Can Time Go Any Faster?

Oh boy it has been an exciting and long day for the boys today. Harri wakes up this morning and asks 'is it one more day till Christmas!?'. Tonight Jay asked me if there was any way to make time go any faster!

This afternoon Noah and I went out to see Marlo. She gave us some beautiful lillies from her garden, and Aaron was so excited when I brought them in and he smelt them as he says its the smell that really reminds him of Christmas at his Nan's house as a boy.

We had our usual Christmas Eve tea on the floor, with platters of fruit, meat and chocolate :)

I had some prawns and Jay kept looking at them saying 'are they really eyes!!?'. I told him they were and he said 'so they are real then!? Don't you care about the environment!?' (as he shoves a piece of ham in!!). Jay thinks it's okay to eat meat as long as it doesn't really look like something that was once alive.

Harri and Kobe both went to bed by 6.30pm (and surprisingly Harri actually fell asleep within 10 minutes!), but all night Jay has been jumping around all excited. He kept pulling out presents from under the tree, trying to work out what they were and tried to entice us with presents that he has put under there for us.

He's so glad there are now no more chocolates before Christmas!

Jay just went to bed, after writing Santa a note and putting him out some food. He must think he is very hungry! After ten minutes in bed he came running back out to make sure the front door was unlocked - since we don't have a chimney! Lucky he remembered or Santa might not have been able to get in!!

Wow - You're A 36 Year Old Dad!

That is what Jay wrote on the front of Aaron's birthday card that he made him. Today is Aaron's 36th birthday and Jay must think it's pretty amazing! The day started as any good birthday does - opening up presents and then cocoa pops for breakfast. Chrish gave Aaron a Hawthorn hoody which he didn't take off all morning - despite it being 21 degrees at 10am!

Aaron got a couple of guitar hero games for the playstation2 and had planned to spend the day playing those, but the day turned out very differently. We weren't quite prepared for Summer to hit all of a sudden, so we spent the morning searching for a good kids pool, and then Aaron put it together for the boys.

The boys thought it was fantastic - especially since you can plug the hose into it, and it sprays water out the top!



Aaron (the biggest kid of all!) joined in a bit of the pool and water fight action.


Kobe, Noah and I were more than content to sit under the tree and watch all the shenanigans.


Aaron's Dad and Step Mum dropped in for a visit, to which Harri quickly asks 'did you bring Dad a present!?'.

Mum also dropped in, and brought in some raspberries. Kobe tried his first ones and didn't think they were too bad!

For tea of course Aaron chose McDonalds - he really is a big kid! :) It was so nice though, that we enjoyed sitting outside.

Kobe just isn't a baby anymore. He is already loving the chips!

Lucky for me Aaron didn't want a birthday cake, but preferred just a frozen cheesecake from the supermarket again. Suited me! Who's silly idea is it to have a birthday so close to Christmas anyway!! Now that three of the boys are in bed, and it's quiet Aaron has finally pulled out the new guitar hero games - might be a long night!

An Awesome Santa

The past few years we have been getting the boys photo taken with Santa at Meadow Mews shopping centre. We used to go to Myer every year, and one year we were walking through Meadow Mews and stumbled across this lovely Santa and have been back ever since.

He is a lovely old man who we imagine is just like Santa. He is so great with the kids and spends lots of time with them and is really comfortable talking to them. He even remembered Noah's name from one year to the next. Last year we didn't think he was at Meadow Mews, as he wasn't where they usually have him. Instead we went to Myer again, and were very disappointed with the Santa there, as he just wasn't the same.

This year we figured out that Meadow Mews actually had the Santa in a different place, and on Saturday we were excited to go and see if it was the same man. It was and as we walked towards him he saw Noah and says 'oh Noah! How are you!?'. He remembered Noah from a couple of years ago!! He had Mrs Claus with him and she also remembered Noah and was so nice to him. They both were rubbing his arms and face and talking to him. He always asks how his year has been. It was amazing as Noah actually turned towards Santa when he was talking to him - we just wished we had the camera, but we weren't allowed to have it there.

Santa even asked if Noah came to see him last year, as he couldn't remember him coming! Kobe was asleep till just before they took the pic, so he looks like a stunned mullet!! I wish Noah was on the other side (he always looks towards the left) , but there was a big seat there and no room. The photo is very dodgy, but it's a nice memory.

After we left Aaron said how incredible the Santa is and how he is just how you imagine the real Santa to be. Jalen knows that he isn't the real Santa as he's too busy getting ready right now, but if we could've really met the real Santa, I don't think he could've been any better than this one is.

My First Christmas

I wonder whether Santa is coming to this cheeky little rat!

3 More Chocolates

The boys are getting soooo excited for Christmas. Yesterday we went to visit Santa and got a photo taken (will hopefully blog about that tomorrow). While we were waiting in line Jay says 'this Christmas is going to be the best Christmas ever'. I asked him why he thought that and he said 'we have Kobe and Noah is happy and well'.

It's nice that Jay still believes in Santa as some kids his age are telling him that Santa isn't really real. He knows that he only comes to those that believe (Jalen LOVES to read my blog and I know Santa does too, so I'm sure Santa will see that Jalen still believes and will definitely come to him this year ;)

When Jay went to bed tonight (for the second time) he walks past our nativity calendar hanging on the door and says 'only three more chocolates to Christmas!!'. What a nice way to look at it - if only we could measure everything by chocolate! :)

Nap Time

Our Monkeys

Ever since Noah was a baby we have given him the nickname 'monkey'. I don't know how it started - probably one day when he was being really cheeky and it has just stuck. Since then we have bought him monkey soft toys and he has a collection of t-shirts that have monkeys on them - the best one is the one that says 'grumpy monkey' as it suits Noah so well!!! Now it has been handed down to Harri and it suits him even better!

Kari had told me that they also did the same with Preston. He also had monkey soft toys. When Kari and her Mum and Dad organised for us to receive the money for Noah from Preston's fund, Kari said that one thing we should buy was a monkey soft toy for Noah, from Preston. We were going to do it before Christmas and put it under the tree, but this week we got a lovely surprise in the mail - all the way from New York. Mike and Cindy (Kari's parents) had sent Noah a little monkey already.

The past couple of weeks it's been so lovely knowing that if we want to go and buy something for Noah we can just do it without thinking twice. We have bought a few little things for him so far - mainly sensory stuff. This week I saw this awesome lava lamp on a huge stand at Target on sale for half price. I rushed in the first day of the sale and grabbed one for Noah. It is perfect as it sits right next to his recliner. His vision isn't great, but its awesome as it is so bright in the dark and really easy for him to see. He has been watching it closely all night.

We have a small area at home where Noah plays and we have bought a few extra things for it in the past couple of weeks, but my dream would be one day to have a house where we could have a room built just for Noah - with a sensory area which would be all blacked out and have lots of lights and things for him to look at.

It's been so great watching his reaction to it tonight.