to have him. 

The Weekend that Lili got Eaten

Another week where I am really not sure what happened. I know on one particular night I didn't go to sleep so 2 days merged into one. That wasn't pretty, Ammon has several teeth coming through and he has been my worst teether by far (and he isn't really that bad). So he and I slept in the lounge and watch 6 episodes of Psych before he feel asleep, by that time it was 5am and the big kids would be waking up in a hour, so I didn't even bother to attempt to go back to sleep. Needless to say nothing productive happened that day.

On Tuesday we started at our new homeschool group. It was lovely! There were about 30 kids and 10 or so adults. We all had a nice relaxing day eating a yummy shared lunch and the kids played and had a water fight. It was really great to be able to sit and talk with other people who share the same views as we do in regards to our children's education. Often I feel on the outside and though people may be supportive of your decision you know they really think you're making a mistake. It is not a decision we have made lightly, but it is something we have prayed and fasted over many times and know that this is the right for OUR family. We are excited for our new year! I just received our list of excursions for the year, the organisers of the group have put in a lot of effort and time into ensuring we have a great year. I can't thank them enough for their efforts.

On Friday last week we went over to wish our cousin Happy Birthday and eat cake with her. She turned 19. The walk was painful, actually the walk there wasn't too bad but walking home with 5 kids was excruciating. It is usually a 20 min walk but it took us almost an HOUR to get home. Let's not do that again!

On Saturday we did nothing. We did however notice that Lili was looking rather balloon like. She had been eaten alive by mosquito's during the night. There were 8 bites on her face that had all swollen to the extreme. The poor kid couldn't open her eyes. I gave her the maximum dose of antihistamine but it really didn't do much. I wanted to take a photo but thought it was a bit cruel. I doubt she would want that kind of picture hanging around when she was older. I did however take a photo the next day when she looked significantly better..but still terrible.

I started planning our Christmas holiday this week ...for the end of this year. Think Epic Road Trip. Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast and back, stopping at some pretty awesome places along the way. We have a bit of camping, a touch rural farmstays, some theme parks, plenty of beach, multiple landmarks and a kangaroo or two. It should be fun.

Well the kids right now are making costumes out of toilet paper and have built some kind of tree house out of all the chairs and couches. I love that they really are best friends. Even Lili and Ammon have been getting on better lately, although Ammon is not very appreciative of all Lili's loving...go figure! I love these crazy kids.

Christmas and New Years

We had a wonderful Christmas with plenty of food, reducing us all to food comas all before 11am. We had our traditional breakfast complete with Christmas eggs (Creamed eggs that we only ever have at Christmas). Last year we missed out of breakfast because Ammon was only a few days old and my boobs were the size of watermelons and I was pretty sure they might explode...yep much better Christmas this year. 

We took a break to digest before moving on to cooking lunch/dinner. I even played cards, shock horror yes I know. Those in my immediate family know that I do not play card games or board games with out much force and coercion. 

The children enjoyed their gifts. Auron's favourite was a bunch of action figures I bought second hand. Lili's favourite was a Shopkins House Auron bought for her. Ammon didn't really care much about anything other than stuffing his face. 

Aarahi is still getting pummelled with work since there is have of his team away on holiday. On New Years Eve they worked 13 hours but still didn't finish so they just left it and decided they would rather just come in on Saturday instead. So he worked another 7 hours on Saturday. Thankfully next year we will be in Queensland for Christmas and New Years so it will be someone else's problem!

For New Years we stayed home and played party games, watched movies and made a 10pm dash to McDonald's before Daddy and Ammon fell asleep. The big kids and I made it to midnight where we lit our sparklers and watched fireworks out the front door. 

 On New Years Day we went out for breakfast then headed out to the beach. We went looking for a decent beach but were pretty disappointed even though we actually drove almost 2hours to get there! The township was actually very similar to the Mount but the beach left much to be desired. Oh well. What made up for it was the SERVICE CENTRES! oh how I love me a good Service Centre. There aren't very many of them in NZ but lots here. They are like stops along the road with restaurants, playground, petrol stations, snack shops, fruit stands etc. I really love them. Aarahi thinks I'm a bit crazy. It was really just nice to get out of the city, you don't realise what a busy, noisy, hectic life you live until you leave the city. 

Heat, Homesickness, Dentists and a Birthday

As Christmas time approaches I tend to get a little homesick. It has been 6 years since I have spent Christmas with my family. For years we had spent Christmas with the same families. I remember the last Christmas pretty well as it was the day Aarahi proposed properly (we were actually getting married 4 weeks later). Shane and Teri arrived on Christmas eve and Aarahi got to meet my special little girls Teuila and Mei. Before Aarahi came along and I had my own kids those 2 girls were my whole world so him meeting them and them actually liking him was a pretty big deal for me. I remember when I dated someone else and Mei was not impressed at all and ended up sleeping with me for a few weeks and following me around like a little puppy dog.

As much as I miss those Christmases the reality of it is that it was probably the last one for all of us. We are all growing up and getting married having kids of our own. We have in-laws to worry about now too. I'm not even sure if Mum's house would be able to hold every one in a few years time once more grand babies start arriving (hint hint Tearai and Arpege). Hopefully we can do it all again one day. Teuila can make the pancakes.

Ammon turned ONE today. This year has gone by so fast I really can't believe it. I only had one goal for Ammon and that was that he would be sleeping through the night by his first birthday. I am happy to report that he is indeed sleeping through the night. He is the happiest little man around. I think if I let him he would eat watermelon until he turned into one. He hates eating bread (Aunty Kristen will be happy about that one), but he will happily sit under the table and eat what even scraps that end up being dropped or he will rummage through Aunty Sarah's bin to find some delicious rubbish. We like to keep the immune system working hard around here. Ammon is much more of a Daddy's boy than any of the other kids ever were. He will choose Daddy over anyone else. Ammon love swimming. He is not happy to just splash around in the paddling pool, he wants to be in the big pool and diving under the water. We love having Ammon around, Heavenly Father knew just what we needed when he sent Ammon to us.

Melbourne just had it's first heatwave of the season. 3 days over 40 degrees. It wasn't pleasant but I think you just get used to it. We ended up staying at  my cousins on Saturday as we only have one room with air conditioning. Our new house has aircon in every room thank goodness. I took Auron and Lili to the dentist on Saturday. I have $2k to spend on each of them for dental care each year so thought I better get on to spending it. Both kids were cavity free!

We have Progress!

I kept stopping at starting the blog from last week and now a whole week has gone by. Oops. Lets just say Aarahi had a good birthday. He got a game he has been wanting for awhile and I let him play all day long with minimal disruptions. Then it was Sunday and life was back to normal fitting in a spare 15-20 mins to play after work if he's lucky. Speaking of work he is still working like a crazy man. He is training for something so he needs to be there an hour earlier to do that.

We got good new about our house. After a huge 8 month delay (they had to redo all the pipelines along the huge main road our estate is off as the were too old) we finally have work started on the land building the roads and driveways etc. I was doubtful that they had really started but we went for a drive out there last weekend and they were well and truly under way. Hurrah for progress. I went out there again today when I was in the area and they have already dug out the roads and curbs. There is a tonne of huge boulders and rocks waiting for removal. It made me super happy we paid the $500 excess fee otherwise we would probably be expecting a 20k bill in the mail like some others who decided to take the risk. So the deal is construction of the roads/underground plumbing gas etc is due to be finished in March, Titles should be release within a couple of weeks of that then house construction the following week. I took some photos so you can all follow a long with us.

Unfortunately the delay means our mortgage needs to be resubmitted in February but we got the all clear from our mortgage broker that we will be fine but not to go do anything crazy like rack up a huge debt or something.

We paid the final payment for our Cruise and booked our hotel for Sydney. I had previously booked at another hotel but found a better place for $100 less a night so switched. I am the Queen of holiday bargain shopping.

On Friday we went to do Christmas shopping. The kids each had $20 each to spend on their not so secret Santa. Auron had picked Lili and got annoyed after roaming the isles of Target that he couldn't what he wanted to buy her or whatever he thought she would want cost to much money. He was also grumpy and a little tearful because he was up at 5am! We had lunch which made him cry when his drink was all gone and I only offered him water when he was still thirsty....OH THE HORROR!!! I was about ready to give up, especially when Lili needed to go toilet (yes we went toilet before we left home and when we first got to the shops!) She then proceeded to take 40mins sitting there saying "nope not finished yet, there might be more" By then I had REALLY had enough and picked her up and told her that her poo would just have to stay inside until we got home. We shop for another 20mins before my nephew Izayah needs to go toilet AGAIN this time he demands he gets a nappy put on him or he's going to pee in his pants (he is 5 1/2 and hasnt worn a nappy in years) So he does, manaage to push out a bit of pee enough to wet his pants a little. UGHHHHH can you see why I might possible be crazy??? But WAIT it gets better. As we are walking to the the bathroom AGAIN Ammon throws up all over himself and the pram. Being the organised mother that I am I am only armed with wet wipes no spare clothes. We head to the family bathroom 5 kids in tow. (I should mention here how thankful I am my cousin was with me). I clean Ammon up and take his clothes off, he graciously missed gettting anything on his pants. Sarah dries Izayah's pants under the hand dryer and then we carefully take some clothes off a sleeping Hale so I have something to put on Ammon.

Then I ring Aarahi and admit defeat and he comes to rescue me.

Later that night after recovering Lili and I went shopping. (Auron went to be early because he didn't want to eat his dinner) It reminded me of sweet childhood memories when I used to go late night shopping with my mum. We got separated in Kmart and then all I could hear was Lili calling out "beautiful Mummy, Where are you my beautiful Mummy"I totally made my day and made me remember that even though some days are hard and you feel like you are failing, you really aren't, you are just having a bad day.

Note the land photos will have to wait as I can't find my phone. Probably in the fridge or something like that. For now I thought we could have a look as some old photos.