Where does the time go?

There is time gobbler who eats up all of my time as I never seem to get anything done these days! We are nearing the end of the year and before we know it Xmas is on its way. I have been in Oz since Dec last year but it just feels like the other day that I was balling my eyes out as I said good-bye to Heath and the kids.

Thanks to all of you who sent Reece birthday wishes it was greatly appreciated! I must also apologise as I have missed plenty of birthday wishes myself as I have misplaced my birthday list so I have no idea what is going on, on the birthday front ....

Work has not been as hectic as normal but busy enough to keep me out of mischief! I was sick in bed for a couple of days last week as we are still having horrible cold, wet and rainy weather. Apparently abnormal for Perth but not sure I am wanting to believe anyone anymore! The sun must return and very quickly! But of course you all know that in a little while I will be complaining again as it is too hot here - never happy I know...

Last week there was a little bit of an opening in the sky and the boys took the opportunity to get out on the driveway with their scooters for a ride and were very happy to be photographed as well - for a change! But it was not long before we were back inside as the rain had started again.

All in all we are all doing very well, my boys are eating us out of house and home and we are slowly but surely settling into Perth's way of life. Reece went off to a party a couple of weeks ago and it was a roller skating party - when Heath got home with the boys he mentioned that he felt like he had deprived our children of so much. As he could not believe that there were so many little 3 year old skating around on their own. I must say we get out and about to do some activities we normally would not do in SA - not that it was not available just I think we never really made the time.

Bryce is still loving school and he has settled in very well. He is giving us a bit of uphill when he goes to his sports activities so we still have to work on that one. Reece is loving school and cannot wait to get there in the mornings. School holidays start on Friday for nearly two weeks and Heath of course is not looking forward to that!

We have also had a horrendous Internet connection and now we have got broadband and it feels like a dream to work with compared to what we had previously. What normally takes me hours to upload photo's has now just taken me under 10 minutes to complete the whole blog update - so I am much happier and I should not hear Heath screaming at the computer anymore either :)

Chat again soon!

Cheers

N

Busy Weekend!

My weekend started in Friday morning as I had taken the day off work to organise Reece's party as I had not done anything. So the morning started with a bang as Reece suddenly realised that he had to dress up for school as part of book week, so we had to run around the house thinking of something that he could wear. In the end he went as a game ranger and was happy with that. His class teachers were wonderful as they all dressed up fully as part of the event. All the classes had a parade to decide on 2 winners per class. So after dropping Reece at school, I went to shop for some cake making items so that I could at least start his cake in the morning. Ideally I should have made it on Wed or Thurs but of course this did not happen.


Heath took Bryce to his sports coaching and his coach could not believe that Bryce is only 3 yrs old as he mentioned to Heath that he has not see a little one with such good co-ordination and such a youngster who can kick a ball so high and accurately. So Bryce came home with a very big proud smile and told me the story of what he was up to. Anyway in this time I had baked a big rectangle cake and was still deciding what type of cake we were going to land up with. It is a dinosaur theme so cannot be too hard. Well then I was back to the shops to buy the rest of the goodies for the party. I started making some meatballs and cooked some small frankfurters and had a disaster as I left both in the oven too long so they were burnt! So much for being prepared!


So now I am not in a very happy mood and I go to fetch Reece from school, he had a good day but was a little sad as his class teacher was leaving on maternity leave so all the kids took forever to come out of the class as they were all saying goodbye. Anyway back home I started getting the icing ready for the cake as we had now decided to make a volcano with plastic dinosaurs as the decoration. It did not turn out too badly and at least Reece had fun decorating it!
On Friday evening we went for dinner at friends down the road from us which was relief that we did not have to think about supper. Not sure how we would have made supper anyway as the kitchen was rather a mess!! We got home a little later than we were hoping as with such a busy day ahead we wanted Reece in bed early but this did not happen.....

Saturday arrived - both Heath and I did not sleep very well so not too eager to get out of bed and the boys did not sleep in either. Anyway I attempted another batch of meatballs which worked out much better and also got some frankfurters sorted for the kids. Then it was a mad rush around to make sure everything else was packed and prepared before we drove to the party place.


Reece has 24 children in his class and 20 of his classmates came to his party and then he had 3 boys from the other class. So we has 23 kids running around but thank goodness we had organised a party organiser to run the show for an hour to have a "Dinosaur dig". Reece was already a bit over whelmed by the time we got there but eventually settled down to start enjoying his day. They started off with a story and then they got all dressed up to start the dinosaur hunt in the gardens. Once this was finished they had some more stories told and then hunted for some "dinosaur fossils" in the sand. They then finished off with some party games. Just as the games were about to start Reece was now totally overwhelmed and started crying, it took us a while to get him calmed down. We then beat the living daylights out a Dinosaur pinata - it is amazing what frustrations you can get rid of on one of these! The day ended with the kids have their faces painted and cake time! Whew - it all started at 3pm and after a whirlwind we finished at 5:30pm.


We quickly cleaned the place up, before getting back home to open all Reece's pressies. I think this was the best part of the day for Reece!He got plenty of lego, books, games - spoilt rotten actually! Bryce was a grateful little helper who found that helping his brother opening presents was also loads of fun... and of course he would open the presents that had balls in ..... so he was over the moon as he is ball mad!
Heath went off to the pub to watch the rugby - go Bokke !!! (Not sure what I am doing as I have no clue how the game works - but I suppose I can support them!!!) which of course we all know by now they won... yipppeeee good day in all.


Sunday - we stayed at home - it was great! Not that we relaxed that much as the housework just never seems to end but it was great to spend time with the boys doing, well, not much. Reece had pretty much build all of his Lego pressies by the end of the day and at around 5:30 we chucked them in the bath and so they climbed out of one set of pj's into a fresh pair of pj's :)


Hopefully not such a busy week ahead - chat again soon.
Cheers
N

Six today!

I still cannot believe that Reece is 6 today. He was so excited to turn 6. He asked me this morning "Mom am I really, really 6" and I told him "Yip, you are 6" and he even asked again "Are you sure mom?". So cute!

So anyway he is 6 - he got his pressie over the week-end as we ordered a bicycle. He had been quite deprived of riding a bicycle in SA but then again he was not really that interested. Here in Oz there are so many parks for him to ride in that he sees many kids riding - he actually asked for a bicycle! So he got it on Friday and was over the moon and could not wait to get to the park and ride but the weather has been really bad so we have to race to the park while the sun peaks out and then run back home again as the good weather only stays for short periods at a time. So above is a picture of Reece riding his bike taken at the park down the road from home. The sunshine is deceiving - it was freezing!

Today for his birthday we wrapped a small pressie just so he had something to open and once again he was over the moon - in fact we could have just given him a balloon and he would have been very happy. He was not expecting anything else for his birthday as we had told his bicycle was for his birthday. He is very into Lego at the moment and we got him a 3-in-1 set of different types of aeroplanes. So he got home from school today and then started to build it. We took him and Bryce out for an ice cream down the road and kept on asking when we are going home as he wanted to finish his plane. He ran straight to his room and about an hour and a half later he came out with the aeroplane finished. He was really proud of himself and I actually could not believe he had done it himself but he did.

And of course we cannot forget about little Bryce - he had just as much fun with his brother celebrating his birthday! He also got a bicycle and I could not believe that within one day he had grasped the idea and was on his way to the park to ride. So any moment he gets he nags us to take him to the park.Bryce is going to a playschool from tomorrow for about 3hours 2 days a week - Heath cannot wait to have some free time. Bryce is a bit sceptical about this but I am sure he will be fine. When they first moved to Oz he could not wait to be in school now that he has spent so much time with his dad he does not want to go anymore. So he will start off for 3 hours 2 days a week and then once he is used to the idea he will go for a bit longer.

Bryce is also playing kiddie sport on Friday mornings and is loving it so we are eventually getting settled and getting the kids a little more organised.

Now I have to get us all organised for Reece's party which is on Saturday. We were going to have it in the park but as there is a possibility of rain so we have moved it to an environmental centre. He is having a dinosaur party and cannot wait. So the rest of the week is now getting this all organised - sigh....

So love to all. Chat again soon.

Cheers

Nicky, Heath, Reece (who is really 6!) and Bryce

Big long Update!

Well I cannot believe it has been forever since I have updated the blog but life at work has been hectic and the last thing I felt like doing was working on a computer when I get home at night. So what has happened in our lives in the last couple of months:


I have been to Singapore and back twice, in the end I spent three weeks in Singapore which started out as two weeks. The first week did not go so well, as we did not finish what had been planned. The second week was great and the third week was to catch up on the first. My project is going live in November so we are now ramping up big time and it has been hectic. Some days at work I realise that I have only had about two cups of tea and just never seem to get a chance to get to the loo.... well thank goodness I do not drink more tea....!!!! I have been to Singapore a couple of times already and cannot wait to take Heath and the boys as I am sure they will love it. It is not really the kind of place I could spend weeks and weeks on holiday but about 4-5 days and I think you would have got around most of the main sites. Life in Singapore revolves around shopping, ummm shopping and umm more shopping.... oh and sorry food! There are plenty plenty shopping centres and each time I go there it there seems like another one has been built. So I had one weekend in Singapore this last trip and a couple of us on the project went to the zoo - it was amazing, the best I have been to so far it would have been even better if Heath and the boys were with me. The rest of the weekend I relaxed as much as I could and then browsed around - you guessed it - the shops!


Well in the last week that I went back to Singapore Heath and the boys flew off to South Africa for 4 weeks as it was school holidays here and Heath needed to sort out a couple of things with regards to the house etc in SA. We still have not sold the house and there is a possibility of renting it so hold thumbs! They all had a good time, apart from Heath getting sick in the first week and Bryce for a couple of weeks and it was apparently freezing cold which I am sure all of you in sunny SA already know.

As I had already been away for two weeks and was only back for the week-end before I flew out and they flew out it felt like forever before they were back home in Perth again. They were in SA for 4 weeks so of course in this period I was just miserable as I missed them all so much, plus in Perth the weather was miserable cold, wet and rainy so this did not help my mood so therefore no blog update.


Anyway I was very happy to see them back a couple of weeks ago. Reece went back to school and so we are back into the school mode again. He has been accepted into year 1 for next year so at least one less thing to worry about, so we are happy about that.


We also heard that Bryce has been accepted into kindy from next year which we are very happy about but he is over the moon that he is going to school again! In kindy they only go for two days a week so we have to choose between Mon & Wed or Tues & Thurs. We have also enrolled Bryce into a little sports program where he gets to try out various ball sports to see which one he enjoys. If he sees Rugby on TV he tells me mom I want to play "rr-be" and then gets very upset with me if I change the channel..... but he is also very happy to play soccer but he likes the idea of rugby as he can kick the ball "very high in the sky" as he tells us. Bryce is also becoming a budding little chef. He cannot wait for us to start making supper as he just wants to help with everything - quite sweet but sometimes quite a mission getting supper cooked in time....


Generally since the boys have been back from SA most week-ends it has been raining so mostly we have snuggled up at home and tried to relax as much as possible. The boys got little scooters and have been driving us mad pushing them around the house and every little opportunity that the sun shines - could be a max of 30 minutes we race down to the park and then they get rid of their energy.... well some of it!


Oh and to top the busy working weeks I am trying to organise a party for Reece. I cannot believe that he is turning 6 already! He is so excited and is counting down the days. We have planned a "Dinosaur Dig" whereby a party organiser comes to the party and runs everything for us so not too much for us to do. With kids parties here most of the time they are in a park and the kids are so busy playing that they do not think about eating so generally most moms do not put much out for the kids to eat, just a few small snacks for the parents who stay (which is normally not that many) and that is that. Very simple actually - well I say that now.....wait till next week.


Lastly I have to tell you all about my first experience of shopping from the verge. Now in Australia they have a "Verge collection". This is your opportunity to chuck out anything that does not work or anything that you do not want anymore. So instead of taking your stuff to a dump or a charity you will put this on the verge. You are only allowed to do this about 1 week before the collection takes place. Then everyone in the neighbourhood or any in general can come along and "shop for free" from your verge. Well for me this was a very weird experience but anyway another South African woman who lives down the road from me asked if I would like to walk around with her and check what the neighbours are chucking out... not too sure about this I accepted ... we went around the corner when I saw a microwave - "which I have been shopping around for @ the shops of course!" it looked in very good condition so we decided to keep on looking and come back on our trip back home. Her little boy found a scooter and a couple of fun toys..... on our trip home we picked up the microwave and took it home.(giggling like two naughty girls of course). I seriously felt like I was stealing ... but anyway once I got home we cleaned it up and switched it on.... so I now have a working microwave in my kitchen for FREE. I have heard of many youngsters in Aus who find all that is needed to kit themselves out in a home once they are leaving home.... all for FREE.


We have also been really bad in taking pictures so hopefully with the next post I will have some new pics of us.


Lots of love
All of us
N H R B
www.heathandnicky@blogspot.com

40th Wedding Anniversary

I know I have been really bad updating the blog and I promise I will start updating it again but today is a very special day for my mom & dad as 40 years ago they tied the knot.

So mom & dad we are really sorry that we cannot spend the day with you but we will have to make up for it when do get together. Heath was thinking of sykping early this morning but not sure that you would have been impressed being woken up at around 2am in the morning!

Have a FANTASTIC day and hope that you have a great day with many many more great years ahead.

Lots and lots of love

Nix, Heath, Reece & Bryce

Another Special Birthday!

Yes, that's right we have another special birthday in the family today and that is my lovely mom-in-law.

Heath's mom lives in Johannesburg and as Heath and the boys are visiting in SA they will have the opportunity to catch up with her to wish her a very Happy Birthday! Unfortunately due to work commitments I am still in Perth so I will not be around to join in any celebrations!

Happy Birthday mom - wish you the best birthday ever and I hope that my boys spoil you rotten. Sorry I could not be there with them to enjoy the day with you!

Have a great day!


Lots of love
Heath, Nicky, Reece & Bryce

Giant US Navy Aircraft Carrier!!!!

During the week while I was in Singapore a US Navy aircraft carrier anchored off Fremantle. Below is the report in the Perth News:

"GIANT US Navy aircraft carrier, the nuclear-powered USS George Washington, anchored off Fremantle today for a five-day visit.
The near 88,000-tonne ship, which carries about 5000 crew, has sailed into an Australian port for the first time and will take part later this month in war games between US and Australian forces. USS George Washington replaced the USS Kitty Hawk last September as the command of the East Asia-Pacific Region and it is based at America's military port at Yokosuka, Japan. Named after a US founding father and first President of the United States, George Washington, the carrier arrived with guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens which has a smaller crew of about 400. Hundreds of sailors stood at the formation manning the rails on the USS George Washington as the anchor dropped 3km off shore just after 9am today. A helicopter will keep constant watch over the ships while they remain in port. The visit will inject millions of dollars into the local economy as the sailors take liberty leave.
Some crew will complete community work with projects including cleaning, maintenance, and painting work at organisations including PMH, a Salvation Army rehabilitation centre, Perth Zoo and Cohunu Koala Park. The two warships will take part in the Talisman Saber two-week series of exercises which are held every two years between the two countries around northern Australia and involve groups from all three Australian defence forces and their American counterparts. Commander of Battle Force Seventh Fleet, which includes the ships, Rear Admiral Kevin Donegan, said the exercises were more complex and more involved than most other ally games. Rear Admiral Donegan said his fleet’s main purpose was to ensure peace and stability in the region and while he would not comment on specific operations he was keeping watch of North Korea. "
Below is the link to see the full story and a full picture of the aircraft carrier http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,,25722174-2761,00.html

So of course as we had such great weather this morning we headed off to Fremantle to have a look and take some pics. Fremantle is about 10 minutes drive down the road so nice and close. The boys loved the sight but of course dad was the most excited. Below are some pics that Heath has taken. On the one video clip that we saw it mentioned that there are over 68 aircraft on the aircraft carrier.Heath also got some great pictures of the boys around and about on the rocks while watching the ship.

After visiting the aircraft carrier we went into Fremantle to have some fish and chips but of course Freo was packed as so many people came out to see the ship, anyway after a long wait we got our order through. Great day out once again.....

Cheers

Nicky

Reece's first cross country race!

On Wednesday 1st of July - Reece ran his first cross country race at school. Unfortunately while I was still in Singapore so missed the whole event. Now Reece is not really the sporting kind so in the morning was telling Heath that he was not feeling so well and did not really want to race..... I then spoke to him and mentioned that once he gets out there and sees all his friends running I am sure he will have fun.

Waiting to get going!

And they are off....

Well he came fifth out of about 15-20 boys, so he did not do too badly for a little boy who did not feel like running and also does not do too much sport. We have told him though that as long as he has lots of fun it does not really matter where he comes. He seemed to be very proud of himself all in all.

Run, Reecey run....

When he saw me on Saturday morning the first thing he showed me was his little tag that he had run in the cross country race and told me how much fun he had!

Love

Nix

Reece's Magic Box

Before I left for Singapore Reece bought a "Magic Box" from school.

Basically he had to put the box next to bed when he went to bed and "magically" in the morning there is a surprise. We had been sent a notice a while back informing us that the magic box would be coming home. We can choose what we want to put in the box and the idea it that the children take the box to school the next day with the magic surprise still inside. The rest of the class get to guess what is inside by asking Reece questions. The kids then get to take their surprise home.

Magic Box Instructions:
Place me by your bed tonight.
Then go to sleep and sleep tight.
When the sun comes up and you arise.
Look inside for your surprise!

Back from school with the "Magic Box"

So in the evening it was a big event for us to put the box in the right position as the teacher has obviously told them that the magic box needs a bit of sunshine to bring in the "magic". So the next morning before I went shooting out the door to wait for the bus I went to Reece's room to see if he was awake, which he was. When I asked him what did he get in his magic box he told me "No mom it is too early it is still dark and he needs to wait for sunshine before he checks in the box", he then turned over and went back to sleep - well that's what I thought.

It was not long before he came bounding in the room to let us know that the magic box had magically produced a toy horse. He went to school a very happy boy and after a couple of questions one of the little boys in the class guessed that Reece had a horse.

It is very cute idea of the teacher and it is such fun to see how the kids just love the new surprises she comes up with. I have been told by one of the other mothers from the other pre-primary class that they do not do any of these little tasks so seems like it is up to the teachers in the various forms that they teach.

Then over the week-end Reece decided that he wanted to build his own magic box and course I had to try and convince him that the teachers box was the real magic box..... can you imagine if we had to think of a new surprise everyday!!!!

Reece & his "magic box" and a little "monkey"

Love

Nicky

Update.....

Once again I have been really bad and not updated the blog in a little while there are a couple of posts that I never got around to before my trip to Singapore. I just got back from Singapore at about 2:00am this morning so the next couple of posts will be an update over the last couple of weeks. I forgot to take my camera to Singapore to take some pictures but I am going back on Tuesday until Friday and will try and take a couple and do my best to update the blog on a regular basis again.

Well as mentioned the next couple of posts will be an update. Hope that all of you are keeping well and will do my best to catch-up with everyone again.

Cheers
Nicky

Heathcote Reserve

Heathcote Reserve in Applecross is high on a hill with spectacular 180 degree views of the Swan River. Definitely the playground with the best view anywhere in Perth.

Most kids call it the 'pirate playground' because the main feature of the play equipment is a giant wooden replica boat that kids can run all over, climb up and down and pretend to be Captain Feathersword.

From our place it is around 3km away. There is also a walk way all along the river to the reserve from home which we have not done yet but we have heard from many people that it is a beautiful walk. Quite often when we go to the reserve we meet up with alot of the people that we have met in the Applecross area and Reece often sees children that are in his school there as well.

The views from the park are just too beautiful and the best part is that it is free. There is a small coffee shop on the reserve where you can order small take away meals as well. There are also barbecue facilities around the park but most people pack a picnic basket and head down to the park for the day.

Our boys just love going there as there is quite a bit to keep them busy. From the reserve there is a walk down to the boat harbour so this tires out the boys as it is a bit of an up hill battle to get back to the top.

Wish I was a kid again to run around this park!

Lots of love

Us

Visit to the Perth Zoo

We all woke up later than normal and had a real lazy morning after getting home late last night. We went for a braai (oops sorry barbeque) with a couple of South Africans who live down the road from us.

Heaths just love the fact that he got the sign in this pic......

We headed off to the Perth Zoo just before lunch time. We packed a picnic basket of sandwiches, fruit and some juice. The weather was just too glorious to miss out on not having a picnic. So after visiting the African Savannah section of the zoo we settled down to have our picnic and the boys played a bit of soccer.

We did not get around the whole zoo as it is quite big and we decided that it gives us the opportunity to visit the rest the next time around as the zoo is only about 5 minutes down the road from us, so we will be visiting quite often.

I have also done it! Chopped my hair eventually - you all know I have been talking about for ages. Yesterday afternoon at about lunchtime I said to Heath that I was off to find a hair dresser. The first one I got to in Applecross had an open appointment - so it seemed like I was destined to have it cut. I think the hair dresser was more nervous than me but in the end it turned out well but I think next time I might go a little shorter! :)

I cannot believe that the week-end is over already and I am back to work tomorrow. In two weeks time I am going back to Singapore for two weeks as my project has been delayed again and now I will only be finished at the end of December.

Hope you all have a great week!

Cheers

N

Bryces Birthday....

I cannot believe that 3 years ago I was in hospital with a new baby in my arms it just feels like it was yesterday. Yip, it is my little babies birthday today he turns 3!

Don't be fooled by the very cute picture above - he is very cute most of the time but wow he also knows what he wants in life and does not have a problem telling anybody off. I tell most people that he is our 3 yr old going on 13........



Unfortunately I had to work all day as I was scheduled on a training course so I did not even get some time this morning with him, but all in all he had had a good day with his dad and with his brother after he came back from school.


Bryce just loves any sort of ball sport so we got him a sporting pressie i.e. a soccer swing ball. It is basically like the old fashioned swing ball but instead of being a tennis ball attached to the end of the string there is a soccer ball. Heath and Bryce spend most of the morning in the park playing soccer. Well.... until the ball came off and then he ran around the park with a little friend he had made. He has very good ball skills and so many people ask us how old he is as they cannot believe how well he kicks and throws a ball so we are looking around to see if we can find a soccer school for little ones to play somewhere around in our area.


He keeps on telling us that today is his "big party" instead of birthday but he is just so proud that it is his birthday - just to sweet!


We unfortunately have not met anyone around who has kids Bryces age so we did not organise a party but we will most probably have some tea & cake in the park on Sunday - hopefully we have no rain as, winter is Perths rainy season but the days are still beautiful when it does not rain.


So all in all my little boy had a good day and the fact that he spent the bulk of the day in the park playing ball so he is very happy......



Happy Birthday Brycie!!!!!


Lots of love
Us