A Busy Weekend

All of us had a huge weekend.

Firstly, Josie had a good day at school on Friday. After the Mothers Day Breakfast she played with the toys and with the other kids. In fact when Granny picked her up she was playing with 3 boys (Daddy is making quiet enquiries into shotgun licenses ;-). Apparently they were playing chasings and Josie was having a great time ;-)

Saturday, in preparation for the sale of our home, which has now moved from beginning June, to end of June, I took Josie to Vika's which Tony and I made a good stab at painting and decluttering.

While Tony painted the cornices, which look much better, I made inroads into the third bedroom (formerly known as Becka's room, now known as the spare room). I think we did a great job.

Because of the painting in Josie's room she has been sleeping with us the last couple of nights. Thank god for the King bed! Having said that, she is still sleeping right up against me! I thought I might trick her and changed sides with Tony while she was already asleep, but you can't fool her! She *still* migrated over to me through the night. It must be the warmth ;-)

She scared the spit outta me last night, I was just falling asleep when she started moving around and rubbing her eyes, which is normal. But then out of nowhere she clapped her hands three times, right out in front of her, and then rubbed her eyes again, turned over and continued sleeping! Geez!!! Freaked me right out!

So tonight we will put her room back together and she can go back to her own bed and stop scaring mummy!

Ok so back to Saturday, we spent all day doing that, and then at 530pm went to Vika's for a Pre Mother's Day dinner with my parents. It love a lovely Chinese dinner, and then Vika handed me this (on paper):

Your daughter – chatterbox, talking non stop on any subject you like, here is sample after driving in the car with Josie for a little while:

1. Josie: I went to doctor and doctor brushed my hair. I need to go to doctor. I need big hair like Beckas. I need to go to doctor. Mummy took me to doctor. Now its your turn to take me to doctor.

2. Driving past a man walking 2 dogs.
Josie: Rascal is a doggie, a boy doggie.
Josie: He has a friend, doggie friend, boy doggie. He is a small doggie and Rascal likes to bite him.
Josie: He likes to play with Kitty Kitty. I told him not to touch Kitty Kitty, he was going to touch Kitty Kitty. He listened to me.

3. Rebecca going home to clean the house, talking to Josie about it.
Becka: You are going home to clean your house!
Josie: No Way!!!
Becka: Why not?
Josie: Because I am not big enough yet, I am still little now!
Becka: When are you going to be big?
Josie: At Vicka’s house

Ok so she's a little talkative.. gets it from her father ! Actually, gets it from her Deda !

So that was Saturday.

Sunday was Mothers Day and we went to Kam Fook for Yum Cha with Mat & Wendy, Gloria, Wendy's parents and Jacqui. It was yummy! Josie was on her best behaviour and sat at the table and had her lunch.. I was very proud of her ;-)

The afterwards I took her grocery shopping while Tony went and finished the painting.

When we got home I took Josie downstairs to ride her bike for a while and then when we came back up Tony gave me my mother's day present. It was a gorgeous Nursery Rhyme and Bedtime Story book set for just me and Josie to read. I thought it was a lovely thought.

We straight away lay down on the bed and I read to her. It had the correct effect, except on the wrong person! *I* then fell asleep and Josie went off to the living room while I napped for about an hour. That was nice!

So that was pretty much our weekend. Next weekend we have to deal with the garage and then we can start moving stuff into boxes and down to the garage.

Oh what fun!

Mother's Day Breakfast at the School

We had a lovely morning this morning.

Josie woke up at about 615am which was perfect cause we had to get to the school by 730am.

Got her all dressed (with her telling me again that she had a tummy ache because she was scared to go to school) and into the car by 7am.

In the car I put on my ipod as usual and when Make a Move on Me by Olivia Newton John came on, we had a funny conversation:

Josie: This is The Wiggles!
Mari: The Wiggles? No, I think its Olivia Newton John..
Josie: No way! Its not... Jack.. and John... ! Its The Wiggles!
Mari: Ok honey, its The Wiggles..

lol

And then a bit later, Josie puts her sunglasses on her head..

Josie: What you think mummy?
Mari (looking back): You look COOL !
Josie: Yeh..

And a bit later.. Josie puts her sunglasses on properly..

Josie: What you think mummy?
Mari (looking back again): I think you look very COOL!
Josie: Yeh, I are a COOL DUDE!
Mari: Yes you are a cool dude bubby!
Josie: Yep I am !

Hehehe..

So we get to the school and park down by the pre-school. The breakfast is actually about halfway up the hill in the hall, but you can't get into the school via the side gate so we had to walk up the hill into the school and then back down half way to the hall. I don't know how the kids do it every day.. its SO steep !

We were about 15 mins late but Becka met us there and Josie was very happy to see her. We had some breakfast, and then watched the senior kids have their Shabbas service which Josie loved and was clapping along to to the songs.

Then we went down to the pre-school and I played with Josie for a bit, and then had to go. She cried a bit when I said I was leaving but settled down pretty quickly.

And thats it.. it was a lovely morning..

Back On The Right Track..

Well we had a better morning today..

Josie was a bit upset at the thought of me leaving when I got to school with her but I sat down and played with her for about 10 minutes before I left. She enjoyed that, and while she still cried a bit when I was leaving, she had stopped by the time I reached the front door.

I think she has realised that its a new place and she feels lonely.

I asked her if there was something she didn't like at school and she said her tummy hurt. Now she was pretending that her tummy hurt on Monday and I think what she means is she was feeling scared and nervous at the prospect of us leaving her there. I asked her about this and she confirmed that yes she was scared that we would leave her there and not pick her up. I told her that we would always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, pick her up. That Granny would pick her up from school and either daddy or I would pick her up from Granny's. She seemed to understand this and felt better. I told her that her tummy probably hurt because of her feeling scared and she agreed.

Hopefully by talking about it it would make her more comfortable there.

I think it will just take some time.

Unfortunately it has coincided with a time in our lives when something else big is happening, selling our unit. This means we have to spend the next few weekends frantically painting and decluttering. Josie needs to be out of the place at that time because when she is home, especially now, she wants us to play with her. So I think the seperation anxiety is going to get worse over the next few weeks. We are going to aim to spend at least one day of the weekend with her.

I am getting more and more stressed about the sale and the move.

There is so much to do to prepare for the first Open Day. I am so worried we wont get ready in time.

Wish us luck !

An Unhappy Start to the Week

Josie has obviously realised that she is not going back to her old kindy..

Tony went to drop her off on Monday morning and instead of throwing a tantrum she was just very upset and wimpering. She wouldn't let Tony go and started saying that she had a tummy ache (which she later admited that she made up) and he was concerned at her extremely unhappy and agitated state so in consultation with the teachers, he took her to his mums place for the day.

We will now go back to 3 days a week, Mon, Wed, Fri, until we can see that she has adjusted. The teachers told Tony that the other kids her age went around 3 days a week as well, which I wasn't told, in fact I was told that she would adjust.

So she had a good time at Granny's on Monday and then Granny took her to school this morning. She had a tantrum, which stopped a little after Granny left, and after that had a great time.

When Tony picked her up and they got home she said she had a great time at school, she painted and that she played with her friend Rachel.

Tomorrow she will go to Baba's, Thursday I will take her to school and Friday we will go to the Mother's Day Breakfast at the school.

I hope she settles in soon..

On a happier note, her vocabulary is just exploding. Its so good to be able to commun icate properly with her.

Now I should really post some photos, cause I haven't done that in ages.. I will add some photos to my last blog cause they will go with the story there. Please check back with the last blog for new photos ;-)

A Big Catchup and Big School !

Good lord it has been a long time since I last blogged!

Lets start from Monday and work backwards..

Monday Josie started at The Pre School. It is just fabulous and we are so beyond thrilled that she will be going to The School for the next 14 years!


So I dropped Josie off at the school on Monday morning and she immediately went off to play. One of the teachers showed me around and then I spoke to the director and registrar for a while. I showed Josie where the toilets were (gorgeous little kids toilets and sinks) and she went and went off to play outside. After a minute or so she comes running back in.. “Mummy! Where is my hat?!”. LOL. I had told her before that she couldn’t go outside to play without a hat. What a good girl ;-)

So I left her there and went to work. Of course I was completely distracted the whole time wondering how she was going. Luckily I had updates from Becka cause she went and visited Josie at recess and lunchtime and was very happy to see Becka and played with her for a while.

I left work at about 245pm to go and pick her up and when I got there at 315pm, she was ASLEEP on the cot!! I couldn’t believe it! Unfortunately I had to wake her up because the centre closes at 330pm, but she was happy to see me and off we went to Baba’s.

She had a great time at school and is very proud of the fact that she is at ‘Becka’s Big School’ now.

Meanwhile we are meeting with our real estate agent tomorrow night to finalise things and get the unit on the market by the end of the month. And we are looking at sales and rentals in The East..


So going back to the weekend, we met up with our friends Roman and Helen and their daughter Stacey who is a year younger than Josie, at Fox Studios to go to Lollipops. The girls had a fantastic time at Lollipops and when they left we continued out to the back where they had set up lots of big jumping castles and mechanical rides and a petting zoo and Ponies!


Well! Josie had a fabulous time! She went on a bunch of Jumping Castles and then decided she wanted to go on the Mechanical rides! Now one of them was a spinning seat thing that went around quite quickly. I was very surprised that she wanted to go on and I told her that I wouldn’t be able to go with her and that if she got scared she would have to wait until they stopped the ride. She was adamant that she wanted to go on it. So she did. And she just loved it ! I was floored! So she went on the other one as well and that was a spinning one where the seat itself spins as well, and she loved that too.


So then we went in the petting zoo and she petted all the animals, admittedly Tony and I had the most fun feeding them and holding the bunnies. Awwww ;-)


And after that, after taking one look at the Ponies and wanting nothing to do with them, Josie decided she did want to go on a Pony, so she had a pony ride as well! And she loved that too!


So that was a huge day for Josie. She was absolutely knackered when we got into the car and fell asleep almost immediately.


Now going back even further..

The first couple of weeks of April we had my best friend visiting from the USA. Harri moved away to California about 6 years ago but comes and visits a couple of times a year. We miss her greatly when she is gone but are very happy for her new life in the USA.

So we had a fabulous time with Auntie Harri, with Josie getting to know her all over again. Josie is still asking about when she is going to see ‘Hawwi’ again ;-)

That’s pretty much it for now.. it has been insanely busy at work which is the main reason why its been so long since I last blogged. I usually do it at work.

So now we enter another phase in our life.. selling again, renting and then buying. Fun fun fun! It will be so good to be living near family though.. we have been living in the North for almost 10 years now.. it will be devastating to move, but its also nice to be going somewhere new..

So hopefully it wont be as long to my next blog!

Still Alive !

I have not fallen by the wayside!

I'm just really busy.. but I will return soon !

Here's something to keep you going..

Josie can say her alphabet! She says:

A, B, C, DEF, G, MOO, QUACK, WOOF !

Thats right isn't it?? ;-)

Its The Dreaded Table of Respondents !

I am laughing so hard at the moment that tears are rolling their merry way down my cheeks..

Some background: I have been working on a huge Aggregate Report at work in Excel for the last few days..

I came in to work this morning to find this email from Tony in my gmail:

To: Marianna Hill
Date: Apr 13, 2006 3:01 AM
Subject: One for the early edition

Hello Dear,

It is 2am and I have just come out to the living room from the bedroom
because I just HAD to get down "on paper" the wacky conversation we
just had that you will not remember in the morning.

Scene. The bedroom. 2am. Dark. Tony is coughing his lungs out (well the phlegm from in his throat anyway). Mari wakes. Her head shoots up as she blearily tries to figure out what the noise could possibly be [despite the fact that Tony has been coughing in this manner for days].
Mari: Do you want a drink. [Every time she wakes form Tony coughing she asks him if he wants a drink - she doesn't actually have any water on her side of the bed and he does but whatever.]
Tony: No, I'm 'right. [Tony is very stoic]

A few moments pass while Tony ejects some phlegm into a tissue.

Tony: I can't sleep!
Mari: Eruhgh?
Tony: I can't sleep with all this finances and selling flats and renting flats and crap running around in my head. So I can't fall asleep in between coughing! [Even Tony's stoicism has limits]
Mari: ...change the formatting.
Tony: What?
Mari: uhm... reset the table of.. respondents.
Tony: *pause to pee himself laughing* Ok, back to sleep baby. [Tony pats the crazy lady affectionately on the rump and makes for the living room to write down the particulars before he forgets and another of "Mari's midnight ravings" is lost to the mists of time]

AAAahhhahhahahahahahha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And It Gets Even Better !

Well, if you have been following my blog, you will know that we are very excited at the prospect of Josie starting at The School We Want Her to Go To next year.

WELL!

I got a call from them yesterday saying they were offering Josie a place in the Preschool next term! Thats starting from May 1st !

I confirmed today that YES we want it !

So my baby is starting real school in a couple of weeks ! We are just so thrilled! But also nervous!

Thats 5 days a week now, getting her there every morning by 915am. Its a big change for her, leaving her friends from The Other Daycare behind.. I let them know today that she was finishing with them on April 28th.

Becka is beside herself with excitement over the prospect of Josie starting at her school in a couple of weeks ;-)

We will have Granny picking her up some of the days of the week, and Vika and Becka taking her the other days.

This of course means that we have to speed up our move to the East. We need to organise valuations and real estate agents and put our place on the market. Once its sold we need to find somewhere to rent. Its about to get very exciting / hectic !

And of course I am getting busier and busier at work..

ack!

Typical Hill Phone Conversation..

This is a typical phone conversation between my husband and his brother..

Ant: eh
Mat: eh
Mat: Where are you?
Ant: In a shoe shop. Just got out of the doctor's.
Mat: And he prescribed shoes?

LOL

From The Desk of Uncle Mat..

And now for a story from Uncle Mat..

Ant, Mum and Josie turned up. I already had dinner in the oven and was in the bedroom playing games. So I go out to check on dinner, after setting Josie up with Shrek on the XBOX.

Now Josie decides she needs to go toily .. so off she goes. On her own, no need for daddy.

I come down the hallway and she's in the bathroom, still fully dressed but looking around curiously.

I stop to see if she needs any help.

"Where's the .. SEAT?"

"We don't have a special seat Josie, you just have to sit on the normal toilet seat."

"Oh. Ok."

(Josie peers into the toilet bowl. It's filthy. I've since cleaned it but it was really filthy.)

"Hey! Why is there poo in there?!"

"It's not poo .. it's just really dirty. I need to clean it."
"Oh ... ok."

She hops on up and pees. I wander off and come back when she's done. She's wiping herself like a pro. Sticks the toilet paper into the toilet. I point out where the flush button is and she flushes the loo.

Then she wants to wash her hands .. sink's a bit high. Fiona has a first aid kit in the bathroom that fits in a sizeable toolbox. Excellent thing for Josie to stand on so I pull it over and she gets up and turns on the tap. Looks around. No soap. I grab soap from the shower.

Only it's soap mixed with oatmeal. She looks at what she obviously considers some pretty freaky soap.

"Hey! This isn't .. SOAP!"

"Yes it is .. it's just got ... oatmeal in it. Sorta .. breakfast cereal .. in the soap."

She's now decided that we're all quite mad at our place but what the hell.

She washes her hands with the deviant soap.

Starts to head off ...

"Hey .. you need to put your pants back on..."

.. she gives an impish smile and bolts for the loungeroom at this point.

It's a laugh a minute ...

Definitely blog worthy.. ;-)

Save Me From The Almighty CARP !

OMG I am in hysterics..

george says: marina
george says: where is vika
Mari says: dont know
george says: why
Mari says: because i am not her mother?
Mari says: i was tlaking to her about half an hour ago
Mari says: maybe she's in a meeting ?
george says: marina we have problem with carp
Mari says: carp ?
Mari says: you have a problem with a carp?
george says: i talk to vika
Mari says: what happened, it refused to get on your fishing line ?
george says: later
Mari says: later? huh? what? I'm all confused..
Mari says: There are fish all around me..
george says: wait
Mari says: if i wait, the fish might get me
Mari says: I must run away.. hide from the carp!
george says: stoped
Mari says: im stoped.
george says: i cant talk with two of you
Mari says: you are tlaking to the carp as well as me ??
Mari says: how rude!
george says: i am talking with vika
george says: sorry
Mari says: ahhhhh now I understand..
Mari says: is the carp with Vika ?
george says: stopped please
Mari says: im stopped im stopped.. go talk to you favourite daughter, just because SHE has the carp..
george says: please................................................
Mari says: are you begging dad? are you?
Mari says: ahhhh see now you know how I feel when you drive me nuts !
george says: please...............................................
george says: noty girl
Mari says: that was SO much fun !

I don't have an update on the state of the fish.. so don't ask..

The other side of the conversation:

george says: vika
george says: we have problem to get carp
george says: vika
vika says: what can i do
vika says: i dont fish
vika says: u do
vika says: go to marrickville
vika says: where u buy fish
vika says: u can also go to Metro in marrickville they have a fish shop there too
george says: i was and bay a carp which is bad inside and i have it with me today to bring fish back
vika says: where?
vika says: at marrickville?
george says: yes
george says: so
george says: vika
george says: where you are
vika says: what can i say
vika says: take it back
vika says: and get fresh
vika says: and complain
vika says: and get refund
george says: i wand you to call to fish shops on east lake and east garden and find if they have carp and tomorrow i am going to buy it
george says: vika
george says: where you are
george says: tell me somthing
vika says: papa
vika says: i am at work
vika says: so r u
vika says: i cant call shops for the fish
george says: why
vika says: i have to work
vika says: be real
vika says: no can do
george says: no kiding???
vika says: no
vika says: no kidding
george says: ok
vika says: thank god
george says: no i need to now about fish
vika says: what do u need to know?
vika says: i cant call
vika says: u have to go and see
george says: why--just call them
vika says: i cant call
vika says: i am at work
vika says: go away
george says: no
george says: find
george says: marina is very surprise----you are working today???
vika says: if both of u leave me alone i will have time to work

Meanwhile..

george says: marina dont leave her alone
Mari says: lol
Mari says: why not ?
george says: i need fish
george says: she scould call top fish shop and find
Mari says: dad she is at work! she cannot be making calls to fish shops!
Mari says: be reasonable !
george says: ok
george says: marina
george says: find for me phone fish shop in east lake and east garden
george says: marina where you are
george says: answer me
Mari says: OH
Mari says: MY
Mari says: GOD
Mari says: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mari says: I ALSO am trying to work!
george says: try
george says: not kidding????
Mari says: wait!
george says: thanks
Mari says: Eastgardens Seafood Flag no.1263 Westfield Shopngtwn Eastgardens Pagewood NSW 2035 ph: (02) 9344 6806
Mari says: no GO AWAY!
Mari says: Hai Loi Fish Market, Shp 18 BKK Shopng Cntr Cnr Evan & Barber Ave Eastlakes NSW 2018 ph: (02) 9317 3218
Mari says: NOW go away!
george says: ok thanks

Ok NOW my eye is twitching..

Its Snot Gross.. Its Snot..

Tony says: I meant to tell you something that happened this morning in the car on the way to your mums
Tony says: Josie sneezed
Tony says: and I could hear that it was a wet one
Tony says: so I got a tissue for her and when I turned around..MAN
Tony says: lucky we were stopped at lights
Tony says: her WHOLE lower face was covered in a thick layer of snot-phlegm
Tony says: thick
Tony says: like placenta
Tony says: thick
Tony says: she couldnt even breath
Mari says: ewwwwwwwwwww
Tony says: she was a bit concerned until I made a joke out of it
Tony says: I could see she was not sure whether to laugh or freak out for a second there
Tony says: I just wish I had time to get my phone out and take a picture
Tony says: but she needed to breath so...
Mari says: into my blog it goes..

hehehe

HUGE News !

Well, it really is all about Becka !

We have had confirmation that Josie has been offered a place in Pre-School at The School Where We Want Josie To Go !

We are just thrilled and have been walking on eggshells waiting for the news.

There are ups and downs to this, but the ups far outweigh the downs. The school is fantastic, and while it is a Jewish School, this is not why we were so drawn to it. We were very impressed with the atmosphere, the teachers, the technology and their system of teaching. It is a very well run school which starts in the Pre-School and runs all the way to Year 12. This was one of the reasons we were so drawn to it. There is no changing schools, friends, locations. Its all on the same grounds, your entire school life. It offers security and confidence and routine.

We are thrilled to bits ;-)

Of course Josie's cousin Becka has been going there since Kindy, so it will be a huge buzz for them to be going to the same school (although they will only have about 4 years together as Becka will be in Year 8 when Josie starts Pre-School).

This of course signals the end of our living in the North Shore. It will be very very sad to leave our new home. We have only been there for about 9 months, and it is just the most perfect apartment for us, but increasing strata fees, petrol costs and road tolls have meant far more spending than we can handle.

So we have started tentitively looking in the Eastern Suburbs for a place to live. Its so hard though.. very expensive.. but we have time to look..

Our parents are especially pleased because they have been trying to convince us to move to the East for years and years. Particularily my dad..

Mari says: hello
george says: hi how are you today
Mari says: im ok, started coughing though
Mari says: but ok
Mari says: guess what ??
george says: what
Mari says: guess
george says: you win on lottory 1000000 dollars
Mari says: almost as good
george says: i wish
george says: so ?????
Mari says: both your granddaughters will be going to the same school as of next year !
george says: my Good , my congratulations!!!!!!!!!
Mari says: i havent told mum yet so dont say anything!
Mari says: and i havent told becka yet!
Mari says: we are SO excited !!
george says: ok
george says: me too
george says: when you say to mum
Mari says: yes well, I am a bit scared now too, its big money ! But we will manage ! We have to But we are just so relieved!
george says: she will be very, very happy
Mari says: Yep I will call her shortly
george says: how much you will pay
Mari says: well
Mari says: its around $7.5K for the first year
Mari says: and then increases every year
george says: just to save more money i have a good suggesting for you
Mari says: and whats that ?
george says: just be very sirious only
Mari says: yes in the last couple of months we have cut our spending dramatically
Mari says: we know
george says: i suggest you may be not this year but probably next year move to uor area and dont answer me today ---only tomorrow
george says: ok
Mari says: yes we know
Mari says: we have already started looking
george says: perfekt ---this is even better news today
Mari says: we spent last saturday looking at open places..
Mari says: havent found anything yet
Mari says: and we need to speak to our mortgage people to find out what kind of position we are in financially
Mari says: ok im gonna call mum and do some work
george says: you are today very, very good girl!!!!
Mari says: I am ALWAYS a very, very good girl !
george says: but today--the best
Mari says: ok

And then I got this from my sister..

george says: hi
vika says: hi
vika says: whats up
george says: give me aminut
vika says: ok
george says: so did you read!!!
george says: so
george says: so
george says: so
george says: vika
vika says: i am very happy that you are happy
vika says: i knew it all
vika says: we were just keeping it shush until it was all certain
george says: ok-i AM VERY HAPPY
vika says: it was all confirmed so all very happy now
vika says: and she is looking too
vika says: in our area
vika says: good day today ?
george says: VERY GOOD!!!!!
vika says: i know
vika says: rebecca will be pissing herself she will be so happy
george says: thanks God
vika says: the letter from school was supposed to be sent on monday but they did not send it until yesterday so we are not sleeping for the past several days
vika says: actually since 30th
vika says: when they went to school
vika says: and were told
vika says: but were waiting for the letter
george says: now i am have not any tensions --everithing is going to be ok
george says: thanks God and you two for good news
vika says: i am happy too

Its lovely to see my family so happy, but its going to be very hard leaving our home.. but we will, for Josie's sake. I cannot think of a better school for her.

I can't wait for next year !

Its all about Becka !

Ok so we're driving into Kindy this morning:

Josie: {cough, cough} See, I am sick! I coughing!
Mari: Yes, Bubby, I know.
Josie: Becki is my friend, but she is not coming to fix me.
Mari: Oookay.. no, Becki will probably not fix you no..

and then..

Josie: Can we go catch fishies with Zaki? Can we?
Mari: Uhhh I don't know honey, I don't think Zaki knows how to catch fishies..
Josie: Yes he does.
Mari: Ok, when Zaki goes fishing next time, we can go with him.
Josie: Becki is going to come catch fishies with me and Zaki.
Mari: Ok, we will see if Becki wants to come catch fishies with us.

and then we were listening to "Walk The Dinosaur"

Josie: Babble... babble.. open the doooor...
Josie: Babble... babble.. dinosaaaaur..
Josie: lacka..clacka... ackaa.. boom
Josie: clacka.. acka.. blackaaa... booom..

hehehe..

Druggie !

Josie has had a cough and the sniffles for a few days now so we have been giving her some benadryl and some dimetap. The dimetap is purple and tastes like grape, she loves it.

Before we left Baba's house tonight she had her medicines.

In the car, she started coughing a bit..

Josie: I need my medicine!
Mari: You have had your medine, you can't have any more.
Josie: But I'm coughing!
Mari: I know you're..
Josie: Look! Look! I show you, {cough cough}, see, I coughing!
Mari: I know sweetie, but you had your medicine before we left Baba's, so you can't have any more till tomorrow morning. ok?
Josie: {Sighs} Fine! Tomorrow Morning then ! {Gesticulates with her hands} But you remember, I coughing !

LOL

I have a druggie in the family !

Do You "need search on russia lenquich" ?

AGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

george says: marina
Mari says: yup?
george says: I need search on russia lenquich
Mari says: on russia what ??
george says: russia lenquich
george says: read properly
{Cause I wasn't reading properly the first time !}
Mari says: ok dont just retype what you typed, I didn't understand the first time, and I dont understand again.. ?
Mari says: type it in russian
george says: language
Mari says: oh!
Mari says: geez
george says: so
Mari says: what do you mean? russian font?
george says: no a
george says: i need find somthing on russin webs
Mari says: what ?
Mari says: you want a russian search engline ?
george says: does not metter
Mari says: I still dont understand
george says: I need find somthing likepoem or what ever
Mari says: in russian ?
george says: we have search on english and I need on russian
Mari says: right, so you want a russian search engline
george says: eys
george says: no where can I find russin web with search
Mari says: thats what I mean.. you want a russian search engline
Mari says: like google but in russian
george says: yes
Mari says: ok hang on
Mari says: http://www.zhurnal.ru/search-r.shtml
Mari says: I dont know what this says
george says: what is engline
Mari says: tell me if its what u want
george says: i will call you
{Oh god please no !}
Mari says: sorry, I meant to type engine not engline
Mari says: an engine is like a program
Mari says: http://www.aport.ru/
Mari says: try this one
Mari says: http://www.yandex.ru/
Mari says: or that
Mari says: http://www.rambler.ru/
Mari says: or that
george says: stoped please
Mari says: thats all i have
george says: thanks
Mari says: from what i saw, those last 3 are russian search engines
george says: ok i will try

Ok so I was mistyping engine.. but come on!!!

Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking ?

We had an funny conversation this morning on the way to kindy..

Josie: Are you thinking what I'm thinking ?
Mari: I don't know, what are you thinking ?
Josie: I'm thinking I'm going to Kindy this morning !
Mari: Well then yes, I am thinking what you're thinking..

What a hoot.. its so funny the things she picks up from Kindy..

I dropped her off this morning and Francis-Lea (her best friend) comes running up to her with a book of some sort and hugs her and starts showing her stuff from the book. It was so cute..

Everyone was outside playing on the equipment when we got there, and they have a little basketball hoop. It was so funny, and Daddy will be so pleased, she went right up to the kids playing at the hoop and joined in putting the ball in the hoop. We'll make a sporting hero out of her yet, Michael Jordan watch out !

She has been a bit sniffly the last couple of days.. probably coming down with a cold..

Its gotten so chilly lately !

Just a Bit Wet..

Let me tell you all about our interesting wake up call at 1030pm last night!

We had just fallen asleep, early for a change, when I was woken up by a huge roar! I looked out the window, and just under Josie's balcony, there was water billowing, gushing, like a geyser, everywhere!

Apparently there were plumbers working there yesterday.. and well.. need I say more?? ;-)

Turns out a fire hydrant sprung a leak..

Its never dull at the estate ;-)

The Monsta Cow in the Big Pwuck !

We had a lovely drive to kindy this morning !

Josie spent the entire time chatting to her dolls and pony. There was hugging and kissing and helping and generally love all around ;-)

It was so cute.

I had to hug a few of them too.

She is SUCH a little mother! She kept holding the doll by the hand danging over the seat and saying: Its ok. Ill help you. Are you ok? Awww [hug].

She made the doll and pony kiss a lot too, and hold hands.

And then she put her doll behind her head and I asked her what she was doing there.

Josie: She's scared! She's hiding!
Mari: What is she scared of?
Josie: A monsta cow!
Mari: A monster cow?? Where is the monster cow??
Josie: In the big pwuck (truck) !

Heheheh..

So next time you are driving past a big pwuck.. watch out for the monsta cow !

ARGH! Patronising!

I am SO annoyed!

As some may know I have a council parking permit for my car for work. It is clearly displayed on my dashboard.

A couple of weeks ago I found a parking ticket on my car. I was ropable! I took some photos clearly showing my parking permit and sent off the ticket and a letter back to Infringement Processing Bureau.

WELL!

Today I got a letter back from them. It says this:

Dear Ms Hill,

We are writing about your contact with us regarding penalty notice: blah blah

We have examined the offence and found the penalty notice was legally issued. However we have considered the issues you raised and have concluded that a caution should apply in this instance.

We have not processed your request to have the matter heard in court. If you wish to reject the 'caution' and proceed to court, please advise us in writing.

You do not need to pay the penalty.

Well for gods sake! They have basically said: Well we won't admit to doing anything wrong, but we'll give you a warning anyway.

Absolutely incensed!

Bloody Beaurocrats!

Month 38 Josie Update

I don't know if I will continue doing these updates.. since starting this blog, I have been 'updating' quite regularily, not sure there is much left to tell.. but Ill give it a go..

Lets see..

Josie's vocab has just exploded. She is speaking in full sentences, with not very many mistakes. She can tell us exactly what she wants, and while we sometimes have frustrations and mini tantrums, I am happy to say the big, full blown, high frequency screaming tantrums are a thing of the past.

Also, after about 12 months of ongoing staf infections, we haven't had a problem at all in about 4 months or so *spit* *spit* *spit*. Its a relief to be honest.. cut down on medication costs ;-)

She is at kindy 3 days a week now and absolutely loving it. She comes home and tells us all about how she did this or that at kindy. Especially the singing and dancing. She does a lot of that. In the car when there is music she knows on, she will quite happily sing along, which is lovely.

We are now on tenderhooks waiting to hear from the private school where we want Josie to go about whether Josie is going to pre-school there next year or not. Apparently the waiting list is quite long and their prefs are siblings of enrolled students and while Josie's cousin Becki is in year 7 there this year, they dont count cousins. Next are the people who sign up for kindergarden there as well, which we have, and then its the date when the application was sent in (for us it was last June).

I worked out that it was $400 cheaper if we sent Josie to the school, 5 days a week, then if she stayed where she currently is next year, 3 days a week! Its crazy! So we are hoping and praying that she gets in.

The school has an open day on March 30th which we are going to. Hopefully we will find out then!

We are doing really well with the toilet.. fully day trained (with an occasional accident here and there), but still in nappies at night. Ive been told that the night training will take a while.. which is fine.. im just wondering how to kick it off or whether she will just do it herself..

She has now been in her toddler bed for a couple of months and its so great not to have the cot up. She has slept over at her cousin's place once, but it was all too exciting and she didnt get to sleep till about 10pm, and even then she refused to go to the bed and fell asleep on the floor in the living room !!

Tony and I have been talking about starting a Token Economy at home. This is where you give the child a token when they are good and when they have a number of these tokens, they get a special present or something. We are thinking of doing it with stickers, since she loves stickers so much. Vika and Becki have started doing this at their place with her, so I think we might have a chat and set out a game plan for how to manage it across the various households. I'm not sure Josie is old enough yet, but we will see.

Oh and we have finally been able to put her hair up!! As you can see by the photos, I've even managed 4 pony tails at once! Amazing!

And thats about it I think.. well it turned out to be a good sized update after all ! ;-)

And now for a quickie..

At Baba's place today..

Josie (picking up doll): This is Vika..
Josie (picking up another doll): This is Becki..
Baba: What about Mat ?
Josie : Not at Baba's house!

Hehehe..

Another one of *those* conversations..

..with my father.. he wants to get broadband at home..

Mari says: broadband companies will put you on a contract
Mari says: you can pay less and have more contract time, or pay more and have less contract time
george says: how long contract
Mari says: 18 months or 24 months
Mari says: this is with iinet..
Mari says: different companies, different contracts
george says: what you have
Mari says: i just need to know if you prefer a shorter contract or longer contract ?
Mari says: uhm
Mari says: i cant remember
Mari says: i think 18 months
george says: how much it will cost
Mari says: well it depends on the company..
george says: so
Mari says: its the connection fee thats usually dropped if u go on contract
george says: give me price
Mari says: connection is usually between one and two hunmdred
george says: and then per month
Mari says: well yes of course
Mari says: im looking at $40 plans
george says: 40 dollars per month
Mari says: but if u go on a 18 month contract with iinet, they drop the connection fee
Mari says: yes 40 dollars per month
george says: ok i will talk to mum (how much she pay now??)
Mari says: i just spoke to mum and she said to ask you
Mari says: she pays $22.68 per month for dial up internet
Mari says: all i am asking is if you prefer a longer or shorter contract!?
george says: so she pay less??
Mari says: dad
Mari says: we are talking about broadband
Mari says: of course she pays less for dialup!
Mari says: we have discussed this already!!
Mari says: we agreed on a $40 plan!
Mari says: remember? your friend has a $40 plan.. you said you were happy with that?
george says: for 18 month??
Mari says: well hopefully for longer!
george says: ok what is max month
Mari says: $40 !!!
george says: with discount
george says: so it will be fof 18 or 24 month
Mari says: this is what I AM ASKING YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Mari says: do u want 18 or 24?!
george says: give me more conditions for broadband
Mari says: what do you mean ??
george says: I want for 24 month if it cost less
Mari says: right, thank you!
Mari says: thats all I wanted to know!
george says: more conditions-- do I have free calls?? do I have free ...
Mari says: i dont know.. i am still looking around at different companies.
Mari says: i just needed to know about the contract!
george says: tell me if it is chipper if 24 month??
Mari says: oh my god!!!!!!!!!
Mari says: I will tell you when I know!!!!!!!
george says: or my god
george says: ok
Mari says: you drive me insane!!!!!!!!
george says: what is insane??
Mari says: ME!
george says: i want just full info
Mari says: when I have full info, I will tell you full info!
george says: what is insane?? -don understand
Mari says: sumashetshaya !
george says: now i now
Mari says: oh good
george says: thanks
Mari says: excuse me while I go bang my head on the wall..
george says: how is speed of this broadband--find
Mari says: fast
george says: how fast--like aeroplain
Mari says: faster than sound
george says: ok
Mari says: ok now go away
george says: no
Mari says: why not?
george says: you bdid not unswer if it is chipper for 24 month
george says: then for 18
Mari says: not necessarily cheaper.. but there may be other benefits.. like free connection or a free modem etc..
Mari says: and it *depends on the company* !!!!!
george says: ok thats good let me now
Mari says: and I am NOT going to list every single company and their plans for you
george says: before you connect send me all info
Mari says: yes yes.. I cant connect you without your input dad!!
george says: thanks , now yoy free
Mari says: thank god
Mari says: now go away
george says: and me
Mari says: yes thank you too
Mari says: go
Mari says: shoo
george says: ok

*sigh*

And so I am left with one tiny strand of sanity..

Virii anyone?

I started feeling quite off at work yesterday afternoon. Feverish and tired.. so I decided to go see my doctor before picking up Josie. Luckily I did.

The doctor examined me and said I was in the initial stages of a virus and my symptoms pointed towards shingles, or meningitis, or legionnaires (there has been an outbreak of Legionnaires, 6 cases in about a week, in the next suburb to me) or some other virus.

ACK!

So I left Josie at mums overnight and worked from home today. Tony is picking Josie up after kindy and will be brining her home quite late so hopefully she will be asleep by the time they get home.

Meanwhile I had a steady fever all day, up to 38 degrees at one point. No fun.

Feeling a bit better now, but still feverish. The doctor said to look out for blisters (shingles), sore neck (legionnaires) or trouble breathing/coughing (legionnaires). Or my body may successfully fight it off and nothing will break out. Im hoping for the latter ;-)

So I have been watching Season 1 of The OC all day. I am about half way through.. and I have to say thank you to Jacqui, cause I _love_ it !

So better get back to it now! LOL

Not a peep !

My baby has an infected finger!! ;-(

However, according to Daddy, Miss Josie has more kahones than her mummy ;-)

Tony took to Josie's finger last night in order to eradicate the puss from the sore. From what both my mum and Tony tell me, she was a little trooper! She held her hand out to daddy, and while daddy squeezed the very painful pus out, there was not a peep.

Baba was just amazed and commented to me how impressed she was both with Tony (explaining what he was doing to her and why he was doing it) and with Josie for being so brave.

I am very proud.

I think the key to Josie being quite self sufficient is communication. We have always made sure we explained to her exactly why we want her, or dont want her to do something. For eg. Don't run out into the garage area because there are cars all around and you never know when one might be going in or out, and you are very small and they may not see you. That illustrates to her both the reason and the consequence. And although at first she was obviously to understand reasons and consequences, now she does understand.

I have noticed a significant drop off in the number of tantrums we get, which is a relief! Its so good when they start to understand and become reasonable ;-)

The Little Mother

My little mother hen ;-)

Apparently, the latest news from the kindy is that Josie looks out for the little kids. She is in the middle class at Kindy now, so there is a whole class of younger kids in the same room as her and apparently she looks after the little ones. Comforts them when they cry, gets their dummies for them, or toys, when they ask and generally plays mother hen ;-)

Thats so cute ;-)

A Little Bit of Sticky Tape..

Ok so we are driving home from Baba's place and Josie is looking out the window.

We pull up beside a bus, and Josie is very excited. She loves buses.

Josie: Look! A bus!
Mari: Yes bubby, a bus.
Josie: Awww Bus broken!
Mari: Is the bus broken?
Josie (confidently): Yes, broken.
Mari: Thats ok, they will fix it.
Josie: I need a little bit of sticky tape..
Mari: A bit of sticky tape?
Josie: Yes, the man will fix the bus.

heehee..

Who's Been Sleeping in Our New Bed ?!

Whats big and firm and very, very wide!?

No, its not my backside!

Its our gorgeous, new, king sized bed!

Its soooo comfy!

And such a nice change from our flat, 9 year old mattress that we have had forever! Well for 9 years ;-)

The first night that we put it together we were all so excited, all three of us lay down on it (it was about 9pm) and Josie was asleep within 10 minutes. I was almost asleep too ;-)

The mattress is so high though that I can't just sit down on it, I have to climb up!

Anyways, we are mega excited about the bed. Have been getting great sleep!

Beds are wonderful things ;-)

My Father's English

Example 1.

georgek says: marina
Mari says: yep ?
georgek says: i try to contact some one to msn it was ok when i type email adress and it is is not on my msn window
georgek says: why
georgek says: what schould i do
Mari says: i dont understand
georgek says: i try to added on msm one person and come thru generalk presidure but cant contact him
Mari says: is he online ?
georgek says: no
Mari says: well thats why you cant contact him
georgek says: i swish of and again on but...
georgek says: why
Mari says: because he is not online
georgek says: explain
Mari says: he is not logged into msn
georgek says: ok do i need do it again when he on line or he will be come on msn in time when he will be on line
georgek says: so i need only contact when he is on line??

Turns out what he meant was that he tried to add this person to his MSN contact list but the person did not appear on the list. I tried it and found that this person did not have an MSN ID.

The lesson here is to always read the messages the computer is trying to deliver to you.

And the moral of the story? Breathe deeply when you get an MSN msg from my father.

Why me!?

Ok so here's the latest shenanigans.. and this time, nothing to do with Josie..

So as you know it was our anniversary on Wednesday and we went to a lovely french restaraunt called Chez Rene, and left Josie with my mum and dad for the night.

This morning I get an MSN msg from my sister, oops!, she suddently remembered it was our anniversary and wanted to wish us a happy one and apologise for forgetting (even tho a month ago she wished us a happy anniversary, but for the wrong month LOL!!). So I told her not to be silly and that it was not a big deal at all. In fact mum never wished us a happy anniversary and has probably forgotten as well, which is not surprising cause my mother has the worlds worst memory.

So Vika suggested that we should remind mum, so she gave her a call. I told her to make note of the reaction cause I knew it would be good ;-)

So she msgs me again after her phone call, You'd better call her! She is horrified! I think she's having a heart attack! I laugh. Too soon.

She rings me exactly 3.294 seconds later, in hysterics. Why didn't I remind her?! I know her memory is bad! Its all my fault!

Hey! Why am *I* getting into trouble for not reminding HER to wish ME a happy anniversary?!?!

Ugh! I told her not to be silly and sent her on her way. Then I msg'd dad to ring her and tell her to stop being silly. Dad tells me she is "angree" (his english is really bad!). Why me!?

So now I ask you, are wedding anniversaries such a big deal!? They really aren't to us.. we have been together for 13 years now, and married for 8yrs.. and really, we don't really expect people to remember our wedding anniversary anymore.. it was ages ago..

Birthdays are different. I would totally be upset if mum forgot my birthday.. but sheesh.. a wedding anniversary!?

Anyways.. back to work..

Cause when mummy bird says..

Went and picked up Josie from Baba's tonight and since she slept for 2 hours today I thought we may as well hang around since Vika and Becka were there too.

Becka and Josie had a ball dancing around the living room to The Wiggles.

Then they went to have a shower (Josie's second one of the day) and by that time Baba was begging us to leave ;-)

So 830pm we started leaving. Baba warmed up a bottle of milk for Josie and when I put her in the car I went to give her the bottle but she refused with a big resounding NO. This is no surprise, so I said I would just leave it beside her leg in the child seat and when she was ready she could have it.

So off we went, with me suggesting she have some milk every so often. Finally we stopped at lights, and the conversation went like this:

Me: Josie, Mummy Bird, you know Mummy Bird? Well Mummy Bird told me that she wants you to have your milk..
Josie (picks up bottle): Where ?
Me: Over there in that big tree. She just told me, she said "I want Josie to have her bottle of milk".
Josie: Where?
Me (Points to tree): In that tree.. she is sitting there..
Josie: The green..?
Me: Yep, the green tree!
Josie: No WAY !
Me (laughing): Yes Way!

Josie puts the bottle in her mouth and starts drinking.

I was almost in hysterics ;-)

Now this is about 830pm, but as she was falling asleep she asked for her sunglasses, put them on, and fell asleep.

On the Phone & Anniversary night !

My sister had the funniest conversation with Josie this morning, here is her account:

Rang mum this morning, had a conversation with your daughter (mum and her on two phones)

Josie: Hey Vika, where is Becka.
Vika: At school.
Josie: I want to come to your house.
Vika: Ok you can come tomorrow, I will pick you up from kindy tomorrow and we will go to my place with Becka.
Josie: But Becka at school.
Vika: No tomorrow.
Josie: Oh ok. My dummy not here, at home, I will get it later.
Vika: Ok.
Josie: I want to go to your house.
Vika: Ok, tomorrow we will go to my house.
Josie: I am at baba's house talking to you…. hehehe. Baba's house is very very pretty.

At which point me and mum just burst out laughing.


She's so cute.. ;-)

So last ngiht Tony and I went out to dinner at Chez Rene. It was a delicious as last time. Tony had venison and I had beef. It was yummy. And we got a bunch of phone calls from Harri from the USA cause she was making some international test calls for work, which was also lovely ;-)

And even though we said we were not going to get eachother presents (!!) because we had just bought a new king sized bed, Tony got me a gorgeous big metal covered black photo album for me to keep some special photos of our family in ;-)

Then we went home and watched another episode of Battlestar Galactica.

Had a lovely night ;-)

She's a-talkin' !

Driving Josie to kindy in the morning is such fun..

She has taken to singing along to songs now..

"We're going on a bear hunt.."
"blah blah bear hunt"
"Were gonna catch a big one.."
"We going catch big one.."
"I'm not scared.."
"I not scared.."
"Its kinda dark in here.."
"Its dark here!"
etc

Very cute ;-)

She spends much of the trip sitting in the back chatting to her dolls and doggie..

"What Happened?"
"oh.. doesn't matter.."
"Let me see your back.."
"It hurts?" "oh.. doesnt matter.."
etc..

And I always ask her to take her dummy out when talking (which she seldom does!!).. and this morning when she started trying to sing, I asked her to take her dummy out.. and she rolled her eyes at me, took the dummy out and said "Ugh! Fine! Here! Take it!"..

I burst out laughing. She said "What happened?", and I said "You're funny!" and she sighed and said "oh.." LOL.

She's a funny little monkey.