Happy Birthday Rosco...

Last Thursday was Rosco's 40th Birthday. Ross is my buddy at work and has now become my good buddy out of school. We invited them and some rain over for a BBQ on Saturday. It was good to catch up with him, Sara and an increasingly upwardly mobile Noah.

A good time was had by all and also give me another opportunity to polish off those BBQ skills for the Summer Season.

Grandad and Grandson...

Teeth Trouble...

Alfie is struggling with his teeth at the moment and gnawing on anything to help his troublesome teeth come through. His hands seem to be permanently in his mouth and the river of druel flows endlessly. This is also impacting on his sleep and therefore ours.... Last night he was up every two hours and so it was time to drive around deserted streets at 4am go on walks at 5am before getting back in the car for another drive. We're all hoping that these teeth come through sooner rather than later.

Diggers...

Forget toys, television or trips to the beach there is only one way to occupy Alfie at the moment, take him out to look at the diggers, steam rollers and trucks resurfacing the roads. I'm not sure what we'll do when then go...

Auntie Rach ...

This week we've been luck enough to have Auntie Rach stop off on her holiday trip after visiting Fuji and New Zealand. It was great to see her again and I know that Alfie will certainly miss her now that she is enroute back home. She and Alfie built up quite a relationships and had him smiling at a time when he's been struggling with his teeth and not in the best of moods.



She was a-ok with Alfie as she took him to see the diggers down the road, built better train tracks than Dad, helped out with anything and everything and read the same books over and over again!



We will miss you Aunty Rachel. See you soon... xxxx

Happy Birthday Kel...

Spent much of the day today with Kel (pictured left)for her 30th birthday. The weather cleared up quite nicely and we enjoyed the sitting out in the garden with friends. We met Kel and Brett (.. Elliott came along soon after!) during antenatal classes and stayed in touch as we have with Kate and Matt and Dave and Maz. All the boys has a great time playing while we relaxed and caught up on all the news in the sunshine. A great afternoon... so good forgot to take pics!

England Humiliated ... again!

On Saturday we went down to the local stadium in Newcastle to watch England in the Rugby League world cup, its not really my cup of tea but as it was local so why not? England had already been handed a stuffing by Australia the week before so I went along with hope more than expectation.



There was quite a crew, including the Walkers and most of the Reece family and friends. We had a great view although I could have had a better seat ie: further away from Mitchell who decided that he would adopt NZ (Unheard of for an Australian!) complete with national anthem song sheet!!!



England got off to a good start but fell apart in the second half.

All in all a good night considering it was peanut hugging. England are now through to the next stage (just!) and will face New Zealand again next Saturday!!!

Three wheelin....

Alfie has fallen in love with his bike. Regular readers will remember the pain, angst and swearing that went into the assembly of the thing! The bike is pretty much taken everywhere from walks to the park, a day at the beach, a playtime on the deck or just as a movable seat inside to watch TV.

With all that leg work he is sure to develop sturdy legs, particularly if he continues to push himself up hill on sand.

Nanny and Gramps...

I've been a bit slack on the blog for the last couple of weeks, with things very busy at school and the arrival of Nan and Gramps. They will be with us until the end of January now so there will be lots of opportunities for Alfie to share books with Nan, go on walks and explore the deeper reaches of Gramp's top pocket!

Alfie month by month...

Updated slideshow with a picture of Alfie dressed to the nines!

Green Fingers...

With most of the weekend spent stopping things from growing we are also trying to grow some veggies and fruit! We inherited some sage and parsley from neighbours and they strangely still seem to be thriving despite being dropped in our garden! Our efforts last year were fruitless... literally!





I also managed to pull three potato plants kicking and screaming from the compost heap and get some tomato seddlings planted. We'll update with pictures of healthy juicy friuts and veg soon!!!!

Pool Pals...

After all that hard work in the garden there's nothing better than a chance to cool off in Amy and Mitchell's pool. We are really keen to get Alf confident in the water this Summer before the fear sets in. He looked quite fetching in his life jacket and was soon gaining confidence while making his not so sure if you're laughing or crying noises. Their pool is fantastic and improved further by some of their wedding purchases. Think we might be spending quite a bit of time over there .... three season passes please guys! ;0)

De-forestation...

It's getting to that time of year when everything in the garden grows like mad, so this weekend was a good time to get out there and cut everything back so that it doesn't get too out of control.



Beth got down and dirty in the flower beds while I swung from the tree canopies! We ended up with some quite large piles of stuff. Good job our neighbour Dave (AKA Chainsaw Dave!)and Alfie with his Chip the Chainsaw were on had to help make the pieces more manageable.



I also managed to move some of the compost I've been lovingly cultivating to the flower beds as well as getting up on the roof to clear all the gutters of leaves before the storm and fire season really gets up and running...

My Family...

Two beautiful people on a beautiful day...

Biker Bubs...

Alfie loves nothing more than scooting around the house (increasingly one and sometimes no handed!) on his scooter. He has also made use of his bike to explore the deck, the drop off the deck head first and the soccer oval at Matt and Sharron's! The bike was only $20 (... ten-ish squid!) and consists of only four parts and some other bits and bobs! Not hard to put together you would think... wrong! Beth's haste was only outdone by my fustration and a slighty heavy handed hammer blow! Still one replacement bike later and Alfie is having a ball! Check him out in this little video...

Lazy Sunday ...

Sunday started with a Bush Walk with Alfie sporting a bandana! We spotted lots of birds while we were out and about... something of a theme for the day! That managed to tire Alfie out as he slept for nearly three hours!

In the afternoon we went to Blackbutt reserve so that Alfie and Ben could play in the park, check out the animals and chase the bush turkeys!!! Adults enjoyed a few drinks and nibbles as well as chasing the boys in every direction!

After spending most of the week away it was great to spend some nice family time together this weekend.

Bamboo Bonanza...

Regular bloggers will know that hard rubbish collections (... things that you might take to the tip!) are excellent opportunities for picking up stuff! People put stuff they no longer want outside, and its my hunch that little of it actually gets thrown away. Most seems to get picked up by people like us! On Saturday on the way back to the Doctors Beth and I saw someone putting out this Bamboo lounge set. We did a U turn and went back to have a chat with the lady. I'm a great fan of bamboo and know that the stuff is actually quite expensive to buy new or vintage, strangely these people had a love of Volkswagens! They seemed quite happy that it was going to a good home! We went back later to pick it all up and it now sits proudly in the garage in the space that Beth cleared last week!!!!

We have plans for this starting with some new cushion covers that Beth's mum will be starting next week!!!! ;0)



... John we have projects for you too! ;0)

A day at the races...

On Saturday we celebrated the end of the football season in some style with a day at the races. I have to confess that its the first time I've been to the races any where in the world. I actually quite enjoyed it on what was a very warm day. All the families came along to lose money like the rest of us. Alfie seemed to enjoy the racing and the escalator rides!!!



... Alfie cheered the horses along and was hard to get away from the fence!



... Later in the evening the lads kicked on by going to watch the Newcastle Jets play against Melbourne Victory. The Jets got up 1-0 so there were lots of happy people about! It was a good day and didn't suffer to much for it come Sunday morning!

School Excursion...

I spent three days away last week down in Sydney on our school excursion. We had a very busy three days with forty students. On Wednesday we traveled to Sydney before spending six hours at the zoo. After the Zoo it was off to the hotel for something to eat before hitting the road again for a night at the IMAX Cinema.

On the Thursday we had a tour of the ABC Studios (... think BBC in England!) before enjoying a wonderful cultural cruise of the harbour. In the evening it was all aboard the James Craig an 18th Century tall ship for a night in hammocks! Being staff we were allocated bunks but these were in the immigrant (... I didn't see the funny side!) quarters which were basic and not unlike lying in a coffin I should imagine!

On the Friday morning there was time for more nautical fun before going ashore for a trip to the Monet exhibition and a walk around the Botanical Gardens.

It was a great experience and the kids were great, although it was even better to be home!

Happy 1st Birthday Noah...

On Saturday we had a great time at Noah's party, Alfie had a great time too although the party hats did leave him a little bemused! He is seen here with one of Noah's prezzies from which Alfie needed to be surgically removed before departure!

The wiggles featured heavily and the Big Red Car was happily gobbled up by all. On arrival Ross had claimed the cake to be his own creation but I know from experience that Noah's pop is something of a wizz on the cake making and doccorating front!

Here's Noah with mum and dad, aged one year and a day! Like Alfie he was a little confused by all the hats and singing...

... but the blowing of candles is always a hit!

It was great to catch up with Ross and Sara again and for Alfie to spend some time with the other kids. I'm not sure I've ever seen so many children crammed into one ball pool having so much fun. Alfie also enjoyed the opportunity to eat as much as possible as usual. Ross' .... sorry Greg's cake went down a treat! ;0)