Pizza Evening.......

Heath and the boys came to fetch me from work - what luxury compared to catching the bus. Even though I must say that I have read so many books since I have been in Perth as I get the time now while on my ride to work and back, sometimes I am so engrossed in my book that I have nearly missed my stop a couple of times.

Well anyway Heath and the boys had invited two South African friends who stay down the road for a pizza evening. So on our way home we went to look for some pizza dough but could not find any at one of the local shops down the road so we settled for a pre-made pizza base and bought the goodies to put on top.

We collected the two boys Auleighn and Datton and started with the preparations as soon as we were home.

We had our little watchman make sure that everyone was sorted with a drink..... well sort of.....

We had all of the pizza makers piling the delicious goodies onto their pizza's the most popular ingredients were cheese, cheese and more cheese, ham and pineapple...... the pizza's were made in about 2 minutes flat......
The worst part was waiting for the pizza's to cook but all in all it did not take too long....

The best part was eating the delicious pizza's........

Somewhere along the line we picked up this mad Italian man who was giving us advice on how to make a good pizza while he enjoyed some red wine.......

After supper the boys had a cooling ice cream before settling down to watch a movie.......

Sweet dreams....
Love

The Italians To be......

Chilly Weekend!

Well the rains have eventually reached Perth - even though they are 2 months late we have had our fair share of rain over the last 5 days and very windy - actually reminds me a bit of winter in Cape Town. Even though the first morning after some heavy rain and wind overnight I wrapped myself up in my winter clothing - only to get outside and find that it was actually quite warm so on my walk to the bus stop I was stripping off my jacket and scarf - but the next couple of days did get much colder.

On Saturday evening we had a couple of people around to watch the semi-finals of the rugby - all I know is that the Blue Bulls and the Crusaders were playing (I am not much of a rugby fan at all) and I had a lot of noise in my house with 8 adults and 7 kids. We had a barbecue in the garage as the weather was still a bit crummy. So we all stood around with blankets around us - but all in all we had a good time. All the people that came over have been met through the school that Reece is attending at the moment and most of them only live in walking distance from us.

Now today was a great winters day chilly in the morning and evening but glorious during the day. Heath and I lazed about for the morning then took the boys for a bit of a drive but landed up at one of our favourite spots in Freemantle - it is a very laid back restaurant on the beach that makes the best fish and chips that we have found so far and my kids just love it. They have eaten so much fish since they have been here and if we had to give them fish every night they will still eat it. The restaurant itself is right on the beach front and there is a play area for the kids plus you can arrive dressed up or down - whatever you fancy. Alot of people go for a long walk on the beach and then end their walk at the beach restaurant to read the newspaper over a cup of coffee.
Now to Reece and Bryce if you tell them we are going to Freemantle all they can think of is beach - nothing else, so we could not leave for home unless they had had a little bit of play on the beach. Being a winters day the water was not the warmest but like any child they do not seem to feel the cold, so they had a splash around until they were frozen.

Once we got home we put Bryce to sleep for his afternoon nap and I found that the winter sun was shining on our bed, so of course I found a blanket and curled for an afternoon nap myself. Heath then came to take over the warm spot on the bed while I took Reece for a run around at the park just down the road from us.

So all in all a lazy week-end.....

Cheerio

Nicky

Special Birthday!

Today is a special day in our family, it is my mom's birthday, but she is in London and we are in Australia so we will not be able to be with her on her birthday but we will be thinking of her all day. They have organised a family get together so she will still have a great celebration with the family in the UK.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM and we all hope that you have a great fun-filled day with everyone and sorry we could not be there to celebrate with you. Hope that the weather is good to you and that the sun gets to shine. Have a great one...

Lots of love

Nix, Heath, Reecie and Bryce

XXXXX

Reece's adventures at school.....

Just to update you all Reece is loving being at school and interacting with all the kids. Quite a few parents have gone up to Heath to mention that they cannot believe how well Reece has fitted in especially that he is in a new country. Well now the work starts for mom and dad as well….. He gets given reading to do every night which he is thoroughly enjoying and cannot wait for reading time.

They are also starting on a couple of exercises to start teaching them about orals so soon he will be sent home a magic box which is left in his room overnight and magically in the morning there is a small little pressie by magic ….. (of course with a little help from two little fairies….mom& dad) He then gets to talk about the treasure that was found in the box.

On Tuesday afternoon he arrived home with a toy dog – he is a Dalmatian called Pongo. Well Bryce was beside himself that Reece had a dog and he did not – very upset with us – he is still sulking in his room (he is getting really good at going to his room to have a sulk lately)….. So for the for the next two days Reece has to take Pongo with him on his daily adventure’s and then we had to take pictures or draw pictures of his adventure. So on Wednesday night daddy (who is such an excellent story teller hehehehehe) together with Reece wrote the story as Pongo’s adventure will continues in someone else’s home. The teacher will also take the opportunity to get Reece to tell his story to the class so again teaching them indirectly about doing orals….. Well so far we have been very impressed with the school and they really get the kids involved in everything.

Reece and Pongo sharing a biscuit

Reece reading to Pongo

Wow Reece - "What's happening now..."

On Friday the WA government sponsored a "Walk to school" morning - where they encourage kids to walk to school instead of been driven. They then hold a small breakfast at the school for all kids and parents. Heath has met a couple of South African people who live down the road from us so they all got together and then drove to one road away from the school and then walked with the kids to the school.... all and all lots of fun was had by all.

Lots of love from us all.....

Nicky, Heath, Reece & Bryce

Caversham Wildlife Park on Mothers day.....

For mothers day this morning I was woken up by Reece running into the room singing "Happy mothers day, Happy mothers day mom – Love you mom, Love you mom now you can open your present". Over the last week at school he had made a beautiful little card in the shape of a little bag which had been decorated with little gems.... then I found a note telling me about all the special things I do for him and a little bracelet that he had made. He was so proud of himself because he remembered by himself that it was mother’s day......Bryce woke up a little later and came running in to the room also to wish me a happy mothers day but kept on telling me “Mind my truck mom....” as he was holding one of his trucks he just loves.....

Heath & Bryce

So later in the morning as it was a little overcast we decided to take them to a wildlife park about 30minutes drive away from us towards the East of Perth. We started off in one of the picnic areas having a drink and something for lunch. The wildlife park is within a bigger park called Whitman Park. It is huge and has plenty of picnic spots and water parks for the kids.

We started the wildlife tour of the park and it was a great as the boys were able to walk everywhere and were well occupied.

Some Frogmouth's

Blue winged Kookaburra

Reece loved the fact that he could touch and feed wooloroos – it was his favourite part of the day. We saw many varieties of parrots and macaws, flying foxes, wallaby’s, wombats, emu’s, koala’s – which the boys were able to touch as well.

Nicky & Bryce

Reece patting a Wooloroo

Bryce feeding a Wooloroo

Reece & Bryce patting a Wooloroo

Reece stroking a Koala

Bryce stroking a Koala

To round off the day Reece and Bryce had a ride in two of the little electric cars – one which is dedicated to Steve Irwin and tells the kids a story as he is catching a crocodile.

Riding in little car dedicated to Steve Irwin

Two cheeky boys Driving a little car

Then to top it off Heath and the boys made me a delicious chicken roast! I have not had a roast since I have been in Oz..... so well worth it.

Great fun and thanks boys for a great Mothers day!

Cheers

Nicky

Happy Mother Day!!!!

Awesome Mom


Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much..
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom .


To all the special moms HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!


And to our two special moms - Mom Baxter and Mom Fryer - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY - Sorry that we could not be with you to enjoy the day together. Have a great day!


Love all of us........

Nicky, Heath, Reece & Bryce

XXXX

Swimming Lessons for Reece

Before Reece started at school we had enrolled him for some swimming lessons to keep him busy and get rid of some energy as we were not too sure when we would actually get him started in school. So last week Tuesday was his first lesson.

There is a local leisure centre in an area called Booragoon about 2km away from us where there are swimming pools available for all ages plus a gym. The swimming pool is open most days and Heath often takes the boys for a swim during the week.

Hopefully one day I will get to the gym to do some exercise but not too sure when it will happen! The swimming classes are really small so that they can concentrate on the kids within the 30 minute lesson. He had alot of fun all in all and could not understand once he was home why dinner was not ready as he was really hungry.....

Reece has not stopped eating from the day he landed in Australia either he is going through a HUGE growth spurt or the different climate is making him really hungry all of the time. Most evenings he now eats what Heath and I eat and for those of you who know Reece you will not believe how much meat he is eating...... not very usual for him at all......

Bye for now....

Cheers

N

Eating Biscuits!

After a long walk in the park and a picnic we came home for a cup of tea and some biscuits. My little boys just looovvvveee biscuits! But then again what kids don't like biscuits. Now the problem is trying to find a good hiding place for the biscuits so that little hands don't find them otherwise one packet of biscuits will be finished in one hour!

While we were enjoying our tea and biscuits we had various parrots flying over getting ready to roost for the evening and a bit of a photo session.....

Chow for now....

Cheers

N

Reece's First Day at School

Reece started pre-primary school in Australia today at Applecross Primary. Well he was over the moon and could not wait to get to school and get started....he has been bugging us all week-end ..... and kept on asking "When am I going to school.....” Below are a couple of pictures with him and his new teacher Mrs Heat.

When I spoke to him after school he was so excited about the day and rattled on with everything that he had done but most important to him for the day was that he played with all of his friends!
Heath has been really impressed with how friendly everyone has been at the school right from the start. When Reece was registered in the school everyone came out of the office to greet them and Reece was already shown which classroom he would be in. Of course Bryce being Bryce stood in the office telling all the staff that he was also going to school..... so they of course all had a good laugh.

When Heath went to fetch him this afternoon many of the parents came up to Heath to introduce themselves and also found out that Reece has about 2 other South Africans in his class and there is a little boy who lives two doors away from us who is also in his class. So all in all a very successful day!!!

Cheers

Nicky