Harry Potter update

Seth has finished book 2 and seen the movie. He is straight into book 3 - desperate to know who the prisoner of Azkaban is. Last night he had a shower and curled up in bed reading - love.

Barclay Cousins

Last Sunday we made a spontaneous trip to the Gong to visit Mum & Dad. They had the girls which was a bonus. We went to the park at Thirroul beach, ate ice creams and just had general all round fun being together. Dad bought afternoon tea - even better. The kids always play beautifully together and so it is always tears and sadness when we depart. I pray they always enjoy being together. Warms my heart.

5 year old dramas & 8 year old heart ache

Oh the dramas of being 5 and not always being able to do what you want to do when you want to do it. Xavier has decided, yes decided it is a choice, that when the music goes each day for him to line up at school that he is going to sook and carry on like a raw prawn to the point that I have to drag him over to his teacher and unlatch him from my leg and then high tail it out of there. Xavier is fine - he loves his teacher - has heaps of friends - he is just doing it for attention. It was escalating and getting worse so serious bribery needed to be instigated. A freddo for each day he goes to school without crying and then a happy meal for dinner Friday night if he could do it - last week a success. Yes one week people! Grrrr today he decides to carry on again and I now think that he knows he won't get his prize on Friday so will give me grief for the rest of this week. If I sound out of patience and fed up then you are hearing me correctly!! It is a choice for him - all a choice. Sorry if I sound mean but I have had it with his ridiculous antics!!! Argggghhhh. Any suggestions that you think might work will be gratefully accepted at this point. He is being covered in prayer already...... Then there is the 8 year old who is having some dramas at school with a particular friend who isn't treating him very nicely. No matter how many strategies and ideas we give him to help him with this he keeps going back - what do you do with that?? It makes me sad that he is sad. He just finished reading Harry Potter 1 and so I was able to talk to him about how Dumbledore gave point to Neville for 'standing up to his friends' because it takes courage to do that. Such a sensitive little soul is our Seth - he doesn't like to hurt people's feelings but I feel at the moment he is getting hurt because it is hard to speak up to a friend who keeps hurting you - especially when they always have a comeback! In the scheme of things these are very minor worries - I know. I have 2 healthy boys who generally enjoy school, have great teachers and are kind to others. They ask questions about God and that couldn't make me happier. They don't have any major problems and I am very grateful for that. Sometimes we just need to rant - yes? And now I will pray for them - God is with them and can help them even when I can't!

Mothers Day

Dinner out Friday night with The Gillies. French toast, flowers and homemade presents Sunday morning. Barclay Mothers Day on the farm with horse riding and quad bikes - a busy weekend :)

EQUIP

This was my view for the elective I went to. If I was brave enough I would have stood up and taken a picture of the cool street performer just below me - he had knives and fire sticks and scary balancing tricks....quite distracting.
The other sessions were very engaging (no windows) and all about Jesus - really great.

First goal - yeah!!!

You couldn't wipe the smile of Xavi's face - so adorable. Hopefully now he will get in there and enjoy the game...hopefully!

Sunny Autumn Day

Today was gorgeous - I love this weather. Not too hot but cool enough for cons and jeans. We had early soccer games today which were not compatible with a sleep in but left the rest of the day free. We caught up on housework - Berty is a machine with his steam cleaner and the bathrooms now sparkle. The house is looking a little less like a bomb hit it. (It won't last long with my boys but it's pleasant for a couple of hours - thinking we should go out tomorrow afternoon!)
This afternoon, on this sunny autumn day, the boys went for a bike ride and I walked to the park to meet them - this worked in beautifully with my attempt to lose weight before the wedding. I am eating LitenEasy and attempting to move more - I am the queen of the yoyo diet so we'll see how we go!!
Anyway here are some pics of our sunny outing close to home.