Feliz Cumpleanos

Today Reuben turned 11. I can't believe that it was 11 years ago we welcomed him into our family. Reubs was born on his due date at 12.26am after a very fast labour. I remember so vividly the 'quiet' after he was born. I panicked for a moment wondering whether everything was ok. The umbilical cord was around his neck and he needed to be stimulated to breath. I really can't describe the relief that filled me when he let out a tiny, gentle cry. I promptly gave him the 'once over' and realised that once again we had been blessed with another perfect little

baby. And he was such a gorgeous baby with smooth olive skin, big luscious lips and chocolate brown eyes. He pretty much went straight to sleep and woke up about two years later!! No really, he slept a lot, he was one of those babies who would sleep anywhere - even in a tepid bath designed to wake him! He was so easy to transport around because he LOVED his sleep and I could take him anywhere.

I distinctly remember taking Isaac to Bananas Pyjamas concert when Reuben was about 3 months old. We were seated right by one of the huge speakers but good ol' Reubs slept the entire time, not even stirring. This is something that remains with him still...once he's tired, he goes to sleep and stays asleep, that's it...It's GREAT! He hardly ever cried, not even when he was hungry or hurt. It didn't take me long to realise he expresses himself very differently from his 'vocal' brother. Reuben is much more subtle. His tantrums consisted of laying on the floor, face down, totally silent!!!

A trait I love about Reuben is that he is really selfless. He never asks for anything but appreciates everything. He is thoughtful and caring. He is creative and very capable but unassuming. He's a bit of a loner at times (he enjoys his own company) but his friend are really important to him. Most of all though, I love that he has the BEST kissable lips and never lets me leave the school in the mornings without planting one on me and topping it off with a squeezy cuddle.

This morning after Reuben opened his gifts, I surprised him with a day off. Instead of going to school he put on his new birthday clothes and we spent the day with Justine and the kids at mum and dad's in the Huon. Gus and Tilly are now having a sleepover at our home and are going to spend the day at school with Bella and Reubs.

I think he had a wonderful day.

Reuben scored in the $$$ department today

He is now well on the way to reaching his savings goal for our summer holiday.

I'm not sure which was his favourite pressie, the personally signed copy of 'Just Macbeth'

Or the IRiver mp3 player.

Now he doesn't have to bug Isaac to borrow his.

Happy Birthday Gorgeous Boy.

You are such a great kid and we love you more than you know.

Field Trip

So...I've almost finished my adult ed photography class - last one this Monday evening. On Saturday we had a 'field Trip' to

Cornelian Bay. We were encouraged to have a good look around and 'frame up' some photos in our mind's eye before taking any for real photographs.Then to think about the settings for the camera.

We then 'losely' followed a track that took us from the playground around behind the boatsheds to a tiny little beach which gives you a beautiful view of the Tasman Bridge and Derwent River. We walked up over a slight rise and came back along the train tracks. I have to admit this isn't really my thing to take photos of landscapes etc but it was a good day out. In all, I took about 150 photos (27 I like!!) which is no where near as many as everyone else. After we finished a few of us enjoyed a hot drink at the Boathouse (yummo).

When others revealed they had taken 200, 300, 350 photos I immediately thought...oops. But you know what? there's only so much you can photograph in one spot :) Plus I was thinking of having to go through them all at home to choose some to print for our last class. I was actually nicely surprised with some of the pics, I might even enlarge a couple and put them up somewhere!

I'll post the ones I like best.

The last one is my favourite I think.

What do you think?

I welcome feedback and constructive criticism,

helpful hints etc, it all helps.

mum and dad

I took a few pics of my folks.

These are the ones I like best.

I think I prefer B&W

This last one was taken right after Matt had told a questionable joke...actually it was pretty funny, the kind of joke you only tell to family or REALLY good friends!!

oh dear...

Beach

A little while ago we decided that Sunday afternoons would be a good time to do a bit of sight seeing, so to speak. So for the last couple of months we have been going on a few 'field trips'. This past Sunday was a beautiful winter's day so we head out to Seven mile beach. Ma and Pa came too. I've almost finished my adult ed class now so I thought it might be a good opportunity to practice what I've learnt. Most of my photos were a bit crap but I do have some I like.

When we got there the tide was right in so there was hardly any beach. We still had a fun afternoon though.

FAMILY

I love having family around. Even though Matt and I live relativley close to both sets of parents and most of Matt's siblings, plus most of my extended family, I still miss my brother and sister. So when they are able to visit I kinda feel like being totally selfish and kidnapping them!!! I don't really want to share my time with them...but I do.

I have totally enjoyed the last few days with Declan, Justine, Gus, Tilly and Felix.

Gus with Isaac and Reuben at Salamanca

The girls (Charlotte, Bella & Tilly) at the market

The girls (Bratz) playing at 'The Farm'

It has been so nice to have the other 'Pages' visiting with us for a few days. As always time goes way too fast but we have had a really nice time with them. I love to hear about their life in Jakarta, what it's like there day to day, and check out their photos. Of course it's always fun when they bring back some of the Indonesian bargains. All of our kids are sporting new brand name clothing, our DVD collection has been updated and Matt has a cool new watch.

The best part of the last few days was definitely meeting Felix for the first time.

He is soooo cute and so happy. It was nice to have a little baby around for a while.

Since Friday we have spent as much time together as possible. We've been to Salamanca, had family dinners, hung out, been to the movies, done a bit of running around, had a day off school, played at 'The Farm', watched dvd's, had yummy pancakes for lunch, played dress ups, zoomed around on the motor bikes, back flipped on the trampoline, got freezing cold, sweltered, missed out on heaps of sleep, caught up on sleep, celebrated Pa's birthday, so much!!

This morning I said goodbye to my brother for another year, maybe two, and now I can't help but feel a little sad. The kids have had a wonderful time together, they get on so well, and I'm sure will miss each other terribly. Oh well maybe we can save our pennies and go visit them. Here's hoping.

Declan and Felix

Chocolates in Rhyme

On Sunday we packed our lunch and some munchies, piled into the car

and made the trek to Latrobe.

Recently there was a national poetry competition called 'Chocolates in Rhyme'.

It was open to all schools Australia wide to participate and prizes were awarded

in several age categories; lower primary (Kinder - gr 3), upper primary (Gr 4-6),

junior secondary (Gr 7-9), and senior secondary (Gr 10 -12).

Reuben's poem won RUNNER UP in the upper primary section.

He didn't know about his success until we were on our way there. I just handed him the letter I had received and asked him to read it out. He was so surprised and pretty chuffed. Check out the photos below of him reading the letter.

He received a certificate and some money and got t

o read out his poem to everyone present.Reubs loves to write and it comes very naturally to him.

Last year I found a stash of songs that he had written! They were excellent.

He even has tunes in his head to go with them (he gets that from Matt I think) Matt is going to help him compose them. Any way back to the poetry...so we thought even though driving to Latrobe and back on a very wet, miserable day wasn't exactly our idea of a fun day out, we would do it for Reuben. It meant a lot to him and has given him a real boost.

It was also nice that Nanny and Koro and uncle

Laurie were up that way visiting Jimbo and Aimee so they were all able to be there as well.

On Monday at school we had a special assembly where Reuben received another certificate

and read his poem to the school.

He was a little embarrassed but I could tell that he was also feeling really special...

and so he should!

Well done Reubs, you are so clever.

A Chocolate Land

Imagine living in a chocolate house

with a chocolate car

and a chocolate mouse.

Everything would be chocolate,

dark, or milky brown,

imagine the queen of England

with a chocolate crown.

Chocolate rain falls from the sky,

through the air chocky birds fly.

Chocolate men walk through the town

Everything would be a milky brown.

You don't have to worry about going to the shop

to get a chocolate bar,

you can just go outside

and eat the chocolate car!

-Reuben Sayers-

Enrichment Walk

Today was our first RS Enrichment 'walks of Hobart' walk.

We had a great turn out of 9. Actually that's a teensy bit misleading. There were 3 of us there plus our 5 kids and 1 dog.

On our way

The view of Beautiful Hobart from Knocklofty Reserve

Despite a chilly start, it turned out to be quite a lovely day. Carmen with Jackson, Jo with Blair, Esther, and Topaz the black lab met Charlotte, Bella (home from school sick - supposedly) and I at the Forest Rd car park . With pram loaded, baby in front pack and camera in hand - yaaaaa I finally remembered to take it!!! we took off headed for the frog pond!I think we all enjoyed the easy walk around the Knocklofty Reserve but Charlotte was super GRUMPY!

See (I've been seeing a lot of this face lately)

If anyone knows what this old building is or what it was used for please let me know :)

You can tell from this picture

just how 'sick' Bella was today.

Jo Thomasson and gorgeous little Esther...she slept almost the whole time - Esther did too!!

Carmen and her handsome little man, Jackson

What a cute kid.

I feel privileged to have a photo of him on my blog that Chernoa doesn't have on her blog.

Unfortunately I didn't get many good photos. I wasn't feeling the best today, I had the worst headache EVER!

So that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!

Blair...it only took 1 1/2 hours to snatch these photos of Blair, he's an elusive little one this boy.

Yes Bella, you are obviously unwell you poor dear,

on your death bed even...NOT!

To be fair she was up half the night with tummy pains and has had no appetite for a few days - For Bella that is HUGE, she has the best appetite of anyone in our family.

So I guess the fresh air of Hobart really is magical.

Keep an eye on the Hobart ward RS blog for details of our next walk.