Award Recipient

madly trying to get a couple of more posts that i don't want to forget

before we go on holidays,

because i plan to do nothing but sit by a pool for 2 weeks !

the boys had their end of year presentation in the last week of school

and our braxton received an award at his.

i am so so so proud of this boy.

he has come so far this year.

he has absolutely blown my mind 

at how quickly he can pick things up and retain information.

because all the awards are kept a surprise for the kids at caddies,

braxton had no idea he was receiving one.

he thought we were just there to see the kindy performance.

his grammy asked him in the morning if he thought he'd get an award,

his reply was no, but that's ok not everyone gets one.

(the teachers has been drilling this into them the week leading up)

his smile on his face when they called his name was priceless.

his award was for effort and enthusiasm throughout all areas of learning.

we can't wait to see what year one brings for our number two.

congrats bracky boy !!

we are so proud of everything you do and who you are becoming.

Santa-Man

seriously cannot believe it's almost christmas.

this year has literally flown by.

and with it being christmas we take the boys to go and get their traditional santa photo.

i was a little upset this year.

none of them were scared in the slightest.

makai would have been the closest.

he looked at me and said "mum i don't want to go and sit on his lap."

i looked at him and said "buddy you're the oldest you can't be scared because zayden will get scared."

and plus he's the biggest so he they ain't no way his but was sitting santa's knee.

zayden almost ran to santa he was so excited.

he couldn't believe that he was actually going to meet santa in real life.

gone are my days of crying photo's

but i'm welcoming the akward missing teeth and big teeth growing back photos.

merry christmas !!

Australian National Maritime Museum

hey, it's me.

yes i'm still around.

i am running on way past empty and 

don't think i'll even see the end of the week.

buttttttt #mumlife,

the show must go on.

trying to catch up on my blog before the end of the year

so watch out for a whole lotta posts.

last month we took the boys to the maritime museum in darling harbour.

(thank you cudo for your half price family admission)

jevan and i had packed for a full day in darling harbour,

thinking the museum would only entertain the boys for a couple of hours.

we were there for six hours !

and could of stayed more if we had actually gotten there on time.

to say the boys loved it is an understatement.

they still talk about it.

it's a great kid-friendly museum with lots of hands on stuff.

like come on,

you get to go on a real life submarine, navy ship and a "pirate" boat.

total boy heaven.

Shining Lights

this year has been difficult.

trials have come,

and come and come.

things i never thought i would ever have to do.

things i never thought i would say to people.

i have felt at times so alone like there was no one to turn to,

but through this year i have had some amazing experiences.

i have had the realisation of what a friend truly means.

there have been people that have come into my life or

that were already there that have really been willing help me

- and they probably haven't even known it.

they have pulled me out of deep holes

that i felt like i was beginning to drown in and lose all control.

my trials are still there in my life at present

but these certain people make the burden and trial bearable,

whether it be a kind gesture or dropping around dinner unexpectedly or 

a kind word said or babysitting or just someone to vent to or some advice.

they have made my load lighter.

they have made me feel like 

"yes, i can go on a little bit further."

i will be forever grateful for these individuals

and they will always hold a special place in my heart.

and they have taught me what the true meaning of charity is.

they have been my shining lights 

through what has seemed like one of the darkest patches in my life.

and to them i want to say thank you.

this is just a little pic to help me remember.

Primary Presentation 2017

lucky their primary presentation went wayyyyy better

than it did taking these photos of them before it.

zayden even got to perform in it this year,

singing the wise man and the foolish man.

i'm super grateful that their two grandmothers got to come and watch them.

            

Q & A's

braxton has been asking me some doozy's during breakfast time.

one day i just sat down with my breakfast and he asks

"mum, how do babies get out of your tummy."

i almost, almost, wanted to grab my breakfast and walk back to the kitchen.

but i looked at him and asked do you really want to know.

so we had a lovely wholesome conversation about how babies get out.

i'm just SO glad that he didn't ask how they get in there.

jevan will be leading that conversation once it arises.

and then the next day i get

"mum how come santa never dies."

to which his older brother answered

(before i could)

"brax, it's because he lives in the north poll, dahhhhhh."

i love the innocence of makai's mind.

braxton looked at me because makai's answer did not please his mind.

i told him that santa was magical that's why he never dies.

he had a good think and the answer must have done the job.

we have makai on the other hand who believes anything we tell him.

he is a very easy kid to please.

makai was due for a visit from the tooth fairy a couple of nights ago,

he told me

(at the dinner table - all good conversations seem to be at that table)

that his friend told him that the tooth fairy was really your parents.

makai asked and i said well what do you think,

he told to me so innocently 

"it couldn't be you because you are asleep when the tooth fairy comes."

i love that they are different from each other.

it's what makes them so special.

but on a side note,

pretty sure braxton will work out the "real" santa before makai does.

North Rocks Dam

on saturday we took the boys out to explore somewhere local.

i follow happy explorers on instagram and they discover the coolest places,

that are close by.

so i have to thank them for this local find.

it's the north rocks dam.

i NEVER knew this place ever existed.

but after a short little walk through the bidjigal reserve we came across it.

their is a viewing platform at the top and then you can walk all the way down.

it is HUGE !

i felt like an ant in comparison.

the boys had a blast running up and down the walls,

they were sliding down them having competitions with their dad.

i loved the graffiti that is found all around the walls.

i'm a massive lover of graffiti art so for me this was a photographers heaven.

we did lots of coo-ee's to hear our echo's.

Shadow Twin

today zayden was running down to meet me at the car

his voice was so excited

"Mum, their are two Zayden's!!!!"

i looked down and he was waving to his shadow.

i could not stop laughing.

he thought it was the best thing ever that there were two of him.

we were on the trampoline and he said

"Mum, their is the other zayden again."

i don't think he quite realises yet that the other zayden will be with him forever.

Principal's Badge

ever since he started kindy bracky has been eager to get his first principals badge.

he has worked so hard to try and get a caddies credit every day.

you need 5 caddies credits to get a merit award,

3 merit awards to get an excellence award

and 3 excellence awards to get a principals distinction (badge).

last friday bracky finally received his first badge.

he was already up out of his seat before they called his name

he was THAT excited.

his smile was was so big.

i love being able to be apart of these little achievements.

it makes all the screaming worth it

for those 5 little seconds.

in our family once you receive a badge as a reward 

you get to leave school early and have a lunch/dessert date with mum.

so braxton chose to have sushi (he's now obsessed with it)

and yogurtland.

he wears his yellow badge with pride.

he even took it today for his news,

his news topic was "take a toy that slides."

he wouldn't listen to me when i told him that his badge isn't a toy.

his reply "but it slides."

congratulations bracky boy.

Halloween 2017

gone are the halloweens where the boys want to participate in family costumes.

this year they each wanted to do their own thing,

so i let the older two haha.

zayden picked up a shark mask at cotton on kids

so i decided to match him and be a scuba diver.

i can't completely give in to no family costumes just yet,

i've still got a couple more years of pull with zayzay.

so this year we had a rugby player, a spy, a shark and a scuba diver.

we spent halloween doing trunk or treat with our ward.

it was so much fun.

beside the fact our trunk was a massive FLOP.

and i'm not just saying that it really was a HUGE fail.

HUGE !

it all went down hill when the car that i had planned to do it on broke down the day before.

and it was like a rolling ball.

so in the end we put two sides on our car with two big bowls of treats.

my mum got left with the car jevan and i were so ashamed of our decorations we left it.

besides that,

this was our favourite halloween yet !

Mr & Mrs

a couple weeks back i got to help with some more wedding photo's.

this one was my fist ever temple wedding.

i was pretty stoked.

the only words that come to mind is

WOW,

that summarises the whole day/night.