Things Milly says #12

Milly:  Mama, I don't think I want to get married.  Do you?

Me:  Not really.  Why don't you want to?

Milly:  (a long sigh) I just don't want to be asked a lot of questions I have to say yes to.

Fair enough.

The Boo turns five

It turns out when there is only one more sleep until your birthday a little man can't wait to snuggle down and drift off, knowing that when he wakes he'll be another year older.

Milly quickly stole this book and read it.  I don't think she's returned it yet.

Buster loves helping out in the garden.  He needed his own tools.

The boy loves his weapons.

Helping make the cake and enjoying the spoils.

I love this kid.  What kind of a cake do you want for your birthday Buster?  Just a chocolate cake with lots of lollies on top.  Sure can.

More presents when Nanoo came over.  His own umbrella was top of his wish list.

Arriving in the mail was this awesome bow and arrow set from Grandad Bryan and Nanna Trace.  Michael said if the world does descend into a Hunger Games style dystopia, Buster has a good chance of surviving.

He may now be five, but he is still small enough to fit in a shopping trolley.

Our quiet achiever

It's so nice to post about Little Mister.  Though I'm not sure how much longer I can call him that.  He's so tall and already past my shoulders.  I think he'll be taller than me before he finishes primary school.

Earlier this month he received his Ruby Award at the school assembly, celebrating him earning 300 merit cards.  Now he is in the junior school it has been harder to acquire the merit cards but he is well behaved, a good listener and contributor in the classroom, he quietly goes about his work and every now and then he gets recognised for it.

I've been keeping a secret

Yes, I've been keeping a little secret.  And NO, I'M NOT PREGNANT!  It's about my beloved vegetable garden.  You remember the one.  The garden I continually start and blog about, only to have it destroyed by predators or my lack of care.  Well check this out.  I erected a possum proof fence and put up some bird netting.  I mulch, I check for caterpillars, I fertilise with my own home made worm wee, and we are just now beginning to enjoy the spoils of the garden.  For some reason my beetroot is still not flourishing, but the kid's sunflowers and the rest are looking good.

Lettuce and beetroot.

Eggplant.

Capsicum.

Rhubarb.

Fencing and netting have saved the day.

Lettuce, beetroot and sunflowers.

So there you have it.  My beautiful garden is thriving again.  I must say a big thank you to my Aunt Kathy in the UK whose allotment inspired me to keep trying.  The gardenia below is for you.

The pansies

Yes, I know I'm getting slow with my blog updates but life is a bit busy at the moment.  Plus I'm dealing with new technology and it all just takes time... which is something I don't seem to have much of lately.  I've got lots of posts up my sleeve that need putting together and I'll get there. Sometime.  I'll get there.

Until then here is a short but sweet update on the little pansy pot and seeds Buster gave me for Mother's Day earlier this year.  Don't remember then click here to refresh yourself.

Together we carefully looked after them and they grew and grew until we needed to put them in a new pot.  Then we put them outside where they grew and grew some more until recently they flowered.  Hooray for Mother Nature!

Little Athletics

At the start of the year Milly asked me if she could do Little Athletics, which is a modified athletics program for children aged between 5-16 years old.  She had heard about it through school and so I investigated.  It turned out their season started in mid September the previous year and was due to end in March.  So with the program about to end I promised I'd sign her up for the next season later in the year.

She had previously asked if she could play soccer, but Michael and I knew she wouldn't enjoy it.  Basically, she isn't a team player.  She is very competitive and compares herself to others.  We were both hesitant to sign her up for a sport where she has to show commitment to a team, plus be a good sport.  When the emphasis should be on fun, we knew it would be anything but for all involved.  With Little Athletics the results are all individual based.  The kids are only competing against themselves and trying to beat their personal bests, all while having fun, keeping fit and learning different athletic disciplines.  So when September rolled round again this year I happily put her name down.  I also signed up Buster for a trial day and he was equally excited as Milly to have a go.  Unfortunately for Buster, the kids are grouped in ages dependent on month of birth.  As Buster is a November boy this placed him outside the cut off for the Under 6 boys and instead in a group of toddlers.  He gave it a try but really all the kids were a bit young for him and it all seemed a bit chaotic, so we didn't sign him up for the full season.

As for Milly, each week she competes in four events.  Two of these are always a running event, which is either 50m, 70m, 100m, 200m, 400m or 700m.  The other two events are either shot put, discus, hurdles, or long jump.  We are eight weeks into the season and already she has improved her times and scores in most events, which just spurs her on to better herself for the next time.  She is such a determined girl, she is even practising at home with objects found around the house.

There have been a few runs where she got upset at being last in her heat, and she didn't complete the 700m run when she first had to do it.  She is lucky all the girls in her age group are friendly and supportive of each other.  Slowly, she has accepted that winning isn't the goal but having fun, learning something new and improving are.  I think she also likes having a sport that no one else in the family does.  It makes her feel special and sets her apart.... and that's just how she likes it.

 

Outings with the Boo

 

I thought I'd share with you some of Buster's adventures with Nanoo.  He has been fortunate to have Nanoo take him to see some children's theatre over the past few months.  They head off into the city by train, see a show, have lunch and then it's home again.  He quite likes an outing if if means he can have lunch out and about.

Off on another outing.  This time to see the musical of one of Buster's favourite books "Pete the Sheep".

His most recent of outings was lunch with me and Nanoo to celebrate my birthday.  Complete with using his chips as vampire teeth.