i've done it again.....

I try, i really do. So far, tonight will be better then the last 3........so far :/

except it's not REALLY insomnia - i just don't WANT to be in an empty bed....maybe it will change once i get my own 'leccy blankie......but i doubt it, it's just a big empty bed


10 'sleeps' to go i think
wish me luck
OX
B

Due to 'popular' demand.....

I have been getting some not so subtle hints, that i need to update the blog..... not mentioning any names, but she does have the same name as my #4 .......

So here goes......

end of April was celebrated with little Clairebear turning 4 - Due to Daddy coming home and Grandma Lesley and Steve coming over for a visit a few days later we fore-goed (??) birthday cake with a promise of one when everyone was there.......uuummmm i'll get back to you on that one :o

but on the day we did do this...

yes, it's a doughnut

So Clairebear's 4th birthday literally went out with a bang as she popped her first party popper....with a few false starts
 - read as ""WAIT! WAIT! not at Samuel's head...HANG ON! don't cover the end with your hand.. OK now. NO WAIT! sit down Sophie... alright ....now!" BANG!!! ohhhh...little disappointing :S


So as i was saying, Monday rolled around and hurrah! Grandma and Steve turned up. we'd tidied like crazy over the weekend especially Samuel - who was giving up his room (and new bed).

So lots of hugs and kisses and lots of prezzies later - guess where we went???..... IKEA!! the plan was to go round Ikea and head down to the beach for sunset fish and chips....nope. By the time we got through Ikea it was getting on dark ('tis nearly winter you know) and what was supposed to be a quick 10 min drive turned into the longest U-turn I've taken in my life!! you see, Serena (you remember her from our travels??) was in a bad mood today - maybe because it's been so long since she was needed?? but i put in directions but mistakenly turned  right when i should have turned left (note to self- practice left and right "with" Kaytie)
so she took us in this long meandering route... to the exit BEHIND Ikea!! so we took 15 mins to get further away then where we started!! and because we were back on the Freeway (which we'd wanted to avoid) - oh yes keeping in mind, Mum and Steve had their own vehicle and were following blissfully unaware, with the 2 big ones in the back. We were back on the freeway in PEAK (2!) HOUR  traffic!! *sigh* fish and chips were not on the menu THAT night.

So I was supposed to pick Jamie up that night, but due to shift changes and staff shortages his flight home was postponed to the next night. Can't think what we did the next day but I got to go to the airport that night child-free!! you know, after 11+ years, I feel strangely naked without a child hovering around me.

So we did some other stuff - oh we must have done Scitech that day because we were Jamie-less.

AWE-SOME!!! LOVE it there! we got a yearly pass 'cos it's sooooooo cheap!! didn't take too many photos as it was still the 'dreaded' school holidays and it was seriously packed!! even with 2 extra sets of hands it was a challenge to wrangle  my 5 safely. we initiated our buddy system, which seems to need some major work in the Samuel/Kaytie sector!

so for your viewing pleasure...

the Entrance - it's cooler then it looks
Samuel is looking at a sliding periscope type thingy
lots of cameras and tiny screens and such.

this was cool too. they have a "playing with Light" exhibition at the moment.
A projector digitized/computerised your shadow and movements.
Here Lily (or Mum?) is clapping, which made 'fairy dust' and bubbles.

these were great, all made from milk bottles and stuff.
they had lights in them changing colours all the time.

and that's about it. Mum and Steve took the 4 big kids into the Horizon Planetarium, where Mum had to 'argue' with the door lady about Claire actually being 4 or not. As under 4 are strictly not permitted. I hope it was memorable, as i doubt they'll get to go back for another 2 years  : D

So Jamie came home and he and we got to spend a night away together to 'celebrate' our 11th anniversary (next week) early, since he is back at work for another 3 weeks. (make sense??)

We stayed at the Duxton Hotel  ooohh it was posh :) we stayed in the Club Rooms with 'exclusive' lift access and free drinks and canapes in the 'club' lounge - unfortunately for us they had begun renovations on the Club Lounge only 2 days earlier, so it was a section of the regular restaurant 'roped off' instead. We weren't planning on the free drinks etc, as we were going to go to the "C" Restaurant instead. But in the end we decided to stay in our room and get room service instead :) For the price we were paying i wanted to stay in my complimentary robe and slippers for as long as possible :) - even though it was the thickest heaviest robe I've seen in my life! it was like being wrapped in about 3 thick towels!! and i considered turning up the A/C to compensate for it :D.

So the next morning after an 'exclusive' lift ride and breakfast in our 'exclusive' seating area with our 'exclusive' personal attendants, I was quite happy to get back to "our" real world and we caught a cab to the Perth Museum where we met up with Mum and Steve and the children for a tour....but mainly for the AC/DC exhibition. was great...Jamie thinks he must be getting too old, because for him, it was too loud :D
I wish i knew how to add video to the blog - there are some very cute ones of the girls 'rockin' out'

oh my - these are the only two photos i took !

i have about 5 little videos though :)

It was a great display, with hundreds of personal letters and mementos, giving you a real insight into the people behind the public persona.

While we didn't get to tour the rest of the Museum entirely, I'm happy that parking is so accessible for my truck and there is so much more for us to discover - going back to the Discovery centre again is high on our must do list!! plus the Art Gallery and State library are just next door!!  I'm all goose bumpy thinking about it.... or am i just cold?? - time for a jumper i think...'scuse me......


OK back now. Brrrrr getting chilly here....

Was gone again but am back for a bit now... Holy heck!! the last half hour was absolute Chaos!!

JAMIE I ADVISE YOU TO STOP READING HERE, AND SKIP DOWN TO THE NEXT PHOTO!!!

It's as if the children were secretly playing Tag-Team Terror!!  Everything has settled down again, but at the time it was incredulous how (I hate to say it!!) stupid each thing they did was! I mean if it had all happened one at a time it would have been fine - so much easier to deal with, but it was like *POW!*  *POW!* *POW!,POW!,POW!*  all at once, one after the other! (is that an oxymoron??)  It started with the usual 'round-up' for bath time/dinner etc. Samuel and Lily had been in painting a huge calico map they had planned out and had been told to pack it up because the little girls were coming inside, meanwhile the three little girls had been outside playing in the sandpit - unbeknownst to me - with water.  So i 'bust' the girls for playing in mud and send them for their bath.  Samuel walks past to put away his scooter and I ask him "what's that smell?, Why do smell so strongly of soap?"  "Oh it's um, I, arr, it's my shirt" "Why does your shirt smell of soap?"  " I umm, used it to get paint off the wall..."  - *Blood Pressure Spikes* calmly (truly i was!) i reply "Why was there paint on the wall???  " uum well, it was yesterday when the little girls were in there and i found some more today while we were cleaning up..." by now i have arrived and found the clean up attempts and start wiping the wall down properly, all the time asking how it all allegedly happened when i notice the skirting boards have barely had a wipe over and their seems to be an awful lot of paint about for the accidental flick as suggested and i also notice I'm NOT crouching to clean!! this paint was about 5 foot high!! *Blood Pressure Spikes again* mostly calm... I 'pounce'  "Why would you do something like this??? WHY would you blame it on your little sisters...!!"   (when it's out of their reach)  - wondering why I"M doing the cleaning I hand the cloth back to the culprit and head off to the laundry to rinse out another cloth, check on the little girls etc etc On reaching the Laundry i discover the machine is on, curious as to why, I discover that another child has put it on, noticing the still overflowing dirty basket, I ask what's in there, and discover that a child who has been using the washing machine since before we left QLD has put on a 'load' with a high and hot water level......for ONE THING!! - We NEVER use the hot water setting and have the fuzzy logic thingo for automatic water levels so it wasn't a confusion in settings. meanwhile the decible level of 3 little girls in the bath is becoming deafening so i poke my head around the door to shush them and i discover... They are using the TOILET BRUSH to clean themselves!! EEEWWWWW!!!....


Have just had a 'discussion' with Samuel about his attitude and arguing back after putting everyone to bed. Upon hearing a drip drip type noise,  I've just discovered that all the pipes at the back of the house i.e the laundry, toilet and main bathroom are backed up with filthy dirt/sand coloured water....from exposure to children is, as yet, undecided.....it has been raining - it HAS to be that, surely it can't be them AGAIN

*sigh* excuse me but i think i might finish this enthralling update of our life, especially the last 2 hours, and go have a lay-down....

wake me when it's over :S

B(J)slkcs   and the Terror Team.