Footy Fever

Well I don' t think I will forget Saturday 27th September for a very long time. It was easily the best game of footy I have ever watched. The AFL grand final experience is sooooooooo much better when your team is in it!! Matt's crazy family all came up to watch it with us. The Tosellis also joined us for what turned out to be one of the best afternoons I've ever had crammed in my living room with the blinds shut the volume to the max. We went all out as well with the food. We all had pies and sauce then pigged out on junk food. Matt set up the projector and turned the room around so we had an entire wall showing us the game. I'm certain the whole of Mt Nelson could hear the screams and cries from our home. Especially the last one after the siren went and we knew for certain that Hawthorn had clinched the Premiership deal. Good on you Hawks.

The Things We Do...

Isabella has been having dancing lessons for three years now and she really loves it. Her dance school is called 'Rompers Stomp' and they have a great philosophy of creating an atmosphere where kids can learn to dance in a safe and fun environment. Plus they don't just dance, they sing and act, they make stuff, and a big plus for me is that there is no competition. Our dance school doesn't expect their students to participate in Eistedfords. If they want to do it then of course they are given guidance, advice and help with it but there is no expectation to take part in competitions. The other great thing is that parents can volunteer to help out in various roles withing the dance school in exchange for benefits, discounts, or in my case free lessons for the entire year!!!! The only thing I have to pay for is concert tickets and a small costume levy. My role is to paint and create props for various groups for the dance concert at the end of the year. It is a pretty big job but I think it's a pretty good deal and one I'm extremely grateful for. I was gearing up to tell Bella we couldn't afford dancing lessons this year when Jo, the dance school owner, asked me if I'd be interested in expanding on the painting job I usually do (one or two items) in exchange for a 'free year'. I was so happy because Bella just loves it and she's good at it too. Anyway I have just completed the first set of props. 14 Dog Kennels. It became a bit monotonous after a while but once they were all completed they looked pretty good. I lined them all up outside for a photo and it reminded me of the boathouses a Brighton Beach in Victoria. I love the boathouses...I don't love the dog kennels...I just like them! Actually I'll be pretty happy to hand them over and begin the next project - surfboards!






Half finished dog kennels decorated my floor for two days and nights. I had to paint at night because Charlotte loves to paint and that just wasn't working! So I was burning the midnight oil for a couple of nights.

Some of the finished projects. The kids had fun coming up with names for the kennels. Of course they wanted to name them all after the Hawthorn football players but we were short on space and had to stick with names with 3 or 4 letters. You'll notice there is a 'Bud' though, after our much loved Buddy Franklin.

Brighton Beach Boathouses...Oh no that's right it's out the side of our house, silly me.

Care Rugs & Appreciation Journals

At our last Stake YW activity we only had a few girls and leaders turn up but that didn't seem to make a difference to the success of the activity.  Chelsea Parsons came along to help everyone make an appreciation journal out of recycled materials.  We used cardboard (collected from the Mt Nelson Store where I work) for the front and back.  Chelsea pre-cut and painted them for us.  She showed us how to sand them and add some decoration.  We used recycled paper (kindly donated from the ABC Newsroom where my mother in-law works!) and the whole thing is held together with two silver rings.  They look great.  And I think they only cost something like 40c each to make. Thanks Chels.

  Prior to the activity the young women were asked to knit one square and bring it along.  Some girls knitted their own square, others chose to enlist the help of some RS sisters, either way we were inundated with knitted squares of all shapes sizes and colours.   Andy King came along and provided instructions on how to sew the squares together.  We didn't get them all finished on the night but with the help of some wonderful young women and their mothers,  Andy and myself we have pretty much finished them and will be delivering them very soon.

It was a great night.  I can't wait to get some of the girls together to give the rugs to some people who really need them.  

NOTE TO SELF:  Remember to write in your journal!!

Last night Reuben gave us a really great lesson in FHE.  We talked about family and how every family is different.  We each took turns to say what we like most about our family and then each suggested something we could do better.  

For the next month we are focusing on:

• remembering our responsibilities
  

• Speaking kindly
  

• Helping out and going the extra mile
  

At the end of the lesson we all pulled a name out of a hat and had to draw a picture of that person and write down all of that persons good quatities, talents, or things we admire about them.  We will keep them displayed in the living room for the next week or so to remind us of this important lesson.  I just had to blog these pictures and I'm sure you can see why...we are just so talented at drawing!!

GO HAWKS

Saturday night was a very happy one for this household!   The Hawks beat the Saints and that means we're in the grand final and are now gearing up to give the Cats a run for their money.

'The Boys' decked themselves out in the 'gear' and parked themselves as close to the tv as possible (I'm told this is because we only have a small tv and sitting close creates an illusion of having a big screen Plasma or something?? whatever).  There was lots of cheering, yelling, screaming, more cheering and a very loud theme song when it was all over.  YAAAAAAY!

GO HAWKS

Next Saturday we are having an extended family get-together (all of the Sayers family are Hawks supporters) at our place.  We'll have a BBQ, watch the game and make some noise.  

 so stay tuned

Birthday Boy

Matthew is getting O L D ! He recently turned 39 (WHOA) Anyway the kids and I cooked a yummy breakfast and he received some thoughtful pressies. Here he is enjoying the beginning of the last year of his 30's. Love you Matt xxx

ER

I really hate it when my kids hurt themselves. I just want to take it all away, I wish we could trade places until it is over...

Because my kids know that I used to be a nurse, sometimes they expect me to be able to FIX all of their hurts and take away all of their pain. If only I could!!

Last week Charlotte had a trip to the Emergency Department at the RHH. She managed to fall off a chair, knock herself out (for about a minute - which feels like an eternity when it is your child) and cut her lip quite badly. Her teeth cut right through to the front and it also split along the bottom on the outside. It was very YUCKY and there was a LOT of blood and a lot of screaming and crying - Bella and Reuben were also home and very worried for their little sis.

Her bottom lip was sort of hanging there...uaugh! I was so worried she'd knocked out some teeth - When I was 2 I pulled my highchair down on top of myself and knocked out my two front teeth, as a result I have had a number of hassles with my teeth over the years so you could say I'm slightly paranoid about teeth coming out. No need to worry though all of Charlottes teeth were still in place, they hurt when she ate for a couple of days, but just fine now. I have been amazed at how quickly everything has healed. It's only a week tomorrow and you can hardly tell anything was wrong at all.

Back to the beautiful Charlotte we all

know and LOVE xxx