...and we're back.. ...and it's found!

Phew.. we made it! A whole hour with no lights or TV or computers.. shocking, I know!

I basically read a magazine by candle light, and Tony fiddled on his laptop (couldn't completely get him away from the technology ;-).

AND the other day.. guess what Tony found next to the front wheels of his car...


Apparently he sprayed again on Thursday and Friday morning this is what he found. His paranoia paid off ;-)

Big sucker wasnt it??

Earth Hour

In 30 minutes we are going to turn off all non essential appliances including TV and computers.

Aaaaagggghhhhhh!!!!!!!

If I'm not back an hour later, call out the patrols!

Josie and the Wild and Ferocious Caterpillar

This morning at kindy Josie and the rest of her class were drawing Wild Animals from pictures in a book.

Well they were supposed to be anyway...Josie of course had her own ideas and would not be swayed.

Alex: Josie, is that a wild animal?
Josie: *shakes head and puts on shy cheeky grin* It's a catapilla!
Alex: Wouldn't it be nice to draw a wild animal?
Josie: *nods as if about to comply*
Josie: *goes back to drawing caterpillar*
...time passes...
Alex: Josie, so what animal have you drawn?
Josie: It's a catapilla! *holding up the completed picture proudly*

Uncle Mat would be proud of this display of passive-resistance. He was a master of such when he was Josies age (and later).

Sickness in the Hill Household And the Dirty Great Spider

On Friday evening Josie came down with a 38.5 degree fever and until Sunday her temp was only kept down by Neurofen. Also over the weekend each night she complained of an itchy bum. We of course thought it was threadworm.

We made the decision to keep her home from school on Monday while Tony took her to see Dr Robert. Robert diagnosed her with a UTI almost immediately and put her on antibiotics straight away. This morning (Tuesday) she had no fever but we decided to keep her home anyway (well at Baba's).

Now yesterday morning Tony woke up not feeling well either so he took the day off work as well.

And yesterday afternoon I started feeling a sore throat and slight fever. By the time I got home after work my throat was killing me and my fever was at 38.7 eventually rising to 39 degrees.

Last night was the worst night ever. I tossed and turned all night, unable to relax or even breathe because my tonsils had swollen up so much I couldnt swallow.

So today Tony took the morning off to take Josie to mums and me to see Dr Robert. We dropped Josie off at Baba's (on the way Josie was saying that she wanted to sleep at Baba's tonight, which was difficult because Mum doesn't drive and she needed to get to school tomorrow), so as we were driving throught the Harbour Tunnel on the way to the north, I suddenly see a great big dirty Huntsman crawling in the foot space on the passenger side of the car (where I was sitting!). I wouldn't say I screamed but I did gasp quite loudly before throwing my legs up on the dashboard while the huntsman ran down and out of sight somewhere in the foot space area. Great. At this point I was pleading with Tony to find the breakdown bay in the Tunnel and pull over. Those of you who know Tony, know very well how he feels about spiders, especially Huntsmen, so quite predictably Tony was freaking out a bit. Luckily the Breakdown Bay wasn't too far off and we pulled over and threw ourselves out of the car.

Now I don't usually get hysterical, but I was hyperventilating and whimpering like a baby at this point, which with my sore throat, 38 degree fever and the tunnel exhaust fumes, well it wasn't fun.

After about 10 minutes of searching the passenger side, and pulling out the steering lock as far as it would go and locking it into place, I seated myself at the back, and Tony drove very carefully to the Drs.

While I went in to see the Dr, Tony went to the petrol station across the road and bought a big can of bug spray. which he proceeded to spray inside and outside and over the wheels and under the bonnet of the car, much to the amusement of the people inside the dr's office.

So I saw Dr Robert, he said I had tonsilitis and gave me a script for antibiotics and sent me on my way. We got the meds, walked back to the car and then carefully drove home.

At this point I rang my mum and told her Josie would have to stay there tonight cause at this point I am highly contagious. All were delighted at this fortunate turn of events. All except me, with the fever, and Tony who will have to drive to mums tomorrow morning early to get josie to school on time.

We got home and Tony was going to go to work but he wasn't feeling well again so he stayed home. And we never did find the Huntsman.

So now my temp has been as high as 39.6, Tony has thrown me into a tepid bath, I have had a tepid shower, I am FREEZING, sitting in front of the air con, my head is throbbing and my temp is currently at 39.5.

On the plus side, Tony went out and got me ice cream! LOL.

Update

By about 7pm my temp had hit 40.2 which freaked me out a bit so after another tepid shower I decided it was time to check out the hospital. Glad I did too. They gave me panadeine which knocked out the fever, but then also IV antibiotics and a steroid to take the swelling from my tonsils. Its after midnight and we have just got home. My temp is 37 degrees, my throat still hurts but is about 50% better. I might go get some sleep now! Its been a long couple of days!!

Daddy and Baby

Josie has been sick all weekend. high fever, throwing up etc. Neurofen has been keeping the temps down but the poor thing has been quite bored at home all weekend.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Baba's for dinner and she played with her cousins Becka and Jayden, but was quite out of sorts.

Today we have been home all day and she has been so bored. We have been through Nemo, Prince of Egypt, Road to El Dorado an The Incredibles.

This afternoon Tony was lying on her couch and Josie was playing with him. Josie was 'Daddy' and Tony was 'the Baby'!

Josie: This is your 'try' for today
Daddy: What is it?
Josie: Vegemite toast. Do you like it?
Daddy: No. I dont like it.
Josie: Ok, next time your 'try' will be pancakes. I'm going shopping to get some pancakes, you stay there.
[Goes to the kitchen, comes back]
Josie: Ok, here is some pancake. Do you like it?
Daddy: Yes! Yum yum yum!
Josie: Its dirty.
Daddy: What? Its dirty?
Josie: Yes, I dropped it.
Daddy: Ewww, yuck! No!
Josie: Ok Ill get you some more pancake.
[Goes to kitchen, comes back]
Josie: Ok, heres some more. I didn't drop it this time.
Daddy: Yum yum!
Josie: Now I'm going to work. Now don't cry!
Daddy: Waaaaaaaa!
Josie: Ok I'll read you a story, but then you're going to sleep!
Daddy: Ok.
Josie: Now its time for some medicine.
Daddy: Yuck, no no..
Josie: But its orange!
Daddy: I don't want medicine!
Josie: You have to have it because you are sick. But you can't have yogurt because you are sick. I will put it in the fridge.
[Goes to the kitchen, comes back]
Josie: Right, its in the fridge, you can't have it. Now I'm going to work.
Daddy: Waaaaaa!!
Josie: Ok Ill stay for a little while.
Daddy: Ok!
Josie: Now its been a little while, I'm going to work.
Daddy: Waaaaaa!
Josie: I have to go to work!
Daddy: Nooo!! don't go!
Josie: I have to go to work to buy you presents!
Daddy: Oh! Presents, I like presents!
[Goes to couch and gets a bunch of soft toys and gives them to baby].

When Daddy's Away..

Tony drove down to Canberra last night for some show or conference or something today, so he told Josie that he wouldn't be here to put her to bed or in the morning.

She was vey good and went to bed without a problem.

In the morning I was getting her dressed on her bed..

Josie: Where's Daddy?
Mari: He's away, remember?
Josie: So then, can I scream now??

LOL

I tell her not to scream in the mornings cause Daddy is sleeping.. hehehe

The Cat, The Dog and Their Sheepy Babies

First a quote from Red Dwarf:

Lister: I'm going to Fiji. I'm going to have a sheep and a cow and breed horses.

And now a word from the pre-school..

This morning, Josie and Rachel created a story while molding with the play dough and the animals. Very patiently, they dictated their story to Alex.

This is the story of Cats and Dogs:

Once upon a time there was a cat and a dog marrying each other. The dog was wearing a marrying thing called pants, the cat was wearing a yellow dress. They started to have lots of friends coming to the “marrying party”. Their friends were: a cow, a sheep, a horse, a pig, a nice goat and a kitty cat.

They ate chocolate cake with yellow and purple icing.

Then the cat and dog had lots of babies, sheeps and cows. They were a happy family.

After laughing for a good 10 minutes, I wiped the tears from my eyes and proceeded to show a lot of people from work.

Another Catchup

My mum has been complaining for two weeks that I haven't updated the blog in too long so here I am.

Life continues to be quite hectic.

Josie is enjoying her Dancing and Swimming classes on the weekend and loves putting on her gorgeous pink leotard and tap shoes. She loves tap and she loves Jazz and she loves to sing anytime she can. She certainly doesn't get that from me!

Her swimming is getting very very good. She can now dog paddle about 15 metres with her back bubble down to two boards, and she can even dog paddle and keep herself above water without any bubble at all, treading water all by herself. It's thrilling to watch.

I have also been swimming, and going to aqua aerobics on Tuesdays and Thursdays after work. That has been great too. And work is fabulous still. I love my job, I finally feel like I am working where I was meant to be working. I just love it.

So last week Tony and I had our 9th wedding anniversary. We went to a lovely Taiwanese place in Pyrmont for dinner and Tony got me a bunch of chocolate from the Lindt Chocolat Cafe. Yummmm!!!!

Then last Friday was the Purim Parade and show. Josie went as Princess Jasmine from Aladdin. She looked so cute! Rachel went as a ballerina and they looked so cute together! All the kids looked so gorgeous. They all sat around in a big circle and sang songs and danced around and then all walked around the playground showing off their costumes.

The next day we met Roman, Helen and Stacey at a Fun House near their place. The girls had a great time climbing all over the equipment and going down the giant blow up slide.

Last Wednesday the school had a Parent Information night that Tony and I attended while Josie slept at Granny's place. It was a great night with a wonderful presentation on what the preschool offers, which we really already knew, but they did a powerpoint presentation with photos of the kids which was great! At the end of the presentation, they got us all to paint a picture, or make something with playdoh for the kids. Tony and I each painted a picture and Josie was very surprised the next morning to find a present from mummy and daddy.

Thats pretty much it from me.

I have uploaded a heap of photos to Flickr. See the link on the right to Josie's photos.

Och By Footen!!

So we're watching Funniest Home Video's at 11pm on Thursday night and Tony gets an SMS from his mum..

I off need to change cars with you tomorrow i footen do not have my car only fads

After about 10 mins of hysterical laughing, Tony replies..

By footen i don't want fads car but ok. Footem de footen.

I can barely type this through the tears streaming down my face...

Long Awaited Update

Wow its been a while since I have blogged!

Life is quite hectic lately, with stuff on every weekend and no time for a breather.

Lets work backwards..

Last night we had a games night at Mat's place while Josie was sleeping over at Granny's. For the third time in a row we played Risk. And for the first time, Mathew did NOT win!! Woohoo!! Jacqui won fair and square and I came in second (with an outrageous amount of cheating!). So finally the girls beat the boys! So ok, I cheated, but that does not diminish Jacqui's win! You go girl!

Oh before games we went and saw Ghostrider at Fox. It was a good movie, a little scary, but generally entertaining. Of course no one can just sit back and enjoy the show.. they all picked apart the poor movie.. but I liked it ;-)

The weekend was pretty packed.

On Sunday we had lunch at the Eiger for Josie's birthday. As always, the food was magnificent and the chocolate fondue for desert was sublime. Josie thoroughly enjoyed herself, as per usual at the Eiger. If anyone is in Petersham, you should drop in, its fantastic.

After lunch we went home and then went to Mahon Pool for a swim because the weather was just stinking hot all day. Mahon Pool is an ocean pool, and being that we always go to simple chlorinated swimming pools, this was quite an experience and I have to say, never again! There was moss everywhere, it was slippery, it was all rocky and shelly and well, I am just not an outdoorsy kinda girl. Gimme chlorine any day. Not to mention that it was hellishly windy and just plain freezing!! We all got in the water, well all except Tony who's a wuss. Josie really liked it, except for choking on the salt water and turning blue from the cold...

So Saturday was also a big day..

We picked up Rachel and took both girls to their dance class. Unfortunately you can't really watch the class because its in a big room and they dont allow parents in because it distracts the kids. We had a quick look through the little window in the door and then left.

I went shopping and Tony went and played basketball on their bball court for a while.

I had intended on getting my hair cut, my toes done, and doing the grocery shopping. I got to the hairdresser, and wished them luck with brushing my hair (I hadnt been able to brush the knots out in 3 days!). The guy then suggested I get a treatment done, to help with the knots, and also moisturise my hair. It wasn't that much more so I agreed. He didn't mention how long it would take though! After the 5 step treatment process, including 30mins with some oil in under heat, and then another 30 mins with a mask in under heat, 3 hours later I had short, bushed out, clean, moisturised hair! However, now I didnt have time to do my toes because it was almost 3pm and I still had to get the groceries!! Needless to say I was unimpressed!

So I managed to get groceries and get home just in time to get dressed, and get Josie dressed for dinner out. Meanwhile Tony had played hoops, picked up the girls, gone to his mums, helped her clean the backyard, taken the girls to swimming lesson and gone to a playground with Michelle!

So dinner out was great. It was for the Chinese New Year (Year of the Pig now??). Wendy's family had invited us out to celebrate at a lovely Chinese place where we had a chinese banquet. This included about 11, yes thats ELEVEN, courses. We had some very unusual things, like jellyfish, and abalone, and shark fin soup. But we also had the most amazing lobster with legs as huge and thick as your arm! Needless to say, I was in heaven!!! It was absolutely delicious!!

They had the usual big Dragon Dance come in (except it was a Lion!!). When Josie saw the big Lion her face lit up in surprise and she looked incredibly excited... for about 15 seconds until they started beating the drums! Then she dived under the table and stayed there for the majority of the act. She did come out towards the end once she realised that the Lion was not real, but the drumming was still hurting her ears. For some great photos of the night, check out Mat's Flickr site.

On Friday night was Granny's birthday and we went to the Gourmet Pizza Kitchen with Michelle and Rachel. The pizzas were divine and the girls had a great time.

Josie has been having a great time at school and is loving going there. Not much new on that front.

And thats it I think.. don't really have anything else to report..

Some Updating

Its been a couple of weeks since my last post so I thought I'd bring you all up to date ;-)

Josie started school and is now very settled as a Comet. She is enjoying herself and is very eager to go to school in the mornings.

We had our garage sale last weekend. Took a lot of hard labour to set up, and even more hard labour to pack it up. We sold probably about 30% of what was there.. mostly kids clothes..

It was actually a very nice morning just sitting outside in the fresh air with Tony, chatting about stuff. Its probably the most one on one time we have spent together in years ;-) At two seperate points of the morning, the threat of rain loomed. We had thunder and lightening.. but it passed right on over! Twice! We even got a bit sunburnt.

We are doing it all again tomorrow morning, although there is again the threat of rain. Hopefully it will pass over again ;-)

Yesterday Tony dislocated the top bit of his little finger playing basketball. It was pointing towards him till he popped it back in *EEK*. YUCK.

Nothing much else happening... so I'll leave it there..

My Baby's a Comet!

So Josie started school yesterday.

She is now in the 2nd year of pre-school, and has graduated from a Rainbow to a Comet.

She was hugely excited yesterday morning and couldn't wait to get to school. On the way she told me about how she is going to have new teachers and that Marlene and Silke weren't her teachers anymore. She was looking forward to seeing her friends againa nd seeing all the new Rainbows.

She had a great time and even met a new Comet.

This morning was a little different. Not because she didnt want to go to school, but mostly because I was making her wear a tshirt that she didn't want to wear. Blah.

Once we got to the car she was fine though, and looking forward to going to school again.

There were heaps of parents there this morning. Mostly the new Rainbows parents. I looked around and remembered being there as a Rainbow parent myself. It was surreal. They all looked so frazzled, and one little boy was screaming hysterically and taking every opportunity to escape through the front door. Luckily there is a locked childrens gate beyond the front door so he couldnt get far, but his poor mother, and Terry, kept chasing him all over the place.

Over the holidays, building started on the new classroom which adjoins the main activity room. Its looking very good. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Best News EVER!

On the morning of Josie's birthday I got a call from my best friend Harri who wanted to wish Josie a happy birthday. She asked to speak to her to I gave Josie the phone. After a short conversation, Josie looks up at me and says "Auntie Hawwi is going to have a baby!".

I almost fell over.

This is what Harri remembers of the conversation:

Harika: Hey Josie, I have something to tell you.

Josie: What?

Harika: Auntie Harri is having a baby.

Josie: Ohhhh (in an inquisitive tone)

Harika: Josie, reckon you can tell your Mum that?

Josie: Yeah

Harika: Can you tell her now?

Josie: (shouting) Muuuuuuum, Auntie Hawwi is having a baby.

We are just so delighted for Harri and Sven! I have waited so long for this news.

Its just a bit bittersweet because they are in the USA and we are here and it means we won't see her this year.. but we will have to save our frequent flyers and make the trip there in 08 I think.. ;-)

Congrats Harri and Sven, this is just the most fantastic news!

A Blog Photo Update

Ok so here are some photos from the last month or so.. in no particular order..

This is Josie and Stacey at Stacey's 3rd bday party last weekend.

Josie spent most of the time running after Stacey and calling for Stacey and generally wanting Stacey. It was very cute.

What a poser! ;-)

Meanwhile, Stacey's dad, Roman, destroyed many balloons, resulting in one bow-legged french poodle and a very strange looking rabbit.

And this is Josie struggling to push daddy on the swing.

This is Josie last weekend in the dress that Auntie Anna gave her for her birthday. She just loves it.

























These are the gorgeous dolphin jeans and seahorse (quickly named Seasaw) that Uncle Mat and Auntie Wendy bought for Josie on their honeymoon.

This is Josie and Great-Grandma Trudy on Australia Day. We always go to Trudy's for lunch on most birthdays and holidays.

This is the coloured Magnadoodle that Grandma Trudy gave Josie for her birthday.

This is Josie with her birthday cake at Grandma Trudy's.

And this is my big four year old.

This is the gorgeous swimsuit that Rachel brought back from the Gold Coast for Josie.

And this is the big 4th Birthday Party for Josie and Rachel. 41 degree heat and lots of people in my backyard. Ugh!

























This is the girls' birthday cake.

























And this is the girls after blowing out the candles.


























This is in preparation for opening presents!

























And this is opening the presents!


This is my big girl on the morning of her birthday. We went to Yum Cha for lunch with the family.


















































This is Baba and Dyeda at Yum Cha.



















Becka helping Josie open presents.












Granny and Vika at Yum Cha.










And these last two are of my little catwoman, in the catsuit that she got from Cousin Matthew for her birthday.




















And thats pretty much it for photos.

School starts tomorrow! My baby will be a Comet this year, can't believe she is one year away from Kindergarden!!

The Devil Child From Hell

Went shopping on Saturday and somehow managed to bring along The Devil Child From Hell (tm).

She was an absolute TERROR. And I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day!

It all started when I said no to ice cream. A simple enough thing. However she screamed two words - Ice Cream! - for the next 30 minutes, non stop! She sat in the trolley, kicked her legs, threw herself around and was generally a nightmare. I ignored her of course, cause thats what you are meant to do when your 4 year old throws a tantrum, but OMG, I have NEVER seen her like this.

Once she calmed down we had breaks of about 15 mins or so between whinging and crying and hysteria about a wide range of different things..

We went to our swimming lesson at 330pm and all went well until I had to get ehr dressed and, god forbid, she had to put her dress on again. Well, we had another tantrum, complete with hysteria and leg kicking.

After that she didn't want to go home, then she didn't want to go out, then she didn't want to get in the car, then she didn't want to put her seat belt on. AAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Who is this Devil Child and where is my daughter?!

Sunday was better, but I have definitely noticed this a change in her demeanor lately. She has become so obstinate and wilful and everything is just "no, No, NO!".

School starts on Wednesday. Bring on SCHOOL!!! ;-)

I am almost finished with the photos from the birthday party. Will Blog the party once thats done.

Congrats Mat & Wendy!

I don't wanna blog about the wedding till Mat & Wendy come back from their honeymoon, cause they will probably want to blog it themselves, but here is a sneak peek ;-)

My Baby is FOUR !

Ok so everyone is waiting for an update of The Party (tm).

It was hot.

And I don't mean in a fabulous kind of way!

41 degrees. Thats forty ONE. For you American types, thats 108.5 degrees farenheit.

Thats HOT.

Aside from that, it was a great party and the girls enjoyed themselves immensely! We had around 20-25 kids of varying ages, and about the same number of adults. Thats 50 people. Out in the backyard.

Did I mention it was HOT?

There was lots of food, lots of drink, lots of kids and lots of adults. The kids ran around eating and drinking, I think they had a good time. They were particularily enamoured of Zakhari and I had to keep herding them out of the house.

Of course the heat just got too much for people, and thank god it was only an hour and a half! Around midday everyone started leaving and we started cleaning up.

Josie and Rachel were very keen on opening presents but we managed to hold them off for an hour or so while we finished cleaning up and then we settled down in the living room with Becka running into the bedroom bringing out one present each for the girls. It took about an hour to get through all the presents, there were SO many of them.

Thank you to all who read this blog and were at the party, and to all who sent birthday wishes. It was very much appreciated and we were in awe of your generosity.

After presents, we all went into the backyard, took out the hose and got very very wet. It was nice and refreshing after the heat of the day.

After an hour and a half in the bath (resulting in a VERY wet bathroom *CRINGE*), while the adults player Scene-It, we got the girls out of the bath and into dry clothes, and Michelle and Sam took both girls and Becka to their place for a dip in their backyard blowup pool. It was a relief to be able to finish cleaning up and have a bit of a rest.

By the evening, after several hours of dizzyness and migraine I realised I must have heatstroke. I must have drank 3 litres of water in the space of about an hour. Quite an achievement for someone who goes through about 2 litres a day.

Needless to say I was not up to going to work today so I stayed home and got some rest.

So the party was a great success, but geez, I am glad its all over. And all I can say is: Never Again! Next year its venues and catering all the way! ;-)

Today's the day

Happy Birthday Niece!

Missing Auntie Hawwi !

We got a surprise parcel yesterday, and silly me didn't think and opened it in front of Miss Almost Four. Of course it was a wrapped present, and of course Missy had to open it there and then.

It was a gorgeous Dora colouring book with pens. The pages were velvety, with the drawings' outlines in the same material to help her colour between the lines. Its gorgeous, and in certain places, when you colour there, it comes up with a pattern as well as the pen colour.

Josie was really excited about it and spent the afternoon colouring it in excitedly (with some help from Mummy and Becka) !

Then this morning on the way to Granny's:

Josie: I don't want to go to Granny's house.
Mari: Why not?
Josie: I want to go to Auntie Hawwi's house! Like we did lesterday!
Mari: Like we did when we went on holidays?
Josie: Yeh..
Mari: Aww honey, I know, I do too. But it costs a lot of money, we had to catch a plane last time, remember? We flew?
Josie: No. We flew when we went home..
Mari: Yes, and we flew there too, you slept on the way there so you don't remember.
Josie: awww..

Poor thing.. I think Auntie Hawwi needs to visit again soon!

Photos Have Been Updated!

Yay! I have uploaded photos from about September. Including photos of the new house and Xmas and New Years etc. Check out the links on the right.

We had a lovely holiday season.

Xmas at Trudy's, Boxing Day at Uncle Mat's and New Years Day at our new home. It was much like a whirlwind, and while I loved being on leave for two weeks, it was much too short.

We went swimming with Michelle and Rachel and Ben a lot, which was fantastic. Josie's swimming has progressed in leaps and bounds. She is now swimming dog paddle and treading water. I am so proud!

Michelle and I are busy planning the girls' 4th birthday party, which is next Sunday in our backyard. Party bags are done, chips are bought and cake is ordered. Just need to organise the sandwiches and veges and dip for the adults and drinks and decorate on Sunday morning. Oh and get the house cleaned on Saturday!

And on Saturday my baby turns 4 !! We are all going to Yum Cha to celebrate. 4 !!!

The cats have now settled in to the new place and my parents are relieved (as are we!) to have their place back to normal. Incredibly there was no hissing and growling from Zelda..

So now we are recovering from Mat and Wendy's beautiful wedding last weekend. But thats another story..