The boys absolutely love playing 'Hide and Seek'. In our old house it was hard to find any good hiding places, so the boys love having a much bigger house with better hiding spots. For some reason Kobe still looks in the craziest places for everyone. He must think we are all super small.
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Monday, 30 May 2011
Child Studies
For the past 4 years or more I have been asked to speak at Kings Meadows High School's Child Studies class about Noah. I used to get really nervous about it, but I've done it so many times now that I just update the power point presentation with newer photos and give the same talk again. Teenagers don't seem so scary to me anymore :)
It's always grade 9 and 10s and this year only one of them had heard me talk before. The teacher tells me they love it, and is really grateful that I can come in, as hearing about disabilities from a parent is the best way to teach them.
Last week I went and talked to this years class and picked up Noah from school so he could come as well. Noah actually had a seizure while I was talking which probably freaked them out a bit, but I was able to explain that it was 'normal' for him and that he has between 5-10 every day.
Kobe came along with us as well, and it worked well as Aaron didn't have to teach at that time, so he came and sat and listened too.
At the end they are asked if they have any questions and some years I get a lot of questions and other years none at all. The teacher knows they have a lot of questions but are too scared to ask them, so she told them that I'm very open about things and not worried at all about what they ask me. Still none of them asked me anything. I think they were just stunned by the whole thing!
It's always grade 9 and 10s and this year only one of them had heard me talk before. The teacher tells me they love it, and is really grateful that I can come in, as hearing about disabilities from a parent is the best way to teach them.
Last week I went and talked to this years class and picked up Noah from school so he could come as well. Noah actually had a seizure while I was talking which probably freaked them out a bit, but I was able to explain that it was 'normal' for him and that he has between 5-10 every day.
Kobe came along with us as well, and it worked well as Aaron didn't have to teach at that time, so he came and sat and listened too.
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Thirty Years or Twelve Months
It doesn't matter whether someone has been gone for 12 months, or 30 years, they are still missed terribly every day. Yesterday was 30 years since my brother Daniel died. It's hard to believe that it has been 30 years. I hardly remember anything about him as I was only (almost) 7 years old when he died, but I do remember a few moments in his life like him waving goodnight to us, and I also remember the day that he died.
Today is 12 months since our friend Ben passed away. Ben had hydranencephaly just like Noah and they both actually look quite similar. We didn't get to 'meet' Ben before he passed away, but we 'met' his amazing family just after. We are so grateful for their example and friendship. It's amazing how alike Becky and I are in so many ways. We just wish we live closer to each other so we can meet in person. Hopefully one day we will.
This morning we woke up to a big frost outside, so for church we dressed Noah in Ben's mittens that Becky and Steve had sent him last year. It made me sad to know that Ben could no longer wear them, but so happy that Noah gets to. It makes me smile whenever I put them on him, as it makes me think of Ben.
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Early Morning Footy
Harri is absolutely loving going to Auskick every Saturday morning. Aaron agreed that he would be the one to take him every Saturday as it would be too cold to take Noah out on the cold mornings, but last week I ended up taking him so Aaron and Jay could help out some friends.
It was a really foggy morning and it was hard actually watching the kids play as you could hardly see them across the ground. We always tell Harri to make sure he puts a tshirt under his Hawks top as we know how cold it's going to be, but he took off his jumper and smiled his cheeky smile at me, when he knew he got away with not wearing his tshirt.
He only lasted a couple of minutes, before he started shivering away, and then asked me if he could put his jumper back on. It's good to know he does actually feel the cold sometimes!
Kobe came along to watch as well and usually only lasts about 15 minutes, before he starts asking to 'go home please Mummy'.
Once it started warming up, he was happy to sit and watch a bit more.
By the time the kids played their game, the sun was out and the fog had cleared. I actually really like going to watch Harri play despite the cold. I'm amazed that he is so confident with footy, even though this is the first time he has played. I guess all that kicking up the hallway has paid off!
It was a really foggy morning and it was hard actually watching the kids play as you could hardly see them across the ground. We always tell Harri to make sure he puts a tshirt under his Hawks top as we know how cold it's going to be, but he took off his jumper and smiled his cheeky smile at me, when he knew he got away with not wearing his tshirt.
He only lasted a couple of minutes, before he started shivering away, and then asked me if he could put his jumper back on. It's good to know he does actually feel the cold sometimes!
Friday, 27 May 2011
Cross Country
It's that time of the year again when all the schools are having their cross country run. Jalen's cross country was about a month ago. It was nice having it so close to home, but unfortunately we still had to go and pick up Noah from school to take him to it, as the buses from school don't have wheelchair access. We really wanted him to be there for it though, as it was a beautiful sunny day.
Kobe loved hanging with his brothers for the afternoon, and spent lots of time rolling down the hill making people laugh.
Jay cracks me up with how short he is compared to the other boys in his grade, but I keep reminding him that I was exactly the same in grade 6. I was the shortest of all my friends, and now I'm pretty much taller than all of them. He always does the big warm up before he runs :)
Jay isn't athletic at all and running definitely isn't his thing (basketball is definitely his thing and even though he is so small he gets in there and surprises everyone as to how competative he is) but he did well and ended up finishing about middle of the group, which he does every year.
Last year Harri missed out on having his cross country because of the weather, and it was almost the same this year. Last week it was cancelled, but yesterday he finally got to race. He was checking the weather all week and was excited to tell me that my iPhone said it was going to be sunny. It was sunny but was a very frosty morning, so it was quite cool. Kobe and I turned up in our jackets and scarves, and crazy Harri was just sitting there with his shorts and tshirt on when we arrived.
Harri is quite a confident runner and kept telling me that he was going to come third as they had been practising a lot at school and he knew the two boys who could beat him. I told him it didn't matter what he came, and to just have fun. Before the race started the P.E teacher was telling them all that the grass was very wet from the frost, so they needed to be careful and if they fell over to just brush themselves off and keep going.
50 metres into the race I see a kid fall down and was like 'oh that poor kid' and then as he started getting back up another kid ran into him and kicked him in the head, and he fell back down again. Then all of a sudden I realised it was Harri! I had taken my eyes off him for a second to see where Kobe was, and didn't realise it was him that actually fell down, till I saw him get kicked in the head.
The P.E. teacher ran over to him as he lay on the ground and the rest of the kids took off down the hill. I ran over to him, and as soon as he saw me he burst into tears. I asked him if he was okay to keep running and he said no, but I told him he could do it and the P.E. teacher told him he could probably catch up to the ones at the back, so then he took off like a rocket.
Next thing I know I see a group of kids running up the hill and Harri is taking over them!
He did so well and overtook about 10 kids, and ended up finishing about half way through.
He was happy with himself for catching up to everyone, and kept saying 'did you see someone kick my face Mum!? I would've gone better if I didn't fall over'. I told him how proud I was of him for getting up and not giving up, and all the teachers and Mum's kept saying the same thing to him. When I was about to leave I gave him a kiss goodbye and said again 'I'm proud of you Harri' and he then says 'I know Mum!! You keep telling me that!!'.
When he got home he kept asking me if he had a footprint on his face! He hasn't had a good week with a footy injury as well. I got a phone call from school a few days ago saying he hurt his finger and it was swelling very fast and he was looking very pale, and that I should probably come and pick him up. After a visit to the doctor we had to strap his finger up and give him panadol to stop the pain. I guess it's just the start of a lot more sporting injuries to come.
Kobe loved hanging with his brothers for the afternoon, and spent lots of time rolling down the hill making people laugh.
Jay cracks me up with how short he is compared to the other boys in his grade, but I keep reminding him that I was exactly the same in grade 6. I was the shortest of all my friends, and now I'm pretty much taller than all of them. He always does the big warm up before he runs :)
Jay isn't athletic at all and running definitely isn't his thing (basketball is definitely his thing and even though he is so small he gets in there and surprises everyone as to how competative he is) but he did well and ended up finishing about middle of the group, which he does every year.
Last year Harri missed out on having his cross country because of the weather, and it was almost the same this year. Last week it was cancelled, but yesterday he finally got to race. He was checking the weather all week and was excited to tell me that my iPhone said it was going to be sunny. It was sunny but was a very frosty morning, so it was quite cool. Kobe and I turned up in our jackets and scarves, and crazy Harri was just sitting there with his shorts and tshirt on when we arrived.
50 metres into the race I see a kid fall down and was like 'oh that poor kid' and then as he started getting back up another kid ran into him and kicked him in the head, and he fell back down again. Then all of a sudden I realised it was Harri! I had taken my eyes off him for a second to see where Kobe was, and didn't realise it was him that actually fell down, till I saw him get kicked in the head.
The P.E. teacher ran over to him as he lay on the ground and the rest of the kids took off down the hill. I ran over to him, and as soon as he saw me he burst into tears. I asked him if he was okay to keep running and he said no, but I told him he could do it and the P.E. teacher told him he could probably catch up to the ones at the back, so then he took off like a rocket.
Next thing I know I see a group of kids running up the hill and Harri is taking over them!
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Not your usual day at school
Yesterday I got a very excited call from Aaron on my mobile, saying that tomorrow (today) Shaun Burgoyne from the Hawthorn Football Club, was going to be coming to speak to the indigenous students at school.
Aaron was very excited to be the only teacher chosen to go along with the students to listen to him speak. I think he probably would've cried if he wasn't able to go ;) He said that he was a great speaker and talked to the students about being proud of their background, and how he knew he had to work hard at school in case he wasn't chosen to play AFL footy.
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
Last but not least
I have so many friends having babies right now, and Kylie was the lucky last one to have her beautiful little man Carter James, last Saturday. We were excited to get a text message while we were out fishing. He was just over three weeks early which was a lovely surprise for them.
Kylie and I used to work together, and were both pregnant together with Jay and Patrick, so it's so exciting to see them with a new baby after all these years.
Carter is such a beautiful little baby.
Congratulations Kylie and Shayne!! We are excited to have another Hawks supporter to hang out with :)
Kylie and I used to work together, and were both pregnant together with Jay and Patrick, so it's so exciting to see them with a new baby after all these years.
Monday, 23 May 2011
Performance Time
Jalen has loved going to drama classes this term with Second Story Youth Theatre. Well actually the first week he was excited and nervous, the second week he was in tears as we were driving there as he didn't know anyone and therefore didn't like it and didn't want to go, and the third week he was very excited to go again, as he had so much fun the second week.
On Saturday it was his end of term performance. All term they had been working on improvisation and did a lot of different Theatre Sport games. We knew Jay would be good at that kind of thing as he loves it, so we were looking forward to watching him up on stage.
The kids worked in a group of 3-5. Jalen's group name was the 'Evil Telletubbies'.
They started off with being given an object and then had to decide what it was going to be, and how you could use it (it had to be different to what it actually was), and then they had to create a one and a half minute commercial for it. Jay was very funny.
Jalen was then chosen to represent his group to do 'The World's Worst...'. They were given a random topic such as 'the world's worst personal trainer' and then each person had to step forward and act like that person for a small amount of time. They had about four different things they had to act out 'the worst personal trainer', 'the worst kindergarten teacher', 'the worst dentist' and 'the world's worst actor'. Jalen was hilarious and did a great job with it.
It was a great night, and amazing to think that these kids are only in grades 4-6 as they were all so confident.
Jay can't wait for next term now, where they will start working on other acting techniques, to get ready for their production at the end of the year.
On Saturday it was his end of term performance. All term they had been working on improvisation and did a lot of different Theatre Sport games. We knew Jay would be good at that kind of thing as he loves it, so we were looking forward to watching him up on stage.
The kids worked in a group of 3-5. Jalen's group name was the 'Evil Telletubbies'.
They started off with being given an object and then had to decide what it was going to be, and how you could use it (it had to be different to what it actually was), and then they had to create a one and a half minute commercial for it. Jay was very funny.
Jalen was then chosen to represent his group to do 'The World's Worst...'. They were given a random topic such as 'the world's worst personal trainer' and then each person had to step forward and act like that person for a small amount of time. They had about four different things they had to act out 'the worst personal trainer', 'the worst kindergarten teacher', 'the worst dentist' and 'the world's worst actor'. Jalen was hilarious and did a great job with it.
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Our Fishing Adventures
My brother Eden has been a keen fisherman ever since he was a teenager. For ages we have been keen to go out on his boat with him fishing, but often when it was a good day to go fishing we would get a phone call to ask if we wanted to go, but we couldn't as we didn't have anyone to look after Noah for us (spur of the moment and the Kings just don't work :).
A couple of months ago Eden said we should plan to go out soon and said he would give me a ring on a Friday when he knows the weather will be nice the next day. On Friday night we got the message to say that it would be a great day to go out the next day, so after a quick phone call to Mum to see if she could look after Noah, the boys were so excited to know they were finally going fishing with Uncle Eden.
After Auskick with Harri, and dropping off Noah at Mum and Dad's we finally got to Port Sorell. Jalen said he wanted to catch a flathead, Harri wanted to catch a 'goldfish' and Kobe wanted to catch a 'pink one'.
We headed off and everyone was so excited, even Aaron who had never really been out on a boat, fishing before.
Eden then decided it was a good time to move to calmer waters, so we headed back in a little. Jay was excited to have a steer of the boat. This photo cracks me up - both with the 'Triffitt tongue' hanging out as they are concentrating :)
Kobe felt much better after his spew and started tucking into the snacks! (notice the spew down the front of his trackies).
He then came out and kept telling us which kind of fish he wanted to catch.
It was a lot more relaxed in the calmer waters so everyone was happy, but there weren't as many bites.
In the end all the boys had an awesome time, and were very excited about the whole afternoon. Eden seemed surprised that they loved it so much (after Harri calmed down:) and said he will have to take them out again soon.
A couple of months ago Eden said we should plan to go out soon and said he would give me a ring on a Friday when he knows the weather will be nice the next day. On Friday night we got the message to say that it would be a great day to go out the next day, so after a quick phone call to Mum to see if she could look after Noah, the boys were so excited to know they were finally going fishing with Uncle Eden.
After Auskick with Harri, and dropping off Noah at Mum and Dad's we finally got to Port Sorell. Jalen said he wanted to catch a flathead, Harri wanted to catch a 'goldfish' and Kobe wanted to catch a 'pink one'.
The excitement quickly turned into tears as we got out in the choppy water. At first Harri and Kobe thought it was fun going up and crashing back down with the waves, but then Harri got really scared.
It was quite choppy and because Harri, Kobe and I sat up under the front, we got thrown around a bit. Eden said we would see how we went out in the rougher water first (although he told us it was actually quite calm) as it's the best place to catch fish, but if the boys were still upset we would head back in, where it was calmer.
It was good that we stayed there for a little while as Jalen actually reeled in a fish - and just what he wanted to catch - a flathead!
Aaron was very disappointed that he hadn't caught a fish yet.
Harri started to calm down a little bit, but still held on for dear life, thinking he was going to be thrown over the edge any minute!
Not long after the first fish was caught Kobe looked at Jay as he held his stomach and goes 'Jay, ow!' and then all of a sudden throws up all over himself! I had been feeling a bit quesy myself, but was okay when I was at the back of the boat, in the fresh air, but Kobe had spent a lot of time underneath. He had a little cry, and then another vomit (poor Eden's boat!) and kept looking at the spew on his boot saying 'oh no, on my shoes!'. I cleaned him up as best I could and told him it was okay, and he went very quiet and snuggled into me for about ten minutes.
Eden then decided it was a good time to move to calmer waters, so we headed back in a little. Jay was excited to have a steer of the boat. This photo cracks me up - both with the 'Triffitt tongue' hanging out as they are concentrating :)
Harri was a lot happier in the calmer waters, and got excited for a second as he thought he had caught something. Unforunately it was just some seaweed.
Kobe felt much better after his spew and started tucking into the snacks! (notice the spew down the front of his trackies).
He then came out and kept telling us which kind of fish he wanted to catch.
It was a lot more relaxed in the calmer waters so everyone was happy, but there weren't as many bites.
Jay was loving it, and kept getting lots of little nibbles and kept pulling his line in, and casting it again. Eden was laughing calling him 'tea bag' and 'Mr Bushells' because he was up and down all afternoon with his line, like when you are making a cup of tea. It obviously paid off, as he got another flathead, but this time with a foul hook! It was only 3 cm undersized this time, so we kissed it goodbye and threw it back in.
Thanks Eden for a great afternoon. It's a pity we didn't catch any that were big enough to bring home to eat, but it was so much fun anyway.
