Congrats. Ange - she is gorgeous!
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Congrats. Ange - she is gorgeous!
JM: Gorgeous name!
Trill: and you should be proud! what an achievment!
G: our decision for school is based on what we see as the best outcome for our kid. if i were to live in my old home town that would be private as public schools do not support the education of children (and in particular girls...very backward place...understatement of the century :rofl:). Here in northcote we have very good, small public schools from primary to highschool, so for the moment is a no brainer (of course a bad principal could change it all so we must always be vigilant on that front ITMS).
how did you guys go with the weather G? we had it pretty bad on our drive back from the 12 apostles (did it as a day trip :o). there were branches of gums falling on the car and fog and the wind was horrendous. i was literally gripping the car door while DH drived praying like mad lol.
Massive congratulations to JM on the arrival of your gorgeous pink bundle, Penelope Rose!! I'm absolutely thrilled for you all. xxx
Dr Cass, I absolutely second your sentiment about private schooling in your home town!! However I have not yet spake on the private vs public debate I think I should wade in.
DD1 is currently attending a private school (catholic), and it is soooooo leagues ahead of the public school she was in (in a similar socio-economic area) in the ACT, I think we would have a hard time going back to that. And the high school we have chosen will provide a more structured environment for her than the local public. BUT having said that, there are degrees of 'private school-ness' that I am prepared to entertain. Local catholic high school, yes. Posh girl's grammar, no. With some of those schools, you are not paying for a superior education, you are purchasing your child's entree into a particular social strata. The type of social pressure and expectations that go along with that is something quite separate to simply getting a good education. One of my cousins had a terrible time at her school (which was deemed one of the best in the town) but in actual fact the whole culture of the place was one of exclusive competition - with the emphasis on the exclusion part. Besides which, it pays to be realistic about what you can afford. H's first year in high school will be tough because we'll still be paying out through the nose for E's childcare at the same time. AFter that year it should be easier.
Arte, I'm glad you had such a good time at Kevvie's. A good laugh can work wonders. Did you get a good sleep too or did the insomnia kick in? BTW when you're talking about school deciles, is that the socio-economic deciles or something else?
Ginger well done on your co-sleeping success! :clap:
Trill - that is awesome about Tournament of the minds! Very prestigious, some kids from DD's school went and she talked about it for weeks afterwards LOL.
AFM, very busy here, trying to get on top of everything and not really succeeding at getting on top of anything. LOL
MD, yes the deciles are socio-economic. The school in this town is a 1 which is as low as you can go, the one in the other town is a 7 out of a possible 10. How did the double birthday go?
DH left this morning. Poor W breaks into tears every so often about how much he misses his dad but we have made a chart with a countdown on it and he seems happier with that. I have decided to forget about the budget and the kids and I are going to the city this weekend. I don't really feel like trying to pass a boring weekend at home by myself. I will take them to the science center - W has been hanging out to see a real 3D model of the solar system. Apparently he has been spewing out space trivia to his kindy teachers this week after DH played space with him over the weekend and they youtubed for info. He also made a volcano in the sandpit and convinced the teacher to do the baking soda and vinegar thing. Usually he has one interest that he obsesses over but now he seems to have two going at the same time.
:hug: Arte. You have my full and entire sympathy. I think throwing some money at it and treating yourselves is a fantastic strategy (BTDT and it works)! How long will he be away for?
The double birthday was great - except for the bit in the middle where we went trekking around the shops for hours looking for dumbbells for DH's new gym set up in the shed (why oh why didn't he just agree to the first set we saw?). We went out for tea at a fantastic local restaurant with friends, then came home for cake etc. Nice. Don't have to do it again now until Sept :)
Arte - sounds like a good idea to break up DH's trip. I'm sure W will have a ball.
JM - Welcome Penelope Rose!! Love the name, goes very well with L & S.
AFM - 2 weeks leave starting next week. Would be great if no-one emailed me or rang me at work so I could actually get something done! We're going to head up to Sydney for a night with K - first plane, train and boat trip - should be great!!
MD, DH is only away for 2 weeks, I should stop whinging lol. I think all will be fine as long as I can get some sleep. It goes downhill very quickly when they keep me up all night.
Cally, have a great trip away! Hope you have a really relaxing couple of weeks. Is your poo project all up and running now?
Starting to think about W's birthday party. I have never done a kid's party before and I don't really know what to do! I am thinking of inviting 4 boys from kindy that he plays with sometimes, my new friend's little boy and a little girl for A (she is a bit oblivious but it seems fair?). Plus I should invite the neighbour's boy the same age even though they don't have a lot to do with each other but I am on committee's etc with the mum and DH works in the same office as the dad - be rude not to. That would be 8 kids. Is that manageable? Too many? Not enough? I have no idea. I think I will fork out and pay someone to make a cake since baby is due the day before so I will most likely be short on time.
DH is going to keep a look out for cheap toys while in China. I really have no idea what to expect but hopefully he can get some cheap Cars 2 gear.
Arte - when we were growing up, the rule was no more kids than how old you were - ie turning 4, invite 4 friends. But in saying that, you will have their parents as well so it is more what you think you will be able to manage with a brand new or just overdue bub. Also, just be aware of unsafe toys from China (sorry, something on the news here last night about Fair Trading checking all the market stalls for cheap toys from China which don't meet safety standards). And the poo project is up and rinning, only a few minor issues to deal with. Now I have another even bigger one going (about $8.5mill). And I'm not sure what I'm donig on here when I am about to have two weeks off!!
Wow $8.5 million worth of poo (infrastructure). That's...humbling. LOL Enjoy your trip away, sounds like a well deserved break. I'm taking a fortnight off work during the school hols and my sis is coming down to visit so I'll be a very happy camper soon too.
Arte, 2 weeks is still a loooong time. I think having a party for W is a great idea, you will totally learn by doing LOL. I'm not a good one to ask because I always go totally OTT and prepare far to much food, too many activities, decorations, take home things etc. Really the kids are just happy if there are other kids there, some balloons, and cake and candles, any thing else is a bonus. When DD1 was younger, we used to do lots of non-competitive games, like follow the leader, hide and seek, and holding a balloon between your legs while you run around the yard. A treasure hunt or pinata is likely to go down well. I could never afford a face painter so one year we stuck temporary tattoos all over the kids faces LOL (asked the parents first of course). They loved it.
Arte - do you have a toy library? We grabbed a few outside toys last year (we only have a slide) and that was good. The 9 year old cousin was a hit too.
man today i went to the most gorgeous birthday party!!! (on the theme of birthdays lol). my friend had her son's 1st birthday today and it was sublime! gorgeous home-baked treats, fruit platters and home made sushi...yum num num. and outside they had the trampoline (i brought the jumping castle) and two of those tunnel thingos. plus there was the sandpit and some bikes/trikes from their kids. there were almost 40 kids there and they just had the best time ever! so simple, but the sun was shining and turning to dusk, and then when it started to get a bit nippy they turned on teh outside fire oven/bbq thingo (old skool style one) and started cooking lamb kebabs and roasting marshmallows...again, yum num num. i swear that i havent been to a better, more relaxed and happy kids birthday ever!
Thanks for the party ideas MD. We were going to do a pinata or two and possibly a treasure hunt. The balloon thing sounds fun.
Cally, we are toy library members. I am membership officer :) Have put in a request of the new set of gears gears gears which I know W will enjoy.
Cass, that party sounds awesome!
I think for W's party we will hire the hall that is about 500m down the road and get a party pack from toy library (half a dozen ride on toys). Not really keen to have everyone at the house with a potentially newborn baby and the weather is iffy in early september. DH wants to bbq.
Back from our weekend away. It was hard work but the kids had fun. We ended up going to the science center twice but it is exhibition based and doesn't have a stock standard of sciencey things. I wish there was somewhere that had the basics to look at, volcanos, planets etc to indulge his emerging geekness. We also went to a bird park that is about 2 minutes from mums house and I have driven past it a million times which was really good. Amelia got her fingers pecked by a Pukeko, an ostrich and got attacked by a rooster - she thought it was fabulous!
As a whinge - I have a horrible cough. I keep having big coughing fits that leave me almost throwing up and gasping for breath, plus I wet myself every time. My chest hurts from coughing.
Arte, that cough sounds awful. I hope it passes soon for you. I totally hear you on the wetting your pants issue. I have to wear a pad when I play netball because I get a few leaks from certain movements. The party plans sound like they are well underway. The hall is a good idea too.
Not much happening really apart from the same old same old. I'm excited about school finishing this week though.
Cally, have you got anything planned for your time off? The poo project is huge!
Trill, you were supposed to tell me I would get full bladder control back once the baby was born! I am going to pretend you said that anyway lol. This constant leakage is depressing :(
What school is finishing this week? Uni?
Sorry Arte, But on the plus side it only got like that after I had Alister. You'd be surprised how common it is though. There are 5 of us on the netball team that have kids - one has 2 kids, 2 have 3 kids, 2 of us have 4 kids and one of us has 5 kids and we all have varying degrees of bladder incontinence and we often joke about bringing 'Tena' to games with us or do we have 'Poise' today :rofl:
Hi Girls,
Its been a while. I hope you are all well. I'm getting over the flu. The kids are all well - the boys love school and will be 6 soon so I am busy organising there party... Just havin a BBQ at our house and a few games... Livi wants a Barbie party as she is mad on Barbie ATM lol.
hi Leemar!!! so great to hear to from you! :dance:. man, i hear you on the party demands lol. Leila is compiling a list as long as my arm of all the things she wants and wants to do at her party lol.
pmsl Trill, my heart just sank when I read that!! Having babies really takes a toll on your body. I feel like an old woman!!!! no more for me or my insides will be hanging to my knees!
WB leemar!! :)
bbs for more