Skipper

Happy birthday to me.... YIKES!

2011-12-22T16:45:00.000-08:00

On the 21st of December was my birthday. I had a lovely day relaxing with my Mum, my kids and Daz. We didn't do anything real exciting, which was fine by me. I just enjoyed the simplicity and relaxing activities of the day, and being spoiled with gifts and love. That evening we headed out to look at Christmas lights, which is a tradition in our family.

(Excuse the dodgy photos, but it's soooo much easier uploading photos from my iPhone instead of the SLR)

(This one is in time to music!!)

Towards the end of the evening, we dropped into a petrol station to get the kids an icecream. As I was getting out the car, I noticed the attendant RUNNING madly around the register and over to the door. As the kids piled out of the car, the attendant had locked the doors and put a sign up saying it was only fuel purchases only. I was annoyed. How rude! Little did I know that God was putting us in position for something important.

We had to travel further north to get an icecream, and then head back to the route we were going to take to look at the rest of the lights and head home. That added 15 extra minutes to our outing. And those 15 minutes were going to count. We headed home, tired and happy - then as we were whizzing past homes towards our own home, I turned to look at all the dark homes, and saw flames engulfing one living room of one house. FIRE!! "Honey that house is on fire!!" I said urgently, who promptly did a u-turn and we headed back. Thank goodness my Daz is not a "Someone else will get it" sort of person! The house looked abandoned, as some of those houses are, so Daz pulled out his phone and started to call emergency and I stayed in the car. "What number is the house?" he asked, but my night vision is so terrible, I had to get out of the car and walk right across the road and stand in front of the mail box to see the number. God used my dreadful eyesight, because to my horror I could hear banging and screaming from the inside of the house. There were people stuck inside! All the windows were covered in security screens, locking the tennants in the burning house. I ran back across the road to and told Daz to tell 000 that there were people trapped inside, and then I ran back over trying to work out where the banging was coming from. I couldn't pick it. I scanned the house looking for faces, or anything that would tell me where they were. A man pulled up behind our car, noticing me running backward and fowards across the road franticly and after seeing the flames, he jumped out of his car. I yelled out to him, "There are people trapped inside!!"

By now the whole living room was ablaze and the glass was popping and there were small explosions in the house. I was utterly terrified, but that man bravely assessed and worked out where the banging and screaming was coming from. They were trapped in the adjacent garage, right next to the flames. He ran over and quickly opened the door, and out came 3 children, their grandmother, a heavily pregnant mother and the father from a cloud of smoke. I lead the three children and the grandmother out and up to the footpath, the children sobbed and looked back at the flames with terror in their little faces. Something I cannot erase from my mind. It's stuck there forever I think! I turned back to see if the rest of the family were following, but the father had collapsed on the ground, metres away from the exploding glass and the terrible heat of the flames. The man who let them out had gone looking for a hose or something so I was alone. It was far too dangerous to be this close to the house, the flames were getting bigger and quickly taking over the house. I went back for him grabbed his shoulders and shook him "Mate you can't stay here, it's too dangerous, you need to get up!" He didn't move. "Common!! You have to move!" I said more urgently. The heat of the fire was burning my face and I was absolutely terrified (My lips were cracked and sore after that 30 second encounter with the flames) Somehow I managed to get him to hear me, hauled him up and lead him to the footpath where it was safer.

I looked back at the flames and the roof had caught alight!! Fire is not a slow mover, let me tell you!!! I stood with the family as they watched their home burning before their eyes, saying nothing and just allowing them to cry and sob. Daz asked them about gas, did they have gas in the house? Yes they did? Where was the mains? They had no idea. The neighbours who had gathered to spectate, heard us say "Gas" and all quickly retreated to the other side of the road.

The fireys arrived within 10 minutes and made quick work of the flames, that by now had taken over half the house. A medic arrived not long after that, and I quickly spoke to him about the father and that he needs to be treated for shock. The medic told me he couldn't treat him straight away, and the children were his priority. He asked me to stay with the father and monitor him until he was able to get there. Daz helped the fireys, relaying the information we had learned from the family, as the family stood by shocked and relatively incoherant, unable to think clearly and quickly. There is gas, but unsure where the mains are, there are pets inside.... I learned as I stood with the family, that it was deliberately lit, someone threw a flammable bomb into the living room, where the father was sleeping, surrounding him in flames. This was then passed on to the fireys who then taped off the whole area.

God really put us in that place at the exact right moment so that lives would be saved, and we could help. Not many cars were driving down the road at that time of night... and it's likely that if we didn't see the flames, no one would have seen it until too late. 5 minutes later and that family could have well died of smoke inhalation in that garage, or burned from the roof that was burning above them. If we had gotten our ice creams from the first service station, it is likely we would have driven past this house that would still be sleeping and dark - with a fire just about to be lit.

And next time something inconvenient happens again, like that service station attendant did... I am not going to complain. God could be positioning me for something else... although I hope it's not as crazy as this last episode!!!

Well now we know.

2011-11-17T16:22:00.001-08:00

On Wednesday we went to Autism SA for EJ's ASD assesment. Yeah... well... that wasn't a fun experience let me tell you. It's tough sitting in the interview room being peppered with questions, that were mentally draining. I can't remember what EJ did at 9 months old to ask me for stuff!! LOL EJ spent the morning playing with another specialist in the next room while she watched him and took notes on his behaviours towards her and to play.
EJ was diagnosed with Aspergers - quite convincingly. His social skills are so lacking, even I was surprised at his anti-social behaviour towards strangers. He didn't engage, he didn't look at the woman, he got upset when she tried to play with him or talk to him. He only spoke to her if it benefited him, or he was interested in the topic. It was such a shock to hear my son being described as egocentric. In other words... all that is important to him, is himself and what HE likes. That's really tough to swallow.
It was also very devastating to hear that this is a life long battle for him, and he will always struggle with it. He will manage it, and if we get him help in the right areas he will do a lot better.

So... we now have to toss aside SPD, and start from scratch. New therapies with different approaches and new therapists - along with more to throw into my very full plate. I've deferred from Uni, because my health hasn't been very good, and now I am glad because I don't think I could balance uni with helping my little guy manage ASD. If I feel myself begin to topple, I will be ditching other stuff as well. I'm afraid it's going to have to be THIS family first, other people later.

How do I feel? Numb. Sad. Like my whole world has been turned upside down and I'm left to try and make sense of everything. Happy - because he's going to be getting the help that he needs and we are going to receive help as well, instead of trying to understand all of this alone. Joyful, because my son is quirky, unusual, and has "a higher order" of thinking (so I've heard it described). Blessed, because I live in a state where they have services coming out it's ears and I won't be on mega-waiting lists for anything. Supported, because I have friends I can turn to who have ASD kids themselves, and they are willing to walk with me and offer me their hand while I try and get my bearings. So many different feelings!!

On the upside.... it's best that I am EJ's mother.... because I'm not the kind of "sit back and be passive about it" kind of woman. I will be his advocate, and I will fight tooth and nail for him to have every opportunity to succeed in life, no matter what issues he has. He may have a diagnosis, but look at him!! He's still the cheeky, adorable, funny, quirky little guy he was last week. And I love him to pieces. He is my flesh and blood, born from my body (destroyed my body too!!) and ASD will never change how I feel about him!

Duh Mum!

2011-11-10T17:38:00.001-08:00

Milly saw a fire engine whizz past on our way to the shops. Mum and I were talking about it with her and imitating the noise. Molly pipes up with: "no mummy! It doesn't say urrrrrrrrr it goes neenor neenor"

Here we go... again.

2011-09-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

Life has done a bit of a lurch lately. Nothing dreadful, but still a lurch...

EJ has been regressing, quite steadily since starting school. Meltdowns are a daily occurrence once more and there are certain "traits" that have been becoming more and more prominent the older he becomes. Daz and I have been worried about him and have been hoping that he would settle back down and go back to his "normal" self. 9 months on and he is not anywhere near back to where he was. We WERE waiting for him to settle down again before taking him to the speech therapist, because he doesn't learn well when over-stimulated. We felt like we couldn't wait much longer so I took EJ to the speech therapist to get him assessed again and to see what speech therapy he will need. It turns out his speech has done very well, and he will only need a handful of sessions. Although he has some short term memory problems (this explains why he never does what I tell him repeatedly to do!) and will promptly forget things very quickly. He needs visual aids to remind him of things. My house is starting to become covered in signs for EJ! LOL
The speech therapist recommended getting him assessed for Aspergers. Suddenly things started making sense. Lack of eye contact, no hand gestures (you have to work hard to get him to point at something) obsessive behaviour, shutting down in social situations, poor social skills..... and the list goes on. I took him to the paediatrician and he strongly recommended assessment for Aspergers. So we are back to square one again, going through assessments and waiting on waiting lists for help. Thankfully with Autism SA, there is only 8-10 weeks to wait.

SPD is very similar to Aspergers, so there shouldn't be a huge adjustment to make - although on the upside there is SOOOO much more support and services available for Aspie kids. That will be good for him.

Oh boy!!

2011-08-18T03:04:00.000-07:00

Darling Mop is having a teary evening and everything seems to be just dreadful in her world... this moment. Daz suggested I try and explain to her about hormones and how they produce ~~irrational~~ strange moods. She just sat there blubbering as I tried to tell her that her body will start to change one day and grow into a woman. But before that there is lots of hormones floating around and can effect ones mood. She might feel like crying and have no real reason to. Or she may feel angry over small things. These things were ok, and I tried to tell her I understood why she may be feeling a bit fragile. She asked me what will my body change into. I was tempted to tell her an elephant, but I restrained. Afterall this was a very serious moment. So I attempted to explain menopause in a way an 8 year old would understand. I told her that my body would say "STOP! no more babies!!" whereas hers will change to be ready to have babies.

"I don't want to have a baby!!" she burst into a new wave of tears.
"Oh no darling, you won't, you need to have a husband to have a baby."
"I don't want to have a baby at all." she sobbed.
"That's ok. If you don't want to then that is your choice. But you don't need to think about that now, you are still a girl and without a husband."
"Having a baby is really painful..." she howled, tears streaming down her cheeks "Especially if it's a boy!!"
I couldn't help myself. I laughed. I laughed and laughed. She glared at me, crying her little heart out, which made me laugh all the more! "You are making me worse!!!" she accused. I gathered my little girl into my arms and hugged her. "You are just giving me material for my blog" I soothed her.
"You will keep this private won't you?" she asked as she sobbed on my shoulder

Not on your life kiddo! :)

I'm glad I didn't explain menstruation to her!! Imagine how devastated she would be!!!

I love you...

2011-08-13T02:29:00.000-07:00

I took Milly to the ladies while we were at the shops. While we were in the cubicle I whispered to her: "Psssst. Milly! I love you!"

Milly looked and grinned mischeviously "I love you bigger!"

Me: I love you bigger than that!

Milly: I love you bigger than this toilet

Me: I love you bigger than this room!

Milly: I love you bigger than the shops!

Me: I love you bigger than our country!

Milly.... *brief pause* I love you bigger than your bottom!!!

*snort*

It was a good place to nearly wet yourself laughing I spose. Ahhh she's a sweetheart!! Taking after her sister I suppose who when she was little was looking at her backside in the mirror..

"Mummy, I have a little bottom.... but you have a BIIIIIIGGG bottom"

thanks girls.

Camping/4 Wheel driving trip 2011

2011-07-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

These school holidays have been busy yet very relaxing for the kids and myself. We have enjoyed not having to be up at certain times, rushing to get to school, rushing off to school pick-up etc. The weather has been really beautiful - almost spring-like in it's warmth and sunshiney goodness.

A new friend of mine that I made from craft group asked our family to join their family on a 4WD/camping trip in the Flinders Ranges during the school hols, which we eagerly agreed to. So we set off up to Hawker, a 4 hour drive away, and were awestruck by the beautiful ranges that we drove through to get there. We set up camp and then relaxed for the rest of the evening, playing games, & drinking hot coffee/chocolate. Although the days were sunny and relatively mild the temperatures plummeted when the sun set, making it very cold at night. I had 6 layers on and a double wool blanket and still felt icy cold!

The next day we were up and ready for our 6 hour 4WD trek that we were about to do through the Flinders.

*Aboriginal etchings on a rock*

*The kids climbed this massive hill after lunch - can you see EJ at the very top?*

*Here he is again*

*Mop went up to get him*

*The kids and Daz contributing to the big rock pile at the peak of our journey*

*Curious little eyes watching us*

We had an awesome time and it was very refreshing and a much needed break for all of us.

8 years ago....

2011-07-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

8 years ago with a cry of shock and surprise that the heavy bulk within me had suddenly left my body, I took my first step into the unknown world of motherhood. A wet slippery body was placed into my arms, and I stared into the still face of my daughter, her mass of black hair sticking up all over the place, looking sooooooo completely beautiful. The cord was cut, separating her from me completely physically, so she could grow and be her own little person. 8 years ago I didn't even think about what she would be when she grew, for now, she was my tiny and beautiful Mop.

8 years ago I learned how completely and utterly heart-wrenching having a child of your own torn away from you and taken off to have medical treatment so that they could live. I learned that 4 hours can feel like a lifetime when you don't know what is happening to that beautiful little girl you held just for a moment.

I learned what effect that little life would have on me when the doctor told us grim news about our baby. Possible brain damage. Possibly going to be flown to a far away hospital during the night. You can't take her home. You can see her, but you can't hold her. You can't take her home. We don't know what will happen. We don't know what happened. I also believe in a God who would help me, no matter what the outcome. I learned that before Mop was a day old, that I had to place her into the hands of the Father and trust him. I learned about real joy and jubilation when 5 days later, against all odds, I took my baby home.

8 years ago, I began the steep learning curve of motherhood - and it's something I would do again and again and again.

8 years ago, God gave me my beautiful baby girl. 8 years ago she was still a baby, today she is a tall, long, smart, beautiful, sweet, funny girl with a big smile, a big heart and laughter that sounds like bubbles.

Happy birthday my Mop. I love you bigger than the galaxy.

I can smile at the storm

2011-07-07T17:19:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been teaching the kids all my old Sunday School songs - omitting Father Abraham because that is officially THE most annoying song on earth! Anyway, I taught them "With Christ in my Vessel, I can smile at the storm" complete with leaving out the words so they sing "With____ in my____ I can_____ at the________"

The other day a storm landed on us, thunder rumbled, the rain pelted down... it was pretty amazing. I was at the other end of the house, and Milly came running down to me, looking scared. She doesn't like storms. "Mummy!! It's storming!! It's raining and thundering and windy!" I tried to calm my girl down, seeing she was really worried about it. "Darling, we are inside, don't worry, we are safe here." She looked up at me with a crooked smile, "That's ok, because with Christ in my Vessel, I can smile at the storm" and off she went. :)

My prayer is that one day she will have Christ in her "vessel" and that she will have the same complete confidence in her Saviour.

Remind me not to ask...

2011-06-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Me: Lunch time Milly! What do you want for lunch?

Milly: Hmmm.... Marshmallows!!!

Me: Uh no. Marshmallows are a sometimes food. You need to have proper and good food for lunch.

Milly: Oh. Marshmallows and chocolate then!!!

It's over...

2011-06-16T21:15:00.000-07:00

..it's not you, it's me. I am just not that into you anymore....I think it's time we took a break. You are too needy...

And if you haven't cottoned on yet, I'm talking about uni.

I'm FINISHED for the semester!! WOOHOO!!!
I did my final exam yesterday and I feel like I did fairly well in it. So now I am having a nice long break before next semester, which starts at the end of July.

So you should see more of me now that my time has been freed up.

My poor neglected blogs :(

I can breathe.... almost

2011-06-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

I cannot begin to tell you how utterly and completely NUTTY it's been around here. Not because there has been a lot on, but because Uni was all consuming. Last week I wrapped up all my assignments and lectures and have started breathing once again...
I have an exam on Thursday, and then that will be it for a while. I have made the decision to pull out of a subject and only do 1 for a while. The stress of the work load is making my body break down and deteriorate. For those who don't know, I have a psychosomatic condition (see I did learn something this semester!!!) called Fybromyalgia - and the symptoms increase in intensity when I am stressed and overworked. I can't manage the work load of second year subjects as well as effectively manage my family. I am sad to say that I wasn't a very good homemaker and Mummy this semester. I have to put my role as Mum and wife first, and have to do what I can manage.

So... for all those readers who call me super-mum....you can see that I'm not really.

So what's been happening around here?

Mop: Sat the NAPLAN test - and loved it. Funny girl! We have had some issues with her social skills and the poor love has struggled to build relationships with the girls in her class. We understand that it's typical for gifted and intelligent children to neglect building their social skills, but we didn't want her to suffer and be lonely during her school life. So we have been working on building those skills, and it's working because she is making more friends and valuing the friendships she is building.
We had a proud moment: Mop came home from school one day saying that some year 6 boys were bullying her and saying that she was a "failure". I was pretty angry, but I kept my cool and calmly asked her if she spoke to a teacher about it. She had, but she couldn't find the boys to identify them (Mop's school has zero tolerance to bullying). I had a chat to her about it, and tried to get her to understand that she wasn't a failure, and that those boys were cowards, ganging up on her when she was alone. She matter of factly replied: "Oh well, I know who I am on the inside and that's all that matters. Besides, they are pretty pathetic, year 6 boys ganging up on a 7 year old girl!" My mouth dropped open in surprise! What a very mature outlook. The very next day, the boys found her and started on her again, she turned around, faced her bullies and laughed in their faces and told them they were bullies. It shocked them. They haven't returned. :) Atta girl Mop!!!!

EJ: is plodding along. He is going through a very loud silly stage at the moment which drives us up the wall, but I seem to remember my brothers doing it too. So I guess it's normal.
His SPD seems to waver between good and bad. Some days he's feral, some days he is calm and copes well. We are addressing certain behaviours of his that are not acceptable and starting to crack down on them. I don't care what his issues are, he can't behave like that. Things like screaming at us in rage, hitting, spitting etc.
One really good thing is that he has finally stopped whining about going to school. Usually he would refuse to get dressed, and sit their and whine "I don't want to go to school". It was a habit. He gets into ruts and even if he DID want to go to school, he would say that. Last week he got really sick with croup and he had to stay home for three days. He was climbing the walls and by the end of it, asking to go back to school. We sent him on the fourth day.... and we have not heard one whinge or whine out of him about going to school. It's such a joy now in the mornings.
He is loving school and they are stretching him and exposing him to more and more. They take him to full school assemblies, something I thought he wouldn't be able to do for ages!! He loves them!! He enjoys his lessons and is doing brilliantly.

Milly: Has been growing up so fast!! She's really a little girl now and not my baby. She refuses to let me cradle her anymore and wants to cuddle "properly". Excuse me! I'm not ready for that!!! :) We had her down the hospital a few days ago with pretty bad croup. We had 4 nights of it and it was dreadful. Waking up every few hours, wheezing and coughing and crying. Last night she seemed to finally shake off the flatness.
Not much else to say, except she has been very tolerant of her Mama burying her face in text books and pretty much leaving her up to her own devices. She is very independent and usually goes off to play with the dog or plays some other imaginary game.

Not much else has been happening. Daz is working hard as usual, and is doing well. He has done amazingly while I have been so flat out with my studies. He's supported me and has done the jobs that I have not been able to do.

In August we are going to a Foster Care Information evening. Fostering is something that Daz and I have been considering for many years. Our hearts are heavy when we think of children who are not being raised by parents who cherish them, living in hotels and supervised by a social worker. We have space in our home and love to give and we would like to make a difference in someone's life by providing them with love, family, education and an introduction to Jesus. When we go to this information evening, it will pretty much help us decide whether to go ahead with it or not.

Something else that I have just started is getting more into photography. If you would like to see my work, I have set up yet another blog: Sunshine Lollypop photography and that's where I'll display it all as I learn and get better. I may do some photography as a hobby and a way to earn some extra cash. Depends if I get asked or not eh!?
Now that uni is mostly over I've had some extra time to start some projects that I have been wanting to do for a while. I've started doing some journalling, which you can have a look at on my creative blog: Skipper's Creative Expressions and I have really loved doing it. My next challenge is to learn to knit!!

Righto... better go have some breakfast.
xxx

Look Mum...

2011-06-01T00:57:00.000-07:00

Milly: Look Mum!! COWBOYS!!!

Me: *Chuckle* Uhh.. no darling. They are soldiers.

It's official! I breed geniuses!!

2011-05-16T23:39:00.000-07:00

:) Milly Moo, such a clever little girl - 3 years old and she knows most of her phonetics and can read small words. :) I'm so proud of her!!

Beauty advice

2011-05-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

Milly: Mummy, why are you going to the hairdressers?
Me: Because I need a hair cut and color.
Milly: Why are you coloring your hair.
Me: Because it needs doing.... (which really means I am starting to look like a skunk)
Milly: What color will your hair be?
Me: The same, dark brown.
Milly: Oh. I think you should color your hair pink! Coz pink is my favourite color!

Thanks darling, I'll keep that in mind.

Aging disgracefully

2011-05-16T23:33:00.000-07:00

Milly (to my Mum): Nanny, what you doin'?
Nanny: I'm crocheting.
Milly: What you making?
Nanny: A blanket.
Milly: Who is it for?
Nanny: For a little old lady.
Milly: Oh. Is that for my Mum??

Milly: Nanny... Nanny? What you laughing at? What's funny? Nanny, why are you laughing????

*insert image of Nanny laughing so hard she was crying*

I however found it a little less amusing. A little. :P

I'm not dead...

2011-04-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

.. just incredibly busy. Uni work load is horrible - it's far too much for me to cope with. Unfortunately I can't pull out, so it's a matter of sucking it up and getting on with it... and when June arrives, I can catch up with the rest of my life. I'm annoyed that 1 subject alone takes me more time than 3 subjects put together!! Grrrr...

I better get back to Sociology.

My non-traditional son.

2011-02-28T22:34:00.000-08:00

EJ to Milly while standing in the play kitchen...

"Milly, I'm making dinner. But you can't cook because you are a girl!"

YES!!! That's my non-conformist, non-traditional son!!! I love the way he thinks and sees the world. Though I'm unsure of why he thinks she can't cook, and what a girl has to do with anything.... but still. Funny as!

teehee!

2011-02-21T13:21:00.000-08:00

Mop's prayer this morning: "Thank you Lord that Mummy didn't die when she walked up that big hill this morning."

Almost died, but not quite. Live to see another day. :)

Crazy days!

2011-02-20T19:29:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been so long since the school year started. It's been crazy busy over here as our lazy summer days have turned into a strict routine. Having an extra kid in school, even though he isn't home, is still incredibly busy. When the kids come home, it's crazy!! 2 lots of homework to help them with, 2 lots of reading, 2 lots of words, whether they be spelling or sight words. It's nuts!!

Milly settled into Kindy very quickly and as soon as she arrives she waves goodbye to me and runs off. At first I was just a teeny bit miffed... she could have at least PRETENDED to need me!! But once I saw how hard it was for mum's with kids who were hanging on to their legs, crying, I became grateful for my independent little lady. She is a social little butterfly, and at floor time, she is always in the very middle of all the kids!

Mop has had a bit of a rough start to the year. She has been teary and tired and has struggled with the long days, plus all the homework that comes home afterwards. She hasn't been sleeping particularly well either which makes it worse. She got hit in the eye by some boy (who was promptly disciplined) throwing a cricket set at her, and she sported a swollen bruised eye for a few days. Poor kid. She loves her new teacher though, who seems to be this really cool, laid back, Uncle type of guy. She comes home full of enthusiasm about all she is learning and doing, which is good!

Then there is EJ. He's taking a lot longer to adjust. He cries and whines and whinges all morning while getting ready for school. He cries and whinges and rants when you leave him at school. He settles down fairly quickly though, then enjoys the day at school. Then when it's time to pick him up, he will be melting down in the carpark (which is awful!) and he meltdown multiple times during the afternoon, until bedtime. It's hard. If he can't settle down soon, I may make an appointment with his psychologist to try and help him. He HAS to go to school - I can't keep him home when he starts up, otherwise he develops a pattern and will continue to do that, expecting me to keep him home.
Since starting school his language has gone backwards which means he is in sensory overload. Understanding what he is saying is becoming a task and a half. So EJ hasn't faired so well, poor little guy.

I started Uni last week, and I'm enrolled in Sociology and Psychology - both very interesting subjects so far. The work load of psychology is a doozy, but sociology is pretty light so they balance each other out.

A few weeks ago, a friend of ours gave us a piano to use for Mop as she learns. Their friends own it, but are overseas living currently and have no plans as yet to come back to Australia. So we have it. Mop loves playing on it, and I love to listen to her tinkling on the ivories every day for her practice.

Last week I started going to a craft group - on thursdays. It was nice to sit with my quilting with a few other young mum's and have a gasbag. Last week I also started going back to the gym. Now that I have a few free mornings, I am going in the morning, and Zumba classes start up next week so I'll be attending those 2 nights a week.

So the days are filling up with all sorts of busyness - and we are starting to get into a rhythm which is nice. I dislike wasting time, and pride myself on good time management. I get asked all the time, "How do you ever fit everything in?" I just do. :)

Daz and I have been planning a trip away over Easter. Our past plans have always been to go visit Nick and Bec in Brisbane, but they have moved to New York now, so that is a bit unachievable. So this year we are heading to Canberra. We will catch up with our many friends there, see the sights and then head down to Melbourne where we start our trek home along the Great Ocean Road. I have been wanting to do the Ocean Road for many years now, and you can't imagine just how excited I am to do it!!

This weekend we had some very sad news, which has rocked our family. Some close friends of ours, which we see very often, and our children are great friends, called us to tell us some news about their son. Their 3 year old little boy (who is also best friends with Milly moo) had been diagnosed with Leukaemia and treatment is commencing today. It was dreadful listening to the father share what was happening, while he was breaking down in tears. I was shocked. Very shocked. All we can do is pray and stand with them as they walk this awful journey of cancer and chemo. It was hard telling the children about what was going on. Milly doesn't fully understand, she thinks that he has an ouchie in his bones, and he's in hospital, but that's ok, because you get iceblocks for morning tea in hospital! If you are a praying person, and believe that God can intervene, please pray for the little boy and his family. He is 3 years old, still a baby really, and he's facing the fight of his life. The family are struggling to come to terms with this, naturally. They need all the divine help they can get!

So life has been definitely up and down all over the place. I hope that things start to settle down as we adjust to everything.

Off to School 2011

2011-01-30T16:43:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here... all alone. There is no noise. There is no chatter. There is nothing. I can hear myself breathing, that's how quiet it is. Why so quiet?

Today was the start of the school year. And all three darlings left their Mamma at home, while they are off getting some edumakation. EJ started Reception today - he was confident walking into the school yard, he was happy to see his new teacher, he walked straight to his classroom and sat down at his desk. He was happy to see his cousin sitting across from him, and he was happy to sit down with all the other kids for floor time. I then said goodbye cheerfully and left him to it. I didn't want to spend time drawing out the goodbye, just in case it panicked him. And that was it. Bye bye EJ.

Then I took my youngest to her pre-school. She waltzed on into her classroom, waved goodbye to me and sent me on my way. And suddenly.. I was alone. All alone. No one to chat with, no one to play eye-spy with on the way home, no one to sing Old Macdonald with... in fact.. I listened to MY music and sang at the top of my lungs, without any little voices requesting we sing Twinkle Twinkle.

I am all alone. In 10 minutes, I will have to go back and pick Milly up from kindy... I've spent the whole first morning alone... blogging! :) What fun!

I just hope I get used to the silence...

Here are some pics of the morning...

Here is my big kindy girl.... just wanting to get going, and was pretty intolerant to Mama and her camera. I could her it in her voice when she said "CHEESE" through gritted teeth in THAT tone.

And here is my beautiful big boy - so excited and ready to go.

And all three heading towards the car.

Righto... in 3 minutes I need to go pick up Milly Moo. :) YAY!!!! Someone to play with!

Girly bonding

2011-01-23T15:51:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I announced to the girls that it was hair-cut time in preparation for the new school year. Mop was excited and complained of her hair making her hot and being too heavy. I understand - her hair is super super thick, and when it gets too long it gives her headaches. So I asked her what she wanted. She said she wanted her hair cut up to her ears and a fringe. I negotiated and said "How bout up to your shoulders first? And if you want it shorter after that, we will do it. Once it's cut, it's done - and if you didn't like it it would be too late to do anything about it."

This is the results:

She loves the length and loves the fringe. She looks so different and so grown up.

Then it was Milly's turn. I just cut an inch off her hair and gave her a fringe too. Her hair is very fine and there isn't much of it, so she can rock the long hair look.

This is the results:

The girls had so much fun together, getting a new look and laughing together being girly.

I marvel at my girls: they may be 4 1/2 years apart, but are close, and love each other to bits.

A fresh realisation...

2011-01-18T15:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we took EJ down to the uniform shop to get his school uniform. Tears pricked my eyes when he came out in his little school uniform, looking pretty proud of himself. In 1 1/2 weeks, my little boy will be a school boy. YIKES!!!

I'll take you riding in my car....

2011-01-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

Remember this disaster?

Well finally we have come out on top, got the blasted thing repaired.... and traded it in for a new one!
Well... not brand new... second hand... but new to us.

Here is our new broom broom.....

We pick it up when the leasing company get their act together. :)

Apart from the woodgrain interior, it's got amazing features including an in-built DVD player and air conditioning in the room for the kids. We can't wait to get it, so then we can start going on weekends away in our caravan once again. :)

I'm so glad the old car is gone and we can start again with this lovely broom broom!

Christmas Day 2010

2011-01-03T01:42:00.000-08:00

It's been so crazy busy around here so I haven't had time to put my Christmas pics up.

Christmas day was a wonderful day for everyone. It was so wonderful to share it with all the family and the kids LOVED having their cousins around to eat with, play with and share the day with.

The day started for Daz and I around 7:30 - the kids were still sleeping, so we crept out of bed and started the early preparation. One by one, sleepy children emerged, rubbing their eyes and murmuring their "merry christmas". We crowded into the lounge room and began opening presents.

We have a small glimpse of the moments of the day.

Here are the kids, cheering and excited about the presents!

... and it begins!

Milly unwraps her quilt I made her...

...and starts testing it out for comfort.

Caitlin unwraps her quilt I made her...

EJ finds the pillow I made him....

Mop was pleased to get another Wii game

Milly stoked to find her Christmas present behind the pillows (we did a treasure hunt for the smaller gifts!)

EJ test driving his new scooter.

Daz happy with his new BBQ cleaner

My necklace that I got

Milly's school bag for starting kindy next year

I also received a watch with my beautiful babies in the face, smiling at me!

A new cook book from my bestie in New York!

A BBQ apron for Daz.

Bath toys for Milly Moo

I sooooo wanted this soooooo badly... and I was stoked to get it! Lark Rise to Candleford!! (Excuse the bed hair!)

A new cubby for Milly

A nice shirt for Daz

and looking good is not complete without smelling awesome!

Mop was thrilled to get this Barbie set... mainly because she now has a Ken doll. :)

Lots of princess dolls for the little princess.

EJ with a marble maze game that he is thrilled with!!

The Christmas table...

... and here it is again, with all my wonderful family at it!

More present opening with the family...

Shameless boasting session..

2010-12-09T22:06:00.000-08:00

..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

2010-12-05T21:58:00.000-08:00

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

(meaning sunscreen)

3 years on...

2010-12-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

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....

2010-11-30T15:06:00.000-08:00

...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

2010-11-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-24T16:49:00.000-08:00

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....

2010-11-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

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.....

2010-11-18T18:47:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-11-02T01:05:00.000-07:00

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....

2010-11-02T01:01:00.000-07:00

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,.....

2010-10-18T03:42:00.000-07:00

.... I love your cuddles.

(Direct quote from my little Fairy Princess)

I'm still alive, I promise!

2010-10-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

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.....

2010-10-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

... my two front teeth!

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

We are on our way!

2010-09-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-08-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-31T20:28:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-08-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-08-21T21:09:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

:)

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...

2010-08-07T05:19:00.001-07:00

... 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.

2010-08-01T20:29:00.000-07:00

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....

2010-07-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-06-30T19:27:00.000-07:00

.. 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.

2010-06-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-15T16:20:00.000-07:00

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!

I hate to brag....

2010-06-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

...but I'm gonna!!!

Remember those assignments I had been working on?

The hard work paid off! For my research paper, I got a distinction, and for my major paper I got a high distinction!!!

I'm so proud of myself!! The lecturer left great remarks and comments on both papers and I'm just so thrilled.

Thank you NICK for teaching me how to write essays!!

Milly is too cute!!

2010-06-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

Her launguage and the way she expresses herself is so incredibly cute!

On the weekend we visited some friends who are Chinese. They cooked traditional chinese food for us. YUM YUM... it was fabulous. Milly and EJ ate HUGE amounts of it, I think they ate around the same amount as I did! Anyway... Milly polished of her huge serving of dinner, after her huge entree..... and she said.

"Yum! That was DELICIOUS!"

So cute coming from a 2 year old!

Then I overheard a conversation with her and her Daddy after he came home from work.

"Did you have a good day Daddy?"

"Yes, thankyou Milly."

"Who did you play with?"

*SNORT*

I still maintain Daz goes to work for a break and a holiday. LOL

Proof that I have the world's most beautiful children.

2010-06-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

Milly: I love you EJ!

EJ: I love you too Milly.

Nawwwwwww..... don't that just melt your heart?!

It's been a busy week!

2010-06-06T02:13:00.001-07:00

What a busy week it's been! I'm just a tad tired!

So what's been happening?

I finished uni for the semester. I'm really happy with my assignments and how I went about it. Now it's just a matter of if my lecturer/tutor is happy with them. :) I have also decided to up the ante a bit and start doing more subjects so I can get a move on and hopefully start working a bit sooner. I am taking on 2 subjects and an intensive this semester which is significantly more than my usual 1 subject per semester. EJ is a lot more content at home and isn't melting down as much and can handle my attention being elsewhere for a bit.

I've been creating and crafting a lot in the afternoons since I finished uni. I've finished 2 major projects - and have already made my Christmas list for the things I want to make. Check out my creations here

Socially we've been rather busy, which is fun! It's great to get out and hang with friends, old and new.

I've been doing some photography for our church and that has kept me busy and out of mischief. I've had fun doing it and have been happy with the results.

Next week is looking to be just as busy, which is fine by us. We like the thought of hanging out with more friends, a trip to the zoo (thank you B & N for the tickets!) and I'm not sure what else... I think I'm due for a hair appointment this week - I've got the skunk thing happening!

Oh yeah, I'm doing another photo shoot at my Mum's house for this guy to publish Her house is more victorian than country style, but still... he asked her for photos. :)

Right.... Daz has made me bacon and eggs for tea, so I better go eat them like a good wifey! :)

Yes Ma'am!!

2010-05-27T21:24:00.000-07:00

While I was cutting up some pumpkin for our roast dinner, the knife slipped, and cut a gash in my wrist. I clutched my bleeding wrist and groaned in pain. I grabbed a towel and pressed it against the bleeding. Mop who was sitting on the kitchen floor, reading her reader, carried on reading. I lifted the towel to inspect the damage, and such terrible pain shot into my wrist. I cried out loudly, pressing the towel back to my wrist.

Mop looked up in alarm, then frowned at me.
"Mummy, you need to calm down right now!"

I stared at her incredulously..... she sounded just like me!!! I laughed.... and put a band-aid on my cut and carried on.

She's so funny!

Gently strolling through life....

2010-05-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

Since our high level dramas of our holiday, life has been so quiet, slow and moving along at a pace that I like. So what's been happening in our family?

All three kids and Daz got a cold. Mop and E sounded croupy, Milly and Daz got over it relatively quickly. Alright!! I'm praying I don't get it. I hate colds. Make me feel completely and utterly miserable.

Our car came home! FINALLY! On Tuesday Daz went to the wreckers to pick up - a nice trip to the south of the city (1 1/4 hour drive) and when he started driving it away, oil was leaking out.... so it had to stay there. The wreckers dropped it off yesterday. So now that is done with.... once we recover from the huge financial blow. :S Once that has happened, that little baby is going on the market and we can get rid of her forever.

Mop is doing well in school and in general. We've had some issues with her not sleeping. She always seems tired and slow in the mornings, so I did a bit of reading. Looks like our girl is like her Mummy and dislikes exercise. So no more reading and playing leggo all the time after school - I'm kicking her outside in the fresh air and to play more physically demanding activities and see if that makes a difference.

EJ is slowly coming back to the place that he was before holiday. He isn't so hostile, volatile and aggressive now which is a relief. We are wanting to buy him a wetsuit for swimming in the pool in winter to really give him the sensory diet he needs. Will do that as soon as we can.

Milly is doing splendidly. Her talking is coming along in leaps and bounds and her understanding of things amazes me! The other day we were shopping and I gave her a ball of sting I was going to buy, to hold. She inspected it... then she said "Mummy, this is 2 monies." I stared at her... eh??? "This is 2 money!" she repeated, then pointed to the price ticket that said $2.00. I was very surprised since I had never talked about prices or money to her. I'm impressed - especially since she is only 2 years old! :)

I've been working so hard at my assignments that are due in the next 2 weeks - all 4 of them. I knocked the major essay on the head this week, I have started the other one and one is due today, which I need to actually start. Don't worry... it's an easy one - one question that I reckon I can wing! To be honest I'll be glad when this subject is over - the lecturer's teaching style does my head in.

We've been busy in our social life too which is really nice. Hanging out with different friends and just enjoying good company.

Mother's Day came and went. I had a lovely day. Got totally loved on by the kids - Mop kept making me things all day long. :) Daz spoiled me as well and waited on me hand and foot. :) A girl could get used to that!!

And right now I have a laundry full of washing that I need to tackle - so I better scram! :)
xxxx

Gifts Galore!

2010-05-11T16:27:00.000-07:00

So Melissa has inspired me to do this challenge. :) It's not too hard though.... it's about gifts!!! What you do is take these 99 gifts and highlight the ones you would want! Nice and easy!

1. Slippers

2. Pyjamas

3. Chocolates
Only fair-trade or ethically sourced cocoa chocolate.

4. Flowers

5. Wii Fit

6. Shoes

7. Clothes

8. Gift voucher
From:

9. Camera

10. Cook Book
I can never have enough of these!

11. Perfume

12. Handbag

13. Book/s

14. Music/CDs

15. Sports clothes

16. Make-up

17. Skin care products

18. Soap

19. Lingerie
I won't burn your eyes out with what I would like. But racy and hot! :)

20. Iron (PFFT! You are kidding right???)

21. Foot spa

22. Massage

23. Vacuum cleaner
More specifically:

ROOMBA!!!

24. Hair salon appointment

25. Hot air balloon ride

26. Day out at theme park/zoo

27. Sewing machine
More specifically a quilting machine!

28. Shopping bag

29. Bed linen

30. Scratchies

31. Garden tools

32. Ornaments

33. Luggage

34. New car

35. New house

36. Luxury holiday
Anywhere - kid free - that involves a beach!

37. Camping tent

38. Camping gear

39. Running shoes

40. Dinner out

41. Home cooked dinner by someone else

42. Breakfast in bed

43. Framed photos

44. Handmade gifts

45. Overseas holiday
Let's go to New York! I've never been interested in going to the US before - but now I have a very big incentive!! My bestie is moving there in in a month and a bit and so I could go hang out with her. While we are there, may as well check out Niagra Falls and the Grand Canyon. Beautiful natural wonders!

46. Cruise

47. Kitchenwear

48. Pedicure

49. Sky diving

50. DVDs
Particularly these: Glee season 2 and the complete collection of Larkrise to Candleford.

51. Pushbike

52. Bottle of champagne

53. Jewellery
An eternity ring may be nice!

54. Glasswear

55. Bottle of wine

56. Crystal

57. Painting/artwork

58. Tickets to the theatre

59. Tickets to the opera

60. Tickets to the movies

61. Slow cooker

62. Treadmill

63. Island resort holiday

64. Gym membership

65. Whitegoods

66. Computer
One just for my digi scrapping. :) I don't really need it, I am sitting on a pink laptop... which is 99% mine. Daz just borrows it occasionally.

67. i-Phone

68. Magazine subscription

69. 12 months delivery of roses

70. Mountain getaway

71. Mountain climbing trek

72. i-Pod

73. Mystery flight

74. Whale watching tour

75. Coffee mugs

76. Grand piano

77. Cleaner for a year More time for quilting and sewing!

78. Pool

79. Ride in a racing car

80. Tattoo

81. Writing classes

82. Singing lessons

83. Sunglasses

84. Watch

85. Fluffy towels

86. New furniture

87. Dressing gown

88. Prize home ticket

89. Prize home

90. Helicopter ride

91. Ducted air-conditioning in every room

92. An ironing lady

93. A maid

94. A nanny

95. A donation to a charity

96. Concert tickets

97. Photo book

98. A gardener

99. Laptop

So are you going to play? Don't forget to leave a comment with your selections! I would love to see what you would choose!

Reading...

2010-05-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

By George! He's done it!
After months and months of knowing the sounds of letters, he now can put the sounds together to make words.

"B-I-N. B-IN. Bin! Bin! Mummy, that says BIN!"

You can imagine my shock as I heard this as I was loading the last few dishes in the dishwasher. I peered over the breakfast bar, and he was running his fingers over the word BIN on the storage bin.

Hmmm... was this just a fluke?
So I pulled out Dr Seuss and consulted him. No. I didn't. I'm kidding. I pulled out Dr Seuss and started to read to EJ. I would stop every so often to let him have a go at sounding out the words. I kept it simple, and didn't get him to try all those wonderfully whacky made up words that Seuss is famous for. We got to the end of the book and EJ was very confident in sounding out the letters and reading small words!

I'm so proud of him!! Perhaps this will help his speech along??

Oh and another thing he did.....

At night time, it's his little ritual that when Mummy/Daddy need to leave EJ after saying goodnight, EJ counts down and says "blast off" so they can "fly" out of his room like a rocket. The other night I was kissing him goodnight, and he asks if he can countdown. I said that he could.
Imagine my shock, surprise when he said "69. 68. 67..."
I started to laugh (on the inside) and waited for him to get stuck.
He didn't get stuck. Without missing a beat he counted backwards from 69 to zero!!

I was stunned!!

What a smart kid!!

Easter 2010 holiday

2010-04-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

So in-between drama, we did have some fun. Here's some proof!

This is the only shot we have of the car in working mode.

TROPICAL FRUIT WORLD
(Northern NSW Coast)

Yum yum! We got to try all these amazing fruits and learn of other ones that we had never heard of before!

Feeding Koi Fish.

Feeding the animals

Train ride on Treasure Island

THE ROCKPOOLS
(Hunter Valley NSW)

The water was absolutely freezing but the kids went for a wade in it. They were in undies or naked, so for their safety I have omitted those pictures.

The most ginormous toadstool I have ever seen. A horse could sit on it.

SOUTHBANK

I LOVE LOVE this picture of Milly Moo

This is our son Gilligan... aka EJ.

J practicing his trumpet blowing.

THE DISH
(Parkes)

GINGER FACTORY
(Sunshine Coast)

RAINBOW BAY
(Gold Coast)

SOMMERSET DAM
(Somewhere in the Hinterland??)

We had a BBQ and bummed the day away! It was so much fun!! We drove through an amazing rain forest to get there and it was such a beautiful drive... apart from the winds, turns and hills. :)

NICK'S WEBBER MASTERPIECE

This is the reason for visiting our friends :). Seriously the best cake I have ever tasted. I feel utterly ill after eating it... but I still go back for more. YUMMM!!!

HUNTER VALLEY ZOO

Milly patting Charlie the Wombat.

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag!

Milly patting the Koala

Mop and her mate

EJ loves animals and he's so gentle and tender - he spent about 15 minutes petting and talking to this lovely gentle grey roo.

COCKINGTON GREEN
(Canberra)

MISC PHOTOS

These two were thick as thieves, and lead each other astray. This boy is the only child Milly will allow in her personal space. :) Very sweet little friends. Bec has already decided to be the feral Mother in Law. :P

Here she is... one of the most dear people in my life and I love and miss her like one thing. Oh and the cute bundle in her arms is J-man. VERY cute little darling boy.

So that's pretty much it in a nutshell. We did so many kiddy activities, and the kids LOVED it. I think they had a wonderful holiday. I think Daz and I need another one to get over this one. :)

Not to worry. :)

How to lose 16 grand, your car and your mind in 3 weeks.

2010-04-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

First of all - it's imperative that you start out completely and utterly exhausted. You know. Run a marathon. Stay up until 3am every day for a month, then get up at 6am as usual. Move every single piece of your furniture into a different spot in the house. Work on a 5 million word essay continuously until it's done. Read a pile of text books that brush your ceilings. It is only then that you are in the state of mind to embark on this journey. After all, sleep is for the weak!

When exhaustion is deeply imbeded in your body, it makes the journey all the more exciting. When you are extremely exhausted, then take your planned holiday. Your mind will start to unwind slightly and your body will start to lose the stiffness bought on by stress. A relaxed body is perfect for the whiplash you are going to feel after the whole journey is behind you.

Now, while you start your driving holiday, get a tantilisingly small glimpse of the fun you are about to have, think about how amazing it will be to *sigh* do nothing for the next 4 weeks. Start to feel the tension kinks in your body start to release. Start to get into "holiday mode". Think relatively positive thoughts, because this is the only time this will be allowed.

At about 90% of the journey to your first holiday destination, start to get really excited. You are going to see your best friend really soon. 4 hours left!! Then wait for it. It will come. That noise. Do you hear it?? That terrible deep motor grinding noise? That's it! You are on your way!!!!

Get out of the car and stick your head in the bonnet and pretend to know exactly what you are looking for. Your husband should do the same. Pretending to look for something holds off the inevitable. Peer into the gaps, look at each other and say "It sounds terrible, we better call Roadside assistance."

Roadside assistance will tell you to drive to the local mechanic - which is at the other end of town. Hang your head in embarrassment as the whole entire street filled with shoppers and gasbaggers stop what they are doing and stare at you because the terrible sound from your car has attracted their attention. You can't move too fast, because the car is in awful shape, so that will prolong the humiliation.

Get comfortable in the driveway of the mechanics, and get your kids ready to sit in the sun for the next half a day, because that is where you will be until a tow truck can be organised. Yes. It will need towing, because how would you lose your car if it could be repaired on the spot??

Try and work out how to get your sorry behinds... all five of them to your destination. Bus and then train? Illegally squeezing them in the cab of the tow truck. Uh no. Sit there and stare at each other and pray like mad that something better comes up. Relish the feeling of complete uselessness and the panic you feel when it's out of your control.

Suddenly it's going to look really positive. Things will begin to start looking better, and not as bad as they seem. Grapple at this concept, because it will make the dissapointment later on more crushing. We did this when the tow truck offered to take the car to our destination for repairs. We would be close to the car making it more convenient to pick up when it was repaired. It is going to be ok. Be dillusional. It's ok. Everything will be ok.

Don't worry, someone will show you some compassion and help you get to your destination. For example, in our situation - the mechanic and his wife, had what I call a God sense of compassion - because they lent us their lovely big car to drive the rest of the way to Brisbane, while they towed our car to Brisbane and then tow their car back home again. They also offered to hold our caravan in their yard until the car is repaired to pick up again. What dear people!! A positive moment - embrace and relish in it. Enjoy the warmth that surrounds your heart. Soar on that positive moment. It won't last long. You will crash later on. It's all part of the journey.

Now while your car is being assessed and repaired, try and get a hire vehicle. Now because of the time of year you chose to travel in, nothing will be available except luxury cars that would cost us the same price for a brand new car! Stress over the fact that you are going to be stuck - or battling public transport with 3 kids - and one of those kids is now extremely feral because no therapy has been happening! Embrace the meltdowns, the screaming, the crying, the aggressive behavior. It's all part of the journey.

Now something will come up - another positive - you will manage to organise something. For us, we had at our disposal, my bestie's car, while she and her family went in N's car - which is is his luxury work car. Have an amazing few days looking around at great places all over the general area. Let your mind and body relax again. You need your mind to slow down and the stress start to melt away slowly. You need this false sense of security to make the huge blow at the end more effective.

At this time, your child will get sick and wake up in a pool of vomit. Lovely. He will be off his food for some time, and you will wonder, worry but because they aren't feverish, you just think it's a virus or something and will pass. Then a second child will get sick - except she will projectile vomit all over you, all over your besties carpet and lounge suite. You will hold partly digested watermelon and sausages in your hand as you scream for your husband to come and help you. Your bestie will scream for her husband to come and help. Chaos will reign and you will gag and retch at the stench of this vileness. Now your bestie who is a very good sort will scoop up puking child and take her to the shower while you attempt to clean up the vomit. Child will then be dressed into PJ's and then promptly vomit all over herself again, and will continue to vomit into the night. Assume she has the same stomach bug as son and just get on with life.

Days will pass and the kids are still unwell and irritable and you think that this bug must be particularly nasty - until your husband discovers a worm in the nappy of the youngest. Freak out. It's perfectly normal. Totally freak you. Allow utter and complete humilation run over you. Make a dash to the chemist for some worming stuff. You won't feel better at the reassurance from the chemist and ECN that it's common in kids under the age of 4. Your skin will crawl. Your cheeks will burn. It's going to be hell on earth. But... on the upside, in the morning your kids are going to feel ALOT better and will eat like there is no tomorrow! This will be a small consolation.

Now. The car should be repaired. Go and pick up your car. The mechanic will have drained over $1600 from your account - your holiday spending money. Not to worry. You will bounce back. Keep thinking that way. So the blow at the other end is just as hard.

Go to to a resort of some kind - we went to a lovely apartment on the beach near Noosa and relax in the fact your car is fixed, your kids are well and all is going to be ok. Enjoy the beach, the pool in the back of the apartment and all the wonderful things there are to do. Watch lots of Cosby, because it's funny and because it's cheesy. We all need a little cheese.

Upgrade your roadside assist at this time - because who knows? You might need it again. This is a very very smart move. If you don't do this step, you may want to add how to be completely and utterly stuffed to the title of this manual.

It's now time to leave the place you are at and head to your next destination. But in a major town, an hour away, your car must cark it. The alternator cord will be severed and you will be stuck on the road... again. With three kids on a major highway this will turn your hair grey and make your heart pound so hard you will think you are having a heart attack. Let the stressful nausea sweep over you as you try and keep 3 pairs of legs dashing towards semi-trailers that are hurling past you. You will call roadside assist again - and then proceed to empty out the car and try to quickly pack stuff for a night stay in a motel. Thankfully you upgraded your roadside assist membership eh??

The car will be towed away, leaving you on the road with two of the kids, booster seats and bags that were packed in a hurry. Your husband will be in the tow truck, getting a lift to a car hire place. Feel your cheeks burn as every single person who drives past stares at you with curiosity. I exaggerate not. Feel mortified until your husband comes to rescue you with a nice, WORKING rental car. Sink gratefully into the seat and let your cheeks cool for a moment.

Stay the night in a motel. Eat at Sizzlers. It's all going to be ok, It's not a related problem - everything is going to be ok. Repeat this mantra. It's. Going. To. Be. OK. Your mind is now starting to go. You start laughing at the fact that your car has been towed away... again. Laugh. It is ridiculous. It's funny. Laugh like a half crazed lunatic.

Now in this booming town, phone coverage is going to be a freakin joke. Laugh and persevere. Spend 3 hours in Hungry Jacks, munching on cold fries and sipping watery cokes while the kids play and play and play and think they are having such a marvelous time! Meanwhile, because the phone coverage is such a joke, you will get a message 2 hours AFTER the call has been made, that you have a new voicemail - from the mechanic saying the car is ready! You have just wasted 2 hours in Hungry Jacks. Freezing your backside off because it's so cold and you are wearing tanks and shorts. Smile at your blue lipped husband. Don't mind the hypothermia. It wears off.

Right. Now feel secure in the fact that the car is fixed. You have been just unlucky. It's all going to be ok.

Go pick up your caravan.
And head to your destination.

All is going to be good for 3 days. You have a wonderful time, hang with lovely friends, enjoy lovely activities, the feral boy is no longer feral but happy to be free and running around, throwing sticks at trees. All is going well.... Relax a heap now. Your car is whole. It's going to be an amazing last week of your holiday.

Then. Head out... to a major highway. Yes. It's good for things to go to pot on a major highway, because it's so safe for kids to run in front of semi-trailers and road trains. You will hear that terrible grinding motor sound again. Your normally patient husband will start to get ticked off. Laugh. Ok.. make that TRY to laugh. Let the tears fill your eyes. Force a smile, attempt to pray and then grind your teeth with frustration and anger as the car crawls off at the next exit and rolls into a park at a suburb in Sydney.

Yes. This does suck.
Yes. You will slap your head, grind your teeth and throw up your hands in the air and shout "WHY??" This is all part of losing your mind. Nothing makes sense anymore. There is no rhyme or reason. It's all out of your control now. You are stuffed. Embrace this feeling.

You will be towed away - again. Your caravan will be towed away to a caravan park so you can stay there while you get your car repaired. But of course it's a friday afternoon, so nothing is going to happen before monday - so sit tight. Get another hire car and wait.

It's the waiting that will drive you nuts. Your mind is going. You will crack stupid jokes in an effort to make your stressed out husband smile. You will snap at the kids. You will want to set fire to your vehicle so it can be considered a write-off and insurance can take care of it. Consider hiring someone from the Mafia to take care of it. Consider leaving it in a dodgy part of Sydney with the keys in the ignition. Consider buying a gorilla mask from Cheap as Chips and going to the mechanics and beat the living gajeebers out of the car until it's no longer recognizable. Forget for a moment you are a Christian and start thinking about doing illegal stuff. Jail couldn't be any worse than this could it? You will think crazy thoughts, do crazy things - and you are now ready to receive the whammy.

Your car. That car. THE car that won't move without costing an arm and a leg, CANNOT be fixed for less than the car is worth. And what can you do about it? NOTHING. You have no money left because you spent every cent you have on repairs. You have nothing. You can't drive home. You can't fly home and leave the caravan behind. You can't move.

Cry. It's ok. Cry lots. Let that hot lump, roughly the size of that ruddy car, in your throat be released and howl like a baby. I didn't do this part, instead I swallowed that lump, and it physically hurt me. I let hot tears slide down, but refused to really let loose, just in case I couldn't stop.

Consider it.
You owe a considerable amount on this car. You can't sell it unless you pay that considerable amount. Our considerable amount is 16 grand. We have to come up with 16 grand to pay for a car THAT DOESN'T WORK!!! Sit stunned for a moment. It's ok. Reality will hit you in a moment like a kick in the teeth, guts and balls all in one. No. It's not pleasant.

That car has to go to the wreckers. But you can't sell it to them until the 16 grand is paid in full. Feel at a loss. Feel completely and utterly overwhelmed. It's ok. This feeling won't go away for some time. Then make the call....

Call your parents. You need their wisdom. You need advice. You need someone who is not in the situation and hasn't lost their minds to advise you.

Your mother will be extremely compassionate AND does not favour rash decisions. So. She will offer to truck your caravan home, paid for on her credit card, and you will repay her as you can. The car will be trucked home by roadside assist. And you will have to put your tail between your legs and head to the local airport and fly home.

You will feel dejected, upset, angry, annoyed, and extremely depressed. Now top this with a fear of heights and flying. Have your 7 year old girl grip your hand as your eyes fill with frightened tears "Don't worry Mummy. I'll look after you. It's ok. I'm here." Soil your pants at every bump, crunch and unfamiliar engine noise. Try to read your magazines and ignore the dark mass below you. Ignore the pilot's helpful information about how many 30 thousand feet you are above the ground. Refrain from tackling the happy attendants who say in an ecstatic tone "Coffee Ma'am?" Try not to focus on the front of the plane that seems to be on a 45 degree angle as it descends. Grip your 7 year old's hand as you can see houses, cars and people. Close your eyes and whisper a prayer as the plane bumps noisily to the ground and the engines fire up. Feel completely and utterly exhausted, dejected and ready to cry.

Your mind is gone. Your car is gone. And 16 grand is flying out the door.

Congratulations. No certificate will be issued. You have lost your mind, your car and 16 grand!! What more do you want????

So what do you think?? Will this be a best seller or what? Perhaps it will pay the 16 grand and we can get a car that works.

Not to fear, my next entry will have photos of the things we actually DID do that were not hanging about waiting for our blasted car to be fixed.

So long, farewell...

2010-03-24T00:54:00.000-07:00

... I'm heading off on holiday!
Yes that's right folks, our annual trip to Brisbane - and this time we are passing through the Hunter Valley and Canberra.

Woot!!

If I do get time to blog, I will, otherwise it will be 4 long glorious weeks without me. Don't miss me too much. :)

One sure fire way to look like an idiot.

2010-03-24T00:46:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Notice that your son has been complaining of stomach pain for 5 days. Listen to him. Believe him. Then because it's not constant, don't pay that much attention to it.

Step 2: When he comes to greet you from a shopping trip, whimpering about stomach pain, looking pasty, be prepared for the geyser of vomit that will proceed from his mouth and nose.

Step 3: Call Health Direct and talk to them about it - the lovely nurse on the end will direct you to emergency because the vomit from previous step is a lovely shade of yellow. She suspects a blockage or something like that and will tell you that surgery may be necessary. Better to be safe than sorry right?

Step 4: Go to Emergency at the hospital and place whimpering, whingy, writhing boy on a bed and wait, while watching him clutch his stomach.

Step 5: Wait for 3 hours.

Step 6: Notice that after 3 hours, your son isn't complaining about his stomach anymore, in fact notice that he looks incredibly bright.

Step 7: Try and refrain son from climbing and jumping all over hospital bed.

Step 8: Now is the time to get him examined by a doctor, who will hear son enthuse about Leggo and Buzz Lightyear.

Step 9: Get frustrated on the inside because you just wasted 3 perfectly good hours in the hospital because said Doctor will promptly send you home again because he seems fine.

Step 10: Soak all that idiotic feeling in because it will last a while.

And I'm back in the game!

2010-03-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to the world Skipper. Mostly.

Today I took EJ to MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers) - which is a group designed to give Mum's some love, support and time out. For over 18 months, EJ has refused to go. He hates it there. The kids room is so echoey and loud. He has screamed his lungs out and was terrified of the place for ages, so I just didn't take him. We just didn't go anymore. I missed that adult interaction and chats with other mums, but I did all I could for my boy and didn't want him distressed anytime we drove anywhere near the venue.

Today I convinced him to go. Today he managed to go the whole session without screaming, crying and having a meltdown. He's been home for 3 hours, and there are no signs of ticks, jerks, rants, raves, or a meltdown. :)

Progress. Slowly but surely we are making progress.

Even better news? EJ said on the way out.... "Can we come back again?"

WHOOP!!!

*happy dance*

Deciding to make a difference - however small.

2010-03-12T21:01:00.001-08:00

Last week I discovered something horrible.

The real cost of chocolate

So after doing some further research, we have decided as a family that we will no longer be consuming chocolate that is not fair-trade. It makes me sick to think of enjoying something over here in my comfortable little world, where my children run free, are eductated and fed - whilst the little children on the other side of the world are beaten, overworked and malnourished to pick the ingredients for my chocolate. Not acceptable. What if it was my child? What if it was my Mop being beaten to work harder. What if it was my EJ being starved. What if Milly never had the opportunity to go to school, but to be a slave?

Well I will not be supporting that. I will however be supporting the brands that ARE trying their utmost to be ethical. Cadbury are going to be releasing a fair-trade range in a few weeks, which I am most pleased about! Go Cadbury!!!

CADBURY IS GOING FAIR TRADE!!

I'm not on a soap box here... I'm discovering something about myself that I didn't know I had. I am filled with fire and passion for the social injustices that are being ignored by big companies. This is not acceptable to me, nor my family.

I talked to Mop about this - explaining why we won't be doing chocolate easter eggs this year - but instead a toy gift. I explained that bad grown ups are hurting little kids and they can't go to school, and they aren't eating well. The children are sad and so we don't want to enjoy something that made them sad. Mop started to cry, not because she wasn't going to get chocolate - "why are those people so mean to the kids? It's hurting my feelings (which means her heart is hurting - she's still learning to express emotion) - why don't those people have consequences for hurting the children? I don't want chocolate anymore."

So we are going to make a difference! We are 5 people - but 5 people supporting the brands that have decided to be ethical. As time goes on, I don't plan to sit here silently. I want to be a voice for those children. Just have to work out how.

Look Mum, no trainers!!

2010-03-08T22:38:00.000-08:00

While we were away, Mop was determined to try learning to ride a bike without her training wheels. Daz took them off, and I walked along side her, with her 2 wheels as she tried to adapt to balancing. I went about 20 meters with her, and then let go. There was no going back!!! She got the hang of it so quickly and was hooning along, so proud of her new skill. We are incredibly proud of her and how quickly she grasped it.

Disaster Weekend

2010-03-08T22:26:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the long weekend, so we went camping with friends. It was forecasted to have a few showers - so we thought it would be ok.

First of all we got there.... and the awning ripped in two. The cats had finally prodded it with their claws enough for it to be totally destroyed. So we lost a fair bit of living space. Oh well....

Then we found out that the electricity amp thing-a-me-bob that gives us lights in the caravan was completely fried. So we spent the weekend in the dark, apart from the light from the microwave.

Could anything else go wrong?? No of course not....

Saturday morning it was blowing a gale. VERY strong winds. Then came the rain. It poured, it thundered, lightning flashed. It was a very blowy blustery day. We snuck a trip down to the beach when the wind suddenly stopped blowing. We stood on the beach while the kids tried to fly their kites.... no success because it was so still... then the kids gave up and went swimming instead... in their clothes. LOL. R and I stood together, watching a big black mass move towards us, lightning zig-zagging to the ocean, thunder cracking. It absolutely bucketed down and the wind picked up again, blowing a gale.
Flood warnings were released, and we sat and waiting. It wasn't too bad overnight, but on Sunday we were this [-] close to packing up and going home. Sunday afternoon, after a trip into a nearby town we came back to a campsite that had been swamped in water. We tried our best to clean it up. All of our chairs were drenched... it was soggy everywhere. We never banked on yet another storm ripping through, blowing a gale, rain pelting, hail, thunder, lightning... it was crazy!! I watched with horror as the blocked storm water drains stopped taking the excess water and it started to rise. The road looked like a river, the campsite looked like a lake. Our friends tent was on water! It was dreadful! A mouse tried to escape the water and snuck under the tent - and ended up squashed to death instead of drowned. LOL.

The next day we were very happy to pack up and go home.

We got to experience 1/4 of the annual rainful, in less than 24 hours. Not bad.

Next time we are going to camp in the desert!!

I'm out of time out!

2010-03-01T02:32:00.000-08:00

I'm twittering again!!

Just in case you want to read about what I had for lunch. :P

Change again...

2010-02-23T16:47:00.001-08:00

... no I'm not changing my blog template again! :P

But since it's pretty much certain (unless God has an evil sense of humor) that we are finished our family, it's time to make some changes. Our home has been set up the way it has been, pretty much, since it was just Daz and I. But we are finding with three kids, this isn't working. Formal spaces are never used, the kids only have room in their bedroom for their toys - which doesn't work when EJ and Milly both want to be with me while they play. EJ has a huge train track, that he can't play with because his bedroom is too small, and the living room is tiny as well - so he can't play with it.

So we are going to do a big change around.

When it's all done, I'll show pictures. But that's what is the plan.

Also, since EJ is getting to be less needy during the day, I have time and energy to start "purging". I've been tossing out stuff left right and center. I haven't been able to do it for a few years now because it was just too hard with a screaming boy and a tired Mama.

I've been having a ball, tossing out old stuff - ready to go to op-shops. My walk in robe has never looked so empty! Since there are no more babies, my home doesn't have to be "baby friendly" and we can now start making it more "family friendly".

At the moment my formal lounge is a dumping ground - anything that is going to the opshop is being dumped in there. We have bags and boxes all over the place! I'm not finished yet - but I reckon the room will be full to the brim of stuff to go.

Anyway... so that's what I am doing.

Say what???

2010-02-22T03:16:00.000-08:00

Guess what??

You will never guess... so I'll just tell you shall I?

My Twitter account has been suspended. Yes. My statements of "I'm cleaning out my walk in robe" has offended the Twitter Bugs.... :P

I've fired off an email and I'm waiting to get it back. So if you are following and are wondering what happened... THAT'S what happened.

It's funny isn't it? My Twitter account lasted me less than 12 hours.

CLASSIC!!!

I'm tweeting!

2010-02-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right. I am tweeting. Twittering.

I can't promise that I'll be very exciting. I will just be putting random thoughts in and where I am at right now. If any of my readers twitter, please leave me a link in the comments so I can follow you! I only follow two people so far. :) Always looking for more!

So if you want to follow along - click the button in the side bar that says FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER!! :)

Ummm.....

2010-02-17T00:08:00.000-08:00

"Mummy your bottom is shrinking.... it's not as fat now"

~Mop~

Thanks sweetheart.... I think.

I'm set!

2010-02-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

"Mummy, when you are old, and you can't walk anymore. I'm going to look after you and cook you tea."

~Mop~

No old peoples home for me! WOOT!

She has a serious case of the clumps!

2010-02-16T20:22:00.000-08:00

Half an hour ago, I got a call from Mop's school office....
"Mrs Skipper, Mop has headlice."
I was horrified. I'm pretty vigilant about checking her head every morning while putting her hair up for the day. My skin and scalp began to crawl. Blaaahh.... head lice!

Oh well.. it would be our first case. I knew of an effective remedy - Gail has told me about it. I began to make mental notes... right i need to clean her pillow, change her bedding, clean all the brushes, chuck out all her hair ties she has used, vacuum her mattress, wash her hats.....

I arrived at the school - grabbed Caitlin - and off we went home. I look one look in her hair and....

... LAUGHED.

I must have sprayed her hairspray too close this morning. She had clumps of hair spray in her hair - leaving white flecks in her hair - looking alot like lice eggs. The "eggs" all crumbled as I began to brush her thick hair. I inspected her head anyway just to double check.

She is now standing next to me, reading her school reader, her thick long hair hanging down her back - lice free.

It all begins again....

2010-02-14T17:31:00.000-08:00

... Uni that is.

My semester starts today. I got all my course info over the weekend - including details of assignments and what's expected of me.

I just want to say - I LOVE TECHNOLOGY! I got my text books as E-books, so I can read them on my computer. :) Happy days!!! Cheaper and less clutter - win win!!
This subject has a lot of assessment. Something due every 2 weeks, I have a minor paper, major paper, Creative presentation (piece of cake!!) and a research paper to do, not to mention 2 textbooks to read with lectures and tutorials. So my nose will be to the grindstone that's for sure!

Hard work? Yes. Excited? VERY!!!

Happy Birthday Mum!

2010-02-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

I would like to introduce to you, THE most amazing woman on the planet.

This is my Mum. This woman has been to hell and back, multiple times - but yet she can still smile, still be positive and refuses to allow her life experiences dictate how she lives her life. This woman has to be the wisest person on the planet and inputs so much into my life. She encourages me, spurs me on, helps me, and most definitely loves me. She is a dear woman and I am such a blessed person to have her blood in my veins and her heart in my hands.

I love you Mum. Happy 50th birthday, old bag. :P

I am thankful.

2010-02-07T17:33:00.000-08:00

I'm thankful.

I am thankful for the encouragement and kind words from friends who see my need and actually do something about it, instead of pretending it's not happening. I am not Superskipper. I am not Superwoman. I may be organised and capable, but I do crumble too and struggle. I do not always have it together and I am greatful for the friends in my life who actually recognise that and stand with me to hold me up while I get myself together.

I'm thankful for the friends who speak life and love into me - and are walking beside me through this journey. "You are doing a great job.", "Hang in there.", "I'm praying for you." - I can see who my true friends are - the ones who are now pouring into my life - as I have poured into theirs in the past.

I'm greatful for friends who don't make my life all about them - and try and compete to see who has it worse. I'm greatful for the people in my life who don't add their stories on top of my sharing - in the attitude of "I have it much worse than you." - even though they have no idea. I'm greatful for the friends who understand, who accomodate, who try to walk a mile in my shoes and then instead of just sympathising and saying "there there" - they actually DO something to try and help. Through this journey - it's apparent who really cares about me and who doesn't give a rats.

Today I got a letter in my mailbox. A kind card written by a dear lady and friend who is in our old church. In a nut shell she wrote such life giving words - pure encouragement and cheering us on. Also in her card, she enclosed a gift voucher for a clothing store - JUST FOR ME! On the front it said "Just for once, it's all about you!"

That was love and understanding - wrapped to fit in an envelope, but when it was opened it exploded all over the place, reaching the deepest part of my heart. I am greatful for that lady. I hope I can be as an amazing person as she is one day. I hope I can be an amazing friend - as she is to me.

Today I'm feeling a bit fragile. Hormones and life sometimes don't mix. Tomorrow I'll be better. But today I am going enjoy the love and kindness and just be happy and greatful I have so many incredible people around me who actually care.

... and tomorrow, I'm going shopping! :)

Thank you!

2010-02-07T01:11:00.000-08:00

To my Bloggy friends,
Thanks so much for the support, kind words and advice that you offered after my last blog post. I'm happy to say that I am not feeling so overwhelmed now. I am trying to do something with Mop everyday now, whether it be having a quiet chat to her on our own, getting her to feel special and helping me with tasks like cooking dinner etc. We are reading "The Naughtiest Girl in the School" by Enid Blyton - a book I loved as a child - together.
The Social Worker I see from CFP says I need to clone myself - so I can do everything - but since that isn't possible - I just need to do the best I can. And that's what I am going to do.. the very best I can.

So thanks alot for the care. I really do appreciate it.

xx Skipper

If I had a superpower...

2010-02-05T01:05:00.000-08:00

I am totally going to love this BLOG THIS challenge!! I have a confession to make... as I am going to sleep each night - I go to a place in my mind call "Skipper's World" - this is where all things are possible. This is a place where my mind slows down and forgets about the day - and the day coming up. I need to force my mind to think on other things, other than what I don't want to forget to do tomorrow, or dwell on stresses and worries.

So.. I go to Skipper's world. I have been stranded on a desert island - and I managed quite well until help came. I have been a billionaire - and changed the world with my wealth. Lots and lots of dreams and scenarios - but my current world is - my superpower. So I've had alot of time to think about this and what I would do with it.

If I has a superpower - it would be the power of invisibility.

How this power works is that I simply will myself to be invisible - and anything I touched and willed it to be invisible, would become so. Understand?
I would touch my husband and children and will them to be invisible with me...

... so we could step on a plane, and fly to Europe. We wouldn't need tickets, passports or visas. We would simply hop on the flight, find a spare seat, and fly to wherever we wanted. We could go and visit such wonderful places, all under the cloak of invisibility. We could visit museums, art galleries, famous landmarks, not so famous landmarks, take in the scenery. We could become visible again when we needed to eat somewhere - but other than that, we could be completely unseen to the rest of the world.

I would like to kiss my husband under the Eifel Tower, walk through the Arc de Triomphe, touch Stonehenge (which I believe is now fenced off due to vandalism), waltz through Buckingham Palace - and see if the Queen ever farts or picks her nose. Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Germany - all such wonderful places - with so many things to see... and I would see them all - and very inexpensively - with the people so dear to me.

Each night I would find a posh hotel to sleep in - with a penthouse suite that was vacant for the night - and sleep in absolute luxury - having a huge bubble bath in a tub the size of a small swimming pool.

If I was invisible, I could visit my best friend Bec any weekend I wanted to. Just hop on a plane, go see her, hang out with her - then go home again.

If I was invisible, I could sneak into the bank, unobserved, and I would get rid of the mortgage debt of all the dear people in my life.

If I was invisible I could go to the movies whenever I pleased, I could go shopping in my PJ's and slippers. I could nip over the road to my neighbours house, while they were at work and watch Foxtel on their TV, using their A/C. I could go into amazing restraunts and nip into the kitchen and watch how chefs create such amazing masterpieces.

I could go to book stores, and drag in a display beanbag from Myers and just read books without even having to buy them. I could go to basketball games with my husband and sit on the very front row.

When my kids are in school - I could go hang out with Daz at work - I am not allowed to be on the premises - but they would never know if I was invisible.

I could sit in on conversations - and no one would know I was there.

I could hear who was bitching about who. I know it's not nice, and totally goes against my beliefs - but if I was into revenge - it would be so cool to go through some people's homes with stink bombs - and let them off, one by one. I could smear invisible pilchards all over the ceiling. Let them live in a stench!! I could slash the tires of the neighbour's car who keeps parking illegally and that almost creates accidents. I could go watch the domestic arguments that keep happening over in the neighbour's house - and make the person who swears slip over on their backsides. (I'm over hearing their fights and arguments.)

I could go and visit the rich and famous - and find out what their lives are really like - what THEY are really like. I want to visit Vince Vaughn first. I love him... so funny! I could visit poor countries, and take the poor children who are in orphanages out - and give them to families who can take care of them and who want them. Bye bye stupid governments and all the beurecratical rubbish.

I could help police with their crime investigations. I could help them solve crimes and put horrible, nasty crims behind bars. I could help in army inteligence. I could help make this world a better place by helping remove the people who make it so terrible.

There are so many things I could do. And having the power of invisibility would be absolutely awesome! Of course I would want to use my superpower for good, not evil. I would be SUPER SKIP! I like it!!

Testing Testing... 1. 2. 3

2010-02-02T04:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at E's psych appointment, I was put in a nice room - with soft comfy lounges - with some magazines and was told to put my feet up. E needed to be away from me for his testing. Apparently something about the results not being as accurate when I'm in the room. They needed me to be close, since he had only met the psychologist once before - and he was still sizing her up as he entered the room where he usually has his speech sessions. His speechie was on hand - as someone familiar to him - and he started the first of his assessments. This one was an intellectual assesment.

So I kicked off my shoes, grabbed an 8 year old trashy mag... yes... 8 years old.... back when Brad and Jen were still together! I curled up on the couch and flicked through - regretting not bringing my glasses so I could actually read it! When I was done with the mags, I looked at the clock. He'd been in there 1 hour and 10 minutes. I could hear him talking to the psych - and playing different things. So I pulled out my PDA and started reading Pride and Prejudice that I had on file. The speechie came in and was marvelling at EJ's attention span. She said usually most kids cope for about 10 minutes then need a break - he had been going the entire time! EJ finished the test from start to end - instead of over 2-3 weeks. :) Nice job son!

Speechie and Psych came in afterwards to chat about how he went. They seemed very positive about it all.

EJ must have had a marvelous time with the Psych, because that night he was still raving about his time with her and what he did. He told Daddy all about it. Then this morning he asked if we were going to go back and play with them again today.

Too cute!

How to balance it all?

2010-02-02T01:46:00.000-08:00

This afternoon Mop's teacher had a chat to me - regarding Mop's easy tears. It's been happening over the last month or so - she just cries really easily. If she feels any hint of a negative emotion, she cries. It's like she can't recognise emotion or doesn't know how to deal with it and so she just cries.
Her teacher has said that if this doesn't improve by end of the term, she is going to put Mop back in year 1 because she doesn't feel she is emotionally ready for year 1.

I felt terrible.

Poor kid.

I explained what is going on at home and the massive upheaval we have had recently. I explained that I spend so much time on EJ - trying to help him, trying to make his life better... and in the meantime I screw up and Mop ends up a blubbering mess. I'm struggling to balance everything. The teacher was very understanding, and I guess it's up for review a bit later in the term.

I'm feeling another wave of pressure. I feel like I'm drowning again. I am trying so hard and now I feel like I'm failing. I keep getting told what a good mother I am - by EJ's professionals. "You are such a good Mum - you are trying so hard to help him..." yeah... and in the meantime my other child is suffering emotionally. She never complains. She never demands. She gets dissapointed, because when EJ has a bad day, we have to cancel whatever plans we have made. Mop sacrifices a lot for her brother. She hardly ever cries, complains and states that it's not fair. Poor kid.... I've neglected her terribly.

I asked her today about why she cries all the time, she said "I'm just upset and sad" - I asked her why, and she shrugged. I asked her "Do you get upset because EJ gets so much of our time?". Her lip wobbled, tears threatened to spill... again... "I get very sad."

I need to get this right. I have one shot at parenting and doing it well. I need to do something to balance our lives more. I need to do something....

I'll figure it out. I just hope my kids come out of this, relatively unscathed. Thankfully I see the parenting social worker on Thursday. She'll help me.

2nd Tooth - GONE

2010-02-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

Need I say more?

She looks so grown up with missing teeth and new teeth growing in it's place.

I'm trying to not pee all over the floor...laughing that is!

2010-01-28T03:23:00.000-08:00

Milly Moo.... dear heart. I need to explain something to you. It's a very serious topic and I would like you to listen very very carefully. When God created you in my tummy - He in his infinate wisdom, created you to be a little girl. The doctors double checked this when you were born - yep. Definately a girl.

So this means...you are not a boy. You are a little girl. I know that is seems rather captain obvious... but I think you may be getting a little confused. Girls are very different to boys. Females do not stand up to urinate. Little girls do not shove their hips fowards, and try and aim their urine stream into the potty. Yes, I know EJ does it. EJ is a boy. EJ has erm... the equipment to help him aim for the toilet .....not that it does him much good... he may as well have a sprinkler system, and he would get about as much in the toilet as he does now.... anyway.. I digress.

Darling. Please... sit down, do your wees sitting down. I was getting confused, I couldn't explain why for the past few days, there has been more wee on the floor than in your potty. I was baffled... were you trying to get there on time, and were too late? But NOW I understand why there is wee all over the floor... and all down your legs... No wonder you were smelling a bit... unusual.

You are like Mummy, like Mop... we all sit down to wee. Don't follow your big brother in THAT department. I know you idolise him and think that he can do no wrong.... but you need to sit down on the potty while you wee.

Ok are we clear?
Do you have any questions?
Good.

Can I laugh now???

How does your dear son grow?

2010-01-27T18:00:00.000-08:00

How does EJ grow? FAST.

Today was his first day back at kindy for 2010. He got dressed into his "uniform" (which is just a t-shirt with the kindy logo) - and the t-shirt was sitting on the top of his hips! He's shot up so fast and is so tall, that the tee that fit him 2 months ago is now being put away for Milly's use later on.

He's like a weed.... he's gonna be a BIG BOY! :) Good... I'll take him shopping with me and he can reach all the stuff on the top shelves. He's gonna be overtaking his 5ft 1" Mama soon enough.

On a side note, he had a lovely morning at kindy. He seperated well - he didn't cry and ask me to stay with him. I kissed him goodbye and then left, he waved cheerfully and was very settled. When I picked him up the kindy teacher remarked that he had really settled down - during quieter times - like story time - he was quiet, calm and still. This is very good progress.

I love EJ's OT.

2010-01-26T17:53:00.000-08:00

It's official. I heart E's OT.

Today as soon as we arrived at the OT's - she set EJ up with lots of fun things to play with, then sat me down, with Centerlink forms - and said "Right... let's get you some financial help for EJ."
So she sat down and filled out the forms - writing lots of notes, naming lots of things like "Speech disorders", "Sensory disorders." and made note that he is seeing the psychologist and is on the way to being tested for Aspergers and Autism. So fingers crossed we don't get knocked back again. She said it would be helpful then to use the money for other programs and activities that help SPD kids.

Also she is going to be in contact with a colleague who specialises in SPD, and she is going to ask him to work with her in treating Elijah - so hopefully that will hold off him needing private OT's for a while. She is also going to look into programs and places for EJ to continue swimming and take classes, with people who specialise in special needs kids. All these wonderful programs and places that are available - that I just don't know about - she is hunting them down and making them available to EJ to help him as much as she can.

I find that because these therapists are seeing I am very pro-active and I follow all their advice, that they do everything in their power to make things happen for EJ. They keep saying to me what a good job I'm doing - and that really helps - because sometimes I wonder if I am doing enough for him. Know what I mean?

The OT said that the therapy he is receiving at home is making a very big difference - and commented on how happy and relaxed he was. EJ was having a cute moment and blowing bubbles all over, trying to make "tiny baby bubbles".

AND I took him to Bunnings afterwards to buy some glue. Lately if we go to the shops - and buy ONE item -he copes really well and there are no side effects. WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!! Progress!!!!!! Small baby steps.

We are getting there.

I never thought I'd have to say it #1

2010-01-24T19:39:00.000-08:00

"Milly, darling, please don't eat your knickers."

Getting to the nitty gritty stuff.

2010-01-24T17:40:00.000-08:00

Today we had EJ's first appointment with the psychologist. Today she just let the Speechie do her work and let EJ get used to her presence. He eyed her up and down a few times, and in the last 2 minutes just stared at her - taking her in, sizing her up.

The psych pretty much asked me what I wanted from her and was trying to work out where EJ was at. I pretty much asked for equipping him with coping skills and I wanted an actual DEFENITE diagnosis of SPD - because I am sick of the Occ Therapist calling it "Sensory difficulties" and her reluctance to commit to anything. If I have a name - I can then go to EJ's primary school and start putting some plans into place. How can the teacher's know what to do if there is no definate name for EJ's quirks and needs? At least with SPD, they will know it's a sensory issue, they can reasearch if they feel the need to, and we can put some plans into place to help EJ transition into school and then feel safe and happy there.

So - the really cool way that these things work is to get a definate diagnosis, we have to work out what he DOESN'T have. *Rolls eyes* Apparently the Aspergers and Autism testing we have done isn't satisfactory and the psych wants it to go before a panel and the testing needs to be very indepth. So they are working out a way to get EJ tested as quicky as possible. This apparently will open doors to funding for his other therapies. I can't really elaborate on that, because I am not really sure what they are talking about. But I am sure I'll find out as time goes on.

As of next week the psych will be doing more and more testing on EJ, working out where he is at developmentally (more very indepth testing) and will work with the speechie. I guess SPD is such a broad term - they will be delving deep to find out more of the nitty gritty stuff now and how to best help him.

Again another positive session.

Honesty is the best policy.

2010-01-24T01:32:00.000-08:00

I get spam. I hate spam. I hate having to think about male genitalia, cheap drugs from Canada and get rich fast schemes. So I use my filters. Everyday I quickly scan my spam box to see if something slipped in that shouldn't have. Today there was 1 lonely message.

From some pharmecy - and their subject line?? SPAM.

Thankyou for being honest. FINALLY someone who is spamming my account is actually being honest about it.

:)

I thought it rather funny.

A small boast

2010-01-22T23:32:00.000-08:00

... OK A HUGE ONE!!

I just got my grades for my last subject! :)

I thought I got a credit, just roughly adding up my scores. Turns out I snuck in with a distinction!

I'm just a little bit proud of myself!

It's nearly that time again!

2010-01-21T18:47:00.000-08:00

BACK TO SCHOOL!

Today I pulled out all that Mop will need for grade 2 - inspecting everything, and working out how I will label it all. Mop came in and sat down, gently fingering the books, exclaiming over new scissors and erasers.
Tears came to her eyes, "Mummy, I don't have any textas to color in with! I used them all up last year." Her voice wavered. This child cries at the drop of a hat I tell you!
I rumaged around and pulled out a brand spanking new box of textas, along with the coloring pencils and a sharpener! Her face looked relieved! She sighed again as her fingers lightly ran over her roll of plastic sleeves.
"I just LOVE getting new things for school! I love new books, new pencils, new erasers and everything."

She's just like her Mum! I love stationary too! The most exciting thing about me going to uni was I could buy stationary! :) Though I have been dissapointed. So far this year I have bought a pack of notpads. Big Whoop! If I could, I would buy a notebook or post-it notes every week - I couldn't use them all, but I sure love them! I love the smell of new paper. I love the smell of brand new pencils and erasers. I love the smell of the glue stick - lightly perfumed with I don't know what.. but it smells good!! Don't worry, it's not aquadere or anything potent like that.

I love back to school times! Just because I get to handle and enjoy brand new stationary. At Mop's school, the stationary pack gets delivered by courier in the last week of December. As convenient as it is to have all the correct B pencils and good quality coloring in gear, I still miss going out and choosing it all myself.

You know that line in the movie: "You've Got Mail" -
"I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."

Now that's my kind of man!! Though make mine gel pens. :P

What's Milly up to?

2010-01-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

Milly-ish
"I'm Mimished" - (I'm finished)
"Good morning!" - (I don't want to go to sleep/I'm awake now.)
"DUCK!" - (anything with feathers)
"Asper" - (Jasper the cat)
"Choc-o-let" (Chocolate)
"Lunch." (bread)
"No pick up." (I don't want to tidy up my toys)

Milly has picked up language well and is talking in very well formed sentences. She still tends to speak in third person. Milly wants, apple for Milly etc. It's rather cute!

Her toilet training is coming along well. She is communicating when she needs to go and goes. Still having a couple of accidents in the day - and still in nappies during naptime and bedtime, much to her indignation.

Milly is very clever, and has ways of getting what she wants. If EJ is pushing her around or not giving her something she wants, she has learned that if she screams at him at the top of her lungs, it startles him, upsets him, he drops the item in dispute and runs to me crying. She calmly picks up the item and toddles off to play. I know it's horrible for EJ, but I still think it's rather funny!

Milly says her ABC's all the way through. She loves it. She loves letters, numbers and books - just like her siblings. She loves In the night Garden. She loves Bunny. She loves going out - she doesn't like being housebound. The other day she grabbed my car keys and said "Common Mum. Go out!" So I took her out to do the grocery shopping. :)

Milly is quite shy around groups of people she doesn't know, but very extroverted with the people she DOES know. When we went to my nephews birthday party, she was stuck to my side with superglue until she saw my Mum. She refuses to speak to people she doesn't know, but is very affectionate and friendly to the people she does know well.

She's a sweetie. Such a joy to our family. Stubborn like her father - my kind of stubborness is more vocal - but she just quietly digs her heels in and does what she wants anyway. Reminds me of my bestie, Bec. Just digs her heels in and sweetly smiles and goes ahead and does whatever. Milly is hard to discipline because she takes it so personally. If you growl at her, she sulks, cries and wants the other parent who hasn't offended her greatly. My heart breaks everytime I scold her and she bursts into tears.

Anyway - that's Milly at 2 years and 1 month.

A few changes...

2010-01-20T17:16:00.000-08:00

.. Yes yes I know!! Another template. I got annoyed with the last one. The comments and the date and everything else down the bottom of the post kept overlapping and it was annoying me. So I got a new template. What made me change quick smart was the fact that Blogger has finally made it easier to keep the widgets!! WOOOHOOO! Three cheers for Blogger!!

While I was doing a bit of a look around I found a security setting to stop annonymous and spam comments. :) So you now need to be a member of have OpenID.

Ok that's all...
Back to fiddling.

Ohher... they are coming in thick and fast!!

2010-01-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

I have no idea what this one is for, what it means - and neither Allie-Cat who gave it to me! :)

Perhaps it means I am kind to animals?
Perhaps is means I am good to people?
Perhaps it means I want to make a difference in the world?

Whatever it means, I got it! :)

A Blog Award.

2010-01-17T22:15:00.000-08:00

Awww shucks!

Tinks from Along for the Ride has given me an award! WOOT!! I'm so proud!!

So.... I better show it off eh??

I'm so proud!

When one accepts an award it's polite to give a speech. But with this blog award, speeches are not expected - it's expected I name five things I love and nominate five blogs to receive the award. Sharing the love...

Ok so here goes:

1. I love my family.
I know it sounds like DUH Captain Obvious!!! But I do. I have such a beautiful life with such precious people. I have a husband who treats me so well, who never yells at me and treats me with such care and respect. I don't know many people who are as lucky to have someone who loves, honors, respects, cherishes and supports them. I have 3 wonderful children who fulfill me every single day - and even though I am exhausted most of the time, it's a good reason to be exhausted.

2. I love being creative.
This is the best gift God has given me, the ability to create. I love to quilt, sew, design, digi scrap, photography and most of all dream of all the things I want to do. I love to make others happy with this gift by giving them gifts I have created. I love to make something that no one else would have. Being creative makes me a very happy woman, and using this gift makes me even happier!

3. I love entertaining
I love having people in my home so I can serve them and bless them. I enjoy spending time with friends over a good meal and a bottle of wine. I love how wonderful each friend is and how much fun I have with them. I love trying new dishes out on friends, and amazing them with flavours and very naughty desserts.

4. I love my friends
I have such good friends in my life - ones that aren't there to suck me dry. The ones that give as much as they get. The ones that don't use and abuse me - and really love me for who I am not what they can get. I love the people that they are and how I can be totally relaxed and myself with them. I'm glad that they love me - even though I am a bit quirky and sometimes an opinionated git.

5. I love Christmas
What is it you call me Donna? The Christmas hornbag? I love Christmas. I love the decorations. I love the gift giving and making. I love creating amazing things for people. I love packaging up my best friend her parcel. I love wrapping up the boxes. I love the Christmas carols on Accuradio. I love thinking about Pops alot and knowing that he loved Christmas time, and he must be smiling down on us. I love the baking, the eating (not the waistline afterwards!) I love preparing a menu and making the meal special when I am hosting. But my most favourite part of Christmas - is my Mother in Laws Baking plate she gives us every single year. Talk about HEAVEN! Yum yum YUM!

So... passing on the love to blogs I think are very special.

1 Meaningless Meandering from a Madmother.
A blog of randomness - it can be clever and witty one minute and dark and deep the next. I'm glad I found this blog. It's great!

2. Sunnyside Fun.
- I've known Renata since I was 8 years old, and I just love reading about her home on a property, her home schooling her adorable kids, and her life in general. She also takes lovely photos of life around her.

3. Explore
I love the photography and the creative writing that is on this blog. Very raw and captures beautiful moments in her family life.

4. The Daily Grind
- I've taken a liking to this blog because someone else is on the same journey as I am. It's nice to be able to relate to someone who has a child with sensory difficulties.

5. In a Beautiful Pea Green Boat
This one is another one where random topics are talked about - and at least once in each entry I laugh. I like Alliecat's wit and style.

Congrats ladies!!

Good news and not so good news...

2010-01-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

Good news! EJ had an appointment with his speechy - and she told me she rang centerlink AND had been in contact with EJ's Occ Therapist - looks like the GP did some stuff wrong on the forms so I need to reapply - I SHOULD be elligable for a carers allowance for EJ.

Good news! EJ starts his sessions with the Psychologist next week!

Good news! EJ can tell the difference between male and female! :)

Not so good news: this morning I washed Milly's hands and face and she screamed and screamed, "Ouchie Hands! Ouchie hands!" - I looked at her puffy, red, angry hands and saw splits and weeping all over them. :( Poor little tike. Looks like it isn't the water.

I took her to the doctors today - and he has perscribed some stronger medicated creams for her excema and dermatisis.

Not so good news: The doctor also wanted her to have a blood test. So off we go to the nurses station. And it was the most harrowing experience I have had since EJ was pinned to the bed while they stitched him up. I had to hold her legs and her arm while the other two nurses held the other arm and tried to find veins.

Not so good news: Milly has veins like her grandmother and mother. Impossible to find and impossible to get blood from. This is why I refuse blood tests while pregnant - it's just too traumatic for me while they try and find a vein and then try and get blood from said vein. They recommended we take her to INVS, but I am going to sit on it for a while. I know it will help in finding what she is allergic to, but if we can just stay on top of the condition, maybe we can do the blood test later when she understands more. We'll see. I just can't do that to her again. I was on the brink of bursting into tears myself while I sang to her and tried to console her.
I think I might try and do more documentation and try and see if I can work out the allergy myself. I would rather take the time to do it that way instead of trying to get blood from a stone... because that's what it's like!!!!

Good news! I survived today. Milly survived today. I have three beautiful children and a wonderful husband. These things are nothing compared to the suffering that other people have to endure. I am incredibly blessed and so lucky to have such a wonderful family.

xxx Skipper

A jolt back to reality

2010-01-16T00:49:00.000-08:00

EJ has been so good lately. He's been calm. He's not melting down. He's not screaming, crying, ranting, or whatnot very much at all anymore. His therapy seems to be working - if the environment is right.

Today my nephew had his 3rd birthday party. Balloons everywhere. Streamers everywhere. A great spread of food - because my SIL is amazing at catering - and the most coolest Wiggles cake I have ever seen. It was the Big Red Car (toot toot chugga chugga big red car - you can thank me later for putting that in your head!) - but missing a wheel because my niece helped herself to one of them. *giggle* Anyway... there was lots of kids everywhere - and adults. I watched EJ closely, watching for physical signs that he wasn't coping. He seemed to do really well. He handled the singing, he handled the games - then towards the end, he sat down and started to scream at me over the smallest thing. It was time to go.

I grabbed EJ, who started to fight with me - not as much as usual, but still trying to get me to let go of him. Whining. Whinging. Starting to rant. It's a prelude to a meltdown. I had to get him out of there before he really let loose! Deb (SIL)saw what was happening and scooped up Milly and took her out to the car while I hauled EJ to the car. I buckled him up - took a deep breath and left the party. Before I even got into second gear, he let loose! He cried. He screamed. He couldn't be reasoned with or consoled. He whinged. he whined. He argued. He ranted. He raved. The vein in his neck was bulging. When we got home I had to put him to bed. I laid him down, and his body ticked and twitched uncontrollably.

I massaged him in his dark bedroom, trying to soothe him, trying to keep my voice quiet and gentle. His big eyes watched me, taking in my words. His eyes always get me when he's like this. They look scared, they seem to scream "What is happening to me?" They are always so huge and bright.

This is reality. This is how he is in life. He may be ok at home where it's safe, but he isn't ready for people.

I got a call from his Occ Therapist yesterday - turns out she isn't going to be able to help him. She can only help him keep calm - but not actually help him calm himself. I have to get a private OT who specialises in SPD. Since we were rejected for help from Centerlink (though the speechie thinks it's a mistake and wants to try again, with the help from the psychologist) paying for private therapy is going to be very hard. The OT is going to apply for some funding for me, and that will help with costs. I'm not pinning my hopes on it though. But I'm glad that his speechie and OT are proactive as well in helping me in every way possible!

So that's how it is, this 16th January 2010. We have come so far - yet have so far to go. Let's keep going my son, let's do this journey together. I want you to be well and happy, and I will do everything in my power to make it so.

Ladies and Gentleman, may I have your attention please...

2010-01-14T01:10:00.000-08:00

.... please give a round of applause for....

... who just did her first poo in the potty.

You should of seen her face when Daz, Mop and myself stood around the potty and her and gave her a huge cheer and a big clap. She looked so happy and so proud of herself. She's growing up so fast, and I must admit, changing poopy bums is not something I am going to miss. :)

Daaaaaaadddd....

2010-01-11T23:14:00.000-08:00

... Mummy boofed your car!!!!

(EJ to Daddy after I accidently reversed into DH's car that was parked behind me.)

Daddy: *chuckles* Yeah she boofed it didn't she? *grins at me*

Note to self: If one wants to boof a car and not have husband find out about it, don't boof cars in the presence of one's son.

Another note to self: Check the rearvision mirror a little more closely and look for a small white car - it may be significantly smaller than your 4WD, but still look for it, otherwise it will make it's presence known.

Another note to self: Do not drive when the caffine hasn't kicked in. Seriously. Too much blood in the caffine system can dull your brain.

One more note to self: Thank God that you have a husband who is so sweet and good natured and didn't tell you off for STUPIDLY reversing into his car. Thank God again for the fact that he is still chuckling about it and cuddling his duffer of a wife instead of being cranky.

I'm still feeling rather sheepish about this... LOL

Relief.

2010-01-11T14:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to see the speechie, to look at where EJ is and start some more concentrate and specific therapy to help his speech delays. The decision was made to start focusing on his inability to tell the difference between boys and girls and use the correct grammar: ie - He, she, hers, his etc. It's starting to effect his social world, because most kids are very indignant about being called a he when she is not a he at all!!

My relief came when she said to me that I am doing all the right things. I've been teaching him the right way - he just didn't get it, or was so uptight, wound up and over-stimulated with his senses - that part of him shut down and was unteachable. Mother's guilt is the most vicious part of parenting I think. Deep down I have been thinking: "You spend too much time on the computer. You didn't read to him as much as you did with Mop. You didn't do this... you didn't do that... it's your fault he has speech delays." To be told that I'm doing it right and have done it right (especially as Milly's speech is coming along so well) definately equips me with a rather large weapon to attack Mother's Guilt.

Another thing she said: "E is coming along in leaps and bounds. His speech is getting alot better!"

YAY for us!!!
YAY for him!!
YAY all around!!!

Breakthrough in the grooming department.

2010-01-08T22:26:00.000-08:00

EJ has always had problems with getting hair cuts. He has freaked out, ever since I can remember. Screams. Cries. Shakes. Melts down like a professional.

Since the beginning of December I have been saying "EJ you need a haircut. It's so long and messy!"
"I don't want to. I don't want a hair cut." was his response.

Today I looked at his thick, untidy hair and made a snap decision: the time had come, that boy was getting a hair cut. I told E to go get undressed and get into the bath (my hair salon)...
He protested... then stripped off.
"You will be nice and cool, son, when your hair is shorter."
"You will look so handsome!"
I kept reassuring him as I got the stuff out and he climbed into the bath. I have him the hose - since I knew that his issues with the cut is his absolute abhorence of the cut hair on his skin. He calmly stood in the bath, rinsing his body of the hair while I clippered his hair. As I ran it close to his left ear, he started to protest. "No more!!"
Then out came the scissors as I styled it and made him into the dude he loves to be. He stood quietly and let me do it.

This is the first time he has not screamed blue murder during a hair cut. This is the first time he has not trembled violently while I attempted to cut his hair. This is the first time he hadn't fought me and refused to let me cut it.

This is seriously a miracle. I gave the boy a hair cut and he is happily sitting on the couch with an amazing hair cut and a smile on his face. I have my full hearing - because of lack of screaming and all is happy in the Skipper household!

This is going to sound odd but....

2010-01-07T14:41:00.000-08:00

... I think my baby girl might be allergic to our water.

For some time I've been on the rampage, trying to work out what on earth triggers Milly's excema so badly. Was it tomatoes? Well it made it bad then, but not then.. so no. Was it peanuts? No the girl eats peanut butter on a good day and nothing happens.

Her feet are so bad sometimes she can't wear shoes. At the moment I don't put anything on her feet - they are just so red raw and angry looking. Her hands are dreadful - so inflamed and sore that some of her fingernails are inflamed. She loses sleep because she wakes up scratching herself red raw and whimpering. Even when she's half asleep crying, I've come in, armed with a cream, and she holds her hands out to me - half asleep. I've spent a small fortune on lotions, potions and whatnot. Some cortisone and hemp cream from the body shop seems to work best for her. I prefer natural based creams than chemist types. I use plant based shampoos and conditioner, I use hyperallergenic body washes, and Earth/Purity to wash the clothes etc in.

Anyway.... my discovery. While we were away in the riverland over Christmas, I noticed that Milly's skin cleared up completely. I was surprised since we were swimming in a chlorinated pool 3 times a day. I racked my brains... what was different about there than home? Same food. Same body wash. Same shampoo..... but not the same water!! The water we used to bathe the kids came straight from the river - no chemicals. No treatment plants. Nothing. Just plain ol Murray water.

So I set about experimenting at home. I've been bathing her in the kitchen sink with pura-tap water. Using a flannel soaked in puratap water only. Her skin is clearing up. For the last two nights, her sleep has been continuous and unbroken.

This is excellent news! So we will be investing in a filter for the kids bathroom and hoping that will help us control Milly's excema.

Right.... now to figure out what causes EJ's excema... since his has flared up over the last 6 months. I wonder if its the same thing?