I'll Remember

Comment of the day from Ella :)
We were driving home from childcare this evening, when totally out of the blue she piped up with "You don't need to worry, Mum, because if you or Dad or anyone ever forget your brother's name you can just ask me, because I will always remember about Adam and his wife Eva"

And the bronze goes to.......

Ella! 3rd place in a colouring-in competition. Very exciting over here, especially as the competion was for school age children :) She came third out of the Reception-Year 1 group. She won a free ticket to get in to the Gawler Show, 2 tickets for show rides and a $2 coin, and of course the obligatory photograph in The Bunyip.
You'd be happy with that, right? Well, Ella was devastated that the two dollar coin wasn't made of chocolate, and that I didn't get to go in the photo with her. Also it is a sad fact that $2 doesn't buy much at all. She wanted to head straight for the toy shop once we had determined that real money is a good thing. Hopefully we will find something at the Show to spend it on.

I love watching her from afar. Watching her getting organised for the photo was divine. She was very overwhelmed with the sheer size of the other children I think. There were 12 children in total, and 3 of them were eleven years old. They looked freakishly tall to me! But to see the utter concentration on her face and the intensity of her listening to the photographer was fantastic. Even though she was scared (as she angrily informed me later) you really wouldn't have known it. She was perfect.
Next Wednesday when the paper comes out I will upload the photo, and of course the Winning Entry which for now has gone to be put up on display at the Show. So keep your eyes peeled for that.

Today mum has taken my girls for the day. I think she may have saved Ella's life. We are drowning in insolence over here at the moment. Very frustrating to think that this is just a taste of what the next decade or two holds for us.

Good news, as of the 1st September we will be handing over all the invoicing etc of the business to Geeks On Call Admin. A small cut in pay is well worth the absolute headache of chasing clients for money and juggling payments to suppliers. We have earned more than a few grey hairs and sleepless nights over the last 2 and a half years.

Where did that baby go?

Day 13 with no nappies, and an 'accident' count of about 2? What a clever cookie Charlotte is, not even 20 months old yet. She never ceases to amaze me, this gorgeous second child of ours. She is such a joy, always happy to just 'get on with it' Very rarely unhappy.
And bugger that I didn't have the camera to catch her all dressed up in her big sisters ballet clothes....

And I enrolled Ella in school today. School.
We got a sneak peak at the costumes that she will be wearing on Stage for her end of year ballet productions. Orange and green pumpkins with stem hats. Aaagh, and they want us to sew flippin' sequins on. Bah.

Kids and Time

I wonder when as a child you really 'get' time. I mean, even as an adult it is hard to grasp at times. Like the 'OMG, I am going to be 3o' moments, and 'What sort of weird time warp occurred in those photos to the left in less than 1500 days?'Poor Ella is really struggling with Adam and Eva being gone 'for a long time' and Nana and Papa going 'until it's nearly Christmas - that's aaaaaaages way'I had a conversation with her while grocery shopping, just after we bumped in to mum, that started with 'How do you make yourself cry?' and ended with 'I am really, really sad that Nana and Papa are going on holidays'To be honest I gave up trying to put a positive spin on it, as there just isn't a positive to it in her little world. She loves her grandparents so much, in so many ways that it will be really tough for her to not be able to ring Nana for a coffee and a chat.In the grand scheme of things 3 months is but a blink, but to a 4 year old? It's eternal.

farewell and bon voyage

So that's that.
Two years (though we all put in our bets on how long Adam and Eva will really be gone for!) without our little brother and his beautiful wife. It was a lovely day with a leisurely build up to their departure. Brunch at a well chosen cafe - complete with couches for the kidlets to lay all over - was the start. Many gorgeous photos, 20 degree sunshine and a chance to check out Adelaide's huge new airport.

We had tears from the mums of course and Grandchild#2 Bethany had a huge tearfest. We sat and watched the final take-off. I hope they saw us waving madly!

Funnily enough after all that it was the text message to say they were in Sydney that got me in the end......
I am just so glad that we live in the technological era that we do, and they are really only ever an email/blog entry/SMS away. Our children will always 'know' their Aunt and Uncle.