Nuffnang

Wednesday, 31 August 2011

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

Two Weeks and Two Years

I've been absent from the blogosphere the last two weeks.

I've pretty much been absent from normal life.

You see, we have a stalker, again.  Not in a cool, "look at me I'm a rock star" way, but the way that makes you scared to walk out the front door when it is dark and you have a mental catalogue of the nearest weapon running through your head at all times.  The type that makes threats against your family and is just crazy enough that you have to worry that he knows where you live.

So now he doesn't.

One very speedy and very expensive move has been orchestrated over the last two weeks.  One week of which I spent in bed or on the lounge, first with terrible tonsillitis and then the gastro bug going around.   Thank goodness for our well established relationship with our local movers and their pre-pack service.  This is the fourth time we have used them.  Apparently that is very uncommon, people don't move more than four times in four years, usually...

Anyway, we've moved.  I'm half unpacked and the boys are settled in to their new rooms.

Which brings me to the Two Years part of this posts title.

Today is the Munchkin's second birthday.  He's had a fabulous day that began with presents and ended with cake, pretty much a two year old's perfect day!


Last week


Now
The Munchkin Smiles



And Then,
The Little Man Meets the Munchkin

The last two years have been challenging, so so difficult and wonderful all rolled into one cheeky little package.  The Munchkin is all action all of the time.  He is a charmer.  He is a big personality.  He is hard work and without a doubt just going to get harder.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Little Man adored him from the moment he walked around the corner in my hospital room and exclaimed "Oh Mummy, he came out!" and spent the next hour inspecting every part of this new little person.  It's wonderful to see brothers play so well together.

Happy Birthday my Munchkin.  Mummy loves you!


* The stalker is connected to the Workaholic  and  issues relating to his old job. The police are involved.  I feel safe returning to blogging and posting photos of the boys.  Please don't worry about them, I would never knowingly put them in danger.

Wednesday, 17 August 2011

Wordless Wednesday

What happens to the laundry when the Munchkin
is unsupervised for a few minutes...


I'm joining in with My Little Drummer Boys & faith hope and a whole lotta love for Wordless Wednesday.



Thanks for dropping by.

My Little Drummer Boys

Tuesday, 16 August 2011

Puke

I must say we have been pretty lucky in the heath stakes over the last couple of years.  A couple of colds and a few bumps.  Nothing serious really.

Last week I developed a shocking case of tonsillitis and the Doctor prescribed me penicillin and pain killers.


Yesterday I spent the day feeling off.  Last night it hit.  I have the worst vomiting bug I can remember having.  It was a quite traumatic night.  My Little Man ran around tending to Mum as she puked and sat on the loo.  The poor bloke, he was great, but so scared.  The Workaholic took forever to get home.  I had sent him six texts and made two phone calls, but he still had not grasped the urgency.  It took a vomiting phone call from the loo to get him moving and on his way home.

When he did manage to get himself home, he put the Munchkin back to sleep, gave the Little Man a hug and a drink and then finally came into the bathroom to ask why I was sitting on the floor, wet and wrapped in a towel...  Grrrrr.  I pointed out that I had had three showers (including one bawling down the phone to my Mum) and that the sheets on the bed needed to be changed so I had nowhere to go.

So for the first time in the last 24 years, he changed the sheets and even put them in the washing machine.  He then left me, to eat his dinner (at 10:30 mind you) and watch TV. 

Men suck.  Seriously this would have to be the most useless effort ever.  I can only imagine the scene if the roles were reversed!

Today the Little Man is quietly puking his guts up like a trooper.  I know that if his father gets it, it will be a different situation entirely!!  He's useless as a carer, but it's as a patient he really excels.  The entire street has to know he is sick and he constantly NEEDS something.

How's your Man in sick situations?

Friday, 12 August 2011

Things I Know and a Flog...

Joining in with Shae from Yay for Home! (she's drunk with power this week, watch out!), things I know as well as Where's my Glow for Flog Ya Blog Friday again this week.

Just because I can. You can too. Just click on the links above or below.

Have a great weekend!

***
- Tonsillitis is the pits.  I have a raging case of bacterial tonsillitis this week.  My GP said my left side was verging on an abscess, he also asked if I had been delirious.  I had phoned and cancelled my Friday activities on Thursday morning, so yes I think I had!  I must say the antibiotics, the Panadeine Forte and sleep have helped immensely.  My gorgeous cousin looking after my boys yesterday was a Godsend and I'm pretty sure it helped her decide that her two beautiful girls are enough kids for her!



- The last sister in law has defriended me on Facebook.  I have not had a decent explanation.  My in laws are just a ridiculous amount of hard work for a negative return.  I'm just going to pretend they don't exist from now on, it's less stressful.

- I hate washing curtains.  They are so awkward.  I hate getting them down, getting them dry and back up again.  I especially hate it when the blockout layer sticks together...

- The Big School orientation program for the Little Man has arrived.  I'm excited for him and a bit nervous as they use two of the sessions to place the kids with a teacher for Kindergarten.  Lately he's decided that if it's too hard it's not worth doing, I miss the Little Man who loved the word "practice", I'm pretty sure he will be less than impressive if he's still in this frame of mind when they are assessing him.  You can never tell what kind of mood he'll be in, or how he'll come across.  The last two sessions are with their class and teacher for next year.   I just hope he gets a teacher who understands him, we've already seen via pre-school how important that is for him.



FYBF

Wednesday, 10 August 2011

Wordless Wednesday


The Muchkin gives my God Daughter a hug


 
I'm joining in with My Little Drummer Boys & faith hope and a whole lotta love for Wordless Wednesday.


Thanks for dropping by.

Saturday, 6 August 2011

My Inlaws Have Unfriended Me on Facebook!

Should I care?



I'm feeling ambivalent.  At first I had a bit of a giggle, but overnight I have thought more about it.  It's a real statement, I mean why bother?  I am wondering what prompted it.  Maybe it is about a Facebook purge like suggested here.  Maybe, there is an internal O family war going on that I don't know about?  I figure it has to do with sibling relationships rather than me, but I still want to know.  These are my boys family after all.

I don't have sisters and the Workaholics have always been a mystery to me.  It seems so complicated.  They have such an ebb and flow of battles, full on wars, silent brooding, gossip, jealousies and weird loyalties in times of crisis.  It's like some secret club I can't join. I may have been around for 24+ years but I am definitely not one of THEM. 

My family are very open and COMMUNICATE with each other if there is a problem.  We don't do misunderstandings. We confront it head on and clear it up before it becomes an issue.

They really are a family of miscommunication, misunderstandings, intrigue, gossip and jealousy.  They are competitive.  They are not supportive of each other.  I simply don't understand it.

I am sorting out my boys birthday parties this week.  The Munchkin turns two at the end of the month and then the Little Man turns five at the end of October.  We have a party for each of them every year because that's how the Workaholic wants it (a sign of his birthday party deprived childhood, he tells me).  So last night I thought I'd send my sister in law, who has boys the same age, a quick message about the dates so she could put them in her diary and let the others know for me (they have older kids).  That's when I realised that she had defriended me on Facebook.  I commented on something she posted earlier in the week so I know it was done recently.  I had a quick flick through my friends list and noticed a cousin she sees regularly had also defriended me and another sister in law has never accepted my friend request (Nice, really classy).

So, do I care? Should I care?  What happens now?  Do I still invite them to the birthday parties?  Do I ring and confront the issue or do I brush it under the carpet like they usually do?  It is just so passive aggressive.  I mean even writing this and not confronting it is passive aggressive, so I guess that answers my question.

I am going to confront it head on.

What would you do?

Friday, 5 August 2011

Things I know and a Flog!

Joining in with Shae from Yay for Home!, things I know as well as Where's my Glow for Flog Ya Blog Friday again this week.

Just because I can.  You can join in too.  Just click on the links above or below.

Have a great weekend!



***
- The weather is divine in Sydney. Just Deeee-viiine!  It's so good we went swimming and the boys have spent most of the day running around the backyard enjoying the sun.  The house is wide open and the washing is done.

- Yesterdays trip to Ikea is still inspiring me.  I have rearranged my lounge room and sorted out my kitchen cupboards.  I am about to attack the hall (or as it is known in the house of O - the shoe cupboard) and work out just what can be done to organise it so I don't need to keep organising it!!

- This photo makes me smile:

Marilla & The Workaholic snuggling in their sleep.

I woke at 12.30 the other night, I'm pretty sure because subconsciously I remembered I had not put the cats in the laundry, to see this!  I grabbed my phone & uploaded it to Facebook immediately.  It's really funny because he swears she is terrified of him!  They were both snoring gently and it was a really beautiful thing to see, especially as she is on her way out (which is why she has been relegated to the laundry at night - she is losing the plot) and it is such a great memory of the old girl.

- I can't get enough of Dream On by Aerosmith today.  It's on a loop in my brain and I'm not unhappy about it.  It makes me happy the instant I hear the intro and I sing along like a looney at the top of my voice much to the horror of the Little Man who has taken against all things Steve Tyler (I do suspect me singing Dream on may have contributed).






- I finished reading Monica McInerney's  'At home with the Templetons' and was disappointed by the rushed and rather bland ending.  It had such potential.  I hate when a book seems to be heading somewhere that could be great and then fizzles out.  I need something else to read.  Any recommendations?  I have Fiona McIntosh's 'The Quickening' series on my bedside table but I have resisted it, I'm trying to make sure I have a block of time to read them all at once and enjoy!

- I know that participating in these link ups are my blogging life line that make me write on a Friday.  Thanks ladies!

- I know that Friday is Macca's night for the boys in the House of O and I don't care what anyone thinks about that!

I'm having a happy day! What about you?

FYBF

Thursday, 4 August 2011

Ikea Inspires

I don't usually go in for retail therapy.  I would normally do pretty much anything to get out of going to the shops.  Today I found it therapeutic.

I had decided earlier in the week that today would be a lazy home day, so we could all have a bit of a relax after our busy week last week, but as we ended up doing that on Tuesday, I wasn't too upset when my Mum rang to ask us to meet her for a coffee.

So we decided on Ikea which is roughly in between our two homes.  It was an unexpected bonus to have an opportunity to 'window shop' instead of rushing into the place with a mission and battling trolleys through those ridiculous self service checkouts (don't get me started on those...), I was inspired.  Now I am determined to sort out those niggling things around the house that are driving me mad.

I am going to replace the kitchen table and chairs.  We bought our current table from Oz Design as a space saving option in a previous house.  It is round and has two drop down sides.  One is completely buggered and the other has a slant which is getting worse by the day.  Also it is a 90cm circle.  We definitely need a bigger one these days.  The chairs we are using at the moment are from Ikea and cost me $15 each 6 or 7 years ago.  They were my student chairs in my bead shop and have seen a lot of butt time!  They are now at the point where two of them cannot be tightened with the allen key, so when you make the mistake of choosing one of these little beauties, you take the risk of it falling apart but at the very least get a little sea sick...

It looks something like this:

Truly uninspiring ugliness...


We test ran these potential replacements today:

Urban - It stacks, it's solid and it is an indoor/outdoor chair

URBAN Junior chair, white Width: 45 cm Depth: 48 cm Height: 79 cm Seat width: 32 cm Seat depth: 28 cm Seat height: 53 cm
Urban Junior - This little beauty is also available & both boys want one!


This is the table.  I'm not sold on it.  I would prefer not to have the pedestal as it means the chairs are out a little further than I would like.

DOCKSTA Dining table, white Diameter: 105 cm Height: 75 cm
Docksta Dining Table

They do have a glass table which is cheap and I love it, but I'm so nervous about glass around my boys and believe me, that includes the Workaholic!!

I also spotted a desk that I would like for my use only.  You see we have a perfectly good sized office.  I was really enjoying using it up until June when the Workaholic moved all of his paperwork and office equipment, including 3 massive office chairs, in when he shut down his office.  He then proceeded to spend his month off muttering about My clutter and refiling MY things and reducing MY desk space and MY cupboard space.  The cupboard space is so annoying.  I had spread myself out in a very organised manner (so I could find things) in one of the three stationery style cupboards we have in there.  He has reduced me to one shelf!!  I moved most of my things out the other day and they are now located in boxes on top of my bedroom dresser.  They need a home and since I removed the crib from my bedroom, I have the perfect spot for this:

MICKE Workstation, white, birch effect Width: 105 cm Depth: 50 cm
Micke Workstation

It has pretty much the storage I need (I really don't need much) and it fits in my space perfectly.

I also discovered some yummy shoe storage that I really, really need.  I'm pretty sure every woman needs shoe storage...

SKUBB Shoe box, white Width: 22 cm Depth: 34 cm Height: 16 cm Package quantity: 4 pack
Skubb - $19.95 for a four pack, hmmm how many packs do I need...

Our impromptu coffee morning yielded another non ikea result.  My Mum had asked me several weeks ago what to get the boys for their birthdays.  The Munchkin was easy, I allocated her the balance bike (the same one his brother has in a different colour) we had decided to get him.  I opened the website and she purchased it on the spot (as well as several other things that she just had to get for my niece!).  They have great little retro things and deliver very quickly.  Here's the link, check it out - www.hipkids.com.au

Red Kids Wooden Balance Bike
This is what he is getting, the Little Man's is pale blue.

Gift ideas for the the Little Man is a bit harder.  I am struggling with the idea of MORE toys in my house, so I am trying to come up with ideas that I can live with and he will like.  He's not helping at all.  I have not been able to pinpoint one thing that he truly wants or needs.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, today we sorted out a birthday present for him.  He ran up to the window of Adair Kids outside Ikea and practically salivated over a Mickey Mouse mobile.  It sounds crazy but he was in love with it.  He's been in love with Mickey pretty much since birth.  We all went in and looked through the other Mickey items.  He scored big time, let me tell you.  They had a good sale on these items so he got the mobile, a comforter, a sheet set and some new wall stickers, all Mickey.  The best bit is he somehow missed the entire transaction and will be surprised when his birthday comes.  He is truly going to love this.

Mickey Stuff...

Anyway, I had a very cheap, productive and unexpected morning out.  I didn't spend a cent, Mum even bought the coffees.   Since I've been home I've been action woman, deciding on changes, jotting down notes and mentally reorganising pretty much the entire house.  I've already changed a few small things...

Ikea does this to me.

Ikea?

Wednesday, 3 August 2011

Wordless Wednesday

Zoo Day

Miss L and The Munchkin in the beast

The three older boys in their natural element

Reptile house

My beautiful niece

Best shot we could get...

What is wrong with this picture?
Hint: We had 6 kids with us, ages 5,4,3,23mths, 19mths & 7mths.
Yes the 7mth and 23mth were booted by the 5&4 yos who were tired.
I'm joining in with My Little Drummer Boys & faith hope and a whole lotta love for Wordless Wednesday.

Thanks for dropping by.

Tuesday, 2 August 2011

It's Tuesday again...

We have had such a lovely lazy day here in the House of O.

Firstly, we made a group decision that without babysitters we just could not possibly go to Pianorama.  The Little Man finds it just as frustrating as me when we have to take the Munchkin with us.  He has decided to do some extra practice and wow the class next week with his stunningly perfect solo (we'll see how that goes...).

So we had a lovely snuggle in my bed, watched ABC2 and I caught up on my blog reading.  Eventually, at about the time Pianorama class was starting, we wandered out to the kitchen for a very late breaky.  This was a leisurely affair consisting of cereal, fruit, coffee (for me), Milk (for the boys) and raisin toast all round.  Dishwasher on, the Little Man wandered back to my bed and the Munchkin and I battled into the shower.  He is still dodging showers and baths, but I won this round and even got his freshly cut hair washed and the stamp from last Thursday(!) off his forearm.

Eventually everyone was dressed and the beds were made, so we jumped in the car to fill it up with some petrol and get some bread for lunch.  It is such a fabulous day, we pottered around in the front garden for a while before we got into the car and then after we go the petrol we drove around looking at some houses for sale locally.  I am totally in love with a house that has a price tag of just under $5M, I keep driving past and imagining living in it.  I even woke up yesterday morning in the complete certainty that I had won the lottery and would purchase this house.  There are lots of things wrong with that, the main being that I don't buy lottery tickets, but never mind, it was real to me for a short while. 

*Sigh* The House...
If you have a spare $4,950,000 here is the link:
14-16 Billyard Avenue, Wahroonga

Today, with the beautiful weather and some sneaky hot chips picked up on our drive, we parked out the front and gave it a really good looking over.  It really is stunning.  I think we could all imagine ourselves living in it.  After a couple of minutes though, I realised that if I owned this house and lived in it I would totally need a housekeeper, gardener and pool man.  The maintenance costs would be killer.  There is definitely something to be said for a smaller, lower maintenance house!  With this thought clear in my mind, I suddenly did not find the house so desirable and discovered lots of other reasons I would not buy it (yes other than the money thing).  Firstly it is in this location that is a school heavy.  There are four schools almost on top of it, one directly across the road, one four houses up on the corner, one behind and one just around the corner.  Normally I have no problems with school zones but this is quite intense and I know the current residents in that couple of streets are always writing into the local paper having a whine, so it must be bad.  I guess I'll find out next year as the Little Man is going to one of these schools (I'll be part of the problem...).

Anyway, the point is, I am glad I have no hope of buying this house.  I am happy in a smaller space away from school traffic (even if we are under the flight path).  Sometimes you need these little reminders.

I don't know if it is the weather or just realising that I really don't want to buy this house that I have been pining over for weeks, but I am in the best mood.  I don't care that the Workaholic has completely stuffed our finances for June, July and August by helping out his Dad and an assortment of other people instead of us.   We are all safe and wont starve and really they needed it more.   I don't even care that I have to go to an appointment at 4pm that will mean I will need to wake the two sleeping boys to get there in time.  The Little Man has learnt an amazing amount from these Speech sessions so these visits are completely worth the effort.  I am completely in love with my home again and am already reigniting the organising plans that I put on hold while I was feeling sorry for my self over the last couple of weeks.  I've already moved the crib out of my bedroom thanks to my reality check post.  I've even made a few little changes to my blog layout.

So, from starting the day with the thought "Oh Crap it's Tuesday and I don't have a babysitter for the Munchkin for Pianorama" it has become a wonderful day of renewal.  I may even drive over to pick up the Workaholic after our appointment instead of letting him public transport it home.  There is definitely something to be said for a lazy Tuesday...

So how's your Tuesday been?