Christmas Celebrations

Well our celebrations began I suppose at the beginning of December with the purchase of a real tree from the Boy Scouts (although we were very lucky to get one - the floods had made them in short supply), decorating it and the house and of course the advent calendar ritual which came complete with bickering over whose lolly was bigger!

By Christmas eve, we were all rather tired given the whirl of social activities (mainly Ela's - end of year parties, music awards, dance concerts etc). So we tried to have a relaxing day that began with Beados and moved through baking cakes (called white Christmas - a recipe Ela brought home from school) to take to Nanies on Christmas day to a christmas show featuring Mrs Ela Claus and little Tom Rudolph, to a beautiful christmas eve dinner - Turkey with all the trimmings cooked my master chef Dad.

So Christmas morning arrived (at 6.30am, not too early!) and the kids raced downstairs to check santa had drank his beer and spotted the extra presents under the tree plus the large sacks by the fireplace. They then ran straight back up to drag us down so they could start unwrapping.

Ela's favourite present by far was the art set she got with pencils crayons paints and oil pastels. As for Tom, he disappeared numerous times inside the sack but I think Spiderman and the fireman's water gun was his favourite.

Dad was laden with sports items galore including goggles for ocean swimming and new bike gloves and me well i was spoiled rotten with a beautiful Paspaley Pearl pendant.

Farewell Pinkies

Well due to new rules at Gumnut Cottage we are no longer allowed to take photos at events there (Child Protection laws). Which is a shame because Tom and his best frind Clare were singing and dancing a storm. We do have plenty of pics in his portfolio as keepsakes, and here are two of his carer's, Leanne and Shantelle.
And true to tradition we won a prize in the raffle so the Tom got an extra present under the tree (Thomas Lego).

The Big Dance Concert

Ela and Celina in their Dance uniform waiting in the foyer of the dance concert rehearsals at the Theatre in UNSW. This year Ela has been attending singing and drama classes who were putting on four numbers from Mary Poppins. Ela was in 'a spoon full of sugar' dressed as a teddy bear and although the songs were pre-recorded (and she missed the recoding session as we were away on holidays!) she still had a ball on stage.

The second class she has been in all year performed a jazz dance titled 'The witch doctor'. I think though her favourite by far was the finale number (Shout) as Ela got to come back on stage and appear in the front row, jumping and dancing her little heart out.

The big question now of course after she saw all the other types of dance available is which class(es) will she choose for next year. At the moment her preference is for ballet and tap, but she's also keen on jazz,  hip hop,  acrobatics and of course singing and drama!

Kindy Graduation

Today we had the presentation assembly and to her delight, Ela won the Science prize for her class. What made matters even better was that her best friend Celina won the art prize and is pictured here next to her. Unfortunately i left my camera at home so the phone cam was the best I had, hence the blur. The assembly was lovely with a whole host of kids getting awards and prizes and lots of singing - especially a christmas song they had been rehearsing about Love being the best present of all.
Pictured above is Ela's buddy Sabrina. This was an emotional moment as Sabrina is off to High School next year and will be sorely missed, although Ela assures me that Sabrina's sister Nadia will still be around so that's ok.

Ocean Swimming

Mark has been biten by the swimming bug. Today was the great Bondi to Bronte challenge. Check out the video here.

We dropped him at Bondi beach with his goggles and  swimmers on, and drove round to Bronte. I couldn't believe the size of the swell. The tall ship (in the distance in the photo) was heaving from side to side and I looked out toward the cliff wondering what on earth must be going through his head as he swam round. The waves were pounding the shore and you can imagine my relief when I saw him run up the beach (centre of the pic in the long swimming shorts) towards the finish line.

He finished the race in a mere 35 minutes and placed 52nd out of 410 in his age group. In all there were 1930 people who gave it a go - it was a sight to be believed.

Move Over Lance Armstrong

Well the bike has finally arrived! The long awaited journey from USA to Concord is over and the boy wonder can now put on his lycra outfit and get a ridin'.
Tom calls his shoes - Robot Shoes - as in place of the sole there are these metal clips that lock his feet into position on the 'pedals' that are not pedals - or so I'm informed.
It took a few weeks on the turbo in the garage before he was brave enough to set wheel to tarmac - the third time he did so though he came a cropper when riding with Frank from Fitness2U. Tom was very impressed with the cuts and bruises.

Bye Bye Blankie

Today a beautiful Santa Bear arrived from England. Nana had won a name guessing competition and this was the reward, Sophie bear. After long discussions along the lines of 'Why don't we give this bear to cousin Sophie for Christmas? (me) or Why don't we give this bear to charity? (also me) or Why don't we give this bear to a kid who has no toys (yes me again). All received the same reply 'That's nice mummy (thinking)..... but no I would like to keep it.' (Ela). So after copious amounts of bribery and bargaining and stroking and touching Ela agreed that she would give up one of her toys in return for Sophie Santa bear. Ah but that's not good enough I said... how about you give up something more precious? 'Oh yes mummy I'd give anything for this bear' (Ela) Oh really? I replied, Anything? Oh yes ANYTHING she repeated. Ok then why not give up Blankie? (Silence...thinking) Well if i give up blankie and then i change my mind later on can i have blankie back? Oh no, blankie will be sent to Santa to keep his reindeer warm. Oh then I'll have to think about it some more. (Ela) Happily, not too many days later, Blankie was submitted for the swap and sent on its merry way. Needless to say, the bear lost favour after about a week and nothing more has been mentioned since. Phew thank goodness for bears!

Mortlake Music Awards

We were very proud of Ela today as she performed 'Jingle Bells' with a group of students who had been studying the violin this year as part of the Mortlake Public School Music Tuition program.

Although Ela had only been practicing for a few weeks, she played with confidence and was awarded with an achievement certificate at the ne of the concert. Well done Ela!

A harbour swim

Mark's latest escapade involved swimming across Sydney Harbour to cockatoo Island (from Balmain Baths). He and his partenr in crime Chris used this oportunity to get into shape for some longer swims coming up, including Bondi to Bronte and Coogee to Wedding Cake Island (and back). It was a fun morning for the kids - even if they couldn't tell Mark's orange clad head from the throngs of others, they still shouted 'Go Mark Go'!

Cruising the South Pacific

Well there are just too many memories and photos to do this holiday justice but here goes:

We set sail from Sydney Harbour - that in itself was just magical. Eating dinner as we sailed by the Opera House and how wonderful to be on your holidays and in your room less than 2 hrs after leaving home!

The Rhapsody of the Seas was a bit of a smaller ship than we were used to, but non the less the service was impecable and there were more fun activities onboard than you could possibly do in 12 days.



We had some awesome visits to beautiful tropical islands in New Calendonia, where we lazed on the beach, swam and drank cocktails. Ela had her first attempt at scuba diving in Vanuatu and although Tom had a snorkel, he was much happier watching big fish daddy swim under the glass bottom boat!

Vanuatu was close to being the worse stop we had when we were accosted by tribes of locals hassling us for taxi rides. There had been a time in our lives when this wouldn't have botherd us, being seasoned backpackers we would have just shrugged it off. However having two small children along for the ride added a whole dimension and caused us to tread a hasty retreat back to the boat. However we were lucky enough to bump into an expat Aussie who told us exactly which spot to head for just 5 minutes away and exactly how much it should cost and we found ourselves in paradise with the kids picking up enormous starfish ad us on lounges sipping cocktails...again!

We had two stops in Fiji and the first was somewhat of a blur as we raced between doctors clinics and the local hospital driven by the port agent as we tried in vain to find someone who was able to remove a large plastic bead that Tom had stuck up his nose the previous day! So much for our plans to pack the kids of to kids club. Ela on the one hand had to be surgically removed at the end of each day whereas after the bead incident Tom refused to leave our side and hopes of whiling the at-sea days away by the pool were scuttled by a very energetic 3 yr old. Luckily we had Nana and Grandad there for backup!


As for the bead incident after the first day in the onboard medical centre trying unsuccessfully to hold him down (it took 3 of us and we still couldn't do it) and tweezer it out or blow up the nostrils, we were finally able to get the surgeon in the ENT section of the very basic local hospital to get it out, She was obviously very experienced in this line of work and had it removed in a matter of seconds without any fuss.



The second day in Fiji Mark and I took some much needed R&R by ourselves on this beautiful tall ship that took us for the day to yet another idylic desert island and we swam read and enjoyed the tranquility!



Ela's highlight of the trip was getting her hair braided. She was the centre of attention when she returned to school with everyone including parents and teachers passing comment on how pretty it looked. She cried her eyes out when i had to remove the plaits for her dance photos a week after our return, not because it hurt but because she realised that she would no longer be 'special'!

Ela's 6th Birthday

Although it was wet and miserable (glad i opted out of the bouncy castle!) Ela's mermaid and pirates party was a huge success thanks to our friend Mermaid Wishes from www.findingfairyland.com.au

She did have me biting my nails and wondering what i would do if she didn't turn up, as the rain had gotten the better of her - timewise. But she had the kids enthralled the minute she got here with tales of using her tail to swim up the driveway! She came complete with fairy toadstool, games and prizes and it meant the mums could sit back and enjoy the cake and coffee. There was also plenty of dancing, fairy wishing powder and of course lots of presents from friends and family. 


An exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable day made all the more memorable as Nana and Grandad were here to share it. And of course a party wouldn't be complete without a wonderful cake from Nannie, a mermaid (of course) with a shell of chocolate treasures.


As you can see from the picture, Tom wasn't sure if he wanted to be a pirate or a mermaid so he opted for a bit of both!

Marathon Man

Mark's first Marathon was eventful, not only for me and the kids who tried to chase him all over the city, but for him as he battled with cramps at the 30km mark and passed us on the final kilometre gritting his teeth in absolute pain (see picture).

We saw him looking fresh as a daisy as he entered Centenial Park after about 12km, smiling and waving, and we had intended to see him again at about 35kms, near Circular Quay. However the road closures and traffic jams were so severe it meant we missed him. He said in hindsight though that it was best we weren't there because the sight of us may well have made him give up. Obviously at his lowest, after the cramps and the thought of another 7km (a whole Bay run) still to go.

We watched the video of him crossing the finish line as we couldn't beat the crowds to the opera house steps, but when we did eventually find him he was wearing his medal with pride and beaming ear to ear. He swears that crossing the finish line was up with his peak life experiences like the birth of the kids and our wedding!

Young Achiever

Today we went to Melbourne to attend the Australian Institute of Builders award night dinner. Mark was to collect the coveted award of AIB Young Achiever of the Year. We stayed in the Casino Promenade hotel on the 21st floor with a lovely view of the Yarra and city beyond.

Mark was a bit nervous but had practised the acceptance speech over and over and he pulled it off without a hitch. He had a fantastic night hobnobbing with some interesting and influential people in the building industry.

The next day we took the tram to St Kilda and lunched near the beach. In the evening we dined at Nobu which was a great trendy Japanese restaurant (with South American influence) how appropriate for us. Apart from plenty of R&R and some good shopping at DFO, we didn't see much of Melbourne so will have to go again!

Happy 3rd Birthday Tom

Today was Tom's big day and he had a surprise waiting for him when he came down for breakfast. Since we decided to have his party today, we decided also that we would tell him that today was his birthday :)

He was amazed with his new bike but a bit apprehensive about riding it. He rode up and down the hallway for ages but wasn't keen to go out on it - probably needs to grow a few more inches yet.

His party went off without a hitch, plenty of games, a bouncy castle and a Buzz Lightyear cake. Friends galore and enough cake to sink a ship.

skiing

Fantastic week at the snow. We stayed this year in Adaminaby, at a lovely house called Blue Box. We drove down on the Monday and skied for 6 days from Tuesday. Tom and Ela were so excited they couldn't contain themselves. The first day was lovely weather and we played on the lower slopes of Mt Selwyn. In the afternoon the kids joined the MILO club and took lessons whilst we went off to the blue runs further up. The slopes were so quiet, almost no lift queues. Each day we did the same, enjoying the mornings together and the afternoons apart. It dumped a LOT of snow on the wednesday and thursday and we were worried we wouldn't make it back down in one piece - our new Mazda got a workout and as we tested the all wheel drive capacity.
On Thursday afternoon, the Naidoos arrived and we had a lovely dinner whilst the kids played. We introduced them to the slopes and all the rigmarole that comes with it and they were hooked. They thought the snow covered forest as we drove up the mountain was out of this world. And they were amazed at how hard it was to learn to stand up and at how easy Leah picked it up. Our kids also loved their time on the snow tubes - Tom was more than happy to go down alone and was even hurtling head first on the tobogan. By the end of the week, Ela was beginning to learn paralell turns and was up and down all the slopes and chairlifts on the mountain. We drove home Sunday after an awesome week, weary but all vowing to do it again next year.

Education week

Ela has been practicing her sign language for a number of weeks in order to sign the rainbow song. The Kindy at her school were all to perform in the Education Week Concert. I duly trotted along and got my seat - only to find that I had to wait for almost 2 hrs before her stage debut...which lasted all of 1.5 minutes!

And of course the battery died on my video camera so my iphone had to suffice - hence the poor quality. But we have strung together a couple of images, the recording plus a follow up solo at home. Enjoy!

a little culture

Just lately Ela and I have enjoyed two performances. The first was an interesting event. The Palace Cinema in Leichardt was screening selected Royal Ballet and Opera performances with HD and surround sound and we went along to watch Tchaikovsky’s The Tsarina's Slippers. I thought it was be a fun afternoon and a cheaper alternative to the real thing. The trailers showed a lot of colourful costumes and singing and dancing. However, I should have read up more about it because it turned out to be much more opera than ballet...Well I thought they (Ela and her friend Celina) would at least be able to follow the story but it was a russian opera with subtitles in English! And the girls can't read that well as yet. So i ended up having to read out what was going on. It was quite funny as they would keep asking me 'what are they saying now?' And couldn't quite understand it when i kept answering  "the same as last time'. Some funny quotes from Ela:

"she sounds like a siren" (about the leading lady's singing)

"why is he so worried" (about the conductor)

"I think he's a bit crazy" (also the conductor)

""Those nails look fake to me" (about the devil)

Then today we went to see Wicked the musical. It was such a great show - so cleverly written. Before hand we went for our favourite lunch, Kaiten-Zushi at a beautiful little sushi bar behind the theatre, called Umi. The show was spectacular especially the costumes. Ela made me laugh when at one point, the good fairy and the prince were having an engagement party then the wicked witch came along and the prince decided to run off with her instead. She asked me 'mummy is it possible to get unmarried?' I didn't think it was the time or place to start talking about divorce so i said 'no sweetheart. And anyway they aren't married they are just engaged'. Thinking this would head her off. 'So its ok to go off with someone else when you are just engaged then mummy?'. Good grief :)

Sports Carnival

Ela had her first sports carnival today. Yesterday the kindy kids were finally told what house they belonged to. Ela is in Philip which is yellow. She informed me when i arrived home from work that it would be good if i could go out and buy her a yellow shirt to wear for the carnival the next day! I think not.

Anyhow she must have had her lucky white top on as she came 2nd in both races, the 100m dash (that's her third from left, 'keeping to her line' - she wouldn't believe me when i told her she was meant to keep to her lane not line ), and the sack race! The 1st, 2nd and 3rd placed kids each were given a coloured wooden peg/stick that they had to take to the recording table to get points for their house. When Ela saw her Dad that night she was so excited. 'Daddy daddy, I won I won'. What did you win he asked? 'Two sticks' she replied.

The day was bitterly cold so by the time they got to the house relay races, the full tracksuits were on and then the kids got an early mark for home. Tom was also very excited to be there - he wanted in on the action though and i had to hold him back.

I wonder how he will go this weekend when we go and watch Dad running int he Sutherland to Surf race? I imagine he'll want to join in when he sees him run past.

swimming lessons

We decided to enrol Tom for his first swimming lesson today. He was pretty excited about it and there were no tears or tantrums when he got in the water like Ela at her first attempt. He was pretty scared and wasn't too keen to get his face wet but he loved it. After each little lap with the teacher, he'd look to me and ask "lesson finished now mum?"

Ela was like a fish to water couldn't stop splashing and flailing. Hopefully we'll get some stroke action happening this term so she can enjoy our pool again this summer when the weather warms up. Her breast stroke arms were looking good but crawl needs some work.

Can't wait

We had our good friends Liah and Marco over again this weekend and the four kids got on so well. We are all going on a skiing holiday together in a few weeks time and there was much excitement about that. In fact I'm not sure who was more excited when their ski outfits turned up in the post, Tom or Dad!
Tom was a bit puzzled though as he kept looking in the parcel and asking "where's my skates?"

Farmstay

This weekend the kids went off to stay at Melross, this beautiful country house in the Kangaroo valley with their cousins Harry, Angus and Eddie, and their Nannie and Grandad. They had a ball, feeding the horses and cows, the chickens and ducks and best of all collecting eggs from the coop, with their names on! (Good one Grandad).

They got to ride on the back of the tractor with Farmer Billy each morning even in the rain.

Mum and Dad got two whole days to themselves and drove down to visit on the saturday night. We were treated to a piano concert, the conga and dancing pyjama clad giggling children late into the evening.

Sleep Study

Yesterday Tom went to the sleep disorders clinic in Wahroonga (SAN) hospital. The idea was to do a sleep study to test what it is that is keeping him awake all night. The doctor said it could be one of three things, restless leg syndrome which can be treated with drugs, nasal/adenoids which can be treated by removal or behavioural.
We pretended that Tom was going to be an astronaut and go up in a spaceship, and we wired him up to the machinery. He had pipes in his nose, electrodes on his head, a microphone under his chin and his arms and legs were also wired up. 36 wires in all, which was awful - way more than i had expected. Tom actually fell straight to sleep (i think he was in shock) but woke after about 2 hours and proceeded to cry, shout, get angry and then get distraught to the point where i had to tell the nurse to unwire him (after 2.5hrs of unrest), he was going home. So at midnight we came home and i felt awful for putting him through such an ordeal.
We did get a call from the clinic to say we needed to go see the ENT specialist which means they were able to get enough info and i suppose we'll need to remove adenoids, but for now we will just wait it out, continuing to take iron supplements as these seem to have made the world of difference.

update Oct '10: Tom now sleeps through 6/7 nights and we haven't yet been to see the specialist!

Dreamworld

We decided to take another trip to the Gold Coast and visit Aunty Angie and Uncle Jamie and cousin Sophie for the long weekend. However our trip was decidedly different this time around. Firstly, Ela got really ill - came down with a really high fever which turned out to be tonsillitis. Poor love spent most of the weekend on the sofa watching movies and taking antibiotics.
Secondly, the weather wasn't great. It was cloudy and overcast the forst few days and then sunny but quite cold after that. So there wasn't much swimming happening. Tom loved splashing about in the water but of course hated getting out. Mark and I got our laps in every day and he even sdid some running but there was no lazing by the pool sipping cocktails and reading books :)
We did venture to the beach too, but again it was short and sweet. The kids got their face painted one day and we enjoyed a local markets and music festival.

But the highlight of the trip was our visit to Dreamworld. Its only half an hour drive from the apartment, and it was pretty quiet as it was low season. We headed straight to Wiggles world and the kids went on Dorothy's rosey tea-cup ride, the Big Red Car ride through the Wiggles house and played on Captain Feathersword's ship.

Then we headed to the wildlife area to see Koalas, Kangaroos and Crocodiles. Tom was a little hesitant at first but soon got his shoes off and started patting the Roo!  After lunch Ela started to deteriorate again and Tom was getting ferral so we headed back home. But it was certainly a day to remember.

Then finally we had a few nightmares on our flight back to Sydney as it turned out to be an International flight en-route from Japan to Sydney. What should have been a few hours hop skip and a jump home turned into a four hour ordeal!