Tonight I opted for an easy dinner as the children and I ate out for lunch and when I'm not hungry, I don't feel like cooking a big meal (I don't know how chefs do it. I really don't enjoy cooking on a full stomach!). Three of us opted for leftover pumpkin soup, one for bacon and scrambled eggs on toast, and one for french toast. While it is all easy, I probably spent just as much time in the kitchen as I would have if I'd cooked a proper meal! Still sometimes it's nice for everyone to be able to choose what they want.
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Wednesday, 8 January 2014
Monday, 6 January 2014
New Year's Eve Bash
I guess I'm being a little bit of a smart@ss with this title. I didn't see New Year's Eve in, and the 'bash' referred to is not actually a party, but rather that my youngest brother (35) was bashed on New Year's Eve. He rode his bicycle home from a mate's place and only a few houses from where his mate waved him off at the front gate, a couple of guys out the front of a house called out to him to stop. This was just after midnight. He stopped, they then punched him off his bike and beat him around the head while he lay on the ground. He remembers putting his arms up to try to protect his head and yelling for them to stop. He can't really remember how or why it stopped but from what his partner has said (she wasn't there), apparently someone said something like 'Hey you can't do that' and he remembers someone handing him his glasses.
He then RODE HOME and woke his partner to the news that he'd been assaulted. Katherine called an ambulance (because their children were home asleep so she couldn't drive him to the hospital) and the police. This was about 1am. The police came and John then went in the ambulance to hospital, returning home at about 5am with an eye starting to bruise up and stitches to two places on his face. We didn't see him that day as he stayed home to try to sleep. When we saw him the next day, his other eye had started to bruise also and the worst eye looked pretty shocking to be honest - a big ring of purple around the whole eye and when he rolled his eye to the side, the white part was all red.
I'm really hoping the fools get caught. John seems to have a philosophical approach to it in that he said it "doesn't matter because they will eventually get what's coming to them". I guess this is the karmic approach, however my way of thinking is that next time they try something like that, they might kill the person. My brother said he feels embarrassed that it happened. But to me, HE has absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. He's a tall guy but when you're pretty much sucker punched out of the blue and you're knocked off your bike... well it's not like he ever really stood a chance of defending himself. Unfortunately I assume the guys who attacked him, who SHOULD be embarrassed about their behaviour, probably couldn't care less.
The fact that they were only a few doors down from where John was, means hopefully they were at the party that was going on at that house and that someone can identify them and will be brave enough to speak up.
There's a big campaign in Australia along the lines of 'One punch can kill' and 'Real Heroes walk away', however the problem with that is, it doesn't account for idiots, and there will always be idiots out there.
My brother lives in a pretty sleep seaside town, he wasn't out partying at a club where you'd probably be more likely to find trouble, and yet trouble found him anyway.
I'm just thankful he is okay. The younger children have been told that John fell off his bike and hurt himself. However I did later tell Jack and Henry the truth. They know there are no excuses for that sort of behaviour, and were of course as shocked as I expected they would be. We did have a good discussion about it all though.
Ayla
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He then RODE HOME and woke his partner to the news that he'd been assaulted. Katherine called an ambulance (because their children were home asleep so she couldn't drive him to the hospital) and the police. This was about 1am. The police came and John then went in the ambulance to hospital, returning home at about 5am with an eye starting to bruise up and stitches to two places on his face. We didn't see him that day as he stayed home to try to sleep. When we saw him the next day, his other eye had started to bruise also and the worst eye looked pretty shocking to be honest - a big ring of purple around the whole eye and when he rolled his eye to the side, the white part was all red.
I'm really hoping the fools get caught. John seems to have a philosophical approach to it in that he said it "doesn't matter because they will eventually get what's coming to them". I guess this is the karmic approach, however my way of thinking is that next time they try something like that, they might kill the person. My brother said he feels embarrassed that it happened. But to me, HE has absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. He's a tall guy but when you're pretty much sucker punched out of the blue and you're knocked off your bike... well it's not like he ever really stood a chance of defending himself. Unfortunately I assume the guys who attacked him, who SHOULD be embarrassed about their behaviour, probably couldn't care less.
The fact that they were only a few doors down from where John was, means hopefully they were at the party that was going on at that house and that someone can identify them and will be brave enough to speak up.
There's a big campaign in Australia along the lines of 'One punch can kill' and 'Real Heroes walk away', however the problem with that is, it doesn't account for idiots, and there will always be idiots out there.
My brother lives in a pretty sleep seaside town, he wasn't out partying at a club where you'd probably be more likely to find trouble, and yet trouble found him anyway.
I'm just thankful he is okay. The younger children have been told that John fell off his bike and hurt himself. However I did later tell Jack and Henry the truth. They know there are no excuses for that sort of behaviour, and were of course as shocked as I expected they would be. We did have a good discussion about it all though.
Ayla
x
Merry Christmas!
January 6th 2013
I didn't realise it had been so long between posts! I look to see the last post of Henry in August, having lost his first tooth. He still hasn't lost a second, but that post did remind me that on Christmas Eve, Henry (6) told me that he didn't believe that Santa was real. He thought that I was really the person who brought the presents.
When I asked why he would think that, he said it was because he had seen me the night he lost his first tooth and knew that "I" was the tooth fairy. Wow, I really suck at being tooth fairy because Jack (8) also sprung me being tooth fairy one night! I suppose that's what you get for telling them to put their tooth under their pillow and then trying to retrieve it in the middle of the night.
I had a think and decided that seeing as he had given me good reasoning (not just, "someone in class told me"), it was time to 'fess up. I told him the truth and he, just as Jack before him (!) had to swear to secrecy. That is, I'm more than happy for them to talk about Santa or the Tooth Fairy not being real to me or to Dad, but they're not allowed to say it at school, or to older children as I know a lot of older children who do still believe and whose parents want to keep that magic going as long as possible! And obviously, not to younger children either. I know Jack's been okay with not spreading the word so hopefully Henry can keep up the charade too.
We are in the middle of school holidays now. We just spent two weeks away in Hervey Bay with my Mum & Dad, my husband's dad and cousin from England, my cousin and her family and also my brother and his partner and children.
It was such a lovely time away. A lot of people packed into one house but all was merry! We really did a lot this Christmas. We did a day tour of Fraser Island, then mostly smaller events for the children like going to a water slide, a pool with some small slides and another covered pool which kept the kids out of the hot sun, the movies, ten pin bowling, 'Wet Side' which is a water park, an indoor skate/scooter centre called 'Rock Off' in Hervey Bay, loads of beach cricket, playing in parks, BBQs, skateboarding, rollerblading, looking for crabs under rocks, fondue one night (that might not see like an event but ask my children, they'll remember it!), fire twirling (another random thing we stumbled across one night), slip'n'slide and I'm sure I've missed a few things!
We all had a great time and for me, as always when I go there, it is just wonderful to have 'the village' around. Such an old catch phrase (It takes a village to raise a child) but my life is so much easier when I have family around that it really rings true for me. The kids absolutely love having their cousins and my cousin's children around to play with and sure, my kids still fight sometimes but the majority of the time they just go and find something to do with another child and have fun! Even if it's hiding in a shed making up an impromptu dance routine that they didn't actually perform for anyone! And for the adults, just ducking out to the shops without having to take whining children (and in fact, the children aren't whining because they get to stay home instead of reluctantly shop!).
We've been back home for four days and that's been nice too. The hectic pace was wonderful but it's also really nice to slow down a bit.
I didn't see the New Year in but here's to a good one!
Ayla
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Unfortunately my brother and his partner and children weren't there at the time, but this is at least a pic of everyone who stayed in the house at Hervey Bay (albeit two stayed in sheds outside with a key each to access the house late at night if need be!). I'm in the blue shirt with the hat on.
A photo of the children after they'd been up on their first joy flight on Fraser Island. The plane takes off and lands on the beach. I'm not a huge flying fan, particularly not of small aircraft so I have to admit that I felt a bit sick at the thought that my kids were up in a light aircraft. Probably silly but the sort of thing that goes through a head like mine is that, I have no idea about the credibility of their joy flight business, I really don't want them up there. My father-in-law was shouting my husband to go up and he's a grown man so that's his choice. Did I rather the kids stayed firmly on the ground.. absolutely! But I also know I can't let my fears control their lives, at least not all the time! The boys were really keen to go and Florence decided at the last minute that she wanted to go too. I just had to walk away from the plane as they were hopping in because I could hardly stand it. Apparently as soon as the engine started up Florence started crying and didn't let up until just before landing, which was when Henry started getting worried because of turbulence. (Henry in the front)
I didn't realise it had been so long between posts! I look to see the last post of Henry in August, having lost his first tooth. He still hasn't lost a second, but that post did remind me that on Christmas Eve, Henry (6) told me that he didn't believe that Santa was real. He thought that I was really the person who brought the presents.
When I asked why he would think that, he said it was because he had seen me the night he lost his first tooth and knew that "I" was the tooth fairy. Wow, I really suck at being tooth fairy because Jack (8) also sprung me being tooth fairy one night! I suppose that's what you get for telling them to put their tooth under their pillow and then trying to retrieve it in the middle of the night.
I had a think and decided that seeing as he had given me good reasoning (not just, "someone in class told me"), it was time to 'fess up. I told him the truth and he, just as Jack before him (!) had to swear to secrecy. That is, I'm more than happy for them to talk about Santa or the Tooth Fairy not being real to me or to Dad, but they're not allowed to say it at school, or to older children as I know a lot of older children who do still believe and whose parents want to keep that magic going as long as possible! And obviously, not to younger children either. I know Jack's been okay with not spreading the word so hopefully Henry can keep up the charade too.
We are in the middle of school holidays now. We just spent two weeks away in Hervey Bay with my Mum & Dad, my husband's dad and cousin from England, my cousin and her family and also my brother and his partner and children.
It was such a lovely time away. A lot of people packed into one house but all was merry! We really did a lot this Christmas. We did a day tour of Fraser Island, then mostly smaller events for the children like going to a water slide, a pool with some small slides and another covered pool which kept the kids out of the hot sun, the movies, ten pin bowling, 'Wet Side' which is a water park, an indoor skate/scooter centre called 'Rock Off' in Hervey Bay, loads of beach cricket, playing in parks, BBQs, skateboarding, rollerblading, looking for crabs under rocks, fondue one night (that might not see like an event but ask my children, they'll remember it!), fire twirling (another random thing we stumbled across one night), slip'n'slide and I'm sure I've missed a few things!
We all had a great time and for me, as always when I go there, it is just wonderful to have 'the village' around. Such an old catch phrase (It takes a village to raise a child) but my life is so much easier when I have family around that it really rings true for me. The kids absolutely love having their cousins and my cousin's children around to play with and sure, my kids still fight sometimes but the majority of the time they just go and find something to do with another child and have fun! Even if it's hiding in a shed making up an impromptu dance routine that they didn't actually perform for anyone! And for the adults, just ducking out to the shops without having to take whining children (and in fact, the children aren't whining because they get to stay home instead of reluctantly shop!).
We've been back home for four days and that's been nice too. The hectic pace was wonderful but it's also really nice to slow down a bit.
I didn't see the New Year in but here's to a good one!
Ayla
x
Unfortunately my brother and his partner and children weren't there at the time, but this is at least a pic of everyone who stayed in the house at Hervey Bay (albeit two stayed in sheds outside with a key each to access the house late at night if need be!). I'm in the blue shirt with the hat on.
A photo of the children after they'd been up on their first joy flight on Fraser Island. The plane takes off and lands on the beach. I'm not a huge flying fan, particularly not of small aircraft so I have to admit that I felt a bit sick at the thought that my kids were up in a light aircraft. Probably silly but the sort of thing that goes through a head like mine is that, I have no idea about the credibility of their joy flight business, I really don't want them up there. My father-in-law was shouting my husband to go up and he's a grown man so that's his choice. Did I rather the kids stayed firmly on the ground.. absolutely! But I also know I can't let my fears control their lives, at least not all the time! The boys were really keen to go and Florence decided at the last minute that she wanted to go too. I just had to walk away from the plane as they were hopping in because I could hardly stand it. Apparently as soon as the engine started up Florence started crying and didn't let up until just before landing, which was when Henry started getting worried because of turbulence. (Henry in the front)
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