Out of headings already?

Oh dear, so I just realised how long it's been since I put an entry up. I wish I could say it's because life has been so exciting and busy lately, but that's not really the case. Well I mopped the floor and cleaned the mantel off today, does that count as exciting? Hmm.
Lots of things have been happening I suppose, but without the digital camera to prove they happened, what's the point of writing about them?
We went to the Christmas Pageant which is always fun. Went swimming last week. Bought a Bumbo (Sophie loves it). Went for a few walks. Planted some plants.
Ryan is determined to paint his bedroom. I promised him we would in the school holidays so he's ready to start right now. He has taken down most of the pictures in his room (mostly Paul's football and music ones since it used to be the study). Now I have to somehow modify his colour choices just a little. I'm not really sure how bright red walls and a bronze feature wall will look...

Photographer: Bethany
Subject: Photo Self-Portrait

Flood pictures

Dad took these pictures of the footbridge near their house over the last two days. The first one is of the height of the flood, the second one of the day after. Amazing how much water there was (20-year flood, they say) and amazing too how quickly it disappeared. Unfortunately it will be a while until traffic in our little city is back to normal - there are only two ways in that weren't flooded. At least one of the fords was totally destroyed by the water (bitumen washed away like paper) and I guess they will need to test the others before reopening them.

Death of a fish

A little while ago, I wrote about the little bird we found and Bethany's difficulty in dealing with its likely death. [Incidentally, I found another bird from the same nest a few days later in the corner of the yard, next to the very dead first bird. I didn't share with the children.]
Today Ryan went to feed the fish with a comment that he hadn't fed them for three days. Then I heard 'uh oh, I think something's wrong with a fish', and sure enough, Ryan's goldfish was lying very dead on the filter. The water bubbling through the filter was making it bob up and down a little so Ryan was sure it was still alive. After school we checked again, and it was still in the same place. Ryan and his friend Nik retrieved the fish, buried it, created a headstone and decorated the grave with flowers. The headstone says something along the lines of 'Amphiby [yes apparently that was the fish's name, although this is the first I've heard it.] We love you and will always be with you.' Very poignant.
All was fine until bedtime, when he suddenly got very sad about the fish 'I just want my Amphiby back'. How he could say that so sadly and still keep a straight face I don't know. He wanted to know why it died and why we didn't take it to the vet. How do you explain that a fish costs $2 and there are plenty more where that one came from without cheapening life? Perhaps I succeeded. Although he did cry himself to sleep.

Cruising blogs

I have *got* to stop staying up so late peeking into other people's lives. Tonight when I checking in on a friend's blog, I found a link to this beautiful letter to a baby. That blog lead me into a whole circle of really hardcore infertility blogs. So so sad. I think I'll give my kids an extra cuddle when I head off to bed in a minute.

Pods ahoy!

To celebrate finally selling the Land Rover (on Ebay, of all places!) Paul bought an iPod nano today. Of course I've heard of them but I've never actually seen one til now. They are so small. And sleek. And sexy. I just want to touch it. Ryan and I, geeks that we are, rushed to install the software and play with it. Paul also bought a car kit for it, so we installed that too. Then Paul spent the evening ripping cds into it, then fell asleep on the couch listening. After several solid hours of messing with cds, he filled 5% of its capacity. He is in heaven!
Ryan was entirely envious, he's wanted an iPod for months, despite not really knowing their actual purpose. He was sad that Paul was monopolising the thing, but I found him an old cd walkman and he happily lay on the floor listening to a Hot Chocolate cd for a while.

Halloweening

Feels kind of naked to not have a picture to go with this, but I'll do my best anyway. Two days before Halloween we got a notice in the letterbox that the kids on the street were planning on trick or treating, and we were welcome to come along, or have treats ready if we wished. We very quickly decided to join in. There are only four families with children in our street, and I suppose 10 or 15 with elderly people (and one with a young childless couple). We know the other kids well enough but this was a nice opportunity to get to know their parents too. Bethany and Hannah dressed as fairies (is that a surprise?) and Ryan was a ghost, with a sheet sacrificed to the cause at the last moment. It was a very good idea to give the neighbours advance notice, as they all had little goodie bags ready for the kids (or hid when they saw us coming). It was lovely to get a chance to have a little chat with them all.
I do feel sorry for the one guy who lives directly across from us who hadn't got the notification - the boys put it in the front door and they only use the back so hadn't seen it. He is Canadian and so couldn't let Halloween pass un-treated. Fortunately we have a deli on the corner of the street just perfect for this purpose, so he told the kids to come back later and quickly snuck to the deli while they were at the house next door, returning laden with goodies (and many dollars lighter I suspect). It was a lovely warm evening, daylight saving had just started, so after we collected all the treats, we sat on a neighbour's lawn and the kids ate and checked out the hauls while the mums chatted. Somehow I suspect we've created a tradition. Very nice one too.
Ryan, ever the pessimist, when we were talking about it later, was sad - 'there were three houses where no-one was home, we could have got more lollies'. What a fab attitude, sigh.