Monday, December 31, 2007

If wishes were horses

We played a game invented by Ryan yesterday. First we had to write down what we would buy if we had unlimited money and the person that wrote the most things won (always got to be a competitive element with him). Then we had to write down what we would wish for and again the person that wrote the most won. It amused us for about 15 minutes, but I really liked the wish lists - here they are:
Ryan - world peace; 1 trillion dollars; no poor people; everyone has computer; no-one dies a painful death; my room is permantly clean; no global warming; every non-living thing was made of chocolate or lollies, when you ate something it would come back; everyone was nice; I could see what the future would be like; I could see what the past was like; I am realy strong; no one breaks the law; I have super speed; I can go invisible; I can create forse fields; I can strech really far.
I love the way it starts well and then degenerates into superhero envy :)

Bethany - Sammy Sinead nice [even at six, girls can be right nasty at times]; me not to ever dye [this then crossed out - because, she said later, and Ryan agreed, that she didn't want to put this cos she didn't want to be alive at the end of the world]; be rich one day; Sophie never scratch; Sinead changes from Ms Gregory to Mr McKay; not be a drout [drought]; never dye [crossed out again]; me get the most counters [our reward system at home]; me grow up fast [no, please it's already happening too fast!]; tomorrow xmas again; we live in snowy place; me in guniss would record [guiness world records]; baby born do poos [ha ha!].
Bethany's is a lot smaller world, but an interesting insight into the mind of a six year old.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Charlotte's birthday tomorrow



I've been teasing my kids at bedtime, saying I can't wait until tomorrow because it's Charlotte's birthday. They're horrified I forgot it's Christmas as well. They worked hard to set up their little table for Santa - the photo is bad cos it's off my phone. There are some biscuits (we had intended to make letter biscuits today to spell SANTA but ran out of time so had to raid the cupboard), homemade eggnog (yum! a new tradition I think, only next time I'll remember the brandy to add to the adults one!), some carefully chosen ornaments, photos of the children (to make sure he knows he's at the right house) and a note (complete with pen for reply from Santa).
I have strict orders to remember to put carrots out for the reindeer (they forgot before bedtime) and to turn the lights on the tree and outside.
The other photo is the kids and our other tradition of new pyjamas on Christmas Eve. Normally they get them just before bed but today they opened them in the morning and made a good attempt at wearing them all day - Hannah even wore them when she went next door to play, but later came back and changed.
The children spent much of the day playing next door which helped the day pass quicker for all concerned, and had the added bonus of tiring them out for an easy bedtime. My wonderful parents called by with dinner (*that* can become a new tradition too, thanks!) which was exciting and noisy but also helped tire them out.
So a few more bits and pieces for me to do here (like put those carrots out!) then I have to be to bed early too so I don't keep Father Christmas away.
Merry Christmas to all, particularly those who are not here to share it with us. Talk to you tomorrow guys!

Yay for the interwebs!

How did we ever survive before there was such a thing as the world wide web? Specifically such wonders as Facebook. Recently, thanks to FB, I got back in contact with my friend Steve who I spent a lot of time with at university and then promptly lost contact with. We had lunch on Sunday which was a very cool and surreal experience. It was very strange to be chatting to someone who looked so familiar to me (he hasn't changed a bit, and was kind enough to say the challenges of all those children hadn't aged me either!), but who was also so unfamiliar, since a lot of things have happened in the last twelve years. Although, other than the catching up on what we've both been doing (only five minutes of course, I mean, how long does it take to discuss marriage (me), four children (mine of course), un-marriage (me again), various jobs (both of us, him more so) and traversing around the world (him, darn it)?), the rest of the time, it was like we'd been hanging out forever still. Talking rubbish and getting picked on, mostly. :P Oh and drinking chai lattes (yay, a convert!). It's a shame he lives a million miles away (what's not to love about Adelaide? some people...).

Running hot and cold

Sophie and Charlotte have a real hot and cold relationship. Most of the time they are best friends, but occasionally, a rift opens between them. Usually when we first get together, they size each other up to determine what mood each is in. Sophie has taken to asking me 'Charlotte not sick today? Charlotte not tired?' to help gauge the reception she'll get. If one or the other has that dark look in their eyes, the other steers well clear for a while, otherwise it ends up with pushes, scratches and sometimes bites. Never for long though, and soon afterwards they will be playing happily together again. It just means we all need to be on the watch, trying to prevent a serious injury suddenly occurring. The other day, Sophie somehow managed to draw blood from inside Charlotte's mouth... At Charlotte's party on Saturday, at one stage Sophie belted Charlotte with a plate causing tears, and then moments later, they were happily outside together setting the table with said plate. As they get more verbal, the arguments get more amusing. Again on Charlotte's birthday, one of them was cranky with the other. 'You're yucky' they started. 'No, you're yucky', back and forwards a few times until it escalated a little. 'I'm yummy, you're yucky'. 'No, me yummy, you yucky!' and finally, 'Nana yummy, Nicole yummy, Mummy yummy, me yummy, you YUCKY!' had all the adults laughing.

Saturday, December 15, 2007