Speak up in the back!

Driving home on Friday afternoon. Bax from the back says something like "Daddy....(mumble mumble mumble)...? please". I say "Speak up Bax daddy can't hear you" . Bax again says"Daddy....(mumble mumble mumble)...? please".

It does sound important but the car's grunting and the radio's going and we're going along a new section of road that hasn't been sealed.

"Baxter say it again sweet heart"

"Daddy, (blah blah blah) PLEASE?"

It must be something really important and he's trying do hard but it's along way from the back to the front in this big old 4x4.

"Dadddddyy ppllease!"

I say "Bax we can't hear you, shout !"

I hear "OK MUMMY"

G leans to one side, all ear.

And then ...

"Daddy CAN I EAT THIS PIECE OF SNOT please?"

PDAs

When I was in short pants we had a saying "Oooo PDA!!!" when a friend snogged a boy or held hands or whatever in public . Public Displays of Affection made us gringe and feel a bit envious all at the same time.

I'm having flashbacks with Bax' new stage.

He loves to tell people he loves them. He says "Love you" to people on the phone which is great but also to his friends at kindy. (Not to strangers - yet).

He hugs his little friends too and most of them are actually in to it. A few recoil.

And I heard him say to a couple of kids at kindy "I love you, you're my friend" Which is nice, if a little sacrine.

He is a very loving, gentle, sweet and caring person and I think he absolutely truley means it everytime he says it.

Not like Izzie...
She says "Wuff ooo" and it sounds like she's taking the piss out of Bax...

The bunks

As you walk in the door this is what you see Bax sleeps up top and Chillie sleeps on the bottom

The menagerie

Django and Fenn (Django is the big one)
Chillie
Beans

Singalong

These are my wonderful Aunties and Uncles who came for a long weekend - it was fabulous! Baxter is playing his uke and they are all singing. Izzie is accompanying them by pushing the button on the Old Macdonald music box (that will not die!)

Portraits

My children are so delicious today. Izzie gathers toy cars and spoons and plastic cups and jelly moulds and takes them quietly out to the drive and builds roads and hills and lands and imaginatings in the gravelly stones.

Bax decides at dawn to dress in a costume and appears in the door way in a tutu, baseball cap, fariy wings and bob the builder shoes.

He says "Hey I've got a great idea..." And "That's just ridicalass" And "This is delicious" and "I love you Mummy"

Izzie says "Me do it!" and "Naughty Izzie"

They help G build things , the latest is a table with sand piled onto it and plenty of space to make roads and have adventures - like a sandpit but not a pit. They know it's not for keeps but for sharing with friends at playground - that makes it even more exciting.

We go for a walk to the end of the road and back and it takes us 45 minutes and the sun goes down before we get back to our garden. Both kids on their plastic bikes, they know exactly where the slight hill begins , I can barely see it, and they race down it with their feet held into mid air - freewheeling.

They eat plums straight off the tree. Bax knows which ones are ripe and reaches up to get one for Izzie, and anothe for me.

They go to bed with red chins.

G wakes up and says "Ooo I feel sleepy, I think we'll stay home all day and skip playgroup."

Bax wakes up and says "Hey I've got a great idea, let's take the new sandtable to playgroup Dad"

Bax wins.

The best and the worst of it

I wanted to tell you about my day because it has been like a normal day - highlighted. A day a little more intense than most but not really out-of-the-O.

It began at 6.30am - the alarm clock. And the dawn coming in through the window because a week ago our curtain rail came down and neither of us has had a moment to fix it. But the sunrise was so amazing as we up quite high in our room and our windows are vast and sun coming up over the hills all big and fat and red red red.

I woke G and kissed the kids and drove to work - G was about 30mins behind and would drop the kids to kindy this am.

We had a huge event this morning - a real big deal and I managed the whole thing - everything from giving senior managers pep talks to getting the food organised (with heaps of help from as awesome team)

The event went perfectly and during the day I also had time to sell about 6 bags of apples (a side line), deal with two major media issues, go to a pretty intense meeting about our next big-deal proj, find a couple of suppliers to do nice things for us, tie up some lose ends, prep for the C meeting tomorrow, etc etc.

I picked up the kids at 4 and drove to the apple orchard. G is working there after he finishes at the school so I dropped him some food.

I brought the kids home. That's when I found the freerange chicken I had been looking forward to had been left out on the bench in the hot kitchen and had gone off (what does one do with an off but raw chicken?).

I made the kids some dinner (sausies, hashbrowns, peas and corn). They didn't eat much. I never care much about them eating when they've been at kindy all day because the food is so good there. I put them in the bath and weeded the garden outside the bathroom window while they splashed, destressing, both of us.

Got them into the PJs and fed the animals. No TV. I sank onto the floor and Izzie forced me to crawl around as she pushed me from behind - hard to explain but so odd I was in hysterics - she's REALLY strong.

Long story now cut short cause I'm tired and going on a bit....

Kids in bed. G home. Everyone exhausted. I have a few more hours to do on the qwertyuiop before tomorrow am but...

G is downstairs as we speak making a huge feast with the meager skerricks we have in the fridge. He is a star.

So now you have it - the very best and the worst in under 18 hours.

Are these people related, do you think?

Alice in the top left corner, Nana Anna in the middle, Isla Ann bottom left, Izzie bottom right, Jess top right. Grins galore! Happy days.

Some success; not holding breath

Bax and Izzie are now sharing a bedroom. And it is wonderful. Lots of hanging fabric wotnots from around the world, and patchwork and sweetie gentleness. Izzie is in Bax' big old cot and Bax is in the top bunk and he says "When I'm bigger and Izzie is a big girl whe will sleep in the top little bed and I will sleep in the bottom little bed." Right! Thanks for that Bax!

And and and

Izzie and Bax have made it through a whole week without having to be seperated into deifferent rooms.

At first we tried putting Izzie down then waiting and putting Bax down but Izzie was never really asleep and so we really woke her up when we went in and then she couldn't settle again.

So now we put them to bed together. Read a story and turn out the lights.

The first night Izzie just couldn't fall asleep and she started crying so Bax starteed singing to her and over the next 20 mins she got louder and louder and his lullabye got louder and more desperate until G had to go in the sit there quietly till they both fell asleep (desperately trying not to fall asleep himself!)

Then another night we could hear Bax from his lofty lookout saying to Izzie "Open up the curtain, open it right up and we can see. Go on Izzie go on..."

But last night they chattted and laughed for about 30 mins then fell asleep. I had to go in once to find Izzie's dummy (don't tell Bax) but then all was quiet til this morning!!