Tony and Peter have worked hard to get our decks water blasted. They are finished now and look WAYYY better. We are just waiting for the sun to shine so that we can put out our deck table and sun umbrella. We are so looking forward to enjoying our first summer in our new home. Tony has been busy making himself a vegetable garden. He’s proud of it and gets excited over planning what to grow.
I am enjoying conducting in Primary and doing sharing time. Sharing time takes a lot of preparation since you almost need to prepare two different lessons – one for the junior kids and one for the seniors. A friend told me about this church website http://www.sugardoodle.net/ which is really helpful and has some awesome ideas for planning lessons and activities(not just in Primary, but RS too).
We recently started something new in our family. I found some ‘trophies’ at the two dollar store and on Sunday nights Tony and I are awarding the trophy to whichever boy has made a good accomplishment during the week. It may even be awarded for a behaviour they’ve changed or something nice they’ve done. I’ve been listening to a parenting CD that talks about how important it is to make children feel special and to also make them feel proud of themselves for having control over their actions and achievements. Tony and I also award it to each other which the boys seem to like. Hayden got the trophy this previous Sunday for occupying himself around the house without playing play station!! We took his PSP (as Hayden refers to it) away for a few months because we decided he was too addicted to it and we didn’t like the behaviour and attitude he kept having. It’s been hard for him and he’s been through some withdrawal, but he’s doing much better now and we feel like we have our old Hayden back. Hooray! Hayden still tests me everyday asking if he can play it, just to see if I will give in and say yes!
Noah has been awarded the trophy for saying his first two words: “DADDY HOME” when Tony comes home at 6:30pm AND for saying “DADDY SHOWER” when Tony is in the shower. I am grateful for what a happy boy Noah is. He is always smiling and just loves to sing and babble. I hope I can remember 20 years from now how cute it is listening to him in the car ‘babbling’ away to himself. He’s turning into a real monkey in the evenings…he gets so playful laughing and jumping all around. He begs for Hayden to lift him up, swing him around and hang him upside down! Something about evening time puts him in a really silly and playful mood.
Hayden has been making good progress at the BMX track and slowly getting his confidence and speed up. We really enjoy our Tuesday nights at the track and Ashton and Noah love going so they can eat (there’s always a BBQ with chips, soda, lollipops etc for 50 cents). At most after school activities it is always normal to see a ‘sea of mothers’ but at the track it is definitely a ‘sea of Fathers’. Fathers everywhere! After each race it’s funny to see all the fathers fixing their sons helmets, telling their sons how to control their bikes, what part of the track they need to pedal faster, etc It’s a great atmosphere and the club is very popular with nearly 100 kids – that’s a lot of kids and a lot of bikes! Lots of families have picnics from the back of their car boots (trunks) which is fun too.
Hayden had a cross country run at school recently and came 8th in his age group. Tons of parents showed up to watch their children run and everyone had their camera’s out, including me, but I only got the chance to take one photo. Hayden is looking forward to another school disco this week.
We finally got the left side of our car fixed after the damage Hayden did to it at Christmas (he took the handbrake of my brothers car and his car rolled down the side of our car leaving some nice big scratches!) Incidentally, Hayden has not forgotten what happened and he seems quite fearful of touching any controls in the front). We got given some dumpy little car from the panelbeaters to drive around in while they fixed our car. The kids enjoyed the change of car for a few days but I felt like I was driving on the ground after being so use to our minivan. We got our car back and it looked brand new, but then two days later I had to go back to the panelbeaters because we couldn’t open the left side doors from the inside of the car….sometimes nothing is quick and simple.
Friday night has become a regular date night for Tony and I while Mum and Peter watch all three boys. Usually Tony and I eat dinner at the foodcourt in the mall and then hang out in borders on the couches reading. It may not sound too exciting, but I really look forward to it and that’s what we enjoy doing. The mall is a real social place to hang out here (mostly because of all the cafes to meet friends for a drink and the fact that kiwi’s love to shop) and the huge food court on a Thursday and Friday night is always PACKED full of families.
Ashton’s best friend, Michael, is back from Russia. Funny enough, we sort of miss Ashton saying in his prayers, ‘Keep Michael safe in Russia’. He must have said it at least 50 times over the last few months. On a sad note, Ashton’s other best friend, Seyheon, is moving back to Korea on December 19th. I wish we didn’t have to teach our children so young that people will always come and go in their lives. Ashton doesn’t understand that she will be leaving for good. Seyheon begged to stay at our house last week, but her mother wouldn’t let her because she’s only ever slept on the floor (never a bed) and she’s always slept beside her mother, never on her own. It’s been great for the boys to have a close friend that has a different culture and does things differently. Our house won’t be the same each week without having Seyheon come over to play. It won’t be the same not seeing her at school each day and Noah will miss her greatly too. Seyheon has loved watching Noah grow from a newborn to a toddler. When he took his first steps Seyheon was right there (like always) SQUEALING and jumping up and down with so much excitement!!
Guess this wasn’t so condensed after all! A few pic’s of the past weeks. The computer won't let me write inbetween the photo's.
1. Ashton takes his airplanes for a walk around the house.
2. After being out in the car, Noah comes straight into the house and grabes his teddy cushion to sit on. He also grabes the remote control and plonks himself infront of the TV! A typical man already!
3. Hayden and Seyheon play Play Station together.
4. Ashton meditates while he sleeps.
5. Noah and his blankie which he drags behind him all over the house. His blankie goes everywhere he goes.
6.Hayden goes horseriding up north to Warkworth.
7. Hayden, Alex and Seyheon on the horses.
8. Tony's vegetable garden.
9. Hayden's cross country run at school.
10. Hayden feeds Noah his tea (dinner).
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