Graduation Already?

Yes, Shamus is so brilliant that he's graduated already!

Ok, so the graduation is from preschool.

I still think he's brilliant! :)

Last Monday was Shamus' graduation from preschool. He starts Prep in January (like primary at home). The "graduation" was really cute - the class sang "On top of Spaghetti" and "Yellow Submarine". And then each child came out as their name was called (wearing their hat) and was given their diploma by their teacher, Tane.

Singing time...

Shamus with his teacher, Mr. Tane and the director, Miss Andrea...

Now I can just relax...the hard work is over....

Shamus and his mates.

It was very difficult to get a picture of them all...keeping still! This was the best the parents could get! It will be sad when they all start school because most of us live in different suburbs so the kids will all be split up. sniff sniff... I'm such a sap.

So, finally finished with all the pictures....the boys can chill and enjoy themselves now...

What's this? I stuck my nose in to see what they were all so intrigued with...Bhayva was playing a video game on his Dad's ipod!

We did manage to squeeze in one family picture at the end of everything. Shamus was starting to get tired of all the pics.

Oh, and No. Darryl is not keeping the moustache! It's "Movember" again...raising money for men's health...particularly prostate cancer and depression. Darryl also did a 10km run last weekend for Movember. Go Baby!!! But, the moustache will be gone at the end of the month.

It was a great graduation. We're so proud of you Shamus!!

Today was also my 2nd Monday off. Very nice.

We spent most of today at the beach...well, the man made beach in the city. The kids love it because it has a spot just for the little ones. Lots of water fountains coming from all directions. Great fun for Shamus and Breagha.

Last Monday wasn't as much fun. We had a trip to the doctor - weighing/height and a shot for Shamus. He did quite well. And then a trip to the dentist - standard check up for Shamus. I don't know if I mentioned this before but Breagha has very weak teeth so we've had to take her to the dentist a couple of times now and she needs to put a paste over her teeth each night to "try" and make them stronger. Doesn't seem to be helping much though. One of her back teeth chipped about 2 weeks ago. The dentist said they are not strong enough to last until they fall out on their own. Sooooo, she is getting 8 crowns on her back teeth. And her 4 canine teeth will be covered with a white type filling. This is so they will last until they fall out. And it's super expensive! Yucks! But, she will have her back teeth until she is between 10-12 years old. Her chipped tooth is already hurting her so we have to get the work done. It will be a day surgery. Of course the first available date was Dec 21 - I don't think so! I'm not sure what it is with Breagha having surgery right before Christmas! We decided to wait until after Christmas so it will be done on January 18. Hopefully it will go well and she won't have anymore problems. I really hate that she is put under for the surgery but it will take about 2hours so she has to be. Poor B. She is doing much better dealing with things nowadays though so hopefully she won't panic like last year.

K, this is getting longer than I planned!! Gotta go!

This Monday was a lot more fun!

Rainbow Beach

Last weekend we went to Rainbow Beach with some friends. I really liked it. It's funny because we kind of forget sometimes that we live in beautiful, amazing Australia. BUT, then we go to a beach like Rainbow Beach and I remember, "I'm in Australia!!!" Rainbow Beach looks and feels like Australia should - lots of waves, beautiful sand, and surfer dudes! We have been to a few beaches now but this is only the second beach that I thought, "This is what people picture Australia as". Apparently it is one of the best surf spots in Australia, with big competitions each year. And I love when beaches have BBQ's and playgrounds too. It makes it a perfect day for the family! So, we had a wonderful time. It was also the first time in a long time that Shamus enjoyed the ocean. He's getting comfortable now and it was fun to play with him in the water.

We also saw our first blue sea slug (thanks to Rej for finding out what it was!!) They were all along the shore.

(...and yes, I'm trying out some fonts, font size, colour....hmmm, which do I prefer?)

http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/MarineInvertebrateZoology/Glaucusatlanticus.html

The kids enjoyed climbing the rocks. And the warm little pools between all the rocks.

"Ah, it was worth the hike Shamus. Let's just chill."

"Let's go Dad. You're almost there!"

The view was beautiful.

We stayed and had dinner and then drove back to Brisbane that night.

It will be very difficult to leave Queensland. We better get lots of visitors when we go back! :)

Very Happy ;)

Yes, I'm very happy.

Anyone that I've been chatting with lately will know that I can work some long shitty hours. No pretty way to say it but that. I like my job but I have the "working Mom" guilt as I don't get home as early as I would like most days. Sooooooo, I spoke with my boss about going part time. :)

Beginning next week, I will be working 4days a week -

Tuesday to Friday.

Me Happy

And hopefully by January I'll do 3 days a week.

Me Very Happy

Anyone that I've been chatting with lately will also know that Shamus starts school in January. So, I want to be able to bring him to school and pick him up as much as possible. It's not like when I was growing up - get dropped off by the school bus and then play before school starts, and then play after school until the bus picked you up again. I don't know if it's a city thing but Shamus will start school at 845am each morning and there is no play time before school starts. The parents stay with the small children until the bell rings and school begins. There are no supervisor's like in my day!! School will finish at 3pm and Shamus must be picked up at this time or go to after school care. During all this Breagha will be at daycare. She is not too happy about Shamus moving on without her. The daycare director said that they have a Red Flag Alert on Breagha during this time as they don't think she'll cope too well....she hangs with Shamus and his buddies most of the day.

Soooooo, I personally think this long day, busy day, school day, after school, daycare, work, blah blah, stuff is not going to cut it! I want to be more involved so I need to cut back on work. I would love to be able to bring Shamus to school and pick him up right after school a couple of times a week. And then Breagha will get to hang with me during the day too. And luckily Darryl's work is flexible so Darryl will bring him to school the other days and he'll do after school care 3 days a week. Hmmmm, hopefully this plan of mine will work! It's always about juggling but we are getting to be good jugglers!

And call me old fashion but I also like the idea that I'll actually get to cook a meal a couple of times a week! Poor Darryl does most of the cooking as he is home first.

Thank you for being so wonderful Baby.

And this is why I'm so happy! I can keep working but get some time at home too. A great balance I think. I hope it all works out! My boss is pretty good so I'm optimistic.

I'll keep you posted on whether this plan is still so great in the new year!!!!! Fingers crossed.

Brissie Baby!!!!

Hooray, look at me! Two posts in one week! Well, that's because I have the place to myself!! Oh yeah! Darryl is out on the town with the boys, the kiddies are in bed, and I'm just finishing up some baking and laundry and now I'm posting on the blog! You can get so much done when you're on your own!

Hmmmm, so Brissie. Well, we still have our family of possums outside. It's pretty fun to go hang the clothes on the line and have the possums climb down for a visit.

They're SO cute!!!

I love how the baby lies on the Mom's back.

What else has been going on in Brissie?

Well, we are always super busy with work and the kids!

Darryl, being the best Dad, and being so creative, recently made a volcano for Shamus and Breagha which they loved!

Getting ready to erupt!

And there it goes!!!

And Darryl is great to draw with the kids. He draws them as superheros, or he draws them dinosaurs....he is great to entertain them!

And we also try to get out lots with the kids.

I love getting out for walks.

If I'm on the ball I take the camera with me but that's not too often! :) New Farm (our suburb) is so great. It's mostly along the water, there's a perfect park with a playground, and there is a really nice walking path along the water.

A few pics in our neighborhood...

The trees here are amazing.

I have to say, I'm taking a liking to the birds. I have never been a bird fan but the Aussie birds are wonderful.

This little magpie is just chillin' out.

Sooooooo, now I'm done my little post. I may do some sewing or I may just crawl in bed, with some wine and popcorn, and watch Sex And The City! Oh yeah!

Some Halloween Fun!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Ok, first off, I just can't find the free time lately to being posting on the blog. I'm not sure where all the hours in a day go but there doesn't seem to be any free time! So, if I do find some extra time I just don't feel like sitting in front of a computer. Hmmmmm, which makes it difficult to do a post! I will try to do one post a week but no promises! :)

Anyhoot, we were very into Halloween this year and it was great! We've had the house decorated for a few weeks now and the costumes ready. This week I baked 6 dozen cookies and 3 dozen cupcakes for work and daycare. The daycare had all the kids dress up on Friday and it was really cute to see them so excited. We brought in Halloween tattoos, and rings, and treats for the kids in Shamus and Breagha's class. And then I brought in goodies for my coworkers. Luckily Darryl is artistic - I came up with the ideas and he put them all together!

His skeleton cupcakes were quite funny. He even did a Spiderman pose for my coworker, Dan. Lots of Halloween food this year!

On Saturday around 5pm we had the kids ready for Treat Or Tricking. We took them to a couple of our neighbors and then headed off in the car to visit friends!

Batman and Supergirl were ready to roll!

Breagha decided against her princess costume...I think she is just as into the superhero's as Shamus is. She loves them.

Time to hit up the neighbors...

After going to the neighbors we headed to Dan and Amy's place. We were in for a surprise when we saw them all dressed up...very scary! Great costumes guys!

Shamus wasn't scared of them but Breagha wouldn't go near them. We couldn't get her to go into the picture. It was kind of funny...she just kept staring at them.

Now off to Kate and Morgan's house!

Morgan made a caramel treat and it was...

sooooooooo good!

I had 5 slices!

Last stop was Rej and Clo's! Their house looked great! And it was quite exciting as there were kids in the neighborhood Treat Or Treating! Felt like home.

More treats for Shamus and Breagha. Ohhh, they had alot of junk yesterday!

More Halloween food! Darryl was quite creative with the snacks. They turned out really well. And Clo and Rej made tons of food! Pumpkin cake, roast pumpkin seeds, squares, halloween treats, Morgan's desert, and more and more. Oh, we ate too much!

The best part of the night for the kids - going through the treat bag. So good!!

We had such a great Halloween this year. It was really fun. Thanks to everyone for letting us bring the kids over. It reminded me of when my parents used to drive us around Rankinville so we could fill up our pillowcases with treats!!!

I hope everyone at home has a wonderful Halloween! Post the kids costumes!