Shameless boasting session..

..be warned... this post is written by an extremely proud Mummy.


Since Mop was small, we have always thought she was a very intelligent child. Before she was 3 she was reading... not just cat and mat... but menus! She knew what a decagon was before her mother! She reads and retains the most amazing stuff.... for example she could explain the workings of a digestive system at five years old.... because she read it in her anatomy book... written for MUCH older people! Anyway..... she's smart... but we had no idea that she was THIS smart...







Last night was speech and awards night.... and Daz and I were astounded and ever so proud to hear Mop's name called to receive the "Highest Academic Achievement" trophy for her grade.




She also received a medal for the English Award. I like to think she's her Mother's daughter! :) I have always been good at English... anyway... She also received a trophy for her scripture memorisation as well (which is remembering a scripture every single week of the term and reciting)



Here they all are. (the school name is blotted out so just ignore that! :) )


And here she is with her teacher for 2010.


She was a fantastic teacher, and really did an amazing job with Mop. She stretched her and recognised her love for learning and abilities - so Mop never came home complaining of boredom, instead talking with enthusiasm about all the wonderful things she had done and learned.

So Mop darling, we are super proud of you - even more than we usually are, and congratulations on putting in all that hard effort and work and producing amazing results. Enjoy your 8 weeks off Doctor Mop. :)

EJ-ism

"Mummy.... I need some sun-scream on"

(meaning sunscreen)

3 years on...

Remember THIS??

Well 3 years on she has grown into a beautiful, sweet, kind, funny, imaginative, clever little poppet. Darling girl, we are so incredibly glad you are in our lives. You are a precious little lady and we love you dearly. Happy Birthday Milly Moo!!



The birthday celebrations started with her present from us - which was a huge dolls house - which she LOVED and refused to come to breakfast because she was too busy playing. We let that one slide. Then we dragged her away to go out into the stinking heat for the family birthday picnic. 2 of my nieces and Dad all had a birthday within the week so we decided to catch up then to celebrate all the birthdays. It was hot... too hot to stay long... so we came home for a swim in our pool - and Pete, Deb and the kids came back as well. Then the inlaws came over for a little while, until we popped 3 very exhausted children into bed.

Dear Lord....

...please protect my son from himself....



... AND HIS MOTHER!!!!


EJ is going through a very annoying stage.... he's stealing stuff. We gently tried to explain that he can't just help himself to stuff, he needs to ask. But crackdown HAD to happen when he handed me an empty bottle of 100 kids multi-vitamins (previously mostly full) and said we needed more "lollies". He had gone into the pantry and fossicked around the shelves and found them, took them outside and shared them with his baby sister!!!! Oh. My. GOODNESS!!! I nearly had a heart attack. I rang health direct pronto and we went through the ingredients. Thankfully there were no ingredients that were dangerous if they overdosed.... I have no idea how he knew what they were!!! Mop is the only one who has them, and only if she is run down.

I only got 15 new grey hairs that day.

Mum thought it was funny.
The Health Direct lady was chuckling.
I'm yet to find the funny side.

Good news

EJ has finished with the psychologist!! :)
They think EJ is progressing at a good rate and no longer needs the mental health system. We are winning this battle with SPD! YAY!!! He will have a little graduation party with his speechie and psychologist in a few weeks and we will be on our merry little way. I'm so proud of him!

Also EJ had his first day at primary school for orientation on Tuesday. He LOVED it!! He loves his teacher (who seems very gentle and motherly) and I'm thankful his first experience in a classroom setting was good. Over the next month or so, we will need to start putting things in place to help him cope with SPD in the school environment. The psychologist is confident that EJ will get much better with coping as he develops and matures - and school will be very good for this. I met the special needs co-ordinator and she seems really lovely. I'm sure EJ will love her too.

Professional Man-Flu-artist

This boy?

No... surely not!!??

You should hear him carry on whenever he has a small injury!! He had a tiny graze on his knee the other day, with one tiny drop of blood. You should have heard him scream!! And when I went to clean it up, he kicked me and yelled "Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" He wailed like I was about to amputate his leg, while I gently wiped with a wet cotton ball. LOOOOONG after the blood was cleaned up, he was still wimpering and complaining about it. He couldn't feed the dog.... because his knee was bleeding. PFFFFT!!!

This kid is practicing his man-flu act..... and it's kinda funny. Though for the sake of my future daughter in law - I'm not sooking him or encouraging it... I'm just laughing at it and rolling my eyes (on the inside)

10 years ago....

I married my best friend.



(I love this photo - this is when he first saw me walking towards him down the aisle)



I vowed to honour, cherish and be faithful.



In return he promised to love and protect me all the days of his life.




On this day 10 years ago, we became family....



.... united by God



10 years have passed....



.. and I love him more deeply and more passionately than ever.



Happy anniversary babe! I love you!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

This is our tree.

:)

This year was the first year that all three children could help put it up and decorate it! A sign that our beautiful little family are moving forward from the baby stage into kiddlet stage! It was so much fun to work all together on this!



I love our tree. I could stare at it all night if I didn't have a gazillion xmas presents to make, and only 5 weeks to make them. :)





Underneath now the presents are starting to mount. And before anyone asks, Santa does not come to this house. If a fat man in red appeared in my house, I would be after him with my marble rolling pin or my dress-making scissors! I don't teach my kids that Santa leaves the gifts - but I do teach them that other kids may believe this, so we are to respect the game that their parents are playing, and it's not up to them to say anything about it. Each to their own, but this is how I do Christmas. So... the presents are starting to pile up underneath and I can see the kids gaze at them longingly and in anticipation for the big day. :) And I can't wait either!!!!

I'm hosting Christmas again this year instead of Mum and so I'll have 19 odd people here celebrating the big day. :) I've been working out the menu and have started gathering up all the festivities and whatnots that make my Christmas table special. :) I can't say too much more, because I believe my brother and SIL read this blog. (Hi Pete and Deb!) Can't give away the secrets of the day! I can't wait though for all the cousins to be together again to celebrate and play together on this special day! It's been a few years since we have all been together. I don't think we have ever had xmas day with Molly (my brother's step-daughter) because she has always been with her Dad. I think it's going to be a very special Christmas.

Life has been hectic around here.
The kids are getting tired, since life seems to get busy around this time of year. Mop had her piano recital on earlier this week, which was a late night for her. She did so well and I nearly cried with pride and joy! She has really gotten good lately, and she would make her Aunty Bec proud I think. :) Daz took Mop and I stayed home with the little ones, but he videoed it for me so I could see her. Such a tiny little girl on such a big piano.

EJ and Milly (and me as a result) both got some kind of virus that settled on their chests. Healthy has horses, until night time when they (and me) cough up a lung and a kidney. :)

EJ has his first classroom orientation day on Tuesday which will be interesting to see how he goes. I'm terrified and excited all in one go! At least then we will get a better idea of how he goes in that environment and what things we need to put in place for him for next year.
We've started to crack down on him a bit heavier now, since we know that he understands some things, and it's teaching him to self calm, which sounds dreadful I know! If he continues to whine and whinge and get himself worked up, we dock "merits" off his chart. He learned the hard way when I docked 10 off because he kept ranting. He now shuts up, and tries to distract himself - which is a HUGE thing!! Normally it's us that is distracting him to try and keep him from going into meltdown mode. This is only working for minor whines though... it wouldn't work for over-stimulating environments. :) We were also having problems with him getting up in the night and drinking so much that he would wet his bed. So we said if he wet his bed again, he would have to go back to pull-ups. "I'm NOT wearing nappies!!!" he protested.... and we haven't had a wet night since! :)

EJ has also become a bit of a sports nut. At home he plays tennis, soccer, catch and whatever else he can get his hands on. At school he plays cricket with the other kids and he loves it!! It's interesting since Daz and I are not very sporty people, how he still enjoys the games, even though he isn't overly exposed to it. I think he will be one for after-school sports activities later on down the track!

Milly is turning three in a few weeks, which has shocked me. My baby is no longer a baby - she really is a little girl now. She has cast aside all baby things and is playing imaginative and wonderful games with little girl toys. We have bought her a massive big dolls house for her birthday gift, which I think she will love!! :) So my baby days appear to be well and truly over. Thrilling in some ways and sad in others. I love babies!

Uni is well and truly over and I can breathe again. I've already enrolled in 2 subjects for next year, both psychology subjects, and the lesser workload I think will be better for the time being.

Milly has been booked into kindy for Mondays and Friday mornings which is exciting! She can't wait to get to school. Also when EJ is in school, I'm going to start branching out and getting my life back, since it had to be put on hold because he couldn't cope going anywhere. I've found a craft group I plan on joining, and I am going to head back to MOPS (Mother's of preschoolers) and start socialising! In turn Milly will be socialising as well and having a wonderful time with little friends.

So that is what is happening in this house....

35 days till Christmas!!

11 days to go...

11 Days until my uni semester is over!!! I cannot wait. I have three assignments due in the next 11 days. I have been working so hard, and I am going to be welcoming the break with open arms.

11 days until I can sew, quilt and get ready for Christmas. I can do this. I can do this!

A few weeks ago, my Mum experienced a pretty major nervous breakdown, and has been diagnosed with depression. The meds they gave her were dreadful and the poor thing reacted badly to them. I have been taking care of her most of the time. It was pretty bad in the beginning, she wouldn't eat, she was in and out of hospital, she couldn't sleep, she was a wreck. Slowly but surely she has crawled out of "rock bottom" and is on her way to physical recovery (still waiting for psychological help). The kids love having their Nanny staying all day at our house, and EJ is convinced she lives with us. Not that it's a burden, and I am happy to take care of her, it's been a hard slog to stay on top of my uni work while caring for Mum. I'm happy to say that I have succeeded. 11 days left and it's all smoooooooth sailing.

Oh and another thing... since Mum is unwell and it's her turn to host Christmas - she asked me to do it for her. Oh what a shame..... :P I LOVE hosting Christmas. I've spoken to my sister in laws and it looks like we will all be together this Christmas! How exciting!! I can't wait!!! I might even attempt doing a turkey this year! :)

Breakthough....

EJ has a pretty spectacular speech disorder. He sometimes doesn't understand a word you say to him. In the past he just stared at you blankly.... or if you were asking him a question, he would repeat the question....

This week he has recognised that he doesn't understand what you are saying, and that he needs to clarify and communicate that he hasn't understood.

"I can't hear you."

:)

Ok so it's not EXACTLY right.... but we knew exactly what he was talking about, and we were SOOOOO excited that he said that!! We were clapping and cheering and praising him for his very clever realisation!!

Mummy,.....

.... I love your cuddles.

(Direct quote from my little Fairy Princess)

I'm still alive, I promise!

Seriously, Uni work is NUTS at the moment. I have been working on 2 of the biggest assignments that are due on Friday. Lovely research papers... :) Once this week is over I think I can breathe a little more easy, even though I will have 3 other major assignments due in the next 3 weeks - but they aren't half as stressful as these research papers!!



I went to an intensive at uni in the first week of the school holidays. It was exhausting, but I had a wonderful time. I met some really amazing people, one of them being my study partner, Penny. I really enjoyed the practical aspect of counselling, and I'm confident that I'm in the right field. :) My lecturer singled both my study partner and myself out and said we were very good. :) AWESOME!! There is another intensive coming up in February sometime, and I hope to get to that. It will depend if they run it when EJ is in school or not. I can't do it if he's in school - especially during his first term.

They don't call it an intensive for nothing - 14 weeks worth of lectures done in 5 days. The lecturer did 3 hour lectures in two.... she just spoke faster and covered the material faster. My head was spinning at the end of the day because of information overload. Still... I loved it. I loved being surrounded by adults, studying the same subject and meeting such wonderful people in different fields. :)

Back to the grindstone I guess..

All I want for Christmas is.....

... my two front teeth!



Isn't she so adorable? She's so proud of the gap!

We are on our way!

On Monday we had a really good session with the speechie & psychologist. It's really good news - EJ is considered in such a good place that his sessions with the psychologist can now start to wrap up. They will continue to see us for a few more months, then at the end of the year, they will hand us over to a private speech therapist to deal with his language disorder.

Also they spoke to the school that EJ is enrolled in for next year, and they have an amazing special needs program in place. EJ will be taken care of by people who will understand his needs and will work with him in group sessions and one on one to make sure he doesn't not understand the basics. This is a great relief for me, because I've been scared witless about him going to school, having a bad experience and then hating it from there on. If he has a bad experience, he refuses to go. I couldn't handle leaving him there, screaming and screaming because he doesn't want to be there, day after day.

Everything seems to be going swimmingly. :) His progress is nothing short of a miracle, and the programs and services available to us haven't costed us a thing so far. We will need to pay a speech therapist next year, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

Another thing - in the last week and a half, EJ has learned to put on his own seatbelt and open the boot of the car. I know this sounds really silly - a 4 1/2 year old boy doing such simple things but to us this is a big step - because normally he refuses to try new things, and cries, screams and carries on because he "can't do it". He put aside his panic, his apprehension, and tried his hardest to do his seatbelt. He did it! Then he decided that if he can do that, then he can open the big heavy boot door. He worked out a way to do it, and he's so proud of himself! Now he is saying "I'll do it Mummy!" more and more. He's a different boy! Each thing he attempts and succeeds in, is one step closer to being independent, more confident and hopefully more able to cope with new things.

EJ- dude, we are so incredibly proud of you. You are trying so hard in everything you do, and we couldn't ask for a more determined and precious little boy. We love you!! xxx Mummy & Daddy

Where do my days go?

Honestly, they are flying by!!

I've been buried under a pile of text books and have been sitting in front of my computer for what seems MONTHS!! My study load is huge and I don't think I'll be doing this amount of work again until the kids go to school.

I had to give up housework from Monday to Friday because I just don't have time to do everything and be everything. Thankfully the kids are relatively clean and tidy and Daz helps out when he can. Then on Saturday we all pitch in and get it done in no time at all.

My Intensive starts in 3 & a half weeks and I've started preparing for all that. The text books I needed arrived and I'm so happy to say it's a joy to read! I love reading psychological theory and I love the evenings when I fold up my hand quilting, hop into bed with the electric blanket and read about topics I enjoy.

If you don't hear from me for a little while, you will know that I simply don't have enough time to breathe, let alone blog. When this is all over (Mid november) I will be back to torture you more with my ramblings.

xxx Skipper

Pictures of Spring

The first blossom on our Cherry Blossom Tree:



More pics Daz took that I just love!








Welcome Spring my old friend! :)

Milly and road rage.

While we were heading away from EJ's kindy, we got stuck in some banked up traffic. It was still a fair way away from the intersection and the traffic was crawling along. I sat back, relaxed, knowing that I was going to be here for another 10 minutes or so....

... then an impatient little voice from the back seat pipes up.....


"COMMON PEOPLE!!!!"





Uhh.... I guess I better watch myself with my occasional road rage outbursts. :)

Recent pics of the kids.

Study... that stuff will blow your head off!!

:)

Uni work has literally taken over my life at the moment. I have an average of 3 assignment due each week. Then 2 3 hour lectures each week. Not to mention all the reading I have to do. I have just ordered my Counselling Skills text books and they need to be read by October. I think I have bitten off more than I can chew - it's stressful and it's hard to stay on top of housework and parenting when I'm working my butt off on uni assignments. Mum says I need to give myself time to adjust to the extra work load. I hope I do adjust, otherwise I'm dropping a subject next year!

On the up-side, I'm really really enjoying the subjects that I'm doing and I love my lecturers. They are interesting and knowledgeable people and they make lectures really fun. I'm doing well so far in my assessments - which is always good. I'm just struggling with that extra time it takes to do the extra subjects.

I'll be ok. I hope.

You know you have terrible veins when...

... it takes the nurse 1 hour and 20 minutes to get enough blood out of you to do the test.

That wasn't fun.

And what a waste of a perfectly good 1 hour and 20 minutes!

:)

Can anyone beat that?

Confidence and other matters.

It's been a while. I've honestly had nothing to write about. I've been busy but I have nothing to tell you. We've all been well and happy - but nothing to tell really.

So I'll fill you in on my nothingness... :)

EJ - I'm so incredibly proud of him! He's doing so well!! His major accomplishment of the last month is getting some confidence. He's no longer hanging off my legs at kindy and Sunday School - but confidently walking in, and going to whatever it is he wants to do. In the past I would have to prod him in and help him decide on what he wanted to do. His kindy teachers have noticed this new found confidence and are so happy with his progress. He's happy now to walk into a group of kids and join in. He is becoming more social with this confidence, I guess he is now talking better so can understood.

I had another Bad Mummy Moment last weekend - I noticed EJ was more clumsy than usual, constantly tripping over his own feet. Then I noticed that his slippers needed replacing since they were falling a part. So I replaced his slippers with the next size up - and was a bit surprised to see that his toes were jammed up at the end. Surely these slippers were a small 11. Oh no.... not at all. His feet had exploded sometime, and in his old slippers his toes were smack bang up the end - and he had grown 2 sizes. He's now a 12. Bigger foot than Mop! I felt terrible! Poor kid, how long was he uncomfortable in those shoes?

Mop - turned 7 and is now mustering up all the attitude she can to keep us on our toes. She had a great birthday party sleepover thingo... The girls all had a wonderful time. On her birthday morning we did a treasure hunt for her to find her presents - and all her little girl-friends helped her. She loved hunting all over the house for her gifts - each one getting bigger and bigger. :) In the afternoon family came round and wished her happy birthday. We had a small cake and then later on Grandma bought round cupcakes... so we got more cake. She got a few really lovely things, but I think the highlights were her scooter, all the bling that we and Marie gave her, and a little sewing machine that was given to her by Nanny.



Milly - is just too cute. She is talking so much more and the things she comes out with is hillarious. She finds it a bit tough of Thursdays and Fridays when both EJ and Mop are at school, and she is all alone. She gets lonely easily and wanders around miserable for a little while. I usually start her doing something, and then she gets into the swing of things. She's happy when it's school pick time.

That's all folks...

Really... told you it's a bit boring around here.

And we start it all over again....

School holidays are over. I'm quite disappointed. We didn't get as much done as we wanted to. In fact we did nothing. No trips to the playground, only one play date.... it was pretty sad. Why did we do nothing? Because every single one of us were subjected to a winter lurgy of some description for the entire 2 weeks. And I was subject to three of them! I got better, then got hit with another one, got better again and was smacked with an even worse one. I am now sitting here, my mouth just recovering from ulcerated lips and cold-sores. I have been utterly miserable. :(
I got my lovely naturopath friend to give me some help to boost my immunity up so I can survive the rest of this winter! So I'm on a concoction of amazing things that hopefully don't make me smell as bad as they do. LOL

Mop enjoyed being at home for the entire time. I think she's a bit of a homebody - she likes to be surrounded with her toys, her family and her Wii. She said to me "I can't believe I'm half way through year 2!!" Well me neither kiddo! Where did my little girl go???

Mop turns 7 on Saturday and she is going to celebrate it with a sleepover with a few of her friends on the Friday night. Also on Friday Daz is booked in to get "the snip" - so exactly 7 years after we became parents, we make the permanent step to stop at three. In my heart I am a bit sad. Being pregnant and having babies was so much fun - but we have to stop sometime! After the debarcle with EJ and Mop's birth, I just don't think we can do this anymore and not have some serious consequences. We were told to stop after EJ - but Milly came along. If we want to have more children later on, we will probably go down the fostering path. But no more babies will be born from my womb. Too bad eh? I make beautiful babies! :)

Uni begins again next week and I am looking forward to the challenge of three subjects and the thrill of learning again. I got my final results for my last subject I did last semester and I am so proud of myself. 82.8% - which is a distinction! :) It's so encouraging to get good results and know that I CAN do this.

EJ's speech therapy has been coming along well. This fortnight we were focussing on male/female words. Him, her, he, she, boy, girl. I thought he was doing so well, that I would try and trick him a bit and make it a bit more difficult. I pulled out a Bible Story book - the ones were the boys and men are not wearing jeans/pants. The men and boys have longer hair as well which means he would really have to think about it and look closely. We went through the entire book and he did not trip up once!! Clever boy!!! I'm so proud of him!

And I think I've prattled on long enough....

xxx Skipper

It's been quiet on the Skipper Front.

.. and thank the Lord for that. I needed a bit of a break!!

So what's been happening....


NOT MUCH! :)

I've still got under a month left of uni break before I launch into study again. I'm using the time well by doing lots of crafty bits. I've finished quite a few projects - which you can check out HERE

Winter lurgies are hanging around and I am sick to death of it already. Viruses, colds, croup, coughs, etc... not fun. The worse thing is that the kids bring them home from school - and then I get them all. Not fair at all!.

E is doing relatively well. Yesterday I took him to the shops - which is usually WAAAAAY out of his comfort zone. He did incredibly well and I'm proud of him. I took him around Kmart to check out all the toys they have in stock for the toy sale, and he had a wonderful time looking at everything and testing it out. LOL

Daz and I finalised what we are getting the kids for Christmas, in time for him to do the annual midnight shop at the toy sales. It was weird not buying baby stuff this time round - since Milly will be 3 and into little girl things by then. I'm excited that I got to flip past the Fisher and Price stuff! :) Since the kids are sorted, it's just a matter of everyone else, and all the handmade items I will be making this year.

Milly is growing up. Check her out:




She is talking lots and becoming a real little girl. My baby is growing up so fast and I wish she would slow down!! She is such a good girl!

Mop is exhausted - 11 weeks of school term is a very long time, and I think she well deserves the 2 weeks of school hols that are coming up, starting tomorrow. She's pale, big black rings under her eyes and grumpy. I plan to buy her some wool and knitting needles in the next couple of days and she can learn to knit on her break. She will love that!

Mop's birthday party invitations were passed out on Tuesday - she is having her very first sleep over. She can't wait!! She was allowed to invite 6 girls from her class. We will probably have a few celebrations over the week so she can celebrate with her family and other friends who aren't invited to the sleep-over. Lots of cake....hmmm my hips won't be happy! LOL

Not much else has been happening, and I'm grateful for the peace and quiet. I wish everyday was like this.

Right... it's lunch time, I'm hungry and I'm sure it will take me half an hour to actually decide what I want for lunch, so by then I'll be ravenous. Typical.

xxx Skip

Some good news.

The Speechie and psychologist both consider E calm enough to start doing an intensive speech therapy program. Which means I will only have 1 appointment every 2 weeks!! :) This is good news! EJ is in a really good place psychologically and in a really good place sensory-wise. They think he's at a place where he can learn well and they are going to devise a program to really attack his speech issues.

I'm so pleased! It's been a long road, but he's doing so well and progressing brilliantly!

So up to 3 appointments a week, we are now looking at 1 appointment a fortnight! :) VERY happy!! And EJ is very happy too, and that is the main thing!

Zoo Trip 2010

On the long weekend (Thanks Queen Liz) we went to the zoo. We were given tickets for christmas by Bec and Nick, so this weekend was the weekend to use them! We had a lovely time and were very impressed by all the refurbishments that have been happening over the last few years!

Here are some happy snaps of the day:

The newest zoo attractions: Pandas!













This little guys was such a poser and if it wasn't against the law, I would have taken him home because he is sooooooo cute!