212 +108 Weeks

What a crazy busy week this has been!  We had a lovely weekend at home with the kids.  The weather is pretty cold at the moment, so going to the park isn't much fun lately.  Instead, we took the kids to see their new house on Saturday.  They were so excited, and were running around like two chickens with their heads cut off.  They had a play in their new back yard, and Carmie chose her bedroom.  The house is going to be perfect for us.  The back yard is great, with a back patio, courtyard and grassy area, so plenty to keep Arley occupied.  We can't wait to move in, but we have another month or so to wait, as we are making a few changes.  I had no idea how busy these small renovations would make me, but I am at the house every day and can't seem to find time to pack a single box, so it is lucky the move is still weeks away!  I am sure it will go quickly though.

Arley is still sniffly, but was definitely better behaved this week.  He has wooed another woman in his life.  Last term it was his swim teacher, and this term it is his carer at school.  She keeps telling me how she just loves him, how cute he is, etc etc.  But I bet she hasn't seen the temper he's got!  He has no qualms about showing me though - he mostly says no to things these days, and likes to throw his weight around so that he is impossible to pick up.  And he screams a lot.  Carmie is generally good when he is naughty, and often naughty when he is good.  They like to tag team, just to drive us especially crazy.  Thank goodness for their school!!  By the way, it seems like Carmie is learning to read :)

Here are some videos from this week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWuqDBv5mmw&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p01C7WoqTDk

Trying out their new back yard.

 Back at our present home, more back yard fun.

 If it's not one train, it's another.

 Sunday morning iPad time.

 I've taught her well :)

 Jeffrey feeling very tough after tearing out the kitchen in our new home

211 + 107 Weeks

Well, it has been a tough week but with a great ending.  Arley has been sick as a dog with a horrible cold (again!), and this makes him a MONSTER!!  I would try to put on his shoes, and he would scream and kick and cry, and then when I say, "Fine, no shoes then" and walk away, he sobs  "Shoes, shoes," because he wants his shoes on.  Whatever we want, he doesn't, and whatever we don't want, he does.  He is the grizzliest beast when he is sick.  Until today.  He cried and cried when I dropped them off at school (he has been quite happy to see me go until today), but then this evening, he was a total sweetheart.  Not a scream or a cry out of him.  Hopefully it's here to stay!

Carmie is still an angel.  She has her moments, but for the most part, she is a doll.  She takes care of Arley at school, and we can actually see her making conscious decisions to be good instead of naughty.  She has lots to say about the 'binomial cube' and the difference between vertebrae and invertebrate, and she is learning to spell.  This weekend she went on a trip with her grandparents to Bowral, to go to a party with her extended cousins.  She was so excited to go, and didn't skip a beat leaving us even though she had been at school for the past four days.  It was harder on us than on her!

The other great news is that today we settled on our new house!  We are finally officially home-owners, and we couldn't be more excited :)  Now for the house to be painted and the kitchen redone, and then we move in at the end of August.  So happy :) :) 

We have pretty poor photos this week though.  We only got out once, because Arley was sick, and the weather has been really cold.

 New home!

210 + 106 Weeks

Not much happened this week.  The weather has been cold, rainy and miserable, so we didn't get outside for any play time, and we don't have many good photos of the kids.  Arley officially entered the "Terrible Twos" - he is grouchy and grizzly and has taken to screaming his awful high pitched scream again when he is mad (which happens about every 5 minutes!)  Apparently he is an angel at my mum's house, but for us, he's a little devil boy.  He throws himself face down on the floor (Jeff calls it the sprawl: wrestling term) so that you can't pick him up, and then he screams and kicks.  Really pleasant.  But, he also can be very sweet, and loves to come sit on my lap for a good cuddle.  My mother says that he's his own man, and no-one will ever tell him what to do.  She's probably right, and it doesn't make parenting him very easy!  He had his second week of school this week, just Wednesday and Thursday, but when Carmie went off to school without him on Friday, he howled and cried because he wanted to go too.  He seems to like it there (apart from not eating all of Wednesday), so we might start him on three days next week, as we have so much to do now, what with packing for the move, and keeping the business going.

Carmie is generally sweet as pie, but she tries to assert herself by stamping her foot and getting cross.  It is all rather comical, and hard not to laugh.  She is becoming very independent, and gets great pleasure in using a knife and fork properly, making her own toast and sandwiches, and she has started beading and making necklaces which she is very proud of.  She hasn't made one for me yet (she tries, but then she keeps them for herself!), but her dad has a very pretty purple beaded necklace!  She is quite creative, and spends a lot of time cutting up paper and colouring in.  Arley still mostly spends time with his trains - he is never without them.

Here's a video of Arley and his love for his green train:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMFhb1TdSPc&feature=youtu.be

Arley's first tattoo

 After swimming (note Arley's yellow train!)

 Green train!

 More green train.  And yellow train.  And Thomas.

209 + 105 Weeks

It was a big week this week!  Carmie and Arley had their birthday party, which went really well.  Carmie had such a good time, it was so cute to see her playing with her little friends.  The kids played Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Musical Statues, and got their faces painted.  There were two cakes, of course, lots of balloons, and Jeff and I made far too much food.  It was really fun for the kids, but we were really glad when it was over!  We had a quiet weekend after that, with a family trip to the Mollymook park and a lunch of hot chips and smoothies (the kids' favourite).  We also had a trip to the cafe park in town, which is a little indoor play centre that can be hit or miss, depending on the amount of unruly kids about.  This time it was nice, which is always a relief.

And, little Arley started at the Montessori school this week!!  Finally!!  He was rather confused on the first day when I said goodbye to him.  He threw himself down on the ground and started crying because he didn't want to go and he thought I was taking him home with me, like I used to.  But then I told him he was staying with Carmie, and asked for a kiss, and then I had Carmie hold his hand, and he realised that he actually was staying, and then he started howling because he wasn't coming home with me!  I could still hear him crying when I got into my car :(  But apparently he calmed down, and his morning was only slightly teary.  He refused to nap though, but seemed in good spirits when I picked him up in the afternoon.  He went again today, and when I asked for a kiss goodbye, he just looked at me and said, "Bye bye" and walked away!  And he was only a little sad on and off, and he even napped today, so a big improvement!  They haven't been able to get him to lie down to change his nappy though, and they are getting a little concerned as to what to do about it.  I have no suggestions for them!  He hates being on his back.

In other news, we are in the process of buying a house!  We close and get the keys in two weeks, and then we are getting some work done on the kitchen before we move in, which will be the end of August.  I am beside myself with excitement, I cannot wait to move, and paint the kid's bedrooms the way they want, and to get them a dog (Carmie has already named our dog to be, Bella, even though we know the dog we are getting and she is called Maggie).  It is going to be so nice to finally be settled somewhere.  We have moved around so much, we can't wait to be in one place and make it a home.  Our new house is in Ulladulla, just a few minutes from town.  And it's going to be warm, which this house is not!  And we are building me an art studio in the back yard!  Am I the luckiest person ever?

Party time

Not a great picture, but the only one I got of Carmen and Hannah

 Arley's first ever painting session

 Decked out in birthday sunnies, birthday vest, birthday watch, birthday ring, with birthday doll :)

 Carmie said, "Take a picture of us Mum!" and grabbed me in a cuddle.  :)

 Arley's first day at school!!