Two Sickies

Kobe has been so miserable all day. He hardly slept at all last night and woke up very clingy. I felt something coming on myself yesterday and as the night went on I knew it wasn't great. The last two winters I have had bronchitis and when I woke up this morning I had a feeling that I had it again.

After dropping off the boys at school Kobe and I went down to the Dr to see if he could see us. They said to come back at lunch time which we did and I was right - I have bronchitis - again! I have started on antibiotics and hopefully it will clear it up fast. One year I was so bad I even had to have physio done to try to break it up. I don't think it will be that bad this time - my chest just feels really congested and tight and when I cough or sneeze my chest hurts like crazy.

Kobe has one red ear and is refusing to eat anything at all. He has been pretty much like this all day. How sad is that! My happy boy will hopefully be back soon.

Because Kobe was so clingy all day I didn't get a chance to rest at all. When Aaron got home I decided to curl up next to the heater with a pillow and blanket and didn't move for the next hour. Aaron decided to snap some photos of me while I was sleeping. I'm hoping tomorrow is a better day.

(A) cross country and around a lake

Punchbowl Primary School's grade 3-6 cross country was on today at Waverley Primary School. They have a good course for doing the cross country, so a lot of schools use it. Jalen was really excited about it and kept asking me if we were coming to watch. I told him of course we would and warned him that we may not get there and if we didn't it's only because Noah wasn't well or happy and has come home from school (last week we got a phone call to pick him up during the day as he wasn't happy at all). Jalen said that was okay (he is very understanding and patient with Noah), but then as he was about to leave to walk to school he says 'I will be sad if you aren't there Mum'. Talk about make you feel bad! I was pretty sure we would make it though and told Jalen that we would probably be there.

It wasn't Noah that was stopping us going - it was almost Kobe! The poor little man has the worse cold/flu and is miserable. His temp has been up and down all day and he hasn't wanted to eat or sleep, but just have cuddles all day. I decided to take him out anyway and although he wasn't himself it was probably a good thing to get out as he was quite happy to be out seeing all the kids -not that you can tell by this photo. He definitely isn't himself :(

As Jay was lining up before the start of the race I had a sense of deja vu from last year's race. He definitely isn't shy at all - he fell to the ground and started pumping out a few push ups just before the start (too much watching The Biggest Loser I think!).

The weather has turned very 'crisp' in the last week (putting it mildly!) but we are lucky that we are having frosty mornings and sunny days at the moment. It was the perfect day for a 1.2 km run.

Jay told me he had a strategy this year - he knew he wouldn't beat a lot of the boys who are very athletic, but he wanted to stay up with the main pack and pace himself so that he had some extra energy at the end. He did really well and didn't give up the whole time.


He cracked me up as he came closer to us. He saw us and that he was almost near the end and then started yelling like a mad man - he sounded like the tennis players at the Australian Open! On the way home I asked him what it was about and he said 'yeah.... just trying to psych them out a bit'!

He did great and caught up to a couple of runners at the end. He collapsed to the ground at the end (he likes to over dramatise things!) and later said 'I'm so puffed - I need a drink'. Harri obviously heard it and then says 'I'm pumped too Mum - I need a drink'. He cracks me up.

Helping Mum

This little monkey loved getting into the fridge today.

He was all smiles as he could get in the fridge and not have me drag him away as I was cleaning it out. I hope he loves cleaning out the fridge just as much in another 15 years or so.

A Night at the Footy

Tonight was a big event for me - I got to go out for the night to watch the footy with Aaron, Jay and Harri! I don't usually get to go as it's hard to find someone who is comfortable looking after Noah as Mum and everyone usually goes to the game as well. When they announced that there would be an twilight ANZAC day game in Launceston, and that Hawthorn would be playing, we thought we would make an effort to go together.

We asked Di a while back if she would be able to babysit Noah and Kobe for us and she was more than happy to. I was really looking forward to going, but also found it hard to go and just enjoy it as I felt bad for leaving Noah with Di as she wasn't officially working, but doing it as a friend. I feel like Noah (and Kobe) is our responsibility and he has so many additional needs which I feel isn't fair for others to have to deal with, but it's nice to know that we can leave him with someone like Di who knows him well and loves to be with him and isn't phased by things that he needs doing like suctioning, tube feeding, giving meds, giving nebs and dealing with the things he has to have done regularly.

Once I left the house I started to relax a bit and was really looking forward to just spending the night with the two boys and Aaron and watching the game. The first stop was at the merchandise stand where Harri wanted to get a couple more badges for his scarf.

I loved the atmosphere as soon as we got there. For me it was just as fun as going to the MCG as I haven't really been to a game like that for years and since the Hawks are now down in Tassie so much there are so many Hawthorn supporters.

As we were walking around to find our seats we were watching the team who were out warming up and saw Pete who works for Hawthorn. Our friend Marlo knows him from Melbourne and introduced him to Aaron a while back (she told Pete about Aaron and he made a special effort at a game last year to come and say hi and gave him some Hawks tops). Aaron has seen him at all the games since and finally I got to meet him tonight. He is a tactician and has worked with them for years. We love watching the games on TV and spotting him while they are in the huddle.

Being ANZAC day the Last Post was played before the game.


We had really good seats. We usually sit in the Gunns Stand, but because we have a different membership package this year we had to buy different seats. They were great though and we were lucky to be undercover as it rained on and off all night. Although we did have some very rowdy people (Kylie, Shayne and the kids) two rows behind us who kept yelling out to Brad Sewell all night! It must have spured him on as he ended up winning the Frank McDonald medal.

I probably only watched half the game, and just spend the rest of the time watching the crowd and everything going on! It was so funny seeing how passionate everyone is about football (Aaron included!). We were lucky in that three quarters of the crowd were Hawks supporters, but we had a few Eagles supporters around us who would yell out a bit and then Harri would yell 'go Hawks, Eagles suck!'. Harri was so good this time. Aaron said every other time he has gotten bored really quick, but he was loving it and kept yelling out - even knowing some of the players names (must be the glasses helping him!). At one stage he yelled 'go Sammy Mitchell'! and I was shocked that it was actually Sam Mitchell who had the ball.

It was a very low scoring game, but we didn't care because in the end the Hawks ended up winning, so we had some very happy boys singing the Hawthorn team song at the end.


At the end of the game it started raining again which the boys thought was heaps of fun to stand out in!

It was a great night and a great way to finish off a very special day. These very fanatical and happy Hawks supporters are already hanging out for the next live game.

Maddi's 3rd Birthday

Aaron said this morning 'what kind of a person has their birthday on ANZAC day!?'. Maddi does! Today was Maddi's 3rd birthday. Aaron finds it inconvenient that Maddi decided to arrive on ANZAC day as it cuts into football watching time, but of course we love celebrating the day with Maddi and football takes a backseat (at least for a few hours!) so we can help share her special day.

Nicki and Alex decided to book the bike centre for Maddi's birthday this year, even though they hadn't been there before. We told them how great it was and I don't think they were disappointed at all. We were lucky that the rain held off long enough so we could enjoy her party there.

Alex cooked up some sausages and of course there was lots of yummy party food. Nicki and Alex were very thoughtful and made Aaron some gluten and dairy free brownies, and also got some gluten free sausages. Aaron was loving it as often when we are out now he can't eat much, but he had more than his fair share of brownies!

The kids had a great time riding around and also playing in the playground. Maddi and Kelsea went around knocking on all the 'doors' to see if anyone was home. Maddi was so cute saying 'anyone home?', I asked her if they were home and she said 'yes, they are on the toilet!'.

The big kids also had fun doing burn outs in the puddles on the bikes! Boys!

We decided to take down our Wiggles pull out sofa for Noah to lay out on which worked well as he decided to sleep the whole time.

Little Alex was loving getting into all the puddles. He was drenched by the end of the party and needed to come to our house to get a change of clothes.

Aaron and I were saying what a good baby Kobe is. He just crawled around (and also got very dirty and wet!), but was happy just checking things out and seeing everyone.

Nicki had made Maddi an awesome 'little mermaid' cake which Maddi had requested. It looked so cool - with 'sand' and all on the top, and fish around the sides. Maddi loved it. She kept picking off the fish and I said 'you aren't taking those fish off are you Maddi?' and her answer was 'yes - it's my cake!'. She is so cute. As much as she loved the cake she seemed to love the party whistles even more!

Happy birthday Maddi! We love you lots, and can't believe you are three already.

Lest We Forget

After a very rainy day yesterday, the skies cleared up this morning and it turned out to be a beautiful ANZAC Day at Deloraine. We were so happy as we really wanted to go out to watch Pop march. Every year we say it may be his last, and every year he is back again. It was so nice to see Tim driving him on his scooter this year. Tim was pointing out to Pop people that he knew as he went past and Pop gave us all a wave. He looked so proud and emotional which made me feel a bit emotional as well.

The boys loved watching the march. Jalen really understands what it is about now so it meant a lot to him this year. Noah was wide awake for it which was nice.

It's always a special day to see Pop march and to remember those who died and fought for our country, and it's always a nice day to catch up with friends and family too. We missed having Eden and Steph and the kids there and especially missed Chrish as we were hoping he would be well enough to come down by now.




Nan was out for the morning in an electric wheelchair. She was so happy to see everyone and looked great. She kept wanting to hold everyone's hands as we talked to her. It was so nice to see BJ holding her hand as she watched the march.

The boys love playing in the fountain at Deloraine - especially as it always seems to have bubbles in it!


Harri was very wet by the end of the it!

I'm so glad that we get to take our boys out to see Pop march every year. They don't know Pop how I remember him growing up when he was a lot more active, but they still know that he is very special and it's nice that they get to go and see him march and remember what he has done for us.

Not So Fab Friday

After school today we headed off to Aurora to the Hawks Fab Friday. It was exactly like the last Fab Friday - washed out by rain!
The boys didn't care as they got to see Hawka who they think is just about as good as any of the Hawks players!
They also got to have a sausage or two from the sausage sizzle, ran around with Patrick and Lauren and Harri also got his face painted. I tried to talk him into some Hawks stripes like a lot of the other kids were getting, but he thought Spiderman was more the go. That was until it was finished and then all of a sudden he says 'I've changed my mind!!'. Too late Harri!
The Hawks trained for about half an hour in the drizzle which Aaron loved watching.

Jalen was spotting all the different players with their numbers and was especially excited when he spotted Buddy.
The plan was that the players were going to sign autographs after training, but the rain got heavier so they ended up canceling it. The boys didn't mind as they have seen them so often and were just happy to watch them train and be a part of the atmosphere before the ANZAC game tomorrow.

I'm actually looking forward to it too tomorrow as Di is coming to look after Noah and Kobe for us so that I can go this time!!! I won't know what to do with myself :)

Big Day At School

Today all four boys had a big day at school. Harri, Kobe and I went along to watch Jalen who was speaking and sharing some work in assembly. He said he was very nervous when he spoke, but you couldn't tell.

His class have been doing a unit on Egypt which he has loved. He shared his painting of Tutankhamen.

It was a great assembly to go to as Noah also received a certificate for being a 'special and valued class member'. Noah was totally excited about it (not!) and slept right through! His teacher said 'Noah is having a little sleep at the moment, but I bet when he wakes up he will be really excited when we show him he got a certificate'. The kids had a little laugh.

In the afternoon Harri, Kobe and I went up to the Kinder to their Kickstart session. It was a music session so I thought we should make a special effort to go (despite the rain) as Kobe hadn't been to a music session before and I thought he would love it. He did love it and was so excited by all the singing.

He especially loved the 'peekaboo' song and would hide himself under the fabric and then come out with the cheekiest grin.

He loved being at school and being able to actually stay and play with all the toys. He cries whenever we drop the boys off as he wants to get down and play.


The aide was saying how you when you see families come through with numerous kids, the last child is always so well adjusted as they are so used to coming up to school all the time. I told them they were more than welcome to take Kobe next year :) I'm sure he would love it!