Winter soccer wrap up

The winter soccer season is now officially over.  All games have been played and all presentation days have been attended.  This is how we all finished up.

 

Henry's team had a great year.  They won all their games but two, with one draw and one loss.  Henry improved his dribbling skills and turned out to be quite a team player.  He was great at passing to his team mates and always had enthusiasm to play.  He wasn't one for getting in and fighting for the ball, but he was very good at finding space and being free to score goals.  Not sure on his exact total of goals scored for the season but we think it was 11.  His team scored approx 100 goals for the season.



 

Michael and I both had a lot of fun playing for our respective teams.  Michael played in an Over 35s Mens competition and I played in an All Ages Womens Competition.  Both our teams came second last in our divisions.  Not such a great result but we loved every minute of it and will be playing again next year.  We both play in midfield positions and Michael did score two goals for his team this season, while I managed to score none.

I've even signed up to play a summer soccer competition of six a side.  It starts next week.  Maybe I'll manage to kick a goal.  Just one will make me happy.  Gotta make the kids proud.

 

 

Things Milly says #5

Let me just set the scene.  It is evening and Henry is in the bath.  Milly has joined him in the bathroom to keep him company.  I am in the adjoining room and overhear the following conversation.

Milly:  Henry, do you want to play a game?
Henry:  Yeah.
Milly:  Good.  This is how you play.  You have to answer the questions right.
Henry:  Ok.
Milly:  Who does the best cartwheels?
Henry:  You do.
Milly:  That's right.  Who does the best flower picking?
Henry:  You.


and on it went.

Can you spot Lamby?

 

Have you met Lamby?  I've posted about him before.  Yes, Lamby is a 'he' because that's what Milly refers to him as.  Lamby is a boy.  But that's not what this blog post is about. 

 

Lamby has always been number one in Milly's life.  Since she was a baby, in all times of stress, tiredness or tantrums, we can all count on Lamby to be there and soothe Milly when no one else can.  There has barely been a night when she has not snuggled up to him at bedtime.  But occasionally when all is quite at night and we creep into bedrooms to check on the kids and give them extra kisses and hugs while they sleep, we find Milly has allowed others into her bed.  But what amuses us the most is how she obsessively and strategically places them around her.

 

 

Loving Lamby.

Barbies, a mermaid and a couple of stuffed ballerinas all lined up.

The Potato Heads enjoyed a sleep over.

Everyone gets a spot on a pillow.

Peppa Pig books surround her head.

Tree Tops

Have you ever wanted to swing from tree to tree like Tarzan?  Well you almost could if you went to TreeTop Adenture Park.  We were there the other weekend, celebrating with Henry's soccer team and having an end of season picnic and adventure.  Michael and I had heard about this place, had always wanted to take the kids and when we did, it didn't disappoint.

The park is set in a state forest and you are literally off the ground moving from tree to tree on flying foxes, wobbly suspension bridges, ladders, nets and more.  There are courses for kids and adults, with the kiddies courses built on a continuous belay system.  It is all very safe and the courses provide lots of challenges that the kids (and adults) have to overcome to keep moving through the courses.  The adults are not allowed on the kids courses, so can only supervise and offer encouragement and support from the ground.  The kids have to work out the challenges themselves and quite often need to work as a team.  All great learning stuff.

Helmets and harnesses on - waiting to start.

The "best day ever" according to Henry.

 

Milly got a little scared on her first wobbly suspension bridge, but once she crossed it her confidence sky rocketed and she blitzed the courses.

Now Michael and I would like to offload the kids for a couple of hours and go and do some of the adult courses ourselves.  It looked like heaps of fun.

Boys room reveal



Well I mentioned in a previous post that I'd been working on a little project and now I can reveal all.  With Buster moving into a big bed I thought it was the perfect opportunity to give the boys room a bit of a makeover.  I'm not one for theming kids rooms as I feel they have too short a life before they need to be made over again as kids grow up and out of the theme.  With Henry and Buster sharing a room I wanted to create something that made better use of the space without cluttering it up, and a room I hopefully won't have to change until they leave home.

 

There were also a number of things we disliked about their room.  Firstly, the venetian blinds were old, brittle and yellowing.  Secondly, there is an additional door in their room that leads to the backyard.  We wanted to seal it off but still retain the window because it allowed in the afternoon sun.  It also made furniture placement a bit limiting.  Paint was also peeling from the walls and there were some other holes that needed patching.

 



BEFORE PICTURES

What a mess.  Check out the door in the corner.  What the?



Bye bye dinosaurs.

Dark and dingey.  Let the makeover begin.

Blue tape, ladders, paint - my little project in progress.

 

Painting the ceilings was not easy.  Our ceilings are high and pitched.

I initially anticipated that making over the boys room would take a week or two. I needed to empty the room, patch and prep walls, then repaint. We decided on roller blinds to replace the venetian window fittings and because our windows are not standard size they needed to be custom made. From start to finish my little project took two months. All the prepping and painting took longer than I thought. My other job as a parent kind of had to take priority over the painting and revamping process. Also, because of the high pitched ceilings, I was up and down ladders so many times, it really chewed up the time. Mum came to help me paint for one day, and Michael assisted on weekends entertaining the kids so I could get on with it.

Look at that outside door now.  Less of an eyesore me thinks.  Blind from IKEA and installed by Michael.

We had made the decision early on not to get bunk beds.  I'm not a fan.  Yes, it would create much more space in the room, but again it's that long term view I have of things.  Henry is likely to be quite tall, will he be able to fold himself into a bunk bed when he's 14 years old?  Will the boys still want to sleep in a bunk bed when they are teenagers?  Also, there is no way we could trust Buster on a bunk bed.  I have a friend who is a nurse who worked in a kids ward of a hospital and she had so many horror stories about injuries (minor and serious) from bunk beds it was just a no brainer to not get one. 

Assembling Buster's bed.  Notice the skirting boards - I painted them too.

Testing out the bounciness of the mattress.

AFTER PICTURES





Ta da!  Let there be light.  Toys now in roll out boxes under the beds.

Henry's bed.

Buster's bed.

The boys are very happy with their new room.  Buster loves his bed and is sleeping well in it.  Henry often climbs into Buster's bed and reads him a bedtime story.  It's a very proud parent moment to behold.

I have to say I love the boys room too and am pretty chuffed with my efforts.  It was my first foray into a complete room DIY.  It was exhausting and rewarding.  I had a lot of fun doing it, which was helped that the boys really didn't have a say in what the end result was going to look like and didn't really care.  I'm sure it will be a much different story when it comes time to tackle Milly's room.

Father's Day

Poor Michael.  His Father's Day hasn't exactly been ideal.  First, he was to spend it solely with the kids for half the day because I had a market on.  Second, Henry was up and awake vomiting just after 5.00am and has continued being sick all day.

I got home from the market around 1.30pm to find the family in the lounge room.  Henry had just fallen asleep, Milly and Buster were busy mucking around and being noisy, and Michael was folding the laundry.  Happy Father's Day!

But as usual it is the excitement the kids have giving Michael their presents that make the day special for him.  They beam with pride over the cards they made and gifts they selected from their school gift stalls.  They love him completely and just want to please him and make him happy.  And all this lasts just a precious minute or two before they start with their demands for breakfast.

Happy Father's Day.