Kathryn & Gavin

Christmas Day

Kids loved all their Santa presents and gifts from thier family overseas. Here are some snaps of the morning and Christmas lunch with Mark, Lamya and our neighbour Karin

Sponge Bob

This was a highlight for the boys when they met SpongeBob at a fair at the local shopping mall. In fact they had a great time checking out all the activities, going down the titanic inflatable slide, having fish and chips for lunch....it was a great afternoon.

Tennis mad

Both boys have been begging to have tennis lessons for ages and so we gave in and they started this term. They love it....Ben thinks he is Fedrera.....and Jake just runs down every ball like his life depended on it....... Their coach says that he is very impressed at their understanding of the game - lots of kids wait for the ball to come to them, but Jake and Ben chase them down. He also said that he thought their ability to serve after only one term was great.....

Karoke - boy do the boys like to sing......

Playground Fun

The boys had a fantastic time at one of the local playgrounds that has play equipment for older children. There was a flying fox, huge tyre swing and rope climbing cone (see pictures). They had a great time playing together and making up their own games with the different bits of equipment.

Ben's concert in school

Ben was practicing "Talk to the Animals" for nearly 3 weeks before he actually did the concert in school one afternoon in November - It was also a song they would sing for the Christmas Concert. He just loved performing....

Cricket again

Well when Ben hit the pitch on Sunday with his milo cricket mates it was watch out Australia and move over Ricky Ponting....

Grade 3 Camp

Well Jake has now been on his very first school camp. The grade three's went to ADANAC for two nights and of course Anne-Marie went as a parent helper....it was absolutely exhausting. There was the flying fox (phot0), canoeing, low ropes course, ponding, camp cooking and frisbee golf. It was busy every minute of the day with the kids having the opportunity to have a go at all the activities. There was also a water slide that the kids got to go on the last day....well the water on the slide came from the lake and I kid you not the smell was worse than sewage....but as you can imagine the kids loved it.

Ben's Brain

We were sitting on the couch last night and it was getting dark....I put on the light and sat back down beside Ben and he turned and asked me if his pupils had gotten bigger since I put the light on. I looked in his eyes and said yes they have gotten bigger and I asked if he learnt about that in school today to which he replied "no I learnt it afew weeks ago - it was the day I grew a new dendrite.."

Jake's present from Santa

I was asking the boys the other day what they wanted from Santa and they thought about it for awhile, but they didn't really know what they wanted....then Jake had a brain wave and decided that he wanted a credit card

Melbourne Cup at School

On Friday, Ben had a big day at school - he had to bring in broom stick and make it into a horse, using a paper horses head. He had to dress like a jockey and they had races in the afternoon - which of course he says he won.....becasuse we didn't have a broom handle so we sent him into school with an extendable mop head. He said that he was able to extend it to it's maximum length and could therefore win all the races......go figure!!!

Jakes career path

The other day Jake came over and fixed my hair (it was in my eyes) and Ian said "Geez Jake that looks really nice" "Maybe you could be a hairdresser when you grow up".....Jake pondered this for a minute and had a chat with Ian about what a hairdresser does, etc and then he announced that maybe he would be a hairdresser after his footy career.!!!!!! The joys of being 9 years old....no limitations, no barriers, the world is their oyster.....

Milo Cricket for Ben

Well, it was Ben's turn to shine last week with his milo cricket mates. Ben is in a team where the mainly focus on skill development and then they have a short game. He really enjoyed it and will be playing with three other children in his class - which was a bonus. Of course Ben thought that he was the best in the group.....don't they all at 7 years old!!!!!

Pink Ribbon Breakfast

Well - its been a busy few weeks with the Big Breakfast at the Bramichs. This has become an annual event and it seems to get bigger and bigger each year. It's a great opportunity for us to catch up with people we haven't seen for ages including neighbours. Lionel hasn't been well and was in hospital for a week, but he is on the road to recovery and they are planning a trip to NSW later in November.

Big day at Cricket

Well.....Jake was abit nervous when we arrived at Cricket this morning. The only kid he knew never turned up so he slowly got his gear on as his team was batting first. He plays for Montmorency Junior Cricket Club...anyway things didn't get much better when he went out to bat....he had about 3 hits, no runs and was caught behind (that means Jake was out). Anyway, because it's only developmental cricket they get a second chance to bat, Jake had chatted to a couple of other kids and was feeling much more comfortable. He went out a hit the ball a couple of times, got a few runs, then he hit two fours....he was rapped. Then came the bowling....well it was like Jake was a natural, he gave away afew runs, but then got two wickets. He had a great day, all that backyard cricket with Dad is paying off. He couldn't stop grinning.

Birthday Boy

As you can see from the cake we are not big cake eaters....I did go through a phase of making queen cakes and I even made the can't-go-wrong chocolate cake when I got back from Ireland and believe me they did go wrong......so this work of art we bought!!!!

As you can see Ben is not very happy - he was mucking around as usual, ended up in trouble and was trying to smile through the tears...awwhh!!

Cricket Season

Well - it's that time of year and Jake is about to start cricket. This will be his first year playing for a club, so he has to wear the whites and get the proper gear. He even has to wear a "box" and for those of you who don't know it is...yes...your right - as Ben says it's the box for your cox.

(see Pic) I have never been a big fan of cricket and I am even less of a fan now that it starts at 8.15am on a Sunday morning.....and wait for it....I get to watch the game....Yeah!!!!

Giggle

Ben has been very curious recently about how babies are made and he told me that mum and dad get naked and they get sexed in bed, when I asked him what that was he said "you know....kissing and stuff...." then last night when I got in from work I gave him a cuddle on the couch and he just looked at me with a smile and said "are you trying to sexed me mum......." I told him I had dad for that.......

24 Champion

We were sooooo proud of Jake getting to represent the school for the Grade 3's in teh 24 Inter-School competition. He got through to the semi finals along with two other school mates. There is an article in the school newsletter about the competition and the kids that represented the school at http://www.greenhillsps.vic.edu.au/ newsletter of 17-9-09. This is Steve Herbert a local MP presenting them with their championship medals....

Grand Final week

"Oh when the Saints go marching in...."

Go St Kilda

Well my team is in the grand final tomorrow and I am hoping that they can win their second flag in the last 118 years. I am very excited - even the boys are supporting the Saints for the day...