A New Chapter

Being that tonight is the last time that I write in here, I was hoping to finally include a really nice family photo. However, as now the 4 of us are all incredibly sick there is just no way. I certainly don't want to see myself in my pyjamas looking like death warmed up, and I'm certain that no one else wants to see that either. I was doing alright last night thinking that I had escaped the sickness that had plagued my 3 men, but when I realised that neither of my little boys were going to sleep through the night, I knew that things had got me. I had 90 minutes sleep last night and that was distributed intermittently amongst the night.

Evidently I cancelled my client for the day because I simply could not move, let alone work. Moving on, our day was spent sleeping, drinking fluids, dealing with tissues and addressing kids with a fever. On a positive note, by the end of the day both boys were feeling a little better, and so was my husband. I'll be much better once I get some sleep and all my joints stop hurting.

I have had fun writing over the year. It will be a little sad to finish up writing in here, but I want to move on to something different. I challenged myself and set a goal, and achieved it so I'm excited about what I decide to do next. I will have another blog, and once my mushed up brain gets some clarity I'll let you know what I decide to do. Stay tuned for a new chapter.

There is one thing that I would have loved to have written about throughout the year, and that's an entry from Bailey's perspective. Upon reflection though I realised the post would have gone something like this.

        I'm Bailey and I love destruction. I also love to wake up really early when it's still dark outside and tell mummy to make train tracks for all my trains. I can make them but I like to see mummy make them through half opened eyes. I also like to hear mummy tell me that it's too early and that I should be asleep. That's no fun. I'm having fun watching mummy struggling to meet my demands. As soon as mummy has made what could possibly be the best train track ever, I destroy it. I could play with it but destroying it is so much better. The rest of the day involves me refusing to sit at the table to eat any food. I like to walk about 5 kilometres around the house before I eat any food. Then I like to run. I run inside, outside and anywhere that my little legs will carry me. I like to see mummy run too. She does well to keep up to me when my ultimate goal is to run as fast and as far away as I can. Well done. I destroy things. My big brother Brandon builds things and I love to destroy it. In fact my eyes light up when I see anyone attempting to build something. It gives me great pleasure and is an endless source of entertainment. Then I go to bed and wake up the next day and do it all over again. I have a great life!

And so I say farewell. Thanks to everyone who has ever read what I wrote. I look forward to one day sitting down with the 2 boys and flicking through the pages of our life together. I look forward to seeing what the boys get up to in their life. At the moment Brandon wants to be a daddy and an artist. I'm not sure what Bailey wants to do yet but I think he'll either own a confetti factory and rip up paper all day, own a running track and run all day or own a destruction company and destroy things all day. I love you all my beautiful family and I wish everyone all the very best in health and happiness.

Remembering The Year

This is my second last post. I can't believe that it's been 1 year since I started writing in here. I still remember the night I started writing. The football was on and my husband was beside me on the lounge watching it. Sorry sweetheart but I was looking for something more exciting to do than watch footy, and so this story began. After this entry I'll have to go back and re-read my earlier posts. It's been great fun keeping a record of all the things that the 2 boys and I have done. I' ve laughed and wrestled and run and had a great time. I've also cried, screamed and fell asleep many a time, but overall I've had a great year. I actually thought yesterday that I wish the 2 boys would stay just how they are at the moment. I hope that I can handle living with 2 huge boys when they are older. While I look forward to seeing what the 2 boys will do with their lives and how they will develop and grow, I also love them just how they are.

My husband stayed home today to recover from his sickness while I took the 2 boys out on an adventure. Our first port of call was actually my husband's job site to drop off a drill to one of his workers. That done, the 2 boys and I headed over to Bunnings to do our school holiday art and craft. The theme for this week at art and craft was pirate orientated and today while it said on the booking sheet that the kids were making pirate ships, they actually made pirate parrots. They also got pirate eye patches and pirate tattoos. Good fun was had by all. The 3 of us all then went to the playground at Bunnings and the kids just ran. 45 minutes later the kids were still running. They had met another lovely little boy that Brandon especially played with. His name, from what I can gather, was Michael. Eventually we said goodbye to Bunnings and I got the boys into the car, as I wiped sweat from their faces. They had been racing around that playground for such a long time.

Our next stop was to the hairdressers for the 2 boys. Brandon and Bailey were so great. I thought they might have been too exhausted, and they probably were, but they were the best kids ever. I was very proud of them. We came home and had some lunch before going outside and playing. Because my husband was home sick for the day I actually organised my afternoon client to come a little earlier. That done, I came out to my lovely family only to discover that my 2 little boys were looking like they were getting very sick. It's like Dominos in our family. Once my husband goes down with sickness, so do the 2 boys. Once the 2 boys are sick, down goes my husband. Touch wood I seem to escape it. No matter how much of a bubble I would like to keep everyone in, it's just not feasible. Hopefully tomorrow everyone will be better after a good nights sleep so that we can continue our adventures.

Smooth Sailing

The 2 boys and I had a lovely day today. It's amazing how much better things are once everyone has had some sleep. Plus, when Bailey doesn't have a tantrum throughout the day, the day is just smooth sailing. While the 2 boys and I had a great day, my husband had a terrible day. He is so incredibly sick that he even came home from work early this morning. Now he has only done that 2 times previously in all the 14 years that I have been with him. He's slept all day so hopefully once he does eventually wake up he'll feel better.

As a result of my husband's sickness, I have been the sole parent for the day. Luckily I love my beautiful boys and they me because we spent every single moment of the day together. Actually there was 1 hour when I worked, but even then I seriously contemplated cancelling so as to look after the kids. My husband convinced me that he would be OK while I worked, but I still set the boys up with many activities to keep them busy.

Our day began early playing with Lego and trains plus hanging out several loads of washing, just to mix it up a bit. Then the 2 boys and I headed up the street to the Community Centre where the local council were running Yoga For Kids and Parents classes. It was great fun because Brandon and Bailey each rode their bikes up there which I thought was fantastic. Yoga was good fun. Brandon loved it as did Bailey but after 20 minutes Bailey was hungry and after 30 minutes Brandon was ready to move on. It was good fun but the class was moving too slow and being that my boys have short attention spans, we were on the move again before the hour was up. The boys rode home while I ran to keep up. Brandon got ahead a little while I slowed down to give Bailey a push and unfortunately that's when Brandon got swooped by a magpie. I moved like lightning. It was like time just stopped. I ran probably the fastest I have ever run horrified as this magpie kept swooping my little boy over and over again. Luckily Brandon had his bike helmet on. I got both boys and myself beyond the magpie and then we headed to the park. Brandon was OK. My heart was still racing.

We stayed at the park for about 10 minutes before workmen drove up and started painting the park. That was our clue to move on I presume. Once home, the 2 boys and I guzzled water galore, regrouped and then headed into Myer toy department. I was happy to play at home but the boys wanted to head out again. Brandon counted all his money in his money box before we left and he took $20 out of it to buy a Ben 10 toy. He was so very proud. He had been saving up for so long and today he just wanted to spend some of it. He bought Water Hazard Ben 10 Alien. Bailey bought Gordon from Thomas and friends. The 3 of us then finally did the chores in the shops that I had attempted to do yesterday. Fortunately today there was no tantrum and no tears.

The 2 boys and I had lunch at McDonald's. Can't say I'll be eating there again ever because I found some unsightly things in my food. But the boys had fun as they played in the playground and intermittently ate some food. Brandon is hoovering up all food at the moment. He must be going through a growing spurt again. According to our measurements he has grown 2 cm in 3 weeks. Once lunch was over we headed up to the supermarket near home. Here we bought a few things for my husband's survival. Homeward we came and then to work I went.

The evening was the same as always but with just me manning the fort. Today has run a lot smoother, thankfully. You just never know what sort of day you'll get with kids. There is always the element of surprise. Hopefully the rocky roads are behind us and it's all smooth sailing from here.

Free Show For All

Today, thanks to Bailey, I took centre stage for a production put on by Bailey at the shopping centre. It's school holidays and it was lunch time when I was roped into the performance so I had a huge audience and then THE tantrum began. Today I was brought to tears. That's how bad Bailey's tantrum was. So outside the front of  Big W I had a screaming Bailey, a crying Brandon and an upset me and the world passed us by. Needless to say none of our chores got done because we all came home. Brandon had been fantastic throughout Bailey's saga. I was so very proud of him. He was upset at the end because I had put a whole heap of clothes for them all on lay by and  Brandon's were all Ben 10 clothes. He was missing his clothes and didn't understand that he had to wait for his things.

Once we arrived home I sat on the lounge for about 3 minutes before the 2 boys were telling me that I had to plant the plant Brandon had insisted on buying last weekend.  I wasn't keen to say the least because I was worn out from Bailey's tantrum. Eventually I planted that plant. The afternoon continued on and Bailey was fine. I have no idea what happened at the shop. It's a complete mystery. I went to work all evening and it sounded like the 2 boys had a good afternoon. My husband is sick again which is not good at all. I am still shaking my head upon reflection of my morning and Bailey's tantrum. Just as well tomorrow is a new day.

Encouragement Award

I just realised that I only have 5 entries to go in here, including this one, until I have written 365 posts. Wow! I think that I deserve an award. Maybe an encouragement award because I never ever imagined how big this would become and I never imagined that nearly 1 year later I would still be writing. My goal though was to write in here every day for 1 year about the adventures of the 2 boys and I. I'm looking forward to having all our adventures turned into a book. It will probably cost me an absolute fortune to print but it's a one off so it'll be worth it.

Today the 2 boys and I had a much better day. Again, being a hot day, I was careful not to do too much in the heat of the sun. After the washing and cleaning and phone calls, our first adventure for the day was travelling into Officeworks to go to art and craft. After our big long drive up the highway, the art and craft was a huge flop. It was just doing dot to dots and then colouring them in. Brandon and Bailey did them anyway and seemed to have a good time doing so. We walked around the shop a bit before heading over to the big shopping centre opposite Officeworks. I knew that there was school holiday activities on at the shopping centre I just couldn't remember what time. As it was we arrived when a magic show was on. Brandon absolutely loved it where Bailey wasn't too fussed with it. Eventually he did start clapping though and smiling. Brandon had to have a magic show poster so I got one for the 2 boys.

We ran around the shopping centre for a little bit until I caught Bailey and marched out back to the car. Once home, the 2 boys and I re-energised and typically, I did some washing. The boys and I built Lego and then we went and played on the trampoline. By now it was 3:15pm and the kids had swimming in 1 hour so after everyone looked hot and exhausted from jumping and running on the trampoline, I took them inside and refuelled. My husband ran in the door, cleaned himself up, put on his swimmers and came to swimming lessons with us all.

I actually got a chance to watch Brandon swim today as my husband was in the pool with Bailey. Brandon was fantastic. In fact he was so great that his teacher called me over at the end of his lesson and congratulated him in front of me. She said that his confidence was phenomenal and that he swam exceedingly well. She was so proud of him, as was I, and he was so delighted. Actually he was brimming with pride. He was even given an encouragement award. Something that I will keep for him forever.

The rest of the evening was spent with myself and the 2 boys hanging out as my husband fell asleep on the lounge. Just before I put the boys into bed I was in the kitchen filling up water bottles and I heard Brandon say to Bailey "Well done Bailey. I'm very proud of you". How lovely is that! I'd love to give Brandon another encouragement award because for those 5 minutes he was being such a great big brother and Bailey was being such a lovely little brother. Well done boys.

Fresh Start

Today I am looking forward to tomorrow. Again it was another very hot day and the 2 boys and I were meeting up with some friends to have a play. We headed off to the big school playground of the school that I think Brandon will go to next year. My 2 boys went bananas and that was our morning. In fact that was our whole day. I then went to work, regrouped and renewed my desire to be near my family again, put kids to bed and contemplated dinner. Tomorrow will be a fresh start.

To My Little Brother

This is a letter that Brandon composed to Bailey while I simply wrote the words for him on the paper.

     To Bailey,
     I love you Bailey.
     I like to play with you.
     I love to make things with you and I love you so much.
     I am going to go to the lolly shop and buy you a lolly.
     Love Brandon

I loved it so much that I just had to include it here. The 2 boys are such great friends but they are also great at fighting with each other. Brotherly love at its best.

Finally the 4 of us were all at home today and had a chance to spend the whole day together. It was going to be extremely hot today so we got moving early. Firstly we headed off to the local fresh food markets where the 2 boys jumped on the jumping castles and had a great time together. It was extremely hot already by now so we didn't stay at the markets for long. Everyone was very hot and flustered. Through all the heat haze, Brandon wanted to buy a plant. In fact he was determined to buy a plant. He settled for a purple and white flower plant and once we had that we were off back into the car where the air conditioning was.

We next headed off to a shop near the city to look at the price of a clothes dryer as ours had long ago past its expiry. There was a large chain retailer that had recently gone bankrupt so everything was being sold off and needed to be done so apparently by Monday. The shop was completely packed. The crowd was phenomenal but everything was so very expensive. We walked out with the money still in our pocket. Next we travelled back closer to home and called into the chemist to get some medicine for Brandon. Not surprisingly that short trip took us 1 hour. My husband spoilt the boys by buying them some toys. Brandon got a Ben 10 remote control car and Bailey got a very loud singing train. Brandon and Bailey were both very excited and once we returned home they ripped the toys out only to find that there were no batteries in any of the toys, as promised by the salesman. My husband took the 2 boys up to the local supermarket and bought a pack of 10 batteries. Both toys needed 9 of them.

While my men were all at the shops I folded loads and loads of washing and I still had several loads on the clothesline to fold.There was mass commotion once batteries met toys and the kids had a great time playing. Typically, Bailey ripped bits off his toy straightaway so now he has a very stationary train that makes a massive amount of noise. It also blows bubbles but Bailey got more enjoyment from tipping all the bubble mix out of the train and watching it drip down his arm. Plus my corresponding reaction instigated great enjoyment from his part.

The afternoon flew by and before I knew it I had rearranged both boy's rooms completely. They were really excited and Brandon even got me to draw an interior plan of what the design would look like once complete. Both Brandon and Bailey played beautifully all day and while I was interior decorating their rooms, they were both really great kids. As soon as it's time to brush their teeth however, everything changes and suddenly we have 2 very crazed children. Due to exhaustion, Bailey had another meltdown which the 2 of us did get through although at the time it feels like there is no end to it. Brandon was really lovely. While Bailey was crying and throwing himself on the floor, Brandon brought him over his train and asked him what was wrong. Thanks Brandon for looking after your little brother. It makes up for the metal toy train that you threw at his head last week.


    

Reaping The Rewards

Licking Their Bowls

Today Bailey and Brandon learnt about setting up a good foundation in life, a bit of patience and then reaping the rewards. A bit like what my husband and I are trying to do with our property developments. Anyway, such a big life lesson came from such a simple, and cheap thing - Jelly!. I was up early and out at the supermarket by 8am this morning and I thought as I flew down the jelly aisle, Brandon and Bailey would love some of that. As soon as I arrived home the 2 boys and I made the jelly up. I was wondering how the 2 boys would go once they realised that they wouldn't be able to eat the jelly straight away, but once I explained things to them, and distracted them with a whole heap of other activities, they understood.

So the jelly spent the next 4 hours sitting quietly, and safely, high up in the fridge. Meanwhile, the 2 boys spent the next 4 hours peering longingly into the fridge. The recipe said it needed to be refrigerated for 4 hours and ours was refrigerated for 4 hours exactly, not 1 second over.

At 10:30am the 2 boys and I drove my husband and one of our neighbours into the train station so they could catch a train into the city and go off to the races. And as I write here it's 9:10pm and he is still partying on. Hope he's having a great time. I have a girls night out organised for 2 weeks time and I can't wait. After Brandon, Bailey and myself arrived home we ventured outside to play. Today was another very hot day. The wonderful thing about living in Queensland is that it's only 17 days since the end of winter and we already have Summer weather. Got to love it. I organised a BBQ for the 3 of us for lunch and while I cooked up the food Bailey played with mud under neath the trampoline while Brandon was having some very quiet time inside watching the TV. I think he was really affected by the heat and probably still recovering from our adventures from yesterday. Bailey is so very happy to just play by himself. He seems to like knowing that I am close by doing things and he just plays nearby. He is such a happy little kid. We all had lunch outside and that seemed to snap Brandon out of his melancholy mood.

Lunch was utterly delicious and the kids hoovered up their meal. It was almost like they had never been fed before. Just as well  I'd gone food shopping this morning and spent our customary $300 on food because it was disappearing very quickly before my eyes. Once their plates were licked clean they had their jelly. I thought they had just hoovered up their sausages and salad and bread, but now they were inhaling their jelly. They keep me entertained for hours. Again once their plates were clean enough to put straight back into the cupboard and they had reaped their reward of eating their jelly, we all went off to play. Firstly we played in all the mud that Bailey had made while I was cooking up the BBQ and then once both boys looked like a giant mud puddle, they jumped on the trampoline where I sprayed them with the hose for quite some time. Bailey tired of the water spray pretty quickly so he went to ride around the backyard with trucks while making as much muddy mess as he possibly could. Brandon kept jumping and I kept watering him.

Our next activity involved more mud. Both boys again jumped like crazy in all the mud, especially since more and more was appearing the more and more Brandon jumped through the water. Now I had 2 very wet and muddy boys who were both so incredibly happy. Bailey dried off almost instantly with his swimmers on while I had to change Brandon. Before I knew it I had 2 nude boys running around, standing on chairs, eating food and just being free as the birds. Once normality resumed (at times questionable), the 2 boys and I started playing with Lego. Brandon brought it all outside and the 3 of us played there for a very long time. Everyone played so very well. We made lots and lots of stories up and just had a great time. I told the boys that I just had to check the time because I truly had no idea of what it would be. Amazingly it was 4pm. By the time we cleaned up all our things from outside it was 4:30pm and as soon as we got inside I put the dinner on. I'm glad that I did because tonight it took both boys well over 1 hour to eat dinner. It must be all the fresh air because I am sure their stomachs are bottomless pits. For dinner they both had rice, chicken nuggets, dips, more jelly, sausages and nearly 1/2 a tub of yoghurt each.  They would have probably kept eating if I hadn't stressed that it was past their bedtime and they needed to get into bed.

I had a great day with the 2 boys. Hopefully tomorrow will be another fantastic day. I am looking forward to all 4 of us having a chance to hang out together and explore the world as a family. Goodnight everyone.

To My Beautiful Boys

I am one of the luckiest people in the whole world to have such fantastic children. I love my 2 boys so very much. Today I was not working in the evening as my husband was supposed to have gone away this weekend so things were a little more fun all day. That's how I felt about the day anyway. The 2 boys and I had a fantastic day and I have to say that today I was so incredibly proud of both of my boys. We ventured up to a new local park that Bailey and I had gone to last week. Being that today was extremely hot we were all bathed in sunscreen with our hats on and drinks in tow. We packed a huge picnic lunch with us and Bailey's bike and then off we went.

Bailey rode his bike around all the bike paths in the park while Brandon climbed almost up to the sky in the big spider web climber. They just rode and climbed and rode and climbed. Finally we all sat down to enjoy our picnic. The only photo that I took today, which wasn't brilliant, was the one above. Unfortunately my camera batteries went completely flat. If you want to imagine what the 2 boys got up to today just imagine the biggest smiles on 2 faces and then them running.

I was so very proud of the kids today because they both were fantastic. Both of them ate food without me having to constantly remind them, they both stayed still, and when we went off exploring we all stuck together. Once we had finished eating, the 3 of us went and put all our things in the boot of the car before we went off exploring. Bailey rode his bike, Brandon ran, I carried water bottles and ran too. The one vital life lesson that my 2 boys learnt today was that the distance you travel away from your starting point is equal to the distance that you need to travel back to your starting point. So when we went off exploring and continued going and going and going, when I said  to the boys that they needed to turn around and head home, then was ignored,  I knew that it would be a long trip home. Let's just say that I have the ability to encourage 2 boys to keep moving up a hill while holding a bike over my shoulder, with drink bottles shoved in my pockets all the while thinking I'm about to keel over with exhaustion. All in a days work. Needless to say, as soon as we reached the car we went straight to the shops where I told the 2 boys that they could have anything they liked. Surprisingly, I only spent $20.00 on ice blocks, chocolate, groceries and juice. If someone had said that to me I would have made them buy every single bottle of juice in the drink aisle plus a good hefty slab of chocolate, plus an air conditioner and a massage therapist. I'd be set.

Our afternoon was spent eating through our box of 24 ice blocks. Once my husband arrived home we all went into the shops so that my husband could buy a shirt for the horse racers tomorrow and I could get some sandals for the kids. The 2 boys and I managed to get a pair of shoes for Bailey while Brandon didn't have much luck. It appears that every 4 1/2 year old boy needing a kids size 10 shoe loves Ben 10 because they didn't exist anywhere. A size 13 and 11 were tried but to no avail. He couldn't even pretend they fitted him. Don't worry sweetheart, I will find you the perfect pair of Ben 10 sandals. In the mean time I bought him another broad rimmed hat and undies, all Ben 10 of course.

A note to my beautiful boys. Thank you for being such fantastic kids today. I had a great time with you both playing and exploring. I am very proud of both of you that you soldered on today through the heat. Tomorrow we will find somewhere icy to hang out. Thank you Brandon for being so incredibly brave today while climbing at the park. You were so scared but you worked through that and worked things out. I was so extremely proud of you because I knew that you could always do it. To my little angel Bailey. Even though you screamed and cried and had a meltdown at the shops this afternoon, that continued for several hours at home, I stuck with you all the way because I knew how long you had been awake for (since 4am). I held you lovingly all evening and sung to you even though you punched and wriggled and screamed at me and eventually at anything. I will always be here for you both, no matter what. Thank you again Brandon because through all of Bailey's meltdown you were such a great boy, and at dinner time when you looked directly at me while Bailey was screaming and said to me "Mummy I really love you". It just melted my heart. That's what kept me going throughout the evening. I love you both. With all my love, mummy xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

2 Little Chefs

I ate a lot of strawberry muffins today. They were homemade and were utterly delicious. In fact the 2 boys and I were so very impressed with our first batch of muffins this morning that we spent the late afternoon making up some more. We did a lot in between our muffin making sessions that was heaps of fun as well.

Bailey and I were outside early this morning watering the veggie garden when we heard what sounded like my mum and dad arriving. To my amazement it was. I briefly ducked up to the supermarket to get some essential food so that we could make some strawberry and chocolate muffins for morning tea before mum and dad departed. We all enjoyed eating our muffins and I went back for a second helping. Once mum and dad left to continue their very long journey home, the 2 boys and I walked in the front door, straight through the house and right out the back door to play. We stayed and played for many hours outside. It was really nice. I had set up the blue tarp and the kids ran up and down on it through the water. By insistence of a 4 1/2 year old, I managed to get very wet. Luckily it was quite a warm day and we all dried quite quickly. Bailey played in all the glorious mud that he had just made while Brandon ran around nude.

By 4pm I brought the boys back inside where we began our second session of muffins making. The boys just looked so happy while they were cooking. I went off to work while my husband looked after our 2 little chefs. The kids were so incredibly tired, just like their parents, but everyone ate, at varying times throughout the evening, many a strawberry muffin. In fact they make for a delicious dinner.

Missing A Boy

It was sports day at kindergarten today and it was also my day to spend at kindergarten with Brandon. I was 1 child down this morning as Bailey was spending the day with Nanny and Poppy while I went to kindy with Brandon. Brandon and I had a good day. Sports Day was good fun. Brandon did so well. He did shot put, long jump, high jump, horse racing, hurdles, and egg and spoon races. He was in the blue team and he looked like he was having fun with his friends. I cheered him on with his blue streamers that he had made. Once the sports day had finished, all the kids had morning tea and I sat down with Brandon to eat my fruit. His little friend Dominic sat next to me and he proceeded to talk non-stop. I thought Brandon was talkative, but Dominic was super talkative. I think Brandon was getting quite tired because for the rest of the day I played with every other kindy kid except Brandon. He just wanted to play all by himself. His teacher had been right when she had said that he was popular. He had kids galore wanting to play with him, but he just wanted to play by himself. The 2 of us ended up leaving kindy early because I wanted to see mum and dad and my other little boy and it was the last day of term 3 plus I thought it was time to go home. So now Brandon's on school holidays which is fantastic.

On our way home, Brandon and I ducked into the bank before coming home to be greeted by our family. Once the 2 boys were reunited at home the craziness began. In fact it was severely crazy. We said goodbye to mum and dad for the evening while I went off to work and Bailey cried and cried and cried. He was hysterical by now and I was just about to start work. He was so hysterical and exhausted that he fell asleep on my husband's lap. When I finished work we were back to just one child. Bailey was still dead to the world so I put him in his pyjamas, while still asleep, and put him to bed. It was very quiet with just 1 boy still awake. Brandon was awake and cutting anything paper. The 2 boys are obsessed with cutting paper at the moment., Finally Brandon went off to sleep. I actually jumped into his bed with him and the 2 of us snuggled up and went to sleep. Before I knew it my husband was waking me up. I can't wait until tomorrow to spend the whole day with my boys.

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday Dad. We all hope that you have had a great day and that the coming year is a fantastic one for you. We have had a great day hanging out with you. I really enjoyed going to the strawberry farm and picking some delicious fresh strawberries. Dinner at the restaurant tonight was also lovely, and Brandon and Bailey had fun too. We all hope that this coming year is an exciting year for you full of adventure, quiet times, health, wealth and happiness. Love always Nicky, Matt, Brandon and Bailey xxooxxooxxoooxxooxxoooxox

How Fast Can I Go?

On the back of my pasta packaging, it says that my pasta will take 6 minutes to cook. Therefore, I have 6 minutes to write here, so let's see how fast I can go. This morning I went fast trying to get the 2 boys ready for the day. Brandon was off to kindergarten so he needed all sorts of things in his back pack to see him through the day. Bailey needed similar organising, although he is more finicky with his food. I too needed organising because turning up to kindergarten in my pyjamas, while a tempting concept, might be socially frowned upon. Anyway, I flew around collecting clothes for all 3 of us, then spare clothes for the 2 boys, yoga mats, pillow pets, food, food and more food, drink bottles, hats, suncream, shoes, phone numbers, things to return to the library, lists and then the 2 boys and I. Needless to say I was a little flabbergasted by the time I ran out the door fast.

Sitting in the car for the next 20 minutes, as I drove us all to kindergarten, gave me plenty of time to calm down, although we were still running late. Maybe I should buy a house that is built right next to the school that the kids will go to so that we are never late. After Bailey and I kissed and hugged Brandon goodbye, the 2 of us then drove off to meet mum and dad at their hotel. Once we were all together, it was off to Bunnings art and craft. Bailey decorated another flower pot with all sorts of different shapes and lots of glue. While Bailey and I played in the playground, mum and dad refuelled in the cafe. Being that the cafe was right next to the playground, Bailey was much more delighted in seeing his Nanny and Poppy than playing. We all spent some time at Bunnings walking around idly until then heading off to the local shopping centre to do some chores.

Nanny and Poppy entertained Bailey in the toy section of Kmart while I got some domestic things done. It's amazing how fast you can achieve things when there are no children alongside you. I moved fast and got a lot done. Thanks Mum and Dad. Our next stop was to Aldi to get some cheap fruit. Strawberries were only $0.99 cents a punnet which in my world means stocking up big. So I did. Bailey fell asleep in the car on the way home which gave me some time to make up a delicious sandwich once home. 40 minutes later we were running back out the door to go and collect Brandon. I dropped my mum and dad back to their hotel first and then drove over to pick up Brandon. At kindergarten they had learnt all about spiders. The kids had made up a spider web and some of the boys, including Brandon, had made up some cardboard spiders. It looked like they had all had great fun. On the way home we literally drove past mum and dad's hotel, so the 2 boys and I stopped in for a visit. Brandon hadn't had a chance to catch up with his Nanny and Poppy all day so he was very keen to. The 3 of us stayed and chatted for awhile before racing home so that I could get ready for work.

I had a rather late evening working but my clients were lovely so that was great. The 2 boys both wanted me to put them to bed so with a bit of juggling, books were read, kids were fed, more books were read, and mummy fell asleep sitting up leaning on Brandon's bed. I eventually woke up somewhat stiff and uncomfortable and ventured in to wake up my husband. Now here I am writing while my husband's gone back to sleep on the lounge, pasta is cooked and I am eagerly looking forward to bed. Sometimes it's just so nice to stop.

Hello Mum & Dad, Goodbye Nappy Change Table.

The painting of our house continued throughout most of the day and while not finished, due to the running out of paint and 1 exhausted husband, it looks fantastic. It's so very much lighter even though there are several very dark feature walls. I love it. As my husband painted away, I took the 2 boys for a drive to the rubbish tip. We had spent most of the morning doing chores and washing at home, so I thought an outing for the day would be fun. It was the most perfect day and everyone appeared to be at the tip. Brandon and Bailey had a great time. At one point when I was dumping the old microwave that had recently blown up on us, there was an enormous digger right next to my car squashing all the old steel. It was amazing. The 2 boys were in awe. My big momentous moment for the day was when I threw out at the tip what had previously been Brandon's, and most recently Bailey's, nappy change table. I had realised yesterday that it was just sitting in Bailey's room unused and simply taking up space. So Bailey and I dismantled it and to the tip it went. Now apart from the cot, which we should have thrown out a long time ago, that was all the baby things gone. It felt quite liberating. I had thought of selling it but it was just so well loved after having been used endlessly by 2 the boys.

Upon our return home, I thought that I'd drop into the hotel where my parents were planning on staying while visiting us. We quite literally drove past it. I couldn't see their camper van nor car anywhere. As I drove out of the hotel car park to return home, the silhouette of a person caught my eye from one of the hotel rooms with their doors open. Then I realised that it was my mum. We parked straightaway, jumped out of the car and ploughed through their front door. The boys were so very excited as was I. We chatted for awhile before heading off to go to the bakery and then met my parents at home.

Our Sunday afternoon consisted of Art and Craft, playing outside, and hanging out endless loads of washing. As it got later and later in the afternoon the tireder and tireder I think the 2 boys went. Just like me as I sit here constantly dozing off to sleep. Sweet dreams everyone.

A Lick Of Paint

Internally, our house is now a different colour. The change of colour wasn't intentionally designed to be altered today, it just happened. My husband worked this morning while the 2 boys and I stayed at home and pottered around. It was blowing an absolute gale today so much so that I thought our house was going to blow away. I didn't want to take the kids out in the wind firstly because they may have blown away too and I really love them so I didn't want to loose them to the wind, and secondly because I didn't want them sick as it was freezing. My husband arrived home at 10am and began painting our pool room. I was excited but not surprised because we had been wanting to change the inside colour of our house for some time. I wasn't really expecting it being done until possibly Christmas time. How wrong I was. Well one room turned into half the house. Things were looking great. My husband had to finish up eventually as I had clients from 12pm onwards. While I was working, my husband took the 2 boys into the shops to pick up some dry cleaning and do a few other things. Once they returned home Bailey was sleeping so Brandon and I ducked up to the supermarket while my husband kept painting. Our house looks absolutely amazing. I think that my next thing to change will be the kitchen cupboards. They are a great colour but I really love the look of high gloss white. I'm going to paint them so I'll have to check out the paint when we go to Bunnings next.

As I sit back here appreciating our new found colour scheme, I'm now incredibly inspired to continue on with our renovating. It's amazing how a lick of paint can transform a space and inspire your life. Exhilarating.

Priceless

By 6:30am this morning, the 2 boys and I were painting the ceiling in our ensuite. It had a few black marks on it and when I washed them off it really did nothing to hide them. So we painted the ceiling. I actually really enjoyed it. I did a little renovation on my bathroom and bedroom ceiling all before 8am with 2 little boys. Things are possible.

Once I'd washed up all the painting things, the 2 boys and I got ready for the day. Of course Brandon watched Ben 10 on TV and then we headed out. I actually wanted to drop the ladder back to my husband that he had so very generously let me borrow, although I am pretty sure that he really needed it at work today. Thanks sweetheart. Upon seeing daddy at work, Brandon and Bailey went crazy, although it doesn't take much. Once I managed to round them up again and calm them down, the 3 of us headed into the local shops to check the PO Box and do some banking, all the things that I had wanted to do yesterday. Anyway, jobs done, the 2 boys and I grabbed a Boost Juice each and sat down to enjoy. Both boys were so exceptionally good. They just sat still and drank. I was in awe. Both boys even predominately walked back to the car. In fact I carried Bailey most of the way plus 3 Boost Juices, the mail and my purse. It was a juggle but doable.

Bailey slept for nearly 1 1/2hours while Brandon and I cleaned the house. We had a valuer coming through our house at 2:30pm so I wanted the house to be as clean and respectable as possible. Bailey awoke and we all hung out together for awhile. The valuer arrived and typically he may have lacked some social skills. He certainly didn't know how to handle the 2 boys. They picked up on that and left him to it. My husband arrived home earlier than usual which was lovely so we had a bit of time to catch up before I then went off to work. I was very busy at work and didn't finish until quite late, and even though I had everything ready for the 2 boys to go to bed early, they were still up once I'd finished.

Hopefully the valuer thinks our house is priceless and valuers it accordingly. I hope he is very generous and writes a great report off to the bank. I look forward, with fingers crossed, that the other 2 valuations come in much higher than anticipated too. 

Not Sweating The Small Stuff

Unfortunately of late I feel like I am sweating the small stuff and I just know that that needs to change. Unfortunately I don't feel that it did until late this afternoon when I was sitting in the Doctors surgery having an ECG. Looking up at the doctor's ceiling and telling myself that I just have to remember to breath I realised that what I was doing just wasn't working for me. I have to change my mindset and if it means telling myself to keep breathing then so be it. Eventually it will become second nature again. My heart is apparently working perfectly although my blood pressure was somewhat high at the time the Doctor took it. Don't stress mum and dad I am perfectly fine.

Although I had planned to have a stay home day today because yesterday was still fresh in my mind, the 2 boys and I did venture out briefly to the shops. I needed to get some sandals for the 2 boys and some more undies for Brandon. We had to check the PO Box, do some banking, buy some work things for me, buy some food, and that's all that springs to mind at the moment. As per usual, once in the shop, Bailey ran then Brandon ran to stop Bailey and I ran because that's all I do. We ran into the Health food shop to get some work things for me when the owner of the shop, of whom I know, said "I saw you running". Before I could ask him which time or where, we were off again running after Bailey. Luckily I'd briefly had a chance to throw some money on the counter before we ran away.

As I had only had 2 hours sleep last night I didn't feel like running much today, and truth be told, I don't think that I really could, but I did. The 2 boys and I just bought some undies for Brandon and then massage oil for work before then returning home. Everything else could just wait. The afternoon  ticked away. I set the kids up for some painting because they were so incredibly eager to do so. After they painted their stunning masterpieces, they wanted to jump on the trampoline with their swimmers on while I sprayed them with water. So I connected up the hose to the water tank and took great pleasure in spraying them while they jumped. They always love it. Then they wanted, and definitely needed, a bath because they were covered in blue paint. Again they looked like Smurfs.

We had some lunch before then taking Brandon off to the Doctor. He has been complaining about hearing noises in his ears and he always sounds blocked up ever since he was sick in March. He just doesn't sound right. The Doctor put him on some medicine and told him to continue it for 2 weeks. If there has been no improvement then he may need to get his Tonsils out. We'll see. I'll do my utmost best to get him as better as I possibly can. Brandon was so very good at the Doctors. I was really proud of him. He told her everything that was wrong. He even told her what he thought the problem was. We eventually came home, I dropped the kids off with my husband who had just arrived home, and then I went back to the Doctor's for my appointment.

Because I am no longer sweating the small stuff, I won't give you a running commentary on our afternoon. Briefly however, I went to work and as soon as I finished my husband disappeared to get his hair cut. I bathed, fed Bailey again and put the 2 boys into bed for the evening. Now as I sit here writing away reflecting upon the day, I wonder if Bailey will always be a runner or whether that's him for the rest of his life. I look forward to finding out.

Building Fences

Do you think that if I stare aimlessly at this page the words will write themselves? I can only but try. It was a mysterious day today in that nothing really flowed. It felt rather spasmodic. I had great intentions for the day because Brandon wasn't at kindergarten so I was very excited about the 2 boys and I spending the day together. My initial plan today was to go to a giant Teddy Bears picnic with the kids in a nearby park. The 2 boys and I have been before and it's a great event. It's enormous with kids absolutely everywhere. However, when my husband rang very early this morning to see if I could drop some work things off to him at the job site, I changed my plan and thought the 2 boys and I could spend the day at the beach after we'd made our delivery. After all, it was right next to where my husband was working. But first though we were off to McDonald's to get some hotcakes for breakfast. Upon Brandon's request, at 7:30am the 2 boys and I drove down the road and picked up some McDonald's for breakfast. Now I have absolutely never done that with the kids before and I don't know what made Brandon suddenly think of making that suggestion as he doesn't even know they even make breakfast. Anyway, I thought that it would be a bit of an adventure for the kids so off we went.

Once we arrived back home, the 3 of us all sat down to gobble up the food. I was so busy watching and hoping that the food wasn't going to zap the kid's energy, because I had a fun filed day planned, that I failed to see myself go downhill from the food. It always does it to me which is why I never eat it but I was hungry and the idea of ready made pancakes sounded so appealing. As ridiculous as it sounds, I don't think that I ever completely regained my get up and go for the day after my breakfast.

We finally dropped off my husband's work supplies before then heading off to the beach. We had quite a lot of stuff with us because I had made a beautiful healthy morning tea and lunch packed for our picnic. We also had some toys for playing in the sand with, and Brandon and Bailey both had their surfboards. We played for awhile in the water and then climbed over all the big rocks before sitting down to have some morning tea. I thought, as the 2 boys sat quietly on the rug eating morning tea with me, that this was great. The 2 boys were sitting still and being so lovely and calm. That was the point where it all changed. Brandon and Bailey started rolling down a nearby grassy hill which would have been OK with me if they had of stayed rolling down the grassy hill. Bailey ran and ran and ran. He is like Forest Gump. He just keeps on running and running and running and never looks back. As a result I must say I am getting very good at running long distances and exceptionally good at running long distances in thongs. Today was special because I also unwittingly got to practice my sprinting. Any personal trainer would have been very proud of me.

Once I had caught Bailey and regained maybe a bit of my composure I decided that before everything went pear shaped I might call it a day with the kids at the beach. That grassy hill was back again in Brandon and Bailey's line of site and while I was furiously packing everything away like a made woman, everything unravelled. Brandon had discovered that along side that grassy hill was a very big dirt hill that made for an excellent slide on his bottom. The dirt hill was more like a cliff edge, just over dramatising but you get my drift, and so when I saw Brandon's eyes light up I was up that hill in record time. For someone that occasionally needs to wear glasses I was amazed that I saw that sparkle of mischief in his eyes. It must just be a parent thing. I won't call it a conversation because I was the only one talking, but my exact words to Brandon went like this "Brandon stop! It's too dangerous. Don't do it. Stop!" The outcome, as he ignored my warning, was incredibly predictable. I now had a 4 year old screaming in pain because he'd gone down that rocky hill and scrapped skin off his back and knees. Plus he was absolutely covered in prickles, and then Bailey ran again. There were no words possible to describe that moment. I rolled my eyes, fleetingly looked to the sky, scooped up a screaming Brandon and ran. I left all our stuff there at the beach and just ran.

Fast forward 25 minutes and I had kids strapped in the car, everything thrown in the boot, the air conditioner on and me. A sat in the car in silence as both boys were screaming around me about their pains to me. I didn't know whether I was angry, hot, exhausted, tired or furious or just everything. I love my boys but they pushed me today. Tomorrow I'm building a fence around my family.

The Object Of My Desire

Today I ran, jumped, swung, played, talked, laughed, walked and I even swam, but the one thing that I desired I never did. I just wanted to sit on a chair. By lunch time, as I was running across 2 ovals chasing a 2 1/2year old, I thought how good would it be to just sit down. I could just stop, relax and sit. Of course I didn't because at the time Bailey was heading for a nearby cement truck that was pouring fresh concrete for a footpath. A lethal combination. So any chairs, be it park benches or lounges at kindergarten, just passed me by today. Actually, come to think of it, for the past 4 1/2 years anything resembling a chair or a seat has just moved by me in a blur. Funny about that.

It was Brandon's last day for the week at kindergarten and it was Pyjama Day. The kids and even the teachers, all had their pyjamas on as we dropped Brandon off. Alongside pyjama day, the kids were also having a Teddy Bear Picnic. So when we arrived there at 9:05am this morning, already the kids that had been dropped off were very excited, with Brandon only adding fuel to the fire. They all looked so gorgeous and little in their pyjamas. The photos at the end of the day looked like they had all had a fantastic time.

Bailey and I had discovered a new park just nearby from our house that was great. I'd passed it several times now that a new road had opened up and thought to myself I'd have to go and check it out. Both of us had a great time. There were lots of things for different age groups of kids to enjoy, and it was big. Hence why I ran and ran and ran. We stayed there for hours before I eventually scooped up Bailey and took him home. It had turned into a very hot day so Bailey and I ate an ice block each once we got home and then we had lots of water. Finally we cooled down and by the time I'd made lunch and hung out 2 loads of washing, it was time to go and pick Brandon up again.

Pyjama Day had been a roaring success which was lovely to hear. Once I changed Brandon out of his pyjamas and into some much cooler, temperature wise, clothes, we headed up to the nearby fruit and vegetable markets. I ended up buying mangoes, strawberries, watermelon, green grapes, a small bag of lollies, and a pineapple. It was vegetarian heaven. By the time we arrived home, 15 minutes later and after I had feverishly got all the swimming things ready, the 2 boys and I were back in the car and off to swimming lessons. Brandon was first into his lesson and by the time Bailey and I were half in the pool for Bailey's lesson, Brandon had rejoined us to tell me he needed to go to the toilet. That's one thing that I will never humanly understand about kids, that no matter how much you ask them to go to the toilet before you go anywhere, they will every time say no. However, when the situation is at its most inconvenient, they always need to go, even though you had attempted to avoid said situation. Guaranteed.

Once the swimming lessons were over, I manoeuvred the 2 boys so as to be able to get them dried and dressed and partly fed in good timing. It is an art, or maybe just good management. Can't say that it works smoothly every time but at least sometimes is good. Once we arrived home, my husband was in the middle of cooking dinner for the kids. The rest of the evening was wrapped up relatively fast. I was determined to have the kids in bed early so that I could find an uncluttered chair to park my self on. Firstly I have to cook up some dinner because once I manage to sit down I'm not planning on moving for at least 10 minutes. Looking forward to it.

Where's My Imagination Gone?

Sorry all but I truly have no imagination tonight as to what write, what to eat nor what to really do so I'm going to stand aimlessly in front of the fridge while I contemplate things. See you all tomorrow.

Unfamiliar Territory

I did many things today that put me in unfamiliar territory. It was quite amazing. Firstly though I have to say happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband. I hope that you have had a great day. I know that the 2 boys absolutely loved making you their lovely presents and they absolutely loved giving you the presents that we bought. They had a ball choosing them.


My morning began with Bailey and I playing with trains. It was very early when we were playing but never the less we kept playing. Brandon emerged and by then Bailey had to wake daddy up. They were chomping at the bit to give him their Father's Day presents. It was lovely to see the enjoyment on the kids faces and on my husband's face as well. Because Ben 10 was on TV and Brandon really wanted to see it, I headed into the shops on my own. Now that was the first activity where I felt like I was in unfamiliar territory. While I was driving very quietly to the shops I just happened to catch out of the corner of my eye, I property open house. I pulled over and had a look. It was very informative. I quizzed the agents about everything. It was great fun.

Once I arrived at the shops I did a few things for work and then actually tried on some clothes. It was great. I even bought somethings. Once I returned home I hung out with the 2 boys for awhile and then I begun cleaning. My husband's cousin Andrea was coming to stay for the night to babysit the kids so I wanted to get the house in a some what clean state. My husband went food shopping while I continued to clean and do art and craft with the boys. The day just seemed to vanish, and then the 2 boys went crazy. They spent about 4 hours running around naked. It was like someone had injected straight sugar into their veins. They didn't stop running and jumping and laughing and wrestling. I could not believe it. Andrea arrived and Brandon and Bailey continued with their craziness. They both remembered her like she had only left yesterday. It was lovely to see the pure joy on their faces.

I managed to get Bailey into bed and after reading several stories to him he was asleep within seconds. Brandon was asleep not long after him. Once the 2 boys were asleep, my husband and I got all dressed up and went out for some dinner together. Andrea was babysitting for us which was fantastic. Sitting at the restaurant table on Father's Day was a very surreal experience. We continued on like normal pre-children adults. We didn't run anywhere. We even managed to have a decent and complete convesrsation with each other. It was such unfamiliar territory. I do look forward to seeing the 2 boys in the morning.

Little Blue Smurfs

The 2 boys and I had a very busy day doing lots of fun things. Unfortunately my husband had to work and then do 3 quotes for lovely people who lived miles and miles away. Our day began very early with early morning riser Bailey up and about. The 2 of us played with his trains which was fun because we made some great train tracks up for his Thomas trains. Brandon joined us once he emerged and we all had lots of fun. Our plan for the day was firstly to head off to Officeworks. They had a kids art and craft session on at 10am which was Father's Day orientated being that tomorrow is Father's Day. The lady organising the activities was just lovely and thought the boys were great. They were both having a fun time. Another free kids activity up my sleeve.

Once they had finished decorating their photo frames and Father's Day card, we all went off exploring. At the boy's insistence we walked up and down the aisles reading everything and looking at everything with me explaining everything. Hopefully the kids learnt something. It was extremely busy at Officeworks so we finished up, said goodbye to the lovely lady, and headed off to our next destination. The boys were very proud of what they had just made. I was very proud of them too. We drove on over to our local shopping centre where it took us a very long time to actually find a car park. Once we ran into the shops, and I mean literally ran, it was just like Christmas shopping. There was a sea of people. It was phenomenal. Both boys were pretty good considering that the shops were packed. I spent most of the time darting between people running to keep up with the boys. I certainly got my 10000 steps in for the day even before 11am. We did manage to buy 1 more present for my husband before then again physically running out of the shops. Once back out in the fresh air, the boys kept on running so therefore so did I. I think I ran a marathon today. We still had more running to do apparently and then Bailey stopped and wanted to be carried. If he was going to make me run for the past 3 hours he could certainly walk another 10 metres, and so he did.

We then headed home where the 2 boys and I continued our adventures. We actually did some cooking. Brandon and Bailey made up biscuits and then covered the biscuits with icing, although more to the point, they covered themselves with icing. They thought it was hysterical and once they saw themselves in the mirror the fun had only just begun for them. They were covered in blue icing and when I called them smurfs they made sure they were really covered in blue icing. I didn't mind as long as they didn't put their blue hands on anything but themselves. Fat chance! It made for fun times.

Thankfully I stopped running for a bit and after our cooking adventures, I replaced the running with jumping on the trampoline. At least I was still moving. The 3 of us just kept going and going, playing and playing. Aside from jumping on the trampoline, the rest of the afternoon was spent wrestling on the trampoline. Every time I needed a break from having the 2 boys wrestle with me I'd jump on the trampoline and send them flying off in the opposite direction. They loved it. They always want me to do that to them. Finally I needed to stop jumping so that I could organise some dinner for the kids. I rang my husband who was still working, at this point he'd done a 12 hour day, and asked him to find a shop open somewhere and buy some sort of food that I could construct into some sort of meal. We still haven't gone food shopping. I had planned to take the boys food shopping this afternoon but after seeing the amount of people in the shopping centre earlier, there was absolutely no way that I was going to do that to myself. I wasn't that hungry or silly.


Brandon's Biscuits




Bailey's Biscuits

 My husband came home finally with a pizza for the boys. By this stage I was so hungry that even a pizza covered in meat looked good, but the chocolate freckles looked better while the wine looked sensational. The chocolate and wine tasted fantastic. Evidently dinner was easily taken care off. Needless to say bedtime came upon us fast and once I had managed to scrub all the blue food colouring off Bailey and Brandon's hands, it was off to sleep for our 2 little blue smurfs. Sweet dreams boys.

1 Step Closer To Retirement

Congratulations to my husband and I because this afternoon we bought another house. That takes us 1 huge step closer to retirement which is extremely exciting. We managed to buy a house with an enormous block of land that we can build another house on and subdivide. The big bonus is that it has rear street access. We finally found one. Rear street access is a gold mine. So congratulations to us. It gives us probably the weekend to pause and take a breath before we then get into the glorious tasks of organising building and pest inspections, dealing with the bank, signing truckloads of paper, organising builders, choosing colour selection, dealing with council, dealing with real estate agents, renovating and the list goes on and on. If we didn't love it though we wouldn't do it.

I wish that I had an alcoholic beverage in the fridge to celebrate. Instead I have orange juice and cheese. Our cupboards are rather bare of food at the moment. I was hoping to do the food shopping after work this evening, but I just ran out of time. If the supermarket nearby was open at midnight I might be able to do the shopping then.

This morning, between phone calls, we managed to get ready before heading out to Kmart to buy daddy some Father's Day presents. It was crazy with the 2 kids. They couldn't quite comprehend that we were buying presents for somebody else but them. I'm still not sure that I convinced them. Actually before we went to Kmart we called into the hairdressers for Brandon to get a hair cut. As he'd refused to get a hair cut the other night when Bailey had had one, we had to go in today. That done, we then went to Kmart.

We managed to get some little presents and we walked out with no toys or chocolate. A success! From here we called in to see daddy as he was working only minutes away. By this stage the kids had gone crazy as I'd bought them a donut each at the shops and the sugar had definitely hit their heads. It was pure madness and I was stuck with them in the car. Obviously they hadn't come down from their sugar rush by the time we got home because the 2 boys went nuts. I had a meltdown before they did because it was absolutely crazy times. I'll NEVER feed them a donut again, EVER.

The afternoon passed, thank goodness, and my husband arrived home. The kids continued their absolute craziness towards daddy now. I sat quietly for about 3 minutes before I was off chasing Bailey on his bike. Brandon and Bailey wrestled and played with daddy for a little while while I snapped some pictures. They were so exhausted that by the time I went to work at 5:30pm Bailey was dead to the world on the lounge. We all tried to wake him up but he was out. He's sleeping soundly in his bed now after I managed to slip some pyjamas on him. Once I waved goodbye to work for the night, I jumped in the end of Brandon's bed and rubbed his sore tired legs as he lay there ready to go to sleep. I hope that both boys stay asleep throughout the night and they sleep really well.

Somehow tonight I plan on celebrating our achievement for the day. I might have to jazz up my orange juice and find some biscuits and dip with my cheese. Well done to us. xxooxx