Big news this week!

After two years of pain, heartache and bullshit, we collected the keys to our new house from the builders yesterday. So, finally it’s ours! (oh…. yes, and the banks!). We are lucky in as much as we have been able to get the carpets in, the walls painted and the floor tiling done – most people aren’t able to start any of this until hand over, so although the builders have messed us around chronically, at least we are slightly ahead of the game in that respect.

The paver has reached a compromise with us and is prepared to finish the rest of the job, which is another relief! I’ve got the carpet installers coming tomorrow to explain the butcher-job that they’ve done on our new, virgin walls and we have the blind company coming on Thursday to sort out the issues with those. The alarm was connected today by our friendly tech, Jason.

We had to go into the builders offices in Perth to collect the keys. There was a manual as thick as your arm with all the information on the appliances and all the guarantees etc and we were given the keys and a little ‘congratulations’ gift. However, as soon as we got back to the house, we realised the bleeding door key doesn’t fit the front door!! We had a choice of ‘white wine’ or ‘white wine’ as all the red had gone (surprise!)




There’s still a lot of cleaning to be done in the house. I don’t think I’ve ever seen as much dust! Actually, that’s a blatant lie, obviously. Have you seen my housekeeping skills? Paul and I leave memos for each other scrawled in the dust on my desk. I get all my ‘mothering’ skills from my Mum. Hoovering is done diligently once a fortnight (whether it needs doing or not!). I bought a carpet sweeper today in Woolies. The old fashioned one that was used in the days of dinosaurs and no electricity. I remember my Nan used to have one. I was excited to unpack it tonight and had 10 minutes unbridled pleasure tormenting the pants off the dog before the kids took it off me and spoilt my fun :o(

So, everytime we go to the house now, we have to take something with us; that way we’ll slowly start to accumulate our things at the new house without having to break our backs doing it all in one hit.

We had a fab trip out on the boat on Sunday - our longest ever journey. We made it all aroung Garden Island and the small island to the top left is Rottnest. We were only about 16 miles away - that's our lifelong ambition, to take the boat to Rottnest! Oh, we're such salty sea dogs!



The 'E' is Secret Harbour (home) and the 'S' is where the boat is moared in Mandurah. Good going, eh?

We anchored twice too (aren't we getting efficient) and Paul and the kids did some fishing. We didn't catch anything (or see any dolphins as close as Paul did!), but it was fun trying.



And last for today, here's a photo of Miss Parcel, just because she looks beautiful and thoughtful in it:

Cheery bye!

Well here we are again.

The kids broke up for their two weeks off today. Adam had a sickness bug on Sunday that meant he had Monday off school. Paul then caught it and was in bed most of Wednesday and Thursday and then I got a phone call from school today asking me to come and collect Darcie at 2.30pm as she had vomited, then Sam complained that he didn't feel well when he got home and he has been spewing (good use of the Aussie narrative!) all evening. Welcome to the holidays! The only question remaining is when one of the little darlings will give it to me! Usually I have the constitution of an Ox, but with the pressure we're under, there's bound to be a chink in my Oxen-armour..... watch this space!

It's been a really busy week. Darcie had her check up with the Dentist on Monday. It's a 45 minute drive from our house and our appointment was 8.45am yeay - NOT. She had a session with the hygenist and saw Peter (the children's dentist) and he has now referred her to a (I keep wanting to say Ornithologist, but I know this isn't right!) orthodontist. She has a (medical speak coming up.... are you ready?) Class II malocclusion and a right unilateral crossbite. She also may need a spacer to retain the space where her tooth was removed. Sounds awful, doesn't it? Basically it means that she's got an overbite and her teeth don't line up and her bottom teeth overlap her top ones in places. Sounds blooming expensive though, I know that much. It can cost as much as $ 5,000 for a brace! Bearing in mind that her extraction set us back $ 1500 WITH insurance and we've used the year's allowance up for that already, it could be an expensive set of nashers! Thank god Sam's 'Beaver Boy' teeth have settled down now and he can knaw trees with the best of them. Adam's look a bit dodgy in terms of crossbite, but coz he sucks his thumb, I'm hoping this will help shift them about a little :o)

I thought you might like to see Darcie's x-ray of her teeth. Now this has completely amazed me. I know how the teeth work and that they must be 'sitting there' waiting to be called into action, but it never dawned on me that you would be able to see all this in an x-ray. Just how amazing is this picture? I could look at it for hours (it cost me $70, so I shall, OK?).

Other news....

Sam had his first inter school swimming competition today. He swims breast stroke (has natural frog feet apparently :o) and has been coming on in leaps (frog..... geddit?) and bounds. He tried out for the school team (can't remember if I told you that I had discouraged him for fear that he wouldn't get in), and made it. There have been several training sessions at the local pool commencing at 7.30 til 8.15am and he's gone to as many as we could manage (we've had dentists, sick children and a Teddy Bear's Breakfast to contend with as well this week!). Today was the competition and he travelled by coach to Rockingham to compete against the other five schools. Well, I am hugely proud to tell you that Sam finished FIRST in his individual race, second in the breast stroke relay team and fourth overall in the medley relay team. GO SAM! He came home absolutely exhausted, bless him. He even phoned us to ask if we could pick him up in the car as he was too knackered to ride his bike home, and them promptly spent the evening being sick. I think as well he was quite nervous and hadn't drunk enough water. All in all, not a good combination - but well done Sam!!! He's trying out for the soccer team now too. I think there's more swimming throughout the year as well, so he'll certainly get fit.

Darcie's been learning about chickens and they've hatched eggs in their class. She's really enjoyed it (KFC - yum), but they were whizzed back to their farm this week for fattening up - ahem, sorry, I mean a long, leisurely life of egg laying and fouraging. She's got a lot to look forward to next term; she's going up a stage in reading books, it's her class assembly next term and they are having an excursion - don't know where to yet though. Exciting stuff when you're 7.

Adam has turned a real corner and is enjoying school! I can leave him in the mornings by sitting him on the mat, giving him a kiss and then walking out the door. I do not have him stuck to my leg like a limpet any more; no crying and running after me as I leave. It's ace! He really likes his teacher and her assistant. I'm not convinced he's got many friends yet. I'm surprised really - seeing as he's got Sam and Darcie to play with, I'd have thought he'd be more confident, but he's quite shy around other kids. He should have gone to a compulsory 'College Sunday' last week for an hour when all the school were having one big sort of assembly, but he starting vomiting about 11am, so we couldn't go. It was organised like a military operation though. You were only allowed one ticket per child and it was properly printed like a theatre ticket from the local Performing Arts Centre where the performance was held! I'm sure we'll get to attend another one next term. Seeing as the theme was Easter, and Adam's is a Christian school, it would have made a refreshing change to have heard something about the true meaning of Easter, rather than the 'chocolate, bunnies and rabbits' that we had from Sam and Darcie's school Easter Assembly. It was really quite shocking.

Oh and the other week, the kids had their annual beach carnival again. They loved it. They get just as much fun out of walking en mass to the beach with all their mates as they do from the activities. Darcie threw herself into it and had a whale of a time, but Sam was more interested in looking cool and hanging out with the chicks! I got fed up in the end; took two photos of him with his hands on his hips looking 'moody' and left the beach.

We have paid the final installment to the builder for the house now. So on Monday, we are going in to Perth to collect the key. It should be a happy time, but we've had so many rows lately with the builder (again) and the other trades, that we're battle weary, tired and very fed up:o(

The painters have been in and it looks lovely. I'm really pleased that we chose some bold colours in some rooms; I think it works well. But then the carpet layers come in after the painters and have gouged great chunks out of the plaster by being careless. I've complained to the carpet company and they are sending an assessor out next week. It's not on. Also, the blinds are in, but some aren't hung straight, a few have pin holes in them or dirty marks or the wooden battening is split. Again - I'm complaining...... do you see a theme developing here? I'm sick of my own voice.

The accountant's done our first 'year end' and we've been whacked with a large tax bill. Ho hum.... I suppose we must have earnt it and spent it, but I'll be damned if I know where it is now (oh yes, I'm probably sitting on it, driving it, or about to move into it - or one of the kids are - or the dog's eaten it). But, on the plus side, this does mean that we are finally able to put in our application for permanent residency. This will be a huge relief (even more of a relief when we get it). We've worked our arses off to get to this stage and quite frankly, we deserve a little luck and good fortune to get this through quickly. Australia needs us! We raise it's IQ :o)

So what have we got planned for the holidays? The exciting task of packing boxes and cleaning up vomit at the moment! The weather's supposed to be nice for the weekend, so we would like to get out on the boat if the kids are up to it. Other than that..... not much pencilled in yet. It's Anzac day on the 25th, and I think we'd quite like to go into Perth for the parade again or maybe even get there for the dawn service. It's very moving. The school had their Anzac service today and all the children take in a flower to make a class wreath. Because Rockingham has a large naval base, there are usually a few uniformed sailors in attendance...... All the nice girls love a sailor..

Paul had a fantastic close encounter on the weekend.

He and our friend Paul went out for a 'male fishing extravaganza'. Paul took a pork pie and a couple of scotch eggs (in one of Adam's Thomas lunchbags, I hasten to add :o) and skipped off to play for the day. They dropped the boat (Paul's) in at Rockingham and whizzed off into the bay for a spot of fishing. Paul admitted that it was a little hairy on the way out; the waves were quite high and water was sloshing into the boat, but they went round the other side of the island where it is more sheltered and anchored up for a spot of fishing.

It wasn't long before they had a visitor!

A dolphin came up to the boat and started scavaging for food.

He came back to visit them several times throughout the day - swimming under the boat and just popping his head up above the water level. Paul said all of a sudden they would hear a loud splash and 'Nick' (as he's known locally by the cut in his fin) would be back for another play.

It was only when the 'Rockingham Dolphin' boat scooted past, full of tourists that had paid hundreds of dollars to have this sight before them that Paul realised how lucky and how magical the moment was.

Paul telling 'Nick' to go home and the bait had all gone.

WOW!

Me? Where was I? How kind of you to ask! I was at home with the three kids, cleaning the toilets. We did pop down to the beach in the afternoon, but had no where near the excitement that Paul did :o(

I think the smile says it all; what a fantastic day!

P.S. Our new business 'Dolphin on a stick' is in the latter stages of development and we will have an on-line shop launched soon. You can't even see the wires - isn't technology amazing these days?