Another Picture, Another Story

Jacob & Bella at the Bowling Alley

The picture above is another example of “Every Picture Tells a Story...”

As a parent I should always be alert and aware of where my children are and what they are up to especially when out in public.  In reality, however, this is not always the case as this picture clearly demonstrates.  I was more interested in getting a good picture of Jacob with his bowling bowl to notice the dangerous situation Bella had got herself into.

The average bowling ball must weigh around 5 or 6 Kilos, and there is Bella toddling around with one.  I mean not only are they things heavy but for a not yet 2 year old they are also very difficult to hold and very slippery.  I mean what was I thinking taking my eyes off her in a bowling alley?

Needless to say she dropped the ball about 1 second after this picture was taken and THANKFULLY it MISSED her toes but it sure taught me a lesson, forget the pictures whilst at a bowling alley with a toddler, it’s just way too dangerous for an adventurous Little Miss.

I would like to point out that I have actually dropped a bowling ball on my foot that was wearing a shoe and let me tell you it didn’t tickle.

Septembers Spiel

After a stressful and rather hectic August, September was about fun and some relaxation.  When we completed the move Jason still had a few days holiday from work and we tried to make the very most of them, spring was here and the sun was out.

Jacob at Movieworld

We started off the month by purchasing VIP Passes for Seaworld, Movieworld and Wet & Wild.  These were a very early Birthday present from Scottish Granny to the kids.  The passes basically entitle you to unlimited entry to the 3 parks for 12 months.  We have purchased them in the past but didn’t last year, so it was a nice treat for the kids and we have already used them 4 times.

Bella Eating Lunch Watching The Stunt Show

So at the beginning of the month we headed off to Movieworld with two very excited children.  After a long wait to get in (on your first visit you need to queue to get your photo taken for your pass) we headed straight to the Stunt Show.  I was a little nervous about how Bella would be during the show because Little Miss Busy ALWAYS has ants in her pants and isn't any good at sitting still for more than 1 minute.  However it was timed well for us as it started right at the kids lunch time, so down they sat with their lunch to watch the show.  The both LOVED it and there was no need to have worried about Bella because there was lots of noise and action to keep her attention.

Jacob & Scooby Doo Van

After the show it was time for some rides and our first stop was the Scooby Doo Rollercoaster and fantastically enough there was no queue, so off I went with Jacob to enjoy the ride only to be turned away because, wait for it, Jacob was 5MM TOO SMALL.  It has now become Jacob’s ambition to be tall enough for the ride before our passes run out at the end of June 2012 and he has been eating up all his tea EVERY night to help him grow.

Bella Enjoying Water Play at Movieworld

The Disappointment of the Scooby Doo ride was short lived when Jason took Jacob on the Dodgems after which it was time to head to “Kiddie Corner” where there are lots of age appropriate rides for both the kids.  Bella had a blast and Jacob had lots of fun too.  The finale of any visit to Movieworld is the water play at the end, where the kids get their togs on and cool down in the water jets and sprays, so much fun to watch all the kids going wild.

Bella Trying to Catch the Stingrays

The day we visited Seaworld was as equally enjoyable for the kids.  Seaworld doesn’t have quite as much rides that are suitable for them but they have lots of animals and shows to watch.  Bella just ADORED the penguins and she put on quite a turn when it was time to leave their exhibit.  She also LOVED trying to catch the stingrays.

Jason & Jacob on Log Flume Ride

All Jacob was interested in was getting to the Log Flume Ride which of course he LOVED.

Jacob Enjoys Water Play at Seaworld

The day we went to Seaworld was rather hot, so we didn’t stay too long but that is the beauty of the passes because you can use them as often as you like you don’t need to stay too long on each visit.  And of course before we left there was time for some water play.

The Kids Blowing Out Mummy's Candle

We also celebrated my Birthday in September and I was rather chuffed to FINALLY get a lap top and we went out to Sizzlers for tea, Mmmmm Sizzlers.

Louise at Friends Wedding Reception

Jason and I had a rare night out together without the kids when we attended the wedding of one of Jason’s cricket friends.  It was nice to finally get a break from the kids as it had been almost a year since we last had a night out together without them.

Jason Back in His Cricket Whites



Speaking of cricket, much to my Un-amusement (is that a word?), Jason made his cricketing comeback for Coorparoo.  It’s been at least a whole season since he played summer cricket (he has played a few twenty20’s and some warehouse cricket but no actual “Real” cricket).  Now don’t get me wrong I LOVE that Jason LOVES cricket and I LOVE that he is doing something that he LOVES.  However to people who are unfamiliar with cricket it’s not like playing a match at other sports.  It doesn’t just take up a couple of hours of his day; it takes up his WHOLE day.  Losing Daddy EVERY Saturday for SIX months is tough on Mummy and the kids and we miss him on cricket days.

Jacob With Wally Lewis's Plague at Suncorp

Jason and Jacob attended the Queensland Cup Grand Final at Suncorp Stadium to watch our local team Wynnum Seagulls play Tweed Heads Seagulls.  Wynnum won much to the delight of the boys; however Jacob’s delight was short lived when he vomited on his return home and headed straight to bed.  He hadn’t been himself for a few days and we later learned that he probably had “Fifth’s Disease” as Bella was diagnosed with this later in the week.

Jacob at Wynnum Waterfront Park

Now that we live so close to Wynnum Waterfront we have been spending quite a bit of time there with the kids, they love the park there and yes you guessed it, they love playing in the water there too.

Pirate Jacob

Jacob

Jacob had Pirate Dress Up Day at kindy in September and with just ONE days notice we managed to put together a costume which actually looked pretty good.

Jacob can now write his own name without copying it and can write some random letters and numbers that you give him to write.  One of his favourite past times at the moment is doing Dot-to-Dots.

Bella Climbing at Wynnum Waterfront Park

Bella

Not much is changing or happening for Bella at the moment.  Her talking is coming on leaps and bounds and she loves to sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.  She is a very adventurous little girl and loves nothing more than being outdoors, especially at parks and anywhere there is things for her to climb.

Bella is also Little Miss Stubborn (not sure where she gets that from) and she won’t let me dress her without first putting up a fight and demanding for 15 minutes that she does it herself before admitting defeat and bringing her clothes to me saying “you do it, you do it”

Journey into the Unknown

Wow have we really been living in this house for over 6 weeks now?  6 weeks.  6 Weeks and I have a shocking confession to make.  Here is my confession.

Our house has a rather strange second toilet.  It’s so strange in fact that when we came to view the place we didn’t even realise it was there.  We only discovered it on moving day.

Now this toilet is not an attractive room, it’s not exactly the worst toilet in the world but I am sure it could come pretty close.  It’s what I call a man only toilet, I would NEVER use it and I would NEVER allow female guests to use it (in fact there are some male guests I wouldn’t allow to use it either).  Jason has used it a couple of times but I think even he doesn’t like it too much.

My confession is that we have lived here 6 weeks and I have yet to clean it.  Not once have I ventured in there to clean it, I have opened the door once or twice thinking “This time I am going to clean it” but then I get afraid and bottle it and just close the door again.

We had a friend stay over on the weekend, the friend who helped us move in and he knows that toilet exists (I usually don’t let guests know about it).  He disappeared in the morning and we couldn’t think where he was and then  I suddenly realised to my horror that he was using the dreaded toilet.

So I really can’t put it off any longer.  Tomorrow, tomorrow I am going to journey into the unknown and clean that dam toilet.  Wish me luck folks, I may never return.

Augusts' Account

August, August, August. Oh dear August really is a month I would much prefer to forget. The whole month was consumed with ONE thing and ONE thing ONLY, moving house.

Moving house was something that we absolutely DID NOT WANT to do again until we are ready to purchase a home on my return to employment (something I plan to do next year). Some people may remember the last time we moved. We signed a lease on a house that only Jason had viewed, BIG MISTAKE. With no disrespect to my husband whatsoever, men just aren’t good at choosing homes, I learned this the hard way and I actually cried real tears when we moved in. However we did a lot of work on that house. We painted every single room, even the garage. We ripped all the vines and overgrowth off the deck and pulled down trees in the back yard allowing room for the kids to play. We turned it from a rather unpleasant house into a home and I really grew to love that place.

However the house had one other MAJOR downfall. It was sandwiched between a commission house on one side and a Silky Oaks charity house on the other. Basically this translated to us having unemployed, drug taking benefit bludgers as neighbours, ON BOTH SIDES. The situation became unbearable and we decided for our sanity we just had to move.

August was stressful. We had a move out date of September 8 and without fail we had to have somewhere to move to by then, no ifs, no buts’, no maybe’s. We were really struggling to find somewhere. We had so many hurdles this time round. Of course our main priority was that it needed to be close to Jason’s work but we also had to consider that Jacob would start school in a couple of months and being a one car family this meant we needed to be within walking distance to a school. Other considerations were visiting Jason’s Dad in the nursing home, public transport would be an advantage and the house just had to have a fully fenced yard. This was making things difficult.

Jason & Jacob in the Removal Truck

Of course we eventually found somewhere and although I didn’t love the house, the location was perfect. We are an 8 minute drive to Jason’s work, a 5 minute walk to the local school, a 30 second walk from the train station and have a HUGE fully fenced yard. And so the moving mayhem began.

Jacob Helping with the Move

I say mayhem but I have to be honest and say it actually went pretty smoothly apart from some cosmetic damage to our fridge. I don’t like to blow my own trumpet but my organisational ability comes in handy when it comes to situations like moving house and it really helps to take some of the stress out of the occasion. My kid’s ALMOST impeccable behaviour also added to the reduced stress levels. Yes we moved house with kids in tow, no shipping them off to anyone to get them out the way, they were there every step of the way and Jacob tried to help out where he could.

After getting settled in to our new home it was time to return to the old place to clean it ready to hand the keys back. I don’t mind sharing with people that I actually cried a little when I walked out for the last time. I took a moment to look around each room and think of some of my memories, there was so many good ones, and say goodbye. Soppy I know but hey that’s me. I am really going to miss that place but most of all I think I am really going to miss low level living.

Our HUGE Backyard

So here we are living at the new place, we have been here a little over a month now and I’m not going to lie, it doesn’t feel like home – YET. Homes need memories and that’s something we haven’t had time to create here yet but we will, probably starting today with our NRL Grand Final drinks. We don’t have anyone coming around, just us but I’m sure it will be fun and memories will be made. The kids love the new place, the large fenced yard has given them a sense of freedom that they just didn’t have at the old place.

Morning Tea with Friends

August was pretty much consumed with moving house, what with searching for somewhere, packing up and unpacking, cleaning the new place, cleaning the old place. We did find time however to fit in a morning tea with friends, which was fun as always and we baked cakes for Cousin Laurens Birthday which were yummy.

Jacob Eating Lauren's Birthday Cup Cakes

Jacob

Jacob finally has been enrolled into prep for next year. We couldn’t enrol him earlier as we were unsure which school he would be going to as we were moving. He will be attending the brand spanking new Wynnum State School. A few smaller schools in the area are closing at the end of the year and are all going to join together to form Wynnum State School. Very exciting to think Jacob will be attending prep there in its very first year. The facilities also seem pretty impressive and we are looking forward to viewing them on his orientation day in October.

Jacob is obsessed with counting and numbers at the moment and he seems to have a good grasp of counting and adding for a 4 year old.

Bella Eating Lauren's Birthday Cup Cakes

Bella

Bella has adjusted really well to living in the new house considering she is still so young. We now are looking for a Kindy in the area that she can start going to for one day a week in January when Jacob starts school. Her talking has been a little slow at developing as was Jacob’s but she seems to be learning lots of new words daily at the moment and has even started putting some together to form mini sentences.

Louise's Rant #5

For the first time in a  LONG, LONG time I have a few minutes spare and it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t wrote a rant on my Blog for like EVER and I do enjoy a good rant from time to time so here I am writing a rant on a Sunday morning.

Now I LOVE my washing machine dearly and treat him like a best friend (my washing machine is a boy) and I don’t know how I would live without him, however I am sure I am not alone in the frustration I feel with him at times.  It frustrates the hell out of me that after waiting a whole 1 hour and 10 minutes for him to do his stuff and makes our clothes clean and smelling fresh he then makes me wait an eternity before allowing me to open  the door.  So I’m not really sure how long it is that I have to wait, it feels like 4 or 5 minutes but in reality it is probably only 1 or 2 but however long it is it is WAY TOO LONG.
 
It just really, really puzzles me as to why we have to even wait at all?  Once the washing cycle is finished and the drum has spun its last spin what actual danger is there to the user?  I even looked it up on the internet and surprisingly even my trusted friend Google didn’t have an answer for me.  Is this just like everything else in the world and a case of Health and Safety overkill?  If anyone does know the answer, then please let me know.