Has it been that long again..

I seem to be forever updating this thing.... one day I will catch up and stay there....

Soooo here we go...

The kids marched for Anzac day again this year.... so much to be thankful for.







Of course Easter was thrown in there as well, and this year we decided to dye our own eggs... how cute did they end up?



and on Easter Sunday we headed off to Sydney to see the Titans V Parramatta (both the kids teams so there was going to be tears either way) The Titans were winning all game, right up to the last 26 seconds when Parra converted a try to win.... the crowd was ecstatic - apparently it has been a long time between wins.





He's not actually cheering with them, he has his fingers in his ears.
Can you pick the odd one out?



Shane has spent countless hours in his shed turning it from this...



to this.... not a bad effort I think...



He even let me have the left over peg board ..... will now be finding lots of things to hang.... (for those of you that are looking at this picture and saying to yourself that you thought that the no walls or flooring thing was only temporary over two years ago .... I'm hearing you ... no point rushing into things... right?)



Check out what I found while playing around in my shed.... an unfinished project from 2007 that I had totally forgotten about... all my diary notes are still there along with the photos - guess I'll be trying to finish this in my spare time...



We finished off our holidays with a game of backyard cricket ...... pity we couldn't get rid of the obstacles....





Till next time......

Not all nail artists are the same....

Regan got her nails painted by one of the cheap nail studios for chrissy and they did a fantastic job of these little trees so we thought we might go back for some easter designs. Unfortunantly the girls we used last time were closed so we went to the other studio.... and the result....



not quite as impressive.....

It has been raining here for god knows how long now and the backyard is full of these very large mushrooms....



Guess who finally got her gee/ ghi/ gi .... not sure how to spell it but none the less she is very proud of it...



We let the turtles out on the weekend while Shane cleaned the tank... Mac spent the whole time trying desperately to get outside ( I will have to build a cage for them outside, they are still pretty small and I'm scared a kookaburra will swoop and get them.)



While DT was happy just playing ball.




The kids also got into some puffy painting which I found on Susans blog here. Heaps of fun with a few basic ingredients.





and Ive completed some pages....





Have a great easter...

First Term

I truely dont think it matters what school you go to, it's the teachers that make all the difference... Last year Aaron he had a few incidents with one of his mates which led to me requesting they be in different classes.... Of course due to one thing or another this didn't happen so I found myself going to his teacher on day two (just what she wanted i'm sure)...but wow, she has been great. I explained how although Aaron is very popular in class his 'physical difficulties' make him wary of joining the other kids on the playing field which leaves him and this other boy always together in the undercover area.
She has boosted his confidence 10 fold - due to her he is now playing cricket on the back field with a large group of boys... picking different people to be his buddies ... interacting with all the kids in his class and ... sticking up for himself where this other boy is concerned.. I am so very grateful to Mrs Young.
Not only has she looked at our social issues and tried her hardest to solve them but she is also doing so when it comes to Aarons speech....For the last few years I've been told all the great things the school was going to do for him, none of which have been forthcoming but this year at his IEP meeting (I went in all ready for a fight to get his funding actually used for his benifit) she had already spoken to his speech therapist, organised one on one time with a aide and was ready to speak to me about how much she is able to pick him up on his words in the classroom environment.
Term One has been sooooo rewarding for Aaron..



And as for Regan....... same deal goes, she has had a really popular teacher for the last two years but one that obviously wasn't a good fit with her. This year she has yet another male teacher that is ' firm but fair' (her words) and she is going along at full speed, she has gone from remedial spelling to the top group, is in the middle group of maths and has been scoring 10/10 for some of her speeches. She is happy with her friends, is able to speak up and let certain girls know when they are being 'bitchy' and hasn't come home upset once this year.
She also scored 10/10 for the Nazi report I mentioned in the last post after he asked her if she had got her info off the internet... Shane had to dig her drafts out of the trash so she could prove to him that it was all her own work.( not that her asked for proof, it was mainly for my benifit)

It is Naplan year for both of them this year and although I'm really not worried about the results both kids are very keen to try their hardest and Regan is ready to improve on her scores from yr three... It is very nice to have two kids interested in and happy to go to school.






Check out the latest modification to our outdoor area... We were sitting down the other weekend having a drink when it occurred to us that we have to bob up and down a bit to see out the backyard... no sooner was it said that Shane was armed with a jigsaw and cutting into our slats..... must admit makes for a excellent view.

Till later

Completely and utterly all by herself

Yes thats right, normally I can't help myself and I have to help Regan with her homework, you know offer suggestions, maybe change a few words around or steer her down a different track but not this time. She had to write a page - not using any books - on what she knows about Hitler after she had been to a talk by a survivor of the hollocaust. And she came up with this all written out on Sun morning while I was having a sleep in. I'm sooo very proud, it's well written, truthful and it flows... .Yeah to Regan.





Sat was the start of the Netball season and we were straight into it with canteen duty at 8:30 on day one..... Regan is playing defence this year which is just right for her... she gives it her best in the circle but she is a tad too short... WD is just right...

Aaron even had a go on the motorbike on Sunday - these photos were taken before he managed to come off the quad and string himself up on the side fence ... we own 4 1/2 acres.. I have no idea what possesses him to ride so close the the fence.
Anyway he gave the motorbike a crack and was doing pretty well, unfortunantly with Aarons low tone etc comes a lack of balance as you can see in the last pic... slowly but surely







PS: Grandpop...since you did such a great job with Regan we've decided to let you teach Aaron on his pushy when you get here next...



We're doing up the patio at the moment and picked up this cute fire pot at Bunnings for $4 - got you one two Mum, let me know if you want more...

And of course last but not least ... I've been scrapping...

Regan in the van last Nov...



and the kids month by month 2010





Till later
Leah

This week, last week and the week before

We spent a fantastic weekend in Armidale with the Moodies













We watched this incredible transformation...















Regan spent a lot of time in the front yard ... reading with Tara from next door..



and doing her homework...





We extracted lots of honey.....





Aaron had his b'day party at the pool....









and I did a couple of scrapbook pages...





and that was about it...
Thanks for stopping by....