Sept 5-18, 2025

We have had a big few weeks.  Lots of appointments.  We are trying to get to the bottom of Carmie's ill-health.  Last week she had an appointment with a cardiologist who confirmed her autonomic dysfunction.  She had to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours - we are still waiting for results - and next week she has to go in for an exercise stress test.  We also have a referral to see an immunologist in Brisbane, but we are waiting for the appointment, and I have no idea how long it's going to take.  Carmie was very sick on Sunday night after eating dinner - pasta with tomato sauce.  She spent the better part of two hours vomiting.  This is in line with a diagnosis of MCAS (overripe tomatoes are apparently a trigger), but we are waiting to see the specialist for an answer.  Who knows?

Arley has been fighting on and off with Luca, so Luca is no longer welcome at our house.  Lots of preteen drama going on, and I just don't have the energy for it!  Arley is doing well enough though.  He is going through a stage of really picking on Carmie, and doesn't seem to accept that he is the main culprit.  That's driving me crazy too.  I think it's regular younger brother stuff, but just a little more extreme.  I guess they are called annoying little brothers for a reason.

I had a wisdom tooth pulled out last week, and thankfully it's been smooth sailing.  I had to get a little mark cut off my face for a biopsy two days ago.  That hurt like hell, but I'm glad I took care of it.  Still waiting for the results.  And I have four fillings to get over the next two weeks, too.  See, fun times in the Willbanks household!  Jeff clicked his jaw out of place and has been on a soft food diet, and he has been getting remedial massages on his back for the past two months, but it's finally improving, so that's good.  But it seems once you hit 50, you just slowly start falling apart!

Father's Day came and went.  We had Lolo and Dida over for morning tea, and Jeffrey got to relax for most of the day.  Pretty chill stuff.  

The weather is really heating up here.  We are going to start purging our house of things we no longer use and things we won't need when we move to a smaller place next year.  I am really looking forward to downsizing and not having so much stuff, it is feeling really burdensome.  We are getting excited about moving closer to the beach, and closer to Jeff's work.  We are paying high prices to live in Buderim, but we never go into the town of Buderim, so it seems a bit silly really!  I would rather pay high prices to live nearer to the beach, because we actually use that!

Father's Day

August 22nd to September 4th, 2025

I have not a single photo to show for the last two weeks.  Not one, which is a real bugger. We are trying to do more family things with the kids.  Two weekends ago we took Carmie up to Lolo and Dida's on a Saturday so we could have lunch with them and then let Carmie ride the new scooter around a nearby parking lot.  Arley opted to stay home, but as soon as we were on the highway he was calling, regretting his decision, begging us to turn around.  We didn't, and he learned his lesson, but he was SO mad.  This past weekend we decided to take the kids to the high ropes course at Sunshine Plaza.  It is the biggest high ropes course in Australia, and the kids have been very eager to give it a go.  It was a tough day!!  We thought we'd all be able to stick together, but after the first challenge, it was very clear that neither Arley nor I were going to enjoy it.  Haha.  We opted for an easier level, and it was still hard!  We did persist though, which was a surprise for Jeff because he thought we had completely given up, and we found them towards the end of their course.  It was fun-ish but quite difficult, and rather scary being so high up.  Each course had three good zip lines though, which Arley enjoyed.  Thankfully, because he gave me grief for most of the course.  He was very stressed and when he gets stressed, his anger rears its ugly head.  So not only was the course challenging for me, but so was Arley!  Afterward though, he asked if we could do more family things together, so that is a big win!  Jeff is convinced that if we all go out together, the kids will have to start talking to each other, and hopefully they will become friendly to each other again, because now all they do is argue.  I'm not sure his theory will hold up to practice, but we are giving it a go.

Carmie's health is still crap.  She is getting her barium swallow test done tomorrow morning, to rule out gastroparesis.  Her paediatrician thinks she might have mast cell activation syndrome, which is something else to look into.  We are also booking her in to see a new cardiologist, so hopefully we will get some answers soon.

Arley had a totally awful week where he was a little sick, forgot to take his meds, and was rather volatile.  He has had a much better week now though.  He is doing very well at his therapies, and has been going outside to play with the neighbourhood kids, which is huge.  It sounds silly, but getting him outside voluntarily is very difficult, so I put up with a lot of mess, noise, and house-takeovers so that these kids will take him outside.  It's working so far, but some days are full-on!

I am starting to cull all of our homeschool resources and craft supplies.  I'm finally owning up to the fact that the kids have not and will not use all the workbooks and math manipulative and soap making kits and fabric paints etc that we have collected over the years.  We are looking to downsize next year when our lease is up, and the purging of stuff is like a weight being lifted.  No more guilt that the kids aren't using the supplies we have, because we won't have them anymore! LOL

That's all for now.  Hopefully when I post next time I will have a bunch of photos to show :)