Sore cheeks and Trampolines......

Poor Blake... he's definitely got my sensitive skin.... there's no avoiding it.... they changed sunscreen at daycare last week - and Blake reacted... we managed to get him cleared up by Sunday.... (well - pretty much) (current condition is different - will explain that in next entry)

Saturday morning we headed to Mom and Dad's place.... the kids were driving me nuts and Rob was away in Sydney visiting his Dad.....

pink and sore cheeks....

reading a motorbike magazine with GG.....

Oh this is something we don't see all the time....

ok, maybe we do... :)

Concentration face....

This is the kids new favourite toy in the shed..... the spinny chair!

While all this was happening, Jade was off with Jaime & Damian watching Xander playing Soccer, and we had Declan - who pretty much went to sleep soon after they left... after a little "I'm teething and my life is pain" screaming match... but he was so tired.....

After spending the morning with Mom and Dad, we headed home to get Blake to sleep..... Once Blake was down, Jade wanted to go play on her trampoline....

I think someone got the Soccer Bug....

Blake practised wheelies on his trike.....

What's in the box???

It's a Jade foot!

(Her favourite thing at the moment is cardboard boxes.....)

you can see that after lunch his cheeks were already almost better.....

((Video))

Blake on a Rubbish Run.....

It's very cute watching him put rubbish in the bin, but now he has the urge to put stuff in the bin - we have to make sure he's not throwing out plates and bowls....

(note at the end of the video he turns his attention to "bike bike!")

New Renovations......

Today!!!!

So, things are starting to happen again.... we're about 2 weeks away from having a driveway (and more importantly a gate!!!)... and when Pete comes to rip out the current driveway - he's going to be bringing in some granite crush to put in an enclosed area around the trampoline.... (because the trampoline is too big to move to mow - and too big to mow underneath)... he's also going to drop off a load of top soil.... so hopefully we'll be able to start working on getting lawn again.....

Mom and Dad went out this morning and bought some sleepers so that we could make the surrounds... once they'd brought them back, Dad headed home to get a pick so that we could dig some trenches to sink the sleepers into...

While he was gone, Mom and I got talking... and I said that I'd rather have done it with blocks than wood.... (fear of the wood rotting was playing on my mind - as well as aesthetics....)

Dad agreed with me when he got back, so while Mom headed to the dentist - Dad and I went down to the local Brick Supply place and checked out the options..... We came home with these sandstone blocks......

the "before" shot....

The line for where we wanted the bricks.....

Bricks out of the van and laid on the ground ready to be put in their place....

Dad busily working....

the trench... and it got deeper towards the end so that it was as level as possible.... (our land still slopes a little - but nothing nearly as bad as it used to)

a different angle on the trench....

Levelling and straightening...

The top layer going on, Mom checking with the level to make sure they're definitely straight...

The finished product....

Well, finished as far as we can go for now.... we got Weed Mesh to put on the ground before the granite goes down.... and then once the granite is down - we'll flatten it - and then get the trampoline in place.....

Once again, I'm left saying that my parents ROCK!!!!! I'm so glad that we did this instead of the sleepers... and the sleepers are going to come to good use as a sandpit - but that will happen once we have our driveway and GATE..... OMG... a GATE!!! (a sliding gate - which requires concreting... hence the driveway is happening now... but it'll be wide enough to park 3 cars on it right up against the house and then hopefully 2-3 cars behind those still within the yard.... it's not a nice road to park on)

Self Haircut #2......

Monday - 19th July

(Wow... we're nearly up to date on this blog!!!!!!! *gasp*)

Anyway, back to the entry..... I was in a rush - we were heading to swimming early as a friend had switched to Mondays for her kid's lessons... so I said I'd get there early to meet her.... that wasn't going to happen... I hadn't done Jade's hair yet....

So, I called for Jade to get into her chair so that I could do her hair - and I started brushing....

Something didn't seem right... pieces were shorter than usual..... she's had layers cut in her hair back at the start of the year - so it didn't surprise me that some bits were shorter... but there was way too much shortness happening for my liking.....

Me: Jade, did you cut your hair???

Jade: No.....

Me: Are you sure you didn't cut your hair???

Jade: I didn't cut my hair.....

Figuring it must be something in my head going wrong - I walked over to the dining table to attempt to find Jade's hair ties..... I could only find one....

When I go to the dining table.... on the floor.... a big pile of hair clippings.... as you can probably imagine - I went BANANAS!

I could only find one hair tie.... so I tied it all back and this huge clump of "Fringe" fell forward... so I said she was just going to have to deal with it - and she shouldn't have cut her hair....

When we got to Mom's after swimming - I found another hair tie - so I tied her hair up - pebbles style....

the "fringe"

Tuesday - 20th July....

It all still ties back... it goes a bit fluffy at the back because it's too short to stay in all the way back, but she can deal with that, it's not in her face.....

Oh, and Jade's favourite and slightly worn out toy....

(but according to the Movies - he'll last forever!)

Jade's moved up to Junior-Gymnastics.....

Thursday 15th July

(sorry - this one is a bit out of order....but these photos were taken by Mom - so they weren't stored on the SD card where all the other photos were!)

Jade has been doing Gymnastics for the last two years.... and this term she was asked to move up to Junior Gym.... she's very excited because she's in a class with all school aged kids... (so they're more her height - she feels like she fits in better with them)... plus she likes bigger kids!

She came home raving about gymnastics and how she's learning to do hand stands and cart wheels... so she did really love the lesson - and according to Mom, she did what she was told throughout the entire lesson.... so that's a bonus :)

Ava's 4th Birthday.....

The Birthday Girl....

Jade....

Evie's little Brother

(how bad is that? I don't know his name..... )

Evie...

Sarah (mother of the birthday girl)

Some of the girls eating their sausages on bread....

getting ready to sing Happy Birthday....

All blown out.... (and candles removed)

Jemma, Evie, Ava, Amy, Jade & Lily

Ava cutting her cake - she was told to do one cut - but she went up and down a few times in the "same spot"

Lily

(Evie's big sister... she's 6)

The girls had great fun playing in the sand, but then they started putting sand down other kids pants...

Amy

Jemma

Lily

Jemma

Lily

Lily & Evie

(Sisters)

Jemma & Amy

(Sisters)

Then it was apparently time for Group Shots... the girls loved having their pics taken... so they just kept shifting positions and then looking at the pics and choosing another location...

Jemma & Lily are both 6

(I believe.....)

Evie is 4 in October... (or around there)

Was a great morning down at the Marina.... it's good going to parties where you know that you're going to know all the kids and the parents.... it's much better than turning up to a party where you know no one and kind of just sit out of the way.....