Unspoken

It's been a very long time since I wrote about, or even mentioned, The Small Boy. Of course,  this is partly because he is no longer small ( it's official, everyone in the family is taller than me) but mostly because we don't see him much anymore.

There is a long story behind this and in the past I would have filled you in along every gruesome step of the journey. As it is I barely know where to start. Suffice to say that when Himself informed me that Small Boy wanted to stay with us this week, my first thought was "what is he trying to avoid?" What does he stand to gain by hunkering down over here at our place (where he is usually bored) and why does it have to be THIS week, when the Honorable Husband is visiting us from Germany???

It didn't take long for us to find out. He is avoiding a school camp.

There is so much hurt in this young man. 

More later.

52 Weeks of Me: Looking In

This is me 'looking in' on my husband's weekend treat to himself...the football.

This is actually LAST week's theme but, who knows, with a bit of luck I'll get something else up before the week is out! Mind you, the way the week is shaping up, I will not have time to scratch myself. This seems to be my excuse for my appalling lack of exercise and resultant ballooning waistline and thighs but really, let me give you an idea of of what's on the cards.....

Monday: work, specialist's appointment for shoulder...(YAY! Let's get this ball rolling!) And then tutoring at 7.30pm
Tuesday: work, middle school parent teacher interviews until......not sure yet....and then maybe tutoring (or not...depending upon lateness of PTIs)
Weds: work, after school parent meeting, parent meetings at the BA's school (this time as a parent), netball practice and an important meeting with Small Boy's Mum (more of this later)
Thurs: Fridge repair man in the morning, Himself's office in the afternoon learning how to do their account payments, Tutoring at 7.30pm
Fri: Work.......and home to collapse in the evening. Don't THINK there's anything on in the afternoon or evening. Could be wrong. Frequently am. Probably have to take the BA to some social event. (Thanks be, for Himself who both took her and picked her up from the party last Saturday night. There was a reason the suburb didn't sound familiar! 40 minutes each way from our place!!!!!)

On Saturdays now I have to transport the BA to school netball in the morning and Club netball in the afternoon. It's no wonder I have no time to get to the gym myself.

As for the meeting with Small Boy's mum: this week we were graced with sleepovers Weds, Thurs and Fri nights! It's the first time he's stayed with us in about two months and only the second time this year. He's now at the local High School which is actually closer to our place than his mum's so it is easier for him to stay here during the week. Himself is naturally quite keen for this arrangement to be formally established in order to 'get some routine' into him and to keep an eye on what's going on with schoolwork etc as his term 1 report Card was dire :-(. As a result, we are going to meet with the Small Boy's mum, a rare occurrence, to make sure we are on the same page about some issues. For example, on Thursday night Himself got a call to pick Small Boy up from the local mall on his way home from work. This was circa 6pm and had not been negotiated. Apparently he 'had no homework' and, as I prepared dinner, announced to me that he had 'eaten at the mall'. He also won't eat breakfast in the mornings. :-( All these things need discussion although, as he is not mine, I am going to have to back off on some of the issues I guess.

**********************

At last we are seeing him.

The Nips Are Getting Bigger*

2005

2012




*With apologies to 'Mental as Anything'

Kangaroo Island Birthday Bash 2011 Style: Part I

This post has been hanging around for two weeks now :-(
It's going to be flung together now for the sake of getting it out of my 'drafts' folder.





You probably don't remember but this time last year we were on Kangaroo Island celebrating the Small Boy's 12th birthday.
Here he is last year (right), looking all of 12 years old with one of his mates. The whole birthday went so well that Himself decided we should do it again. Only this time we took two of his friends.

It was meant to be a nice 'get away' for me, but really, with 3 12/3 year olds to entertain, did I really think I was going to get to relax? Fortunately, they were absolutely fine. They spent some time at the local skate park and vegged around in bed for hours watching cartoons. At night, as we waited for dinner in the restaurant, we played charades and on one night I got them into a very competitive game of 'Racing Demons', my all time favourite card game. In a hard fought match, the birthday boy won!




Here they are on the ferry on the way over (left).
I'm actually not seeing any major changes in the Small Boy there. They are coming though. Oh. Yes. They. Are. Coming. I know that one day he will open the door and be taller than me and I will go back to being the smallest person in the family.




We might be getting a bit blase about the island nowadays, having visited so regularly. We always stay in the same place, as Himself does work for them (and this holiday was no exception), and we have established a few routines: breakfast and dinner in the restaurant or bistro, mini golf, walks down to the beach


to see if there are any penguins (there aren't, the seals ate them);
walks out to the landmark, Frenchman's Rock looking a bit sad nowadays since the storms have washed most of it away;

observing island architecture: old and new,
sunsets;



and rainy afternoons curled up in our cabins


reading or watching Foxtel!


The other big venture we have taken to is sand boarding. There is this phenomenal place on Kangaroo Island called 'Little Sahara'


which is basically a 2 sq km area of massive sand dunes. You can hire boards at a shop, 8 kms away, and then you are on your own to walk into the slopes and try your luck.



Yes, of course I did.


Actually, to be honest, these shots are taken whilst I was pretty stationary. The kids were having trouble getting the boards to slide on the rather damp sand.

Didn't stop them jumping though.

After my stationary attempts at sliding, I tried waxing the board up thoroughly. I put the wax on its side like a crayon and shaded the entire bottom of the board. The boys were sceptical, and a little sullen if truth be told. Apparently they had tried EVERYTHING and there was no way that fuddy old step mum was going to get the board going. Well, I have tried to load the video proof but blogger won't let me....suffice to say that their reactions were a picture. They were galvanised into action and waxed their boards into oblivion, sliding happily away for some hours afterwards.(Me about to show them how.....)

The Joys of SMS

Text message conversation between Small Boy and myself yesterday:

Me: Hiya! Watchu want 4 yr bday?
SB: ummmm... a laptop?
Me: roflmao
SB: plz?
Me: I do not even have a laptop and your dad's is 10 years old....
SB: OK mayb somit I will like or just money
Me: clothes? games?
SB: Games mabe there is a game I want bulletstorm and clothes like track pants and those jumpers that dont have hoods
Me: zip or no zip?
SB: no zip and I would like a game called bulletstorm

I rushed off to the shops to see if i could fulfill his every whim. Except for the laptop.

Me: Hey! Bulletstorm is MA15+!!!!?
SB: And?
Me; check yr birth certificate! :-D nyway, they don't have any
SB: Chck somewhere else
Me: Shops r shutting
SB:Hurry then.

I bought him the DVD 'Rango' instead. Suspect he will not be quite as thrilled. Cheeky sod. Still, I did get him two jumpers without hoods! :-D

Small Boy Does Sports Day

You know how it goes. It's 7.30am on Sports Day and the smallest member of the household (he stayed over for the week) is all kitted up in his team colours and begging you to spray red hair dye in his hair. Then it's all, 'Take my picture, take my picture!'


He's wearing a red cape, red shorts and T shirt and his step sister's red stripy sunglasses.



But I'm having trouble with the early morning light. I use a flash; I don't use a flash. I ask him to get in close; I ask him to back up and strike a pose. Pretty soon this:

has turned into this.

And then this:
I don't think he's got a future in modeling ahead of him :-)........

Boy Meets Water Lilies

Last Sunday, with the advent of Spring (finally), we took Middle Sis and Small Boy to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. Enroute, Small Boy piped up from the back seat,
"So what are we going to do there?"
"Just look around,"someone replied,"you know, have a walk..."
There was some silence and then he replied,
"I just don't get this walking around thing.....I mean, what do we DO?"
Middle Sis moved straight to the rescue,
"We'll get an ice cream."
"Oh!" he remarked, significantly brightened, "I like THAT plan."

Of course, once we arrived he was completely captivated by the meandering pathways, fountains and surprises around every corner. One of the newer additions to the gardens is the Water Lily House. None of us had seen it before and we were all mesmerised by the gigantic Amazonica
leaves.
These enormous leaves can grow up to 7 foot in diameter!


The beautiful pale blue flower is the Egyptian Lotus or Blue Water Lily. Opening in the morning and closing at night, it was associated with the Sun God by the ancient Egyptians and can be found decorating many columns and tombs.



The enormous white blossoms of the Amazonica are closed tightly during the day, ready to open with their delicious pineapple scent at nightfall. The flowers of this amazing plant, are pollinated by beetles who enter the blossoms at night and are trapped inside as the petals close up during the day. The heat of the day is trapped within the flowers and means that the beetles can partake in an orgy of mating without expending too much energy and without having to eat half their body weight in foliage to keep it up. So to speak.

But the really weird thing was the bottom of the Amazonica leaves. They are covered with spikes! Strange, inside out Venus Fly Trap style growths also dotted the pool. It took us a few moments to realise that they were the new leaves unfurling!

This photo was taken moments before the BA nearly fell in the pool. Hmmmm Not sure that would have gone down well!

So, although the final goal was an ice cream, there was education to be had at the Gardens! And we got him away from the skate park for a day!!!

It's A Family Moment

Small Boy: Dad, dad, will you play a game with us tonight?
Himself: (disgruntled)...I dunno...what game?
Small Boy: Auntie Middle Sis and the BA and I want to play 'Smart Ass'
Himself: hurrumph. Well, I don't know....what do you want me to play for??
Small Boy: Oh dad! Because it's a 'family moment'.

Gotta love that kid!


(Is this not the most precious picture evah????...specially cos she is letting him use her ipod touch to play games on!....I know...it's the 21stC version of sharing toys. Kind of hard to believe they are not actually genetically related when you see them here.)

So Middle Sis arrived last Saturday!!! Do I sound excited? Cos I am!



She flew in at 6.40am (theoretically...she was actually 30 min early so I missed the arriving through the 'gate' shot) and we had a lovely breakfast on the banks of the Torrens.


Then, after a quick lie down she went off to a 30 Year Reunion for her class at school! That girl is a seasoned traveller! Since then we have been catching up with old mates,

enjoying the spring weather:




and just 'being' together. Friday we have set aside for SHOPPING!!!

I have been inspired by the Spring weather and my Middle Sis's recent impressive weight loss to try and take some control over my rapidly aging figure. I have cut out potatoes, rice and bread and for the last two mornings we have been down to the local Wittunga Botanic Gardens for serious walking and exercise! Once school goes back I will be restricted by drop off and pick up times for the Baby Angel but I hope to get to the gym more frequently than I do in the holidays (the gym is closer to work). I must say all the exercise is having a favourable impact upon my mood which was pretty black on the weekend. Or perhaps it is the weather?

The weather seems to have made everyone more amenable. Even the Anti Pet.




Hissing and spitting were kept to a minimum.

When I was going to pick up Middle Sis from the airport, the BA sighed to me that she wondered what it would have been like to have a sister. Augh. That kind of comment rips your heart out. I have always felt disappointed that I did not have any other children and I was just thinking how wonderful it was to have sisters, when the BA made this comment. Of course she quickly followed it up by saying that she was glad she didn't have to share me with anyone but still, it is a bitter pill to swallow when I know how much joy siblings can bring.

Here's the other one!

Wish you were here too!!

Love you gals!

Island Birthday Surprise!

He had hoped to have a sleepover with 4 friends but a day or so beforehand, several pulled out and things looked pretty grim for his 12th birthday.Good old dad to the rescue however! On Friday Himself called me and asked if I'd like to go to Kangaroo Island for the weekend. He'd called in a favour, organised to do a little bit of contra work and got us into one of the lovely garden villas at the Seafront. One of Small Boy's friends (Boy D) was given the ok by his parents and so it was an excited Himself and I and two young boys that caught the 6 o'clock ferry on Friday night. Two trips to the island in less than a month! I couldn't believe my luck.


The birthday plans were simple: sandboarding, skate park and a day with dad with NO WORK interrupting. To his credit, Himself kept to the plan and not a single email or work file was opened on July 17th. For me, I got a day at the villa with no blokes around and plenty of time to work on school work.

I had been planning a 'skate park' birthday cake for the abortive sleepover but there appeared to be no way that was going to happen over on the island. We discussed trying to buy one from Kingscote and seeing if the hotel could organise one but as it turned out, some friends came to the rescue. The proprietor of the resort, and his wife, very kindly asked us over for a birthday dinner with the boys. Small Boy was asked for his choice of dinner menu (meat lover's pizza) and the lady of the house offered to help me make a birthday cake for the occasion.
So while the boys were doing this:

and this:and this:J and I made this!
I casually mentioned the idea of trying to make a skate park cake but the blanche of her complexion and the look of horror on her face quickly encouraged me to thank my lucky stars we were getting to make a cake at all :-D. No matter how easily I think I could have done a novelty cake, I think it would have been taxing the friendship!

So, after a day of sandboarding, climbing Prospect Hill and skate parking, the boys came around to the Old Post Office, where our friends live,

and found more entertainment!

The pizza was great,

the cake a success

and the present eagerly opened

and happily received. Being in close proximity, Himself escorted the boys back to the villa where they happily played the new game until we got home just before midnight. Well, to tell the truth Boy D had already conked out but Small Boy was determinedly plugging away at it, eyes propped open with matchsticks!

The next day was very relaxed although Himself had to earn his living and I marked a whole lot of exams; but we did have time for a round of mini-golf after lunch.

And a walk along the penguin trail.


I'd forgotten how much fun mini-golf is. I am rubbish at it but it was still fun. For the record Himself won (of course), Small Boy second, Boy D third and me last by a whopping 20 shots off the leader :-D Oh well. Family bonding. It was worth it.

Thank you to our friends at The Seafront Resort for giving Small Boy a damn fine birthday! Look how he has matured in one weekend!!

(It's hot chocolate by the way!)