Our Brave Boy!

Ben went into hospital this week to have grommets fitted, an adenoidectomy and to have a vessel in his nose cauterised (after night-time nose bleeds). At the last minute the surgery was moved to an afternoon slot which meant an overnight stay. A starving boy was taken to the hospital on Thursday morning and admitted to his private room, with en suite and bed for Mum too! (Lets hope the insurance company are true to their word and cough up the $4500 for this little lot!!!!!)
He began to get a little nervous and refused to talk to the nurses and a little bribery was necessary to get him to take the pre-med. He happily put on the teddy bear gown (he did smile in the other photo, honest, but it was out of focus!)and loved being tucked up in the big bed. He was pretty in awe of the rolling bed and going down in a lift and thought that Mummy looked silly in a yellow paper gown and blue paper shoes. I held him in my arms while the anaesthetic was given by a very nice man and then put him on the bed with a kiss.
An hour or so later I was called down to recovery where Ben briefly opened his eyes, gave me a hug and promptly went back to sleep! An hour later they moved him (still sleeping) back to his room where he stayed for another couple of hours until we woke him up for an ice lolly. He loved that! but then was sick. They gave him an anti emetic and he perked up a bit although he only ate the ice-cream with his dinner! By 8pm he was starving again (and not tired) and polished off a packet of crisps, some chocolate and a cheese sandwich. Then he took off down the corridors with the camera snapping all the nurses, flower arrangements, ceilings and carpets! I managed to settle him by 9.30 and he slept beautifully. Unfortunately for me I woke up every time the nurse came in to do obs while Ben slept through the thermometers in his ears, and the pulse rate monitor on his fingers!
He woke when breakfast was delivered on Friday and demolished his Weetbix! We brought him home and he was excited to see Joe again. Everything was back to normal pretty quickly and it didn't take long for the fighting to resume. Luckily he only needed a couple of doses of paracetamol and hasn't complained at all! What a brave boy! He is very proud of the smiley face plaster a nurse put on his hand after the tubes were removed and now refuses to take it off!

Trip to Oz

We headed to Oz with the clan a couple of weeks ago for 8 days near Byron Bay in New South Wales (about 2 hours south of Brisbane). The house we stayed in was a couple of streets from the beach but was equipped with a great heated pool in the garden. Ben and Joe spent many hours each day in the pool with Ash, Indy and Olive. Joe and Indy had a long ongoing game where they were dolphins and seals while Ben adored jumping in yelling 'Tsunami' and trying to create waves to knock Ash off the inflatables.
The beaches (complete with squeaky sand) were beautiful if a little rough for swimming, but they all enjoyed splashing in the surf and collecting shells.
We had a couple of outings. One to the lighthouse at Australia's easternmost point and another to see the animals at "Macadamia Castle'. Highlights were the kangaroos and emus, the cockatoos that shouted 'Hello', petting baby bunnies, feeding goats, a sleeping wombat's bottom, and arguing whether the crocodiles in the lake were real or plastic! (Ben is still convinced they were real, despite Joe's insistence).
We returned back to a chilly Christchurch at nearly midnight so the kids got the Friday off school too! Back this week and then a short one next week for Show Week.
Ben is having grommets fitted on Thursday so we are hoping that goes well. Hopefully it will sort out the glue ear and enable him to hear a little better. Unfortunately it means that he misses out on swimming for a few weeks. He has just started swimming lessons and thoroughly enjoys them. He spends a lot of time bouncing up and down. The teacher is amazed at him sinking and putting his head under the water. Ben is also especially pleased with his new goggles (pink) and a new swim hat for post grommets (a pink cat - photos to follow!). He has now progressed from pink as a favourite colour. When asked he says all the colours are his favourites but when faced with a choice in the shop....... it's pink every time!
Joe is immersed in more touch rugby - he is not so impressed as they have lost some games and he says that it is not as organised as his last team ! - perceptive! He also started athletics club this term and has been enjoying sampling different sports. He has shown an aptitude for sprinting, longer distances, long jump and shot put! Next year he will be able to compete fully and can make more choices - this year is just a little bit of everything. Good luck to the coach who takes twenty 6 year old boys for Javelin!!!!

Rugby - end of season......until.....

The Rugby season came to an end a few weeks ago with Joe's team having done fantastically. They won 10, drew 3 and lost 1. The season was rounded up with a club afternoon at one of the local schools. All the boys (and girls) received a trophy for taking part that they could keep. Each team then had 3 extra trophies - Joe won his team's Most Valuable Player award. Of course we were all thrilled and he has been proudly showing his trophies to anyone and everyone.
Now we are getting ready for more touch rugby that takes place more informally through the summer term. - First game 19th October!
First comes the long overdue school holidays - both boys are pretty tired and we are looking forward to slower mornings without the pressure of being places on time!

We had a bit of a disaster a couple of Sundays ago when we unwisely ignored a very quiet child. Of course he was up to mischief and managed to flood the upstairs bathroom. For those of you in the know - the causes of this catastrophe were HOTWHEELS - COLOUR SHIFTING CARS which change colour in hot and cold water. Dearest Ben had been running the tap in the sink upstairs. Now, many Kiwi sinks are not equipped with overflows and ours is no exception, so the plug is kept away from the sink. Ben must have spilt water or it was rising fast and used a towel to stem the flow. This did a brilliant job of blocking the plug hole and water cascaded into the kitchen, via the light fittings and weak spots!
We now have a gaping hole in the kitchen ceiling and need a redecoration job. Luckily the floor dried out nicely!

Some of Ben's friends have had their birthdays recentyly. Quin (3) had a Train and Dragon Party - Joe went as a knight, but Ben opted for Spiderman?
They are looking forward to Josh's party at the weekend - on a Mr Man theme. Josh was 3 and the little ones celebrated at Playcentre that morning. More pictures to follow!

Penguins, parties and peace at last

What a busy week! So I will try and keep it short?

Ben's playcentre ran a trip to the Antarctic Centre on Monday. It was a really good trip and the kids got to meet a little blue penguin up close! Ben loved riding the snowmobiles and ran round the centre with great enthusiasm!

Joe was player of the week in his after school sports session after falling over during basketball and grazing his knees (but not making a fuss!)

Then finally the countdown was over and the big day arrived. Joe was six on Thursday. We had been counting the number of sleeps since India's birthday on the first of July! He was a really lucky boy and his haul of presents included a tonne of LEGO, Bionicles, a Crusaders shirt, a Crusaders rugby ball, some clothes, hotwheels cars and kits, transformers, Ben 10 goodies - I could go on but you get the idea. He had to go to school on the big day, but we softened the blow by sending in cupcakes for his class. After school we went to Ferry Ale House for a birthday tea. 2 pretty exhausted boys tumbled into bed!

Rugby this week was against a fast Merivale and Lincoln (Merlins) team and our boys came away with a 10-9 win! Joe scored yet another hat-trick. Joe's first try was quality rugby. Jack was running for the line about to be tackled, Joe called for a pass and caught it!, crossing the line with a dive! The picture shows Joe launching himself into a tackle!
How they have progressed from the first game when 14 boys all ran in the same direction! - hence the whole team were named player of the day.

Ben attended a little friend's third birthday party on Saturday and had a great time. Sean's Dad entertained as a clown and the kids hooted!

Today was Joe's party and we took 13 (including our 2) to Clip n Climb. It was fab! At 6 the boys were far more confident than last year and got to the top of many of the runs, Josh even took the 'leap of faith'!. After a busy hour of climbing we went upstairs to the cafe and the boys demolished pizza and chips and then the cake! Great - no mess to worry about. All in all a great success!
Matt and I have been busy too! I had a commission from a friend to make cupcakes for her son's birthday and they turned out really well. Matt was away in Wellington last week on a training course, he took 2 days off this week to help out at home while I was laid low with a throat infection and bug. I spent many hours preparing all the bits and pieces for Joe's cake and then assembled it on Saturday night. We also have had our offer accepted on a block of land, and all the paperwork is now in the hands of the lawyers!
Now, some time to sit down with a slice of cake and a cuppa! Hooray!

Another win!

11-7 this week against Belfast and a 6? year old giant (Matt swore he had facial hair). Joe ran the length of the pitch to score a cracking try. 2 tries for him this week. Just one game left this season!!!!!!!! Phewwwwww.

Wearable Art, Sledging and Rugby (of course)

Joe's school has been preparing for their 'Wearable Art' show all term and the performance days finally arrived last week. We went along to an evening show and were really impressed with the costumes and performances! Joe's class had a theme of 'from the mountains to the sea' and their costumes included a tuatara, crab, octopus and mermaids. Joe's little group did the octopus and despite dropping out of wearing the main costume, Joe appeared to have enjoyed the whole thing.
Other classes had themes of fairy tales, Michael Jackson's Thriller, Funky and Royalty. They had all used recycled materials really creatively. The crisp packet robes were truly amazing!

We finally made it up to the mountains last weekend (without being turned back by deteriorating weather) this time it was beautiful and clear. The recent nor-westers have reduced the amount of snow, but it meant we didn't need chains to get up to the ski field. Between us and the Ralphs we had the makings of a great hot lunch and then the serious sledging got underway (avoiding the drop off at the bottom of the slope). After falling down the slope and then throwing a serious tantrum, Ben did eventually thoroughly enjoy his new inflatable sledge (a much less bruising ride).
You can see Amy hurtling down behind him in this clip. Joe was gung-ho as ever and we called it a day when a large party arrived, beers in hand and neatly sidestepped out of his way as he hurtled towards the edge, luckily I managed to leap and grab him by his collar before he disappeared. Up until this point parents had been stopping each others kids!
We went back to Rangiora with the Ralphs and had a lovely Thai takeaway for tea! A great day!

Oh yes - rugby. 10-10 draw this week, Joe scored 3 tries in the first half after the team had gone down 4-1, drawing them level. There were some BIG fast boys on the opposing side so our boys did a fantastic job!

5 years, 11 months and counting the sleeps......

All about Joe (well almost). First we should get down to the rugby again. Parklands played at home for the first time in weeks and it was a lovely warm sunny day too! Bonus! The team won 10-4 against Christchurch Old Boys and Joe scored 2 tries. It was another good game and the boys dodged and wove their way up the pitch. More proud families!
Ben was pretty keen to join in so started his own game on the touchline!

Joe also received a class award in assembly at school for 'outstanding progress in reading'. He didn't tell us about it for a couple of weeks and we only found out about it when I found the certificate lurking at the bottom of his bag.

Parents evening was as expected, he is doing really well and is even making progress in the 'not fidgeting' stakes! (saves it all for at home).

Winning Streak

Parklands Under Six Blacks won again this weekend. A closely fought 9-8. It was a really fast moving game. Ben and I hadn't been for several weeks and I was amazed at the progress that the players had all made! They are starting to pass more effectively, sidestep and plan their routes! Joe was a star once more and scored another 3 tries! He launches himself when he tackles and was yet again the muddiest child on the pitch - gotta love it!
The team probably top their league now so everyone is rightly proud. It is very funny watching the adult supporters on the sidelines! Lots of stress!! Especially when the game is as tightly fought as it was this week. Not that the Dads are at all competitive - but they was some subtle fist punching when the final whistle blew!
Joe is attending a birthday party over the road at the moment and Ben is tucking into a sandwich. It is all very peaceful and lovely! Matt is still out after a night at Chris Ralph's. Probably nursing a hangover!

Part 2

Much, much, much , much better! Boys both feeling perky again, although can't say the same for their mother! Anyway, Joe and Ben had bundles of energy (zapped directly from me) which needed an outlet this week. We packed in the skate park, Orana Wildlife park, the park park, Science Alive, the cinema, botanic gardens (and play park), Rugby and lots more.
Joe continues his winning streak with his rugby team. They played brilliantly and won the match 12-8. Joe scored another 3 tries - seems like his lucky number! He was again the muddiest child on the pitch, thanks to his fearless tackling!
We spent the day with Nana, Kate, Ash and Indy at Orana. It was pretty chilly, but we saw most of the animals. Including some adorable baby cheetahs, that had to be raised by keepers. They are now on display and were just wonderful! Most of the adults are not ever on display as they run a really successful breeding program on a huge acreage behind the park.
Another highlight was the lion feeding, which the kids think is amazing. Luckily none of them are tall enough to experience that one yet - don't fancy being drooled on by an enormous lion!
We also visited the botanic gardens and followed a trail around the glass houses. They had made lots of model 'plants' hidden amongst the displays, and you had to look at them, read the stories and guess what they were called - very clever and Joe loved the puzzles.
Science alive was busy. We went to a talk/show about sound waves and music which Joe enjoyed, especially the practical demonstrations that they were allowed to try out afterwards. He also made the most of the vertical slide! Wheeeeeeeeeeee. (That's Ben in the background yelling 'Joey'). Ben liked the reaction time games best and the 20 metre sprint! He can really move!
Today was back to school, playcentre and swimming lessons. 10 weeks to go!