YAY!! for Charli

Today was a big day out, we had to walk to the bus stop, catch the bus to the train station, catch the train to the city and then catch the tram to the Children's Hospital. It took an hour, but it was actually fun despite the heat, although it wasn't as hot as it was supposed to be which was great. The girls had fun as always when using public transport, they think it is a wonderful adventure and considering the state of the transport system at the moment, they are half right. The Opthamologist that we saw today told me that Paige's eyesight is 20/20 with her glasses and she was very impressed not only with her very cool frames, but the fact that she could read all of the letters asked of her and insisted on doing extra just for fun. She was in a much better mood this time and I think it may have had something to do with the lack of drops to freak out her eyes. No massive pupils today.

Once we were done with that, we went to the evil, but totally convenient, McDonalds and the girls were both suitably excited by their little toy poodles. They had a play in the the playground for about 1/2 hour and once they started to get pink, I thought we should possibly go and buy some sunblock since I had run out and their hats were not quite sombrero enough to stop the burn. Once they had purple suncream (which dries clear) rubbed all over, we ventured back out into the sun on a quest back to the train station. We stopped at Flagstaff Station for the girls to have a bit of fun looking at the water feature out the front, but unfortunately for them there was no touching due to the reclaimed water. Then home.

The moral of this long-winded story is that we were out all day and Charli was only wearing knickers....YAY!! No pull up pants, no accidents. So it seems that we (well she really) are not doing too badly at all with the whole toilet training. Now lets see if is keeps going this well.

Maybe I am Clever :)

UPDATE - Pics added

I had some left over material from when I made a dress for Paige. I thought I might make something up for Charli since she doesn't have a lot of dresses and....well, just cos. So I made her a pretty little dress with a bow at the top and she loves it. I also had enough material left over to make a skirt for Paige. Now if I can just figure out how to turn some Tweety Bird material into a painting smock, I will really impress myself. (Pics to follow.)

So Much Fun

The past two days have been so much fun. We went out for lunch to the amazingly gourmet McDonalds yesterday with friends and then spent the afternoon at their place. There was dressing up, make up and performances. Lots of fun both for the kids and us adults. 

Today was fantastic. We went to visit some friends who have moved to the other side of town and just 5 minutes from the beach. We had lunch together, the kids played, we went to the park, the kids played, we went back to their place the kids played, I think I see a theme here. We ended the day with a 2 hour trip to the beach which was great. Charli even managed to get in the water by herself, sure it only came up to her cute little ankles, but still an achievement for someone who hasn't been in the water since the Christmas drama. Paige, of course, spent the whole time in the water having lots of fun. I think she could be a beachaholic, maybe there is some sort of program she needs to go to.....or maybe not. Anyway, we finished the day as all good beach trips should end, with fish and chips and then not 5 minutes after getting into the car, the hobbits were asleep and I had a quiet trip home.

Now I need to wash that salt right off of my skin and maybe rest for a bit. Hopefully when I wake up in the morning, some of that sunburn will have turned into tan. At least I remembered to suncream the kids and my face so it is not as bad as it could have been.

Hot, Hot and even Hotter!

Yesterday I decided that I would finally get around to using some of those lovely berries that we  picked over Christmas and that are currently sitting in my freezer urging me to use them everytime I open the door. I did a little research on the interweb and came up with a recipe that looked like a winner (http://www.exclusivelyfood.com.au/2006/10/strawberry-raspberry-and-white.html) and what do you know, it actually was. The muffins turned out wonderful, although I will admit that I added a little more chocolate than was suggested by the recipe. Seriously though, how can you not?

Upon arriving home, my lovely husband taste tested them and gave them the "can't talk eating" seal of approval along with the observation that he thought I was a little mad for finally deciding to bake on only the second day this month that the temperature was above 30 degrees. Oh well, thank goodness for that ducted airconditioning and the fact that it actually works. At least I didn't decide that today was the day to bake considering that it is currently 40 degrees outside.

Oh and an update on the toilet training. We have yet to test this on a trip out and about, but we are looking all good at the moment. We did take a short trip to the supermarket the other night and she was ok so we shall see how she goes.

Boy am I glad today is OVER!!

Many, many things went wrong today. I guess it was one of those days. About 5 hours ago when I was in the middle of the wrong, I was going to write a post about all of the horrible things that happened today, but in my quest to be a "glass half full person", I will now divulge the good things that happened today.

Charli started using the big toilet, not the potty, but the big girl toilet. Not only that but she used it by herself and told me she needed to go to the toilet before she did it and when she had a nappy on. How excitement.

I got to show off my Dad given talent of tyre changing. When the lovely man came to my aid, all that remained to be done was tightening up the nuts on the newly changed wheel. He was pleasantly surprised and I of course gave the credit to my wonderful Dad who taught me this skill when I was much younger. Thanks Dad.

I got to level 21 with my new Rune Keeper, although I promptly died shortly after, not once but twice.....hmm, what does that mean you ask? Well, let me just say that it was a big achievement for me.

I found my keys after Charli hid them and then J found my keys which I was convinced were lost. Yes it was a bad key day.

And finally, although we didn't make it to High School Musical 3 in the park, the girls got to go to McDonalds for dinner and pick out 2 movies at the video store all by themselves to watch tonight. I was pleasantly surprised that they picked Horton Hears a Who and Strawberry Shortcake rather than the usual Barbie or Bratz. Yay for them and me.

And now it is time for bed and some much needed sleep and maybe a little bit of reading the new book I got from the library and am loving. So here is a shout out to Paulo Coelho for the wonderful book Veronika Decides to Die.

Only 24 Hours Later

It is amazing the difference that 24 hours makes. For most of last week we have been trying to get Charli to use the potty rather than the floor, carpet, chair or whatever else she happens to be sitting on at the time the urge strikes. For the most part, it just has not worked and my cleaning arm has been getting a pretty good workout. I was beginning to wonder if she would ever get it, she is now older than Paige was when Paige was completely toilet trained. Then I also have to remind myself that they are completely different little girls, different looks, different interests, different personalities and even opposite handed (Paige is a righty, Charli a lefty). Charli will toilet train when she is ready, not when I am.

Then suddenly yesterday, she got the hang of it. We only had 1 accident all day and that was on the tiles. Between breakfast and bed, she used the potty all day, and not only when I asked her to but everytime she needed to go she would cry "I need wee" and run to the potty. So, we will continue and see how it goes. I will continue to not pressure her and try really hard not to get cross when she misses, but most of all, rejoice with her when she gets it right.

My New Precious

My favourite thing (apart from my family) is shoes and handbags ...no wait, my two favourite things are shoes, handbags and jewellery ...no wait my three favourite things are shoes, handbags and jewellery!! (and of course, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!)

Anyway, my lovely mother-in-law donated to the cause for my recent birthday and I have now recently acquired a gorgeous new necklace. Since I love it, I wanted to share it, well a picture of it anyhow. No idea who made it, but myself and the little ones love it, and I now find myself continually telling them not to touch it.

Time for a Fairy Concert

The girls decided that it had been a while since we experienced our last concert and as such determined that is was time for a Fairy Concert. Makeup was applied, mostly by Charli (suprised?) and dresses were found and put on and then the concert began. Whilst I don't think either of my girls will ever be a chart topper, they had a ball and that is the main thing. 

Oh what a lovely Christmas

And it was. After preparing to have a really quiet Christmas at home with just the 4 of us, it was decided at the last minute to visit friends who live in a lovely part of the country and have a small farm. Not only is it beautiful, relaxing and quiet, there are cats and dogs and sheep and even a calf. The girls have a ball and do all sorts of things that I would not normally expect of them like running through the paddocks with no shoes, not only is there bugs, but there is sheep and cow dung....they always come back with black feet. Like I said they have a ball. Paige also has a friend there so not only was she the only one that went to church with Rach, but she also got to have a playdate while on holidays. She also was lucky enough to go to the family bbq and pool party and had a blast.

Apart from relaxing, we went to the town Santa parade, a church bbq, out for dinner (where half of the stuff on the menu they didn't have and the coffee machine was broken), to the beach and berry picking. The berry picking was great, while PJ wandered around with a pretty empty bucket, Charli took great joy in pulling LOTS of blackberries off the bushes and we came home with alot of rasperries and a huge variety of black berries. Not only that but we paid for a kilo what we would normally pay for 250gms.

All in all it was lovely and we all had a great time. Now time enjoy what is left of the time before Paige starts school. I cannot believe it has gone so fast, it seems like just yesterday she was starting Kinder.