mulch

2 meters of mulch :: 2 big helpers

while the cat's away.....

we still have wednesdays off at the moment and Hugo and archie go to my mum and dads. most of the day is spent with hugo creating lego...
with hugo at school today archie took full advantage of having a turn at the prized lego construction

packed and ready to go....

well this is my / our life, packed up in a few boxes and bags :: all ready to be put in the car tomorrow
all the schools in the area have closed tomorrow
so now it feels real
real and surreal at the same time
as i walked around the house trying to work out what to pack i kept thinking
how do i determine what is important
what can i replace
what can't i replace

:: will we be under threat tomorrow?
its scary to think that there may be a fire, but we can't kid ourselves, everywhere around us has been hit, so why are we spared ???

seeds

today at gardening club we planted seeds in around the seedlings that we planted last week.
we watered the plants and then Hugo documented what he had done.

peas

monday night is roast night in our house.ey loved eating them.
tonight the boys shelled peas for me. not only did they love doing it th

tractors

my little man LOVES tractors....
we saw one on the road today, and i nearly had an accident when Arch squealed( YELLED )with delight.

Garden Club

every Tuesday afternoon the school has a garden club for interested students. one of the parents who is a landscape designer runs it. Hugo and Miss R went along today and had a great time. we weeded the garden beds, watered them, added fertiliser and then planted some vegetable seedlings :: broccoli, lettuce and basil. Pea straw was then added.
the hour went quickly and there was a happy sigh from both Hugo and Archie when we piled in the car after.

beach fun

we spent the day at the beach today.
:: Good fun
:: Good Friends
:: Good day

Grandma

At the moment Hugo has Wednesdays off school, a chance for them to have a day at home, unwind a little and not be sooooo tired. i work on a Wednesday, so the boys go to my mum and dads.
the fun and joy they have is immeasurable.
today when they went for a walk Hugo collected, seed pods, leaves and acorns. on their return home grandma and him created this wonderful house, with a garden. inside are the seed pods which are food, and acorns with faces drawn on them ( acorn people).

devastation

i was even more deeply saddened when i was looking at this great blog and saw this photo. i hope you don't mind that i have placed it on here. this made me cry. like Cathy i too am only a hop step and a jump away from this devastation. we are lost and looking for answers and all i want to do is help, i feel so useless.
thanks for sharing these images.

After school fun

Due to work comittments every monday night miss B will come home after school with Hugo and then Hugo will go home with Miss B on a Wed. this afternoon they were both so very excited at school and when we got to the car it was non stop chatter about the day. we got home and i had made a fresh batch of playdough which they loved and then we had afternoon tea and as a special treat i had made gingerbread boys and girls which they decorated and ate.
lots of fun. all to soon it was 5pm and that was that till next week.
the routines and patterns have started and i love it.

panic or cautious

i don't know what to think. we are in part of Melbourne that is relatively close to the recent fires i am a little worried about all the what ifs and the possibility of fire. as i dropped Hugo at school this morning one of my friends told me her parents had lost their house at king lake. scary when its someone you know.
what do we do ?
on Saturday night i packed the car but do we continue to worry
these aren't great photos but the moon was an earry colour tonight when it was in the sky.
the joys of living where we do 364 days of the year have made it hard the last 2 days.

Fire

on Saturday it was hot hot hot. the hottest day on record. 47 degrees ( 115 Fahrenheit) we were suppose to go away to a friends property for the night in gippsland. as we turned onto the road near their house this is what greeted us. we stayed for and hour and then returned back to our house to spend the afternoon in the pool listening to the radio
the media are calling it Black Saturday.
with the temps so hot and a ferocious North wind the fire was out of control. so many fires started and very quickly wiped out towns and communities. countless lives and houses have been lost and they are saying that its the worst fires ever.
it was quite a surreal day, frightening that mother nature was in control and there was absolutely nothing we could do. my thoughts and prayers go out to all the people that have lost loved ones or friends or their house

early days

today was a longer day for Hugo he finishes at 2.30.
as we were leaving school yesterday Hugo said to me " mummy i helped a little boy today. he couldn't reach his locker so i helped him put his bag up for him. he is smaller than me. Miss R knows him too. they went to childcare together."
Me: " that's great Hugo do you remember his name?"
Hugo "No"
so this morning as we were leaving for school i read through the class list and read out the boys names i got to 'Oscar' yes mummy that's him. Oscar. Oscar is my friend.
when we arrived in the classroom and lunch boxes were put where they go, reading folders put in the tub ( there is no mucking round and we are straight into it, and what pleased me so much is that Hugo new what to do, how to do it and when to do it) Hugo spotted Oscar. there he is mummy. so we went up and i introduced myself to the mum and as i was doing that Hugo sat down beside Oscar and they greeted each other with smiles. i was so prod and and happy, because ultimately that's all i want Hugo to have enough confidence to make Friends, explore the environment and develop his learning . i walked away feeling good.

First Day

My little mate starts school today. we were all up and eager to start the day early this morning. Dressed in his uniform and waiting in the car he called out " come on its time to go"
so off we went. one of his closest friends from mothers group, Miss B pulled up at the same time and off the two of them went together in front of us skipping all the way to the prep room. we of course were early so they went to the play ground for a play.
when the bell rang and we walked into the classroom he was met by his closest friends including Miss B that was by his side: Miss C, Miss R and Master A all holding tight to their dolls, so they sat down and started to engage in the drawing and threading that was placed out and that was that a quick wave to us and we were left standing there knowing that it was time to go but not wanting this moment to end and not wanting to leave. but we did and we walked away feeling a little loss.
i went home and sat in silence and then i cried and cried. cried because my little mate was gone, cried because it was the start of such a wonderful learning journey that i wasn't part of anymore, cried for all the lost moments that i tried not to have but as all of us have ( as mums and parents because we do need those 5 minutes to ourselves sometimes) cried because i was lost and didn't know what to do, cried because 5 years has gone so quickly and i never wanted it to end.
it was the longest of days , even though he finished at 12 30 today. after the tears i just had an empty sick anxious feeling. it was an awful day for me emotionally, but the person that it was all about had fun and came home happy and eager to do it all again tomorrow and i couldn't ask for anything more than that.

school

Hugo starts school tomorrow. we haven't focused on it too much, but today i finished off some special starting school presents for some of his close friends. when i was teaching i used to make these dolls for my children. they kept them at school and it was a way they could role play out positive and negative experiences. i was thinking about something to make Hugo for when he started school and remembered about these dolls. i thought it might be a good way for him to be able to express things that are happening at school and ease with the transition. i forgot to take a photo of them all finished ( 6 in all) but i quickly took this photo when i had two left to deliver.

note : its been a week now since i dropped all their dolls off and i see them every day tucked in under the arms of Hugo and his friends as they come to school. Miss B hasn't let hers go and it sleeps with her and goes everything. Hugo holds on tight as he starts his school day. i am glad they have received such a warm welcome into their families

Zoo

this afternoon we went to the zoo, it was still hot but once we were looking at the animals it was OK.
each year i give mum and dad tickets to the zoo twilight concerts and we go as well. its great a few hours looking at the animals and then we have a picnic dinner and listen to the music. lots of fun for all.