milly the monopoly mogul

 

We've been playing Junior Monopoly lately and the kids really enjoy it. For the past week someone in the family has been sick and board games are the saviour when we need diversion. Somehow Emily seems to constantly win - not bad considering she is the only player who can't actually count. Sam has fun trying to work out how many different ways he can make $5 using notes of different denominations.The board was taken to Tim and Margaret's last weekend when we went up for Sunday lunch.

wonderful #41

I spent the afternoon working in the library - marking Year 9 work. When I got home Michael was making the icing for this Jubilee Cake. He and the kids had been baking, they were all very pleased with themselves.

doing it for himself

Suddenly there is constant evidence that Sam is growing up in all the nicest ways. I am loving his shift towards independence; that he no longer relies on me to meet all his needs. It's great to be busy, have him ask if he can have something to eat, encourage him to get it for himself and then keep about my business while he sorts himself out. That said - I am still sometimes befuddled that he no longer needs to drag the chair over to see above the kitchen bench, when did he grow that last 20 centimetres?

flights booked

I booked my flights this morning. Five days with Amber (and Russell) in Brisbane during the school holidays. Thoughts of it will keep me going during the coming weeks while I work Monday to Thursday. Heading north in winter will renew me.

little things

I'm working two extra days for the next few weeks and I will miss riding to school with the kids.

at the moment I am...

...watching Glee. Truly hilarious, from Sue Sylvester's lines to Kurt's ultra campness to the feelgood cheesy singing. Even Michael laughs from behind his book.

...eating Navel Oranges. Buying them by the bagful and converting Sam and Milly to their delights.

...listening to Priscilla Ahn on my iPod. I Shazam-ed one of her songs from a movie soundtrack and when I listened to the album on iTunes decided to buy it all. Really lovely.

wonderful #40

Emily wanted glass like her Dad's. Not quite the same but she was pleased with the result.

We found autumn in Queensland! Beautiful Mount Tamborine countryside. Pity about the acres of crafty dross peddled in all the shops.

Plan B

Sam has been particularly horrific since Friday afternoon - cheeky, arguing back, teasing Milly, overtly physical all the time - imagine all the intolerable behaviours of a five year old boy from hell and call him Samuel.

It peaked on Sunday morning when he mercilessly teased Milly then mimicked Michael as he was being told off. His punishment was that he wasn't allowed to go to football, however it was only 8am so we definitely needed a plan B in order to survive the rest of the day:

So, off to the You Yangs National Park for some rock climbing, making a campfire, cooking sausages for hotdogs, toasting marshmallows, a 3 km bushwalk while Mike and Milly waited for us, a bike ride along the road (downhill at 20km/hr) and taking lots and lots of photos.

It worked, we had a great day, Sam quickly returned to his normal, agreeable self; both kids returned home shattered and happy; and we salvaged the tone of the weekend.

autumn jobs

Emily has been helping me propagate and sow; seeds and cuttings from the front garden. Sam's job is to water them. Fingers crossed and we will have some new plants by spring time. At the end of the work we settled on the step with ice-blocks while Sam snapped a family photo.

wonderful #39

Amber sent me a book about paper art, it is lovely and while this bow is hardly an example of how stunning the pieces in it are, I loved making it to stick on the gift for the hosts of the dinner party we went to last week. 

Wonderful blue sky day in the middle of May.