Snap!

 

I've mentioned to Darren a couple of times recently that we needed a new chopping board. The wooden one we have constantly smells like garlic and it is cracking in a few places. Well, without provocation today (I promise) it snapped while I was wiping it down.

This was the first chopping board I bought when I moved out of home so it's served me well over the years. Although for a while there when I was living on my own, it didn't get too much use :)

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Eyes on the road

 

I took this photo of an ad on the side of a bus today. I wanted to show a friend at work because we often joke about her driving directions. Instead of using road names she always tries to direct me based on landmarks or shops along the side of the road. "You know when you get to the set of lights and there's a pizza shop on the corner? Turn right there" she'd say.

It seems she's not the only one that gets around this way. Navman's latest maps use this landmark navigation now too.

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Blast off

 

Some of the creations Isaac is starting to make with his Lego are quite detailed. Today he came out to show me this space shuttle. After an initial launch he decided that he'd also need a rover to accompany it on it's trip to Mars. The buggy even had a camera mounted onto it so that it could take photos of the far away planet.

I sent Darren some photos of his creations and, being a space enthusiast, I think he was quite pleased to see that he's following in his footsteps already.

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Unexpected company

 

I went to pick up Noah from his afternoon nap today and found he had some company in his cot. He doesn't usually sleep with any toys so it was unusual to see. It appears Isaac had already heard him awake and thought he might like something to play with. Thoughtful big brother :)

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Misdiagnosis

 

Noah hasn't been himself lately. He's been quite upset and has also been off his food which is very unusual.

All the signs were pointing towards teething until I noticed a few spots appearing around his mouth. At first I thought it was just a rash from his teething but they started to get a little bigger and blister-like. A few trips to the doctors today confirmed he also had ulcers in his mouth and that rather than teething, he had hand, foot and mouth disease.

Poor thing screams every time he swallows food so it's been a lot of yoghurt and ice blocks today.

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Celebrating

 

Today was Audrey's birthday party. Audrey's dad Brian provided some entertainment singing and playing his guitar while the kids danced and then played musical statues.

It's amazing to see how grown up the kids are now and scary to think they'll all be off to different schools next year.

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Silly Saturday

 

Tomorrow is the first of the 5th birthday parties among Isaac's group of daycare friends. Audrey is having a mask party so I took him down to the party shop to pick out a mask to wear. He eventually decided on a transformers mask but not before trying on a few of the silly hats.

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Couch potato

 

Since going back to work, I rarely get the chance to unwind in front of the tv anymore. Once the boys are in bed I'm usually back online to catch up on work or attend conference calls. I decided tonight I'd give all that a kiss and watch some I.T. crowd with Darren.

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Missy

 

I bought my sister a ticket to see Missy Higgins at the State Theatre for her birthday and, after a long wait, tonight was the night. I'm always taken by the beauty and history of this theatre. It really is special every time I step into it.

It was also great to hear Missy live again after her recent hiatus. I love live music. The emotion you get from watching a performer live means that some songs take on whole new meanings and I often get an appreciation for songs I previously hadn't taken any notice of on an album.

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Skype session

 

We had arranged a play date with Liam earlier in the week but unfortunately Isaac got sick. He seemed much better today but given Liam's weak immune system we didn't want to risk passing on any nasty bugs so we settled for a Skype session instead. It was so great seeing the boys chat and sing with each other via their computer screens. Technology really is amazing these days.

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Dinner sans boys

 

One of those nights where the kids have an easy meal, usually leftovers, and Darren and I get take away once they're in bed. We don't do it often but it's nice when we do.

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Re-stocking the shelves

You know your child is sick when they get home from school and put themselves straight to bed. That's what Isaac did tonight. I knew we were out of Panadol so I made a quick trip to the pharmacy to stock up for what could be a long night.

DIY Christmas

I've never been big into Christmas but this year as the boys get older and understand a bit more about what's going on I'm getting a bit more excited about it. I think I also realised that it won't be too many years more before Isaac really figures out what's going on so I want to try to capture the excitement I remember about Christmas for him while I can.

I've started to think about decorating the house a bit more but, instead of spending lots of money, I've gone for some DIY options. I made these prints today and reused some frames I had around the house to put them in. I've also got a wreath in mind that I can make out of cheap baubles from the $2 shop.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas already...

It's been a long time coming

After two years of being married, I am finally getting around to displaying more photos of our wedding around the house. They're in the frames now. All I have to do is get around to hanging them on the wall.

Toilet humour

Well, it's happened. Thanks to my mother, Isaac has discovered the good old whoopee cushion. He still hasn't quite got the art of keeping a secret so we have to act surprised when we sit down and hear THAT noise.

He thinks it's hilarious though... and Darren and I often have a bit of a chuckle too.

More choices

When our office moved from the city to Mascot/Alexandria a few years ago the most noticeable difference (other than the lack of public transport) was the lack of food choices. In the city you can find whatever you want, whenever you want.

Fortunately there's been a fair bit of development around the office over the last year so since returning to work I've been able to try out a few of the new cafes nearby. Today it was the Mexican cafe next door that does yummy quesadillas.

Spotty stegosaurus

As Darren left for work this morning he handed over a few left-over boxed of sticky dots from his office and suggested Isaac could have some fun with them. I knew exactly what we'd do. I found a dinosaur stencil online, printed it out and suggested he 'colour it in' with the sticky dots.

It kept him amused for a good while and was relatively mess free (except when he unraveled all the dots from the packet). He was very pleased with the finished product. Then he suggested we do a lion picture too which was perfect for the yellow and orange dots we had on hand.

I might have to pick up some other colours for future craft projects.

All hours

One of the 'joys' of working for an international company is the late night calls. To save my sanity I try to only limit them to a few nights a week and 11pm is the absolute latest I will tolerate... even then it's only if it's absolutely necessary. 

Servicing

Our new car went in for it's 1000km service. No problems to report and I even convinced them to throw in a wash.

Three Ps in a pod

While Isaac and Darren were camping last night I made myself a meat pie stacked with mashed potato and peas for dinner. Isaac liked the sound of it so much that I made some for him for dinner tonight using party pies. They were a big hit with both boys as Noah devoured his 'deconstructed' pie stack too.

 

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More than I bargained for

I took an impromptu trip to Ikea this afternoon and, as usual, there were a few impromptu purchases as well. I don't think I ended up getting anything I had originally gone there for but at least the lounge looks pretty now.

 

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All that jazz

Darren's colleague Anna Salleh was playing at El Rocco in Potts Point tonight so we arranged a babysitter and went to support live music in Sydney.

As usual, she was very good and the guy on keyboard was very impressive.

The walk to and from the car through the main street of Kings Cross was also entertaining. Never a dull moment in that place.

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Small things...

I got a pleasant surprise today when I realised the coke I picked up at lunch had my birth year on it.

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Practice makes perfect

Noah seems to be getting a bit frustrated lately and I think it's because he wants to get moving. To help him out we've been practicing standing up. He's still quite unstable but he's getting a bit stronger and looks super cute.

Sharing a story

 

I was talking to Darren the other day about wanting to read more to Noah. Being a second child he doesn't always get the same amount of attention the first one did so we've been a little slack in the reading department to date. It's also hard to read to the boys together because Noah still tries to grab the pages as you're reading and his attention span obviously isn't as long as Isaac's.

Out of the blue tonight Isaac wanted to read a book to Noah at bedtime. It was really nice to see and something that I hope to see more of in the future as Isaac learns to read.

Ribbit

I'd ordered these cute non-slip bath mats online a few weeks ago and selected to pick them up from their warehouse in Sydney. I finally got around to collecting them today. 

Surf, sand and sanity

 

The weather was perfect today for a visit to the beach. It wasn't hot enough to get us in the water but it was lovely sitting on the grass watching the people and surf.

Not only has the weekend been good for me to recharge a bit, it will also be good for the boys to have a more relaxed mum/wife return home.


Thanks Tennille and Darren for making it all possible. Who knows, I may just make it a regular occurrence.

Let's do brunch

One of the first things I wanted to do on my kid free weekend was brunch. It's one of those things that I used to enjoy on lazy weekends but just isn't the same with kids around.

If I do nothing else for the rest of the weekend, I will be happy.

Hostess with the most(ess)

After a couple of very busy weeks, I'm taking some time out and spending the weekend with my sister. She's just moved to the beach and kindly offered for me to stay at her place for a bit of kid free bonding.

She is the ultimate host so far with a cooked dinner, wine (on the sweet side just how I like it) and even a picture of my family on the bedside table in my room. Be careful sis, I'll be back every second weekend at this rate.