Going to Rio

The Boy from Oz was FANTASTIC! And of course we feel like we've been going to Rio ever since with that song in our heads... I'll see if Mum wants to add anything more profound...
(And the boys survived their afternoon home alone together, the little ones slept and Sam took the bottle and there were no major dramas so I may be allowed out again one day ;) )
Mum here ... I just loved the show and was so impressed by all of it, and reckon it was worth every cent ... we even wondered about going again tomorrow, but Heth had no more milk expressed for Sam ... and I doubt there would have been tickets available anyway .... all in all, it was fantastic! I'm so pleased we went! .... and I'm tired now! See you all soon!

wow!

Hi Honeys! We all know what a small world this is, don't we?? Last night Dad and i went to the High School Musical, and as we walked into the foyer we were greeted by ... Allan, from Adare, and two very excited women, also from Adare ..... good grief!! They're all part of the South Coast District Musical society (or whatever it is) and next year they're doing "The Boyfriend", which is what the school's doing this year ... so they came for a look! We had some very interesting conversations, then and at interval ... Dad even let on that we used to be in musicals, so who knows what we'll be "encouraged into" next year! Allan made mention of "the letter" ... the "official invitation", and apparently he posted it last Friday, but we haven't got it yet! (Dad's been getting just a bit anxious!) ... so if it doesn't turn up today he'll ring Allan for another to be sent! Was all ve-ery interesting!
Dad was at Renmark yesterday, too, and one of the key ladies he's had a lot to do with crossed her arms, tapped her foot and said "what's this I hear about you leaving?? ... I'm NOT happy!" It seems there were Adare folk, and Loxton folk, and Renmark folk, at the Parilla centenary last weekend, and Chris (Renmark) was told by an Adare person "Oh we've been trying to get him for ages!" .... so isn't that nice??! It sure made Dad feel good ... altho then of course he's worried that he might not live up to expectations .... mutter mutter!
Then when we got home there were 7 messages on our ans machine .... one from John adn 4 from Granny, telling us that Grampa had a fall yesterday and had stitches ... he walked up the street n back (like he's not meant to!) and as he got back out the front of Willochra he didn't lift his stick high enough and sprawled on the path! Had to wait a while for someone to find him, and he's got 5 stitches (told Elwyn he'll have a headache today!) but is OK ... what can we say!??
And yes, Heth, I HAVE got the tickets! Love you all!

For tail shakin' fun...

just go to the Cozens blog (sorry, I didn't post it here - thought that might be over kill) and there is a little video of Natalie and Calvin dancing to a tail shakin' good song!
Hope everyone is going well (or getting well as the case my be Heth. Hope you're feeling better soon).
Hugs to all.

Happy Birthday Aunty Cherie!

We just wanted to say a Huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTY CHERIE from Jacob, Sam, Heth & Al. Hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy the celebrations!

Jacob says: Happy happy happy cake aun che (then laughs)
Sam says: zzzz grunt grunt grunt (cos he's asleep)

Happy Birthday To Cherie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the Birthday girl.
Although we are assuming that you have to work today, we here in Whyalla all hope that you can have an enjoyable, and as much as possible, relaxing day today.
There were some big goals that you wrote about on your blog the other day and we certainly hope that you are able to achieve the first today by encountering NO worries, just happies!

Sadly your birthday card is still here in Whyalla, but hopefully by the end of the day it won't be.

Big hugs to you, Love from
Debbie, Stuart, Natalie and Calvin.

hello everybody

hi everybody how are you? love michael xoxoooxxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

hello everybody

hi everybody how are you? love michael xoxoooxxxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

lots of legs ....

Hi Honeys, Thought i should tell you about my Friday morning. I got up about 6.30 as usual, and got dressed in the dark, as usual. I took my shoes and socks out to the dining room to put on, where there was a bit more light, and as I went to put my foot in my sock I realised there was a big huntsman spider on the sock ..... I squealed and threw it all away, and went in and woke Dad .... he hadn't rushed out to save me, so i figured in that case he deserved to be woken! I didn't know where the spider had gone, but when i calmed down, got another pair of socks, and went to put them on, I could see that he was calmly sitting on the sock I'd thrown away! I got Dad to come out then, and I want you all to use your imaginations here ..... picture Dad in his bright yellow nightshirt, belting the spider with the fly swat, and saying "naughty spider, naughty naughty spider!" ..... now is that scarey, or what??!
Love Mum
I DID enjoy my walk, once I got going!

Helloooooo...?

Ya'll been a bit quiet here lately! We assume everyone's ok just too busy to blog? If that's the case hope it's good busy rather than bad busy. We're good but busy (lol) - Al's busy with Uni and as you can imagine I'm busy with 2 little boys. Hope to hear from you soon! Much love to you all.

Granny and Grampa

Well we're home again, both rather weary and I think a bit sad - and with a boot full of "stuff"! We must be demented, bringing home more things to sort out - and pack! But hey .. what's a few more boxes! We spent an hour or so with Granny and Grampa last night, and Granny's bright as a button! She loves it there, and has put on a bit of weight ... not a bad thing! Grampa is just SO deaf, he's very isolated, and frustrated, and grumpy and unhappy ... and he wishes he wasn't here! And there's not really anything to say to him on that subject ... he feels he's outlived his usefulness, and combined with the (necessary) loss of independence at C Bk, he's really had enough! Poor old darling!! We did get a grin from him before we left today, but there sure weren't many! We stayed with Maria and Andrew last night, which was good - Andrew talked at length about the whole situation with Mum and Dad - they've learned since Mum and Dad have been over there, that there were lots of things happening before they moved that really were worrying - like Mum following Dad when he went for his walk, then going off in a different direction! I think it was good for Andrew to let off steam! Maria and Andrew want to buy the house, so that makes things interesting! But I'm sure it'll all work out, hopefuly with no ill-feelings anywhere!
Elwyn had asked us to go in to the house this morning and sort through some things - they'd set up a box for each of the 5 kids, and Dad(Ian's)'s was full ... I think every photo we (and you!)'ve ever given them, books, and various other things! Dad also took photos of all the furniture, with numbers on, to email around so all 5 of the kids (not sure about the next generation!) can say what (if anything) they'd like, and if there's only one person who wants a thing that will make things easy!
We went through some cupboards and started a heap of things on a shelf, with a note "If no-one else wants these I'd love them", and we ended up with the shelf full - Granny's writings, and her diaries, some letters ..... Grampa's Mum's diaries .... and then we decided that we'd bring them all home and tell the others we've got them at the moment - but not necessarily to keep! There are still stacks of books there, as well as photos etc etc etc ... their original dinner set ... a few things in the china cabinet ... it all looks very sad and a bit bare ... just not right! We had lots of hugs, and some tears!
We went back and had lunch with Granny and Grampa, and we managed to get Grampa telling us the story of when the brumby Rasheed kicked him in the knee (1939 at Minnipa!), and that was good - was more like his old self then .... but he's just so deaf! Then Granny was telling him off for being negative and depressed ... as I said, all a bit sad! (His knee's crook too!)
Even tho he's very deaf, they both enjoy company (family rather than other residents!) so I encourage all of you to make the trip and visit them .... they'd love to see you all! If you book in you can eat with them, for $5 each, and they're very nice meals - and excellent value!
I should go - I'm not looking at boxes of "stuff" tonight - too much in one day!
Hope you're all well and happy! Love Mum (PS Their new phone works well and Grampa can hear OK with it!)

Sam's Dedication

Everyone's invited to

Sam's Dedication Service
Sunday 3rd September
6pm at Adelaide West UC
Soup supper to follow.
Love to see you all there!

It's all good

We weighed Sam again today and he's 3260gm so has put on 230gm which is great! The nurse at the clinic said we must be doing the right thing so no more restrictions (although I'll try to avoid him sleeping too long during the day and hope that he sleeps longer at night) and do whatever we think is best. It's always nice to have that affirmation that we're doing the right thing, so feeling good! And of course I'll be feeling even better if Sam doesn't wake up for a feed every 2 hours tonight...

And here's a gross story for the day - Sam was in our bed between 5 - 6 this morning cos he wouldn't sleep and i needed to, and I must have had my mouth open at the wrong time and in the wrong place cos he just did a little chuck that went in my mouth! It was GROSS!!! Luckily it wasn't one of the projectile spews he often does... :|

Hi All

Hi Honeys All!
I've just been reading Lindy's Blog entries, and decided that anything in our lives is really just so much blah blah blah .... we mostly don't appreciate how blessed we all are, do we?! I continue to pray for Lindy's family and friends and all of Lebanon! ... and Israel ... and all that!
Our lives have taken on a new direction, now that folk here know we're leaving, and as we tell more folk I dare say there'll be a mixture of responses ... one of our lovely ladies left the meeting in tears yesterday after Dad dropped his bomb-shell! And Mickie next door was quite upset when I told her this morning ... we WILL be missed ... but we're both convinced that it is the right thing for us to do, and the right time! The overwhelming positive vote at Adare's meeting yesterday was very encouraging too!
However, we still live here in Loxton for another 5 months, and there are things to be done here ... not even thinking about packing!! We're having our Martha's On Martha free coffee lounge at church again this Christmas, and I've been working out what to put in the official Lights Brochure ... we've started a bit earlier this year, so will make it into the official blurb! We've decided to open more often too - each Fri Sat and Sun evening from L Lights Up night (25/11) up to and including Christmas Eve ... 14 nights instead of 9! Will be interesting!! And fun!
We're both looking forward to our holidays ... heading to northern NSW after Fathers' Day, and returning to Adelaide for Dad to start work with PRC meeting Mon 25th. I thought we'd stay in cabins en route, but fortunately asked the other day - Dad says we're tenting! Lovely! We'll probably compromise and travel to Canberra Tues 5th and stay with Bill and Anne, then to Newcastle next day .... but we'll see! I have been thinking we're possibly more likely to have ALL the family stay next year, so an extra mattress of some sort would be a good investment! (It will be LOVELY having ALL the family stay .... I'm REALLY looking forward to it!!)
We're going to visit Granny and Grampa tomorrow and will tell them we're moving. Apparently Dad has a cousin at Victor H too .... one I've never met! Dare say we'll find out about that!
Hope you're all well adn not working too hard! Hugs and "pisses" Nanna/Mum

Teddy 'Beanie' Bear's Pinic

Been awhile sinve our kids appeared here. So here they are with their growing collection of eanie kids bears. For the story of todays BKBear antics feel free to have a look at our blog (and the photo is a bit different there). Hope everyone is going well. My kids are loving the sunny weather and the trampoline is getting a lot of use.

BIG news

Hip Hip Hooray, our little little man is getting BIGger - Sam's put on 320gm in a week! They like babies to put on 20 - 25gm a day and he's put on more like 45gm a day so looks like feeding him often every 2 hours has done the trick. Now we can do 3 - 4 hourly feeds during the day and 4 - 5 hourly at night (although I'm not sure how likely I am to actually set my alarm so he doesn't go more than 5 hours...) and we'll weigh him at the clinic every week or 2. More updates as they happen! (He's now 3030gm)

Fire

(Sorry bout all the posts from me today but Jacob's in care so I can actually get to the computer without needing to play Bob or Wiggles games!)
Anyway...

We're still trying to get Jacob to say 'Sam' instead of Fire (ya know, Fireman Sam)... attempts tend to go something like this:
me: 'Can you say Sam?' Jacob: 'Fire'
H: 'sssss' J: 'sssss'
H: 'ssssssandy' J: 'sssssandy'
H: 'ssssssam' J: 'sssssfire'
You get the idea!
The other day I said something about 'Sammy' and so Jacob's been calling him 'Firemy'. I guess we must be getting closer, and til then it's just cute! He sure loves his little brother :)

Who's out there?

I know there's a number of people who visit this blog and I'm just wondering who you all are! So please feel free to make a comment... C'mon now don't be shy ;)

Speaking of spew...

help?

Hi all .... i'm home again .... and I haven't looked at my Inbox yet .......! I'm checking the Blogs first, adn went to make a comment on Rob's - but I need to sign in using my MSN address (as i understand it), and I can't rmemeberr what it is! I only ever use MSn to chat when someone else starts the conversation .... you may have noticed! Any suggestions as to how I can find out what it is?? ..... and of coure, now I can't remember what i was gonna say to you, Rob!! But anyway .... it's been a long day and I'm probably too tired to be trying to do this now anyway!! .... open to suggestions please! Love Mum

Thank you Nanna!

Just wanted to say a very HUGE thank you to Nanna for staying with us and helping us so much. For the dishes, the washing, the shopping, the Wiggles, the morning shift, the 'up', and most importantly the love and support and encouragement at this time, words don't do justice for the gratitude we feel! We're all very grateful and we love you and appreciate you very much.
Thank you also to Pappa for sharing her with us for the past few weeks :)
Much love and blessings,
Heth, Al, Jacob and Sam
xxxx

Rob has his own blog too!

Michael's is coming soon too.. his will be a bit different from the standard blog though..

Robs is at http://rombles.spaces.live.com/default.aspx?owner=1, I will put links up for those who want them :)

Michael has his first wobbly tooth!

It's a little later than normal, but still fantastic all the same! Michael discovered this morning that he has his first wobbly tooth. He has been smiling from ear to ear all day at his great discovery!
I have been passing on the news at work, so everyone at my work is awaiting the tooth fairy's first visit anxiously!
Me on the other hand, I am quietly a little sad as now my baby is really growing up. Rob helped ease that pain by stating that very soon his voice will break and all other fun things like that :(

Funny story for the day

Last night after I fed Sam Al was holding him and admiring the pockets on his jacket. He said 'If you're gonna spew, spew into this' (in his best Garth voice) and spew Sam did! I don't think he did manage to get any into his pockets, just all over himself and Al. Couldn't have timed that comment (or that spew) better!

Buzz & Woody come to stay

Once again, thankyou Cherie, Robert and Michael for Calvin's fish tank. There haven't actually been any fish in there since April but now that life is more quiet and we are doing less travel it seemed like a good time for Calvin to put some new fish in his tank. So now we would like to introduce to you Buzz (the big fish) and Woody (the little fish). We actually got Buzz on Monday with five teeny tiny fish, but Buzz ate three of the tiny fish before we even got him out of the bag! These two small fish have managed to stay alive by hiding from Buzz in the fake plants, so technically Cinderella and George are also in these photos with Calvin.
For a bit of fun, when we went back to the pet shop to buy Woody (a play mate that Buzz couldn't eat!) we also got a bunch more teeny tiny fish which we currently have swimming in a wine glass. I have put Natalie in charge of looking after these ones.

Thank you Whyalla Kitto's

Thank you very much for Sam's spunky fluffy bunny suit! He wore it to church sunday night for our first official family outing which we all survived quite well - even going to KFC for dinner first ;) Must be crazy but it was all good!

We love you guys heaps and look forward to seeing you!
xox

Another weigh in

Yesterday the nurse from the Child Youth Health clinic came to check Sam. He's all good just still a bit on the little side. Yesterday's weight was 2710g which is only 10g off his birth weight. They're meant to put on 20 - 25g a day and Sam's put on an average of 16g/day so we're back on a feeding limit of 3 hours during the day and 4 hours at night. *sigh!* The nurse wasn't too concerned but will come back next monday to weigh him again. So of course all yesterday arvo he was sleeping beautifully and i had to wake him to feed, and last night he was telling me it was time for a feed more like 2 hourly. I'm a bit whacked today! He's also a bit of a chucker (not just overflow but projectile vomits at times too!) so finding the balance between feeding him enough so he gets big and fat and not too much that he loses it all has been interesting.

Aside from all that things are going well. Jacob tends to jump very rapidly between happy as larry and throwing a ginormous tantrum and there's no telling what might set him off! He does love all the Nanna attention he gets and we're really not sure what kind of reaction we'll get after she leaves on friday! So we're gonna wean him gradually and are sending Nanna to stay with Grandad tonight (and i'm sure she's very much looking forward to a night and morning off and getting to sleep in a bed!) so we'll see how that all goes. It's great that he is in Care mondays and wednesdays! It has been more than wonderful having Nanna here playing with Jacob and doing the endless piles of washing and dishes (and all the other important things she does) but I think we'll all be ready to 'get back to normal' and discover what this new normal is with a toddler and a new born and a uni student and an exhusted mother... Time will tell!