Well, after a lot of cleaning and preparation (was still doing the cake when guests arrived) the party went really well.  We had a pirate theme and we all dressed up - some guests did, but not all.  There were 9 kids (R+B plus 5 friends and 2 siblings), which was quite manageable in the end.  We had party games and lots of food and everyone got on pretty well.  I was very drained and hoped it was worth it - until R said "I loved it, Mum" and someone else told me it was the best party ever.  WE had a beautiful day, so (having cleaned the house immaculately) we kept it outside and enjoyed the sun (until about 4pm, which wound it down nicely! ) 

Here are some pics:

Got to preschool this morning and the teacher says "oh, yes, I wanted to talk to you" - uh oh!  Seems my little lad has become the class clown, trying to get everyone's attention and trying to distract the other kids from what they are meant to be doing.  Any ideas on why, she asks?  I'm floored - I knew he'd been behaving badly at home but thought he'd be good at school.  So I go through with the teacher some of the things that are going on - our financial situation, his worry about starting school (and turning 5 is tied in with that), his "accidents"  (which thankfully we have had 2 dry days - yeah!) and we agree that something is worrying him - she is very patient and lovely and I feel so wretched.  I keep wondering what I am doing wrong and what is going on in his little head.  So, looks like we need to arrange some one-on-one time - how I've no idea.  Anyway, I don't know what to do but keep plodding on - keep the boundaries tight and keep reassuring him we love him.  Ideas, anyone?

Having looked forward to his birthday for months he was  a bit apprehensive this morning but I explained that 5 is just a number on a piece of paper and doesn't change who he is or what he does and he cheered up pretty quickly.  He is going off to preschool with a dinosaur cake, then tomorrow we have his pirate party.  So, mummy is pretty stressed right now trying to clean up the house and get everything ready - and praying for fine weather so they can play outside! 

OK - miss B is determined that now she is 2 she can do everything herself and will scream unless you let her.  This includes dressing and undressing, making her lunch, carrying her bowl to the table, even getting in and out of the car.  She will also help herself to food and I am getting really frustrated at the waste!  I went to make myself a coffee this morning and we have gone through 5L of milk since Wednesday!  There is only 1L left to do us until this Wednesday and B has just made herself cereal and tipped milk all over the table!  GGGGRRRR!  Still, I guess I should be grateful as this seems to translate to helping with the washing up and housework too - good girl!  One major difference between my 2 - then again R is a boy!  Are they genetically averse to housework?  Anyway, he turns 5 this week and preparations are getting fierce - I'll keep you all posted!

What a fortnight for catching up with old friends.  I got an email from a website I rarely visit that an old colleague was trying to contact me, so we contacted and have been emailing.  Then I discovered facebook - I know I'm years behind everyone else!  Another wealth of old friends.  Then with my new email address, I just sent out a general email to everyone in my address book - so many were returned, it was a good exercise in updating information.  Then out of the blue another old colleague, now also a mum, emailed me back - brilliant!  It is so lovely to find out what everyone has been doing - so exciting!

As I sit here and listen to them take down branches next door and hoping the bang I hear is not the tree landing on our shed! I thought I'd take a leaf out of Izzy's book and re-read my blogs from this time last year.  I am thinking I might print everything off and scrap book it as I don't record it anywhere else.

So, what did I learn?

We were buying a house and wondering if we could afford it, dreading moving, but so excited about the new house.  So, 12 months on we still love the house, have done little to it, still have boxes to unpack and are struggling to pay for it - but then we didn't know that DH would quit his well-paying job of 5 years and have us in limbo for so long.  Still, we have got through it and learnt a lot.  And I am proud of what we have survived intact and sure that this is only a blip in the long term story.

I was alone a lot and struggling with 2 kids on my own - at least now DH is home a lot more and is a lot healthier (except tired from all teh driving).

We were planning a birthday party!  Still are!  However at least last year our house was empty - this year I have 10 preschoolers coming to a house that is a disaster!  And I worry because many of them I don't know that well and have not really met the parents - that in itself is a change!

Bella was struggling with sleep and waking multiple times a night, I was trying sleep training and trying to get her to sleep without feeding to sleep.  mmmm - now what has changed?  She still ends up in my bed most nights and the nights she sleeps through are so remarkable I wake and run to her room to check she is ok.  She still needs "beeby" to sleep, but thankfully that is the only time she is having it.

R was struggling with sleep too - taking hours to get to sleep and then waking with bad dreams.  What's changed?  Nothing - except they have both grown so much and learnt so much.  When I looked at the photos I couldn't believe that they were taken a year ago - and yet I can see so many changes!  How quickly they grow up - and this time next year R will be in at school.  Wow!

Bella just did a wee in the potty!  Amid lots of praise!  Very exciting.

Unfortunately I had to step over the puddle her brother had left on the floor to get to her - grrrr....  Don't know what to do - his "accidents" are getting worse!  Cleaning up after one is bad enough - not sure I can toilet train the other at the same time....

I just went outside to get the bins in and get some firewood.  I walked back in and was just saying "oh isn't it lovely to walk into the house and the furniture is not pulled apart and two children are sitting nice and quietly minding their own business..." (ant not trying to kill each other), when I caught a look at my daughter!  She had a tube of royal blue paint - all over her clothes, in her hair, all over the lounge and the cushions!  AAAGH!  I knew it was too good to be true!

A few days ago my son asked me what happens if boys like other boys and not girls.  mmmm....  in what way, I wondered.  A few more questions and it became apparent why he was asking.  He has decided his best friend is a boy so he would like to marry a boy.  OK.  So, mummy did the whole politically correct thing that some people do choose that, but he has plenty of time to meet a partner and hopefully he will find someone he loves (preferably a girl) that he would like to be with forever, but he has to be a grown up first. 

Then he looks at me and asks "how do boys who marry boys have babies?"  Another curly one for mum.  So I manage to formulate an answer knowing that he has a friend at school with 2 parents of the same gender, so if not physically possible "if someone wants a baby enough there are ways they can have a baby" - though not always.  Man, what else is coming my way I wonder - I bet my parents never had to deal with these questions.

So, now we come to planning his birthday party.  He wants everyone in the whole world to come - everyone we know.  So, I explain why we can't do that and can we have names.  We eventually whittle it down to a list of 12  names - only 2 girls!  I guess for a 5th birthday that is normal.  The only girl he picked to invite is his cousin - because he loves her and wants to marry her, which I guess is a relief, except that I don't think you can marry cousins.  Still, I guess we do live in a small town!

So, next time he tells me that what I am wearing is lovely and the colours match really well, I guess I start to worry again - do I have a mini Carson on my hands?

A friend sent me this and I thought I'd share:

What God has Promised:

God has not promised skies always blue,

Flower strewn pathways all our lives through

God has not promised sun without rain

Joy without sorrow, peace without pain

God has not promised we shall not know

Toil and temptation, trouble and woe

He has not told us we shall not bear

Many a burden. many a care

But God has promised strength for the day

Rest for the labourer, light for the way

Grace for the trials, help from above

Unfailing sympathy, Undying Love

Annie Johnson Flint

When I arrived at preschool today there was a little note to see the teacher.  I soon found out what my son had been up to.  He had been jumping from the sandpit to the punching bag and swinging off it - successfully I might add!  Until his third attempt!  When he fell flat on his face and was slightly concussed. mmmmm....  So, in honour of my son the gymnast, here is a photo of the flying Roystinis!:

When R is experimenting (ie putting plastic bags full of water in the freezer) keep the food dye out of reach.  Green does not really go with my kitchen.

Well, apparently I am not my son's friend any more.  He says he can't ever be my friend again, not ever again.    Why?

Because his sister (who I think is planning to be a stripper, from the fact that she can't keep clothes on for more than five minutes), took his undies out of his school bag and is wearing them.  Now, they are actually too small for him (sz2-3) and somehow have been sitting in his bag for months, without us realising they were too small.  They fit her perfectly and she is of an age that if she prefers undies over nappies I would like to encourage it.

So, he took her 'baby' and held it ransom for his undies and when she had hysterics, mum intervened.  I took the dolly and gave it back to her and told him she could wear the undies.  So, he yelled and smacked me and I sent him to  his room.  Big drama!  Now I am in the poos and I will never be his friend again.  It is so sad, yet somehow I won't hold it to heart...

WEll, after two parties today - a 4th and a 50th, the kids are sugared out and mum & dad are tired and feeling like we don't need to eat for a week.  Now the joy of getting two overtired and oversugared children asleep - ideas anyone??

An eventful couple of days....

Yesterday (while my car was being checked over for rego) I helped on a preschool excursion to the local primary school for a musica viva concert.  It was very good and it was lovely to see R's reactions and be involved in that way - plus I learnt stuff and I enjoyed it.  Then, after I walked with them back to school (21 kids crossing a railway and a main road - ) the teacher mentioned they had not any parents volunteering to help this term so i stayed on at the school and cut out craft while I watched the class.  It was really interesting and I think R really liked having me around.

It was a very wet day and they let the kids run around in the rain and mud for a short while, so they came in filthy and wet (they all have to bring a change of clothes every day!) We walked back to the garage and he was so chatty and lovely, then we picked his sister up and the silly and rude behaviour started again - such a shame!

Today we had another parent picnic (similar to the one we went to earlier in the week).  I went along with B and we had a ball.  I remembered to repack the school bag with a change of clothes, which was lucky as R ran around outside and took a huge slide through a mud-puddle!  He was black from head to toe - only this time he was the only child!

The kids did craft, painted, played with other kids and also did a little performance.  Bella joined in with all the big kids, copying all their actions and not getting in the way once!  I was so proud of both of them.  R was one of the few boys joining in whole heartedly and not at all embarrassed by his little sister following him and copying his every move.  He particularly liked playing with the magnets and over-head projector, while B liked drawing and painting.  They both made another kite, but slightly different.  What a great time!  and I feel so priveleged to be able to share this with them and watch them at their best (which I don't see very often...).   Lovely! 

So, to brag some more - here are some pics:

Royston, playing with magnets

Bella painting with inks (and covering herself in the process), and last of all a great one of us!:

Here is a picture of Royston with the snake kite he made yesterday at preschool.  He has been running it around the house, making it fly (and hence it is getting a bit ragged and the tail has been stappled on three times!)

And here is Bella at the weekend:

Well, Saturday was the most beautiful day for the last day of Autumn.  We had a small celebration with a few friends and family for Bella and we were blessed with a perfect day - sunny and warm from 9am onwards.  The children ran around outside all day and the adults sat around and talked.  A few stayed and talked until late afternoon (when it gets cold around here).  It was just perfect.

Then we woke on Sunday to fog and cold - winter had arrived.  Since then it has been cold and wet and foggy, but I am not complaining as the much needed rain is filling our tanks!  What I do object to is the power outages we are getting more and more often.

Poor Royston woke from a nightmare overnight and panicked as the house was pitch black.  Daddy took a long time getting to him and he was quivering by the time Daddy got to him.  Then it blacked out again mid morning - leaving us stuck inside (thanks to the rain) on a dark day with no power - so no water, phone or tv/dvd (or Minti!).  However 2 blessings - one is that we have a wood fire, so could keep warm - the other is that we have big windows, so we could still see what we were doing and my room had enough light to read books.  So we are OK!

R didn't want to go to preschool today, so we only went for a couple of hours this afternoon as they had a presentation for the parents - of course he had a ball.  Don't know what the problem was - he slept deeply and late and was just adamant he didn't want to go, though he changed his mind at lunchtime!

Will post photos later, once my camera has batteries in it.  It ran out at preschool today during the special song by the kids for the parents - grrr...  We'll see what I did manage to catch.  And now, to bed - good night!