Why is it that a new series of ‘Air Crash Investigations’ always begins once you’ve booked an airline ticket?
Sam and Darcie got their reports this week. They break up on Friday for a fortnight - and a day (damn those teachers and their training!), which is a pain as Adam goes back to school on the Monday and Sam and Darcie don’t go back until Tuesday. Does nobody cater for families with kids at different schools? What do you mean, not everyone is as awkward as me? Darcie’s report was brill with A’s and B’s. Sam’s was good also with similar marks, but we are meeting with his teacher in the new term to discuss his behaviour. He’s easily led and more interested in being the ‘cool joker’ at the moment than knuckling down and working (ooh, who does this sound like?) His teacher appreciates that this age group is THE worst for boys. They are finding their feet in their peer group. Pushing the boundaries of parenting and teaching (god knows Sam is pushing boundaries! I think he’s got a JCB in to help him!) At least the teachers acknowledge his potential, which is good, as when he puts his mind to it, he is intelligent, articulate and lovely to be around. However, when he’s not in the mood; its like living with Gordon Ramsay on a bad day :o(
Adam received his report today and it was more like a picture – full of images and colours. As expected, Adam is classed as ‘shy’ and ‘quiet’. Yeah – not at home though – you want to see him cut some moves in the lounge when Hi 5 are on! He's karate-chopping around the place now like a thumb-sucking Kung Fu Panda! He has done really well this term though and settled in nicely. He is now as vocal as to say he ‘likes’ school. WOAH! Big achievement! He is coming out of his shell, slowly. We were on the way to school on Monday and suddenly there was a loud ‘Oh No!’ from the back seat. ‘What’s up, Cheesey?’ we ask and were informed; ‘it’s Monday today – buddy class ‘ (when the older kids go in with them and play for a while). ‘I don’t like buddy class – they get on my nerves!’ Great! From a 4 year old. There really is no hope.
Sam’s class did their assembly item this week and it involved rhythm and skipping. Sam was NOT impressed and only held the rope for others to skip with. He had a few lines to say; which he delivered confidently; but was mightily sheepish about the skipping.
We’ve had more stuff done around the house this week and turf is scheduled for T minus two weeks. It’s really still a little too cold to lay turf as next week we still have a couple of frosts forecast which turn the grass yellow. So it’s best to wait for a few more weeks and know that it’ll be warm enough to stay green. We went to the garden centre on Monday and picked plants that we like. We are going for a ‘tropical’ theme including Birds of Paradise, palms, frangipanis and hibiscus. I’m quite excited about the garden aspect. It’s costing a large chunk of the budget (probably a lot more than we had originally anticipated, what with the pool and the paving!), but it should look beautiful when it’s finished. The landscaper has done lots of plans for us and should hopefully be on site next week / week after to start laying all the pipes for the reticulation (automatic watering system). I can certainly see now why Aussies don’t like corner blocks when you consider how much extra its costing us to landscape the verge :o( Never mind; its worth it for the extra space and I'm sure next door's dog will appreciate the option of somewhere new to crap on!
We had all the rubbish removed from the garden last week by Skippy the Bobcat driver (I think we’ve more than covered a few of his mortgage payments over the last few months!) and he did all the levels in preparation for the landscaping, so the garden – although sandy – is ready to rock and roll. It was so windy last weekend that the pool cover unrolled itself from the roller, extended itself fully across the length of the pool and then pulled the roller into the pool with it! We thought someone had been in the garden as neither of us had put the cover on. It was hugely windy last weekend though. Rockingham is developing the name of ‘tornado alley’. It’s had a few incidents over the last couple of months where mini-tornados have swept through and ripped roofs off of houses and caused a lot of damage.
We have had the pool fencing installed as well, so Pentley can nip out for a quick wee without me being in a constant state of panic about him plopping into the pool. It looks quite nice (if fencing CAN look nice?)
Sam and Darcie got their reports this week. They break up on Friday for a fortnight - and a day (damn those teachers and their training!), which is a pain as Adam goes back to school on the Monday and Sam and Darcie don’t go back until Tuesday. Does nobody cater for families with kids at different schools? What do you mean, not everyone is as awkward as me? Darcie’s report was brill with A’s and B’s. Sam’s was good also with similar marks, but we are meeting with his teacher in the new term to discuss his behaviour. He’s easily led and more interested in being the ‘cool joker’ at the moment than knuckling down and working (ooh, who does this sound like?) His teacher appreciates that this age group is THE worst for boys. They are finding their feet in their peer group. Pushing the boundaries of parenting and teaching (god knows Sam is pushing boundaries! I think he’s got a JCB in to help him!) At least the teachers acknowledge his potential, which is good, as when he puts his mind to it, he is intelligent, articulate and lovely to be around. However, when he’s not in the mood; its like living with Gordon Ramsay on a bad day :o(
Adam received his report today and it was more like a picture – full of images and colours. As expected, Adam is classed as ‘shy’ and ‘quiet’. Yeah – not at home though – you want to see him cut some moves in the lounge when Hi 5 are on! He's karate-chopping around the place now like a thumb-sucking Kung Fu Panda! He has done really well this term though and settled in nicely. He is now as vocal as to say he ‘likes’ school. WOAH! Big achievement! He is coming out of his shell, slowly. We were on the way to school on Monday and suddenly there was a loud ‘Oh No!’ from the back seat. ‘What’s up, Cheesey?’ we ask and were informed; ‘it’s Monday today – buddy class ‘ (when the older kids go in with them and play for a while). ‘I don’t like buddy class – they get on my nerves!’ Great! From a 4 year old. There really is no hope.
Sam’s class did their assembly item this week and it involved rhythm and skipping. Sam was NOT impressed and only held the rope for others to skip with. He had a few lines to say; which he delivered confidently; but was mightily sheepish about the skipping.
We’ve had more stuff done around the house this week and turf is scheduled for T minus two weeks. It’s really still a little too cold to lay turf as next week we still have a couple of frosts forecast which turn the grass yellow. So it’s best to wait for a few more weeks and know that it’ll be warm enough to stay green. We went to the garden centre on Monday and picked plants that we like. We are going for a ‘tropical’ theme including Birds of Paradise, palms, frangipanis and hibiscus. I’m quite excited about the garden aspect. It’s costing a large chunk of the budget (probably a lot more than we had originally anticipated, what with the pool and the paving!), but it should look beautiful when it’s finished. The landscaper has done lots of plans for us and should hopefully be on site next week / week after to start laying all the pipes for the reticulation (automatic watering system). I can certainly see now why Aussies don’t like corner blocks when you consider how much extra its costing us to landscape the verge :o( Never mind; its worth it for the extra space and I'm sure next door's dog will appreciate the option of somewhere new to crap on!
We had all the rubbish removed from the garden last week by Skippy the Bobcat driver (I think we’ve more than covered a few of his mortgage payments over the last few months!) and he did all the levels in preparation for the landscaping, so the garden – although sandy – is ready to rock and roll. It was so windy last weekend that the pool cover unrolled itself from the roller, extended itself fully across the length of the pool and then pulled the roller into the pool with it! We thought someone had been in the garden as neither of us had put the cover on. It was hugely windy last weekend though. Rockingham is developing the name of ‘tornado alley’. It’s had a few incidents over the last couple of months where mini-tornados have swept through and ripped roofs off of houses and caused a lot of damage.
We have had the pool fencing installed as well, so Pentley can nip out for a quick wee without me being in a constant state of panic about him plopping into the pool. It looks quite nice (if fencing CAN look nice?)
We’ve gone for glass just by the alfresco as it’s hugely expensive and we couldn’t justify having glass everywhere (even if it would have looked lovely).
The home cinema installation returned yesterday to hang the plasma on the wall in the living room, but the second bracket (the one they suggested we needed and we’ve had to wait for the last three weeks to be ordered) doesn’t fit and the TV keeps slipping down on one side :o( So another weeks wait until they can come out again with another new bracket. The TV is on the wall and it should be OK for the Olympics watching the running; they should be going down hill and therefore achieving record times! It’s not that noticeable, but they haven’t been able to mount the speakers either. Just annoying when jobs can’t be completed for stupid reasons and incompetence really. I’ll post a photo of the lopsided TV though so you get the picture!
The flowers are from my friend Gail as a thank you for helping her tidy her house before her move this week. Poor girl is exhausted. Look gorg, don't they?
And here's a picture of some b&w photos I had done of the kids today to sit on the new unit. I likey.
Both Darcie and Adam had an ‘end of term’ party today and took food and drink in to share with their classmates. Paul took Adam in this morning and said that some of the Mums had really gone OTT – really fancy wraps with vegetables cut into shapes. I really tried to do something nice for Ads. I asked him if he wanted me to do his sausage rolls, but all he wanted was marmite (the imported $ 27 a jar stuff – proudly sponsored by Nanny B), with cheese and (I quote) not with that ‘funny cheese’ you put in my sandwich last week (meaning nice cheddar); I want my special cheese (i.e. processed). So how proud was I this morning to send Paul in with a plate of processed cheese and marmite! I did cut the crusts off, so effort WAS made. Put that in your ‘vegetable shape’ pipe and smoke it. To be honest, you’re lucky I can even see in the mornings, let alone make sandwiches, so this is a major achievement.
I bet I lost marks on the ‘magical Mum’ chart today :o) and my star has been moved to the ‘falling star’ section – like Darcie has in her classroom. I’m sure the Mum’s get graded as well as the children. I always feel so inadequate when I drop Adam off. There’s usually something I’ve forgotten or I’m late dropping him off (because of the school run with the other two). It must be a private school thing, as I’m always left feeling like the student that’s stuffed up! I liken it to that woman on 'Keeping up appearances'. A perfectly competant women, until she's in the company of Hyacinth Bucket. That's me...... apart from the competant part, obviously :-) I'm usually composed and organised until I pull into the car park of Ad's school and realise I've forgotten his drink bottle. Or his hat. Or his 'special news'. God, I'm a failure! Wonder if they do an evening course entitled ; 'the organised mother; how to simulaneously bake a cake, hem a school dress, de-flea the dog and catch the end of 'Deal or No Deal'? There must be a need for this surely? I can't be the only incompetent, panic stricken Mum who's forgotten the library book on a Monday morning?
Oh - something to look forward to; we've invited Gail's lot and her bro's family over on Friday 18th July for a 'Christmas in July' extravaganza! There will be turkey and crackers and I might do a Vodka Watermelon - always fancied one of those! Should be fun. I'll try and take some photos, but I always end up drunk after half an hour and miss the moment. I'll try harder this time :o)
Thanks to Debbie for the 'New Home' card. It was really lovely and my post box really appreciated it - thank you very much :o) I'll email you soon!
Paul's got another ENT appointment with his consultant next week, so that's something to look forward to (NOT!). They always seem to fall in school holidays. Never mind, we'll have a trip to Fremantle and he can treat us to chips by the harbour after :o)
And just lastly...... there’s a couple of ‘really Australian’ ads on the TV at the moment; one features outfits for pets (you know the doggy combat coat – just in case your pooch should get called up for National Service), and no word of a lie, at the end of the advert in small print after the price is written ‘dog not included’. No shit Sherlock? Really? For $19.99, I’d want something to fill the combat trousers please!
Another ad shows a mobile download which imitates an X-ray machine so that when you run the phone over your hand, you can see an x-ray of the fingers. It says on the bottom of the ad; ‘Please note; this is for fun and not a real x-ray machine’. Help me….. I need to escape. They are sapping my brain cells………….
