A day of Twelves

How happy is this boy! I must say that Jessie did a fabulous job with his birthday party. She has been brilliant with the kids this month with creating awesome things for their entertainment. So down to the nuts and bolts of the day 12/12/12 12:12pm 12 Months in age. We could of went a little further with putting 12 layers of clothes on but that would be ridiculous in summer. We really love our Joshie. He is starting to use his voice a lot which is nice. He is such a happy child and he is a great addition to the family. This picture has captured an awesome moment in time. Such a great Birthday. We love you Joshua Jonathan Wright!

The Circus Was in Town...

So the Circus came to town and boy was I excited. In a staff meeting they said they would give two family tickets to staff. People suggested to give it to those who have families but management said it was only fair to do put names in a hat and draw one out. So I thought to myself 'well that sucks, it's going to go to someone who won't use it'. So they do the draw and sure enough it does. I think they knew how keen I was and gave me the family pass. Man it was like party central when I told Jessie.

So my idea of a circus was lions, elephants and jumping through rings of fire. To my surprise there was none of that but I wasn't disappointed.  It was really entertaining. The kids loved it Gracie was clapping and really getting into it. It was very acrobatic and thrilling. I felt sorry for them because it wasn't a full house but they still entertained us. 

Here is a video of the Grand finale. It was absolutely mad, like insane. Would I go back? Maybe if it was free again. It was still a great night out where we were highly entertained as a family.

Leg Wrestling from way back.

When we were younger as a family we played a game. It is were both legs come up to meet each other and on the count of three they lock together. The winner is who pushes the other opponents leg to the ground. Now I remember being good at it when I was young, add 15 years, and some weight and I had no show.  It was quite a humiliating night for me. We had arm wrestling also which also ended in zero wins for the night. I put it down to everyone being 20kg heavier haha.  

This video was the one of champions. Bevin was just unstoppable and if i could commentate about it... Look at Llewellyn get up in disbelief he is like 'What are you doing I am mean to win, nek minnit, Ohhhhh Winner Big Bev' hahahaha 

This is me getting pulverised by Llewellyn. My only moral victory of the night was that I had heart (never giving up). 

But this was the proud moment of mine My son Joshua. On the night as explained I got pummeled, Jessie was destroyed, Grace was annihilated, but Joshie had the Wrights on the Victory ladder.  I was so proud of him. They even had a rematch which Joshua won also. Its great to have a son, But I was proud of all my family.  

Bevin and Dior's Wedding

 I must admit this was one of the best weeks I have had in ages. It was a week full of late nights, a week full of reminiscing, and a week full of family.  Bevin's Wedding really brought us all together and I loved it. You almost wish we all lived in the same place, just not tok hahaha.

 So I have aimed to put on photos of the week and the day.  I just have too many photos so I had to cut some out.

 Most of our extended family was there also. The cool think was is that our whole family was together and I think it had been the first time in years

It was all to celebrate Bevin and Dior and how happy they were. I think it was a fantastic day that they will cherish forever. Just can't believe Big Bev is married. Awesome though.

Enjoy

It's outrageous, preposterous & utterly ridiculous.

How could they do this to me? My most favourite drink in the world has changed. Why would you change a perfectly, delicious, mouth watering drink? Jessie and I could taste a difference but I was in disbelief until we did the visual test. Crikey, are you fair dinkum bundaberg? So due to the new taste and new bottle I have decided to keep an original bottle. People may mock me, I might even get a crazy stair, but it is a priceless memory I'd like to keep. If you have a chance please try 'Peachy' But I can't promise it will be the best drink you have ever tasted any longer.

My kids, the people who make me smile from ear to ear............and scream at the top of my lungs

My gorgeous boy falling asleep whilst playing.......this NEVER happens, he was so peaceful

Cheeky Joshie just waking up from a sleep on our bed.........a regular occurrence of late. What have I DONE?!

Joshie is not a fan of Sunday mornings LOL there is no point putting him down for a nap so we just keep him up for half an hour and he sleeps at church.

These two love eachother and are starting to play together occasionally, I love it!

I LOVE this little guy, all rugged up for a trip to the playground with Gracie and Caleb

Gracie's first time Rock Climbing, no photos of her on the wall cause she was clinging to me for dear life!

Gracie and Joshie's first bath together! It went better than we expected.

Elise had her final surgery YAAAAAAAYYYY! So we went to visit everyone at the Ronald MacDonald house, here are the girls adoring Joshie.

KNOX! Isn't he just gorgeous! All he does is eat and sleep, he is an Angel!

  

Joshie finally started eating food! Obviously his father was feeding him, this kind of mess gives me heart palpitations!

His sleeping has actually gotten WORSE since, I am one tired Mummy. Guessing he has some kind of intolerance to something but I am clueless! AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

Me and Gracie invented a rainy day activity Crocodiles in the Water. She is really starting to learn her letters so that's exciting. If she touched the 'water' she got tickled to death, so she was pretty much constantly being tickled. She loved it though.

FHE Success - Burying Our Weapons of War

Haydn is the new gospel doctrine teacher and two weeks ago he taught Alma: 24 about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies burying their weapons of war. He challenged us to find something that was causing contention and a lack of peace in our lives and burying it.

I didn't really think much about it, but the very next day I was planning Family Home Evening (click on the link if you would like to know what Family Home Evening is) and I found this lady's blog whilst searching my pinterest boards.

The 'Burying Weapons' lesson was the most recent post and I couldn't believe my luck. Perfect!

I just used cereal boxes and tinfoil, a vivid and a pot from outside.

Our house has been very busy and crazy and out of routine lately and we have all been very moody and sleep deprived, so the timing couldn't have been better.

We each thought of one thing we could bury to get rid of the contention and bad feelings in our house.

I hope Gracie picked up the general idea of it.

We had 

"Shouting"

 "Putting Family first until Kids are in bed" (I guess you have to reverse this to make it a weapon) and

"Not Sharing my toys"

Can you guess who's is who's? lol

We haven't been doing too well the last few days and we need to try harder but writing them down has made us accountable to each other.

Maybe we should have buried them a little deeper......

It was a fun lesson anyway and Gracie stayed focussed the WHOLE time.

Emma and Dingo

For the second week of the School Holidays I had my mate Emma from England come and stay with her boyfriend. They are travelling the world and needed somewhere to stay while they sorted out a campervan to tour NZ in (very jealous). Below, are the only photos that were taken! GAH!
It was just so mental all week that I didn't even think about it.
Gracie was in Love with the both of them, especially Neil, Gracie called him Dingo (or Dingle) we aren't quite sure why but it was pretty funny. She was a nutcase ALL WEEK and Neil was loving it, he  never got sick of her! Which was fine by me cause even though she was sleep deprived it meant she was entertained and didn't have any meltdowns all week.
We dropped them off in the city one day and Gracie was asleep when they got out, then when we pulled onto our drive she woke up and shouted (with a quivering chin) "Where's Dingo! Ooooohhh Nooooo!" and started crying! Mummy obviously just doesn't cut it.
Anyway it was a great week, and great afterwards to get back into routine, including NAP TIME! Phew!
Here are the photo's I DO have of the week.......

Can you even believe this (North Head) is 15 mins down the road from us and we NEVER go, when the weather gets warmer we are going for a picnic.

We were spewing that we hadn't thought about getting the boat out once during the week, it's winter but the weather was stunning all week!

Fun with Dingo in the backseat!

Kiwi Valley Farm

Please excuse me while I catch up on this blog, there will be lots of photos and very little writing. We have had a VERY busy couple of weeks and I want to make sure I record it all.

Kiwi Valley Farm

Me and Haydn had heard about this place but it was too expensive, then a deal came up on Groupon and we were on it like a fly on cow pat!

 This is Gracie taking her first ride on a Pony! She loved it! We tried in Christchurch and she was TERRIFIED so I was very proud of her.

Holding the baby rabbits, they were only 5 weeks old! Gracie held this one once and it tried to move and it's claw dug into Gracie's leg, needless to say that was the end of this part of the farm.

Joshie taking a look at the bunny.........I love him, he is just so sweet and gorgeous x

One of Gracie's best buddy's Laela ended up being able to come on the same day as us too. 

Laela was the main reason Gracie got on the Pony, Leala had set the example.

These photos were taken on my Iphone! Seriously! Who needs a camera these days?

I wish NZ had more places like this for families to go and I wish that the ones they do have were cheaper, seriously we can't afford to do anything as a family.

It was a great family day out. I wish I had gotten more photos of gracie feeding the chickens and goats but I never got the timing right her hand was out of there so fast!

Our Joshie

How can you not love him, seriously?  This kid does nothing but wobble his head like crazy, smile every time you make eye contact with him and laughs when you try to eat his tummy.  We love our Joshie.  Gotta give props to Jeremy though. Such a good shot.  This is really just a memorabilia post. Enjoy!

New Sofa!

I am in LOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVEEEEE with my new sofa! It is so pretty and comfortable!

Now I just need to figure out a colour scheme and make some new cushions.

I think it may be a bit too crowded with cushions though so I may just make a quilt or something, what do you think?

No Mess Painting .......Now thats my kind of painting!

I'm by myself till 9 tonight and the kids woke up early from their nap so Gracie needed some entertaining. By some MIRACLE I had a clean house and nothing on my to do list so I decided we should get creative.

Had a bit of a search on my 'For the Kiddlywinks' board on pinterest and cane across This Lady's Blog. My criteria was quick, crafty, no mess and this is what came up....................

 Chalkboard Water Painting!!!!

Painting around her hand

She LOVED it. It kept her occupied for about half an hour while I fed Joshie and played with him for a little bit. 

It was so quick and easy. You don't even have to do those stripes you can just rub the duster over the board.

If we have a day at home and I ask Gracie what she wants to do she always asks to paint, and it stresses me out but I can't say no.

Gracie loves painting and I hate mess.

Chalkboard Water Painting here we come! 

That's My Girl

Well, it was a daddy daughter night tonight.  I always like them cos I feel like such a rebel letting Gracie say up that little bit longer.  As we stayed up a looked over the lesson for Sunday and she wanted to comb my hair.  She even told me to put my head up and I was like 'ahh ok'. But the crowning event of the night was reading this book together.  It has taken a while but the hard work has paid off. We had a pretty crack up time when Gracie was in bed too. She sings and like reading books and this time I was listen to her for the next line of lyrics haha.  Gotta love her though.
Enjoy

Mummy's Little Helper.....

Gracie has been doing some classes put on by her favourite kids group The Polkadots (check them out, they are friends of mine, a group of young Mums committed to teaching preschoolers through fun. Gracie is OBSESSED, enough said.) The class is called Body Bop and it teaches her all about exercise, eating healthily, coordination, team work etc and Gracie SUCKS lol (nothing to do with the class mind you, all the other kids are great lol) She spends 90% of the time chasing after balls that the other kids have dropped and making sure it gets back to them, picking up bats to make sure everyone gets to finish their turn and picking up equipment that has fallen over. She will even run over to the other side of the room to put Joshie's blanket back on if it has fallen off. The other 10% of the time she is actually trying, but it drives me nuts. Then I thought about it and I realized she is like this ALL the time. At home, if something spills she says "oh no!" and runs to get the tea towel. If Joshie dribbles or pukes she runs in to get the wipes. She is CONSTANTLY trying to get the broom out and sweep the floor and she blows her nose all the time so that she can go and put the tissues in the bin. On Friday (cleaning day) she makes me give her a sponge and she follows me around the house helping me clean and spraying her Spray'n'Wipe which I refilled with water. If me and Haydn have finished our drinks or cleared our plates she will grab them and RUN to the kitchen to drop them in the sink (one thing we are trying to stop) Then I found her on the couch the other day doing this...........

Mummy: "You ok Gracie?"

Gracie: "Yup, I feed Joshie."

She had her legs crossed and everything lol, she had her top pushed up but pulled down to cover her "Booboos" she even had the phone, cell phone and remote lined up on the armrest (although you can't see it) Just like Mummy does. You should see her trying to fold pillow cases when I do the laundry SO cute. This isn't a bad thing, she will be a great Mummy! (Just maybe not that great at sports)

She may not look like me but personality wise she is DEFINITELY a carbon copy of me!

Sick Kids = ZERO fun

I have pretty much been wiping snot and cleaning vomit from the carpet for three weeks now. They were pretty good apart from the last of Joshie's chesty cough coming out. It is FREEZING down there, at least 3 degrees colder and I guess the kids immune system didn't handle it too well cause Gracie and Joshie both go worse and now Gracie has just woken up early from her nap (I was really enjoying having both kids asleep) with a temp of 38.5. So I have shoved her in front of the TV and she is SILENT and STILL and I am enjoying myself, for now. This part of being sick is the ONLY good thing to come of it, it doesn't however, make up for the lack of sleep, constant crying and whinging, coughing fits which lead to vomit and cabin fever. Saying my prayers that they both are back to normal soon, Joshie needs his 5 month immunisations and hasn't been able to have them :(

Time for the new post you have been waiting for.  Honestly I (Haydn) feel great.  Why you might ask?  I gave up seminary.  Man I don't know how people do it, particularly a Man with 2 kids under 2 1/2, A full time job as a teacher (in my second year of teaching), 1 Uni paper and the list goes on.

Now I think more importantly than stating the facts is why I quit.  The story goes something like this...  I was in the temple helping a mate for the first time.  It was great to be apart of and while I was in there I got the impression 'You need to give up seminary, or you will loose your family!'  I initial thought was 'nah just get a guy to cover the odd day and i'll be sweet'.  The weekend after the temple was a good example on why I should of listen right away because right infront of my eyes were experiences that made me realise that I was slowly loosing them.

Once this realisation was brought to my attention the email was sent to quit seminary.  Yet again I am grateful for the revelations received.  So this week I have made the effort to be a better father and husband.  I taught Jessie some rock and roll dance moves, I took Gracie out today to the mall and had a great time with her, and Joshie heck how can ya not love that kid?!

Moral of the story, never give up on ya family or let anything come in and flood your time away from them.  Its hard to do but their happiness should come before yours.  I love them heaps and think its about time they get the best of me.    

It's all about Family

When you think about how crazy life can be sometimes and how your kids are nuts.  It is good to think 'yeah but they are so cool/cute too'.  I love my family loads even if there are moments of insanity.  That is what makes it right?  Gracie is our little dancer and technological master.  I was told today that she can type on 'word' change the colour, go to itunes change the song, then go back to 'word'.  She has just started to sing a lot too.  She sings along to all the words of the polkadots, it's to cute.  Joshua on the other hand makes me so proud.  The reason why is cos he is huge, and we found out there is 2kg difference between them.  He has started to smile and laugh and really enjoys play time.  He has started to roll over, even if he gets frustrated after a minute.  Point is Family is where it's at and I am loving the holidays with them.

Week 7 of The Mum Challenge

This weeks challenge is to Take Time for YOU.

So this week's challenge is to set up a date. A date with yourself. Tell the hubby (or find a sitter) to come watch the kids (or take the kids out!) and do your own thing. This does NOT include: running errands, cleaning up the house, surfing Pinterest looking for dinner ideas, or doing laundry. This time is just FOR you. And YOU only. Go get your nails done. Meet up with a girlfriend for appetizers (and a margarita), go shopping (for yourself!!), go see that chick flick, head to the flea market, take a nap! Do something for yourself! You deserve it!!

I knew about this challenge earlier I just didn't post it, maybe I should blog every Friday instead of Tuesday, then I will never be late.

Anyway this week I have been on a walk with a friend, been visiting teaching (trust me this was ME time I had SO much fun) and tonight I have book club. Granted book club is at my house but Haydn is in charge I just get to sit there and eat strawberry's and cream cake which I will be making shortly.

I also plan to go shopping (for kids clothes (FAIL)) by myself tomorrow and I am in DESPERATE need of a pedicure, my feet are so dry, so maybe I will do that to warrant calling it me time! Seeing as I haven't had any me time in a long time I have some money saved up and I can justify wasting it on a Blissful pedicure!

Isn't it amazing how refreshed you feel after alone time (which I never get) and how much more you appreciate and love your kids when they aren't IN YOUR FACE 24/7 (like seriously while I was washing my face and getting ready for my walk this week Haydn and Gracie were playing the drums ..............ON MY BUTT!! thanks Haydn and Grace you made my walk and alone time all the more enjoyable!)

Even if you aren't following my blog and you read this I think you should all take some me time this week no matter what.

Week 6 of the Mum Challenge

This weeks challenge is to prepare your Mum's Mission statements.

This week I want to focus on our hopes and dreams for our children. What exactly do you hope that your children learn from you? What

do you want to pass on? What kind of person do you want your child to grow up to be?

I think that taking just a few minutes of reflection is such a wonderful way to make sure

that each day counts!

I am totally late for this post AGAIN, sorry, I actually have no excuse, and I am actually not that sorry cause I am so proud of myself for even doing 5 weeks reasonably well.

Anyway this week is an easy one and it should only take a few minutes.

The quote above is a canvas I have in my house, my Mum gave it to me as a 21st birthday present and I don't know whether she got it just cause it looked cool or whether she actually really liked the words, but I LOVE it. I have it on display in my house in a place where I read it almost every day.

My mission statement for my kids would start with this.

Things that we have a talent in tend to be things we love and things we love tend to be a big part of what we want to do and who we want to be in the future. I truly believe that our Heavenly Father gave us all different talents and interests to help this world run smoothly. If we all loved cooking then we wouldn't have anybody to help with our finances and if everyone loved teaching then we wouldn't have enough people to fix our cars. We all need different talents to help the world go round and I believe to find our 'place' in life we all just need to do what we LOVE!

Work doesn't feel like work when we enjoy what we do right?!!.

This is why this quote is so important to me. We should go confidently in the direction of our dreams because we have the talent or the ability to develop the talent that will help us get there.

Of course this isn't all I want for my children, there are certain other things I would want them to know/remember.

I want Gracie to be herself and not worry about what others think of her. I want her to act the way she know's is the right way to act and not worry about people around her ridiculing her for it. (Something I struggled with as a child/teenager) I want her to remember she is a Daughter of God and to not let anybody treat her like she is less than that. I also don't want her to wear make up like EVER and I will flip my lid if I ever see her wearing a mini skirt LOL (does it make you feel old when you finally understand everything your parents told you to do/not to do?)

For my Joshie I want him to be a gentleman, I want him to recognize that every girl is a Daughter of God and treat them accordingly. I want him to be a great example to his brothers and sisters, and to learn from his Dad that doing a job you really love and are passionate about will give his future family the greatest security and peace of mind. I want him to serve a mission and always give me hugs no matter how old he is.

Last weeks challenge was to celebrate the simple things. I FAILED, I went food shopping the very next day and Gracie was an absolute angel she made it so much easier for me than it normally is. I decided when I saw the helicopter at the bottom of the ramp at pak'n'save that I would let Gracie have a ride in it. I put her in and gave her the 2 dollar coin and it started..............and so did the screaming!! She HATED it she was terrified. I couldn't understand it because she had been on it once before and loved it. Oh Well.

I pretty much gave up for the rest of the week until last night when Gracie decided that she would start doing poohs on the toilet again instead of her nappy at bed time. WOOHOOO, she has done a few now because she gets ice cream every time she does one. Don't worry it won't last long, it's just until she gets the hang of it and I thought it was fitting with my challenge for the week.

Gracie turned 2!!

The Pinata I made for Skye and Gracie's birthday dinner, I am SO glad that it fell down

on the first hit and I got to take it home to use in Gracie's room lol

Bath time at Nanny's house

Opening her prezzies after lying in till 8.30am!

My first try with fondant, don't think I did too badly, I am excited for my next one

Haydn thinks I should make a warriors cake for Joshie's first birthday LOL

Birthday Lunch with her party guests

Uh, these guys look like they are having heaps of fun....

that's better!

Cuzzie's Joshie and Lucy chilling while the big kids took over

My Gracie baby! xx

After everyone left I put her down for a nap but I think she had too many lollies cause

an hour later I went in to find her sitting in a pile of clothes in tears and modelling this little number! Weirdo!

Fish and Chips at the park for dinner

Having the time of her life

Visit from Nanny and Granddad to deliver her gorgeous new dollshouse

The perfect end to the perfect day, falling asleep hugging her pink balloon

Both angels asleep by 8pm and Mummy and Daddy not far behind!