If You Can’t Beat Them Join Them – Part Two

Just before Christmas I made J a Mario game, which he loved. It’s no secret that J is completely obsessed with Mario, he especially loves the “baddies”

Since then I have decided to just roll with it and well as I said before if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em  I created a storybook for him. I looked everywhere for a Mario book, (other than his instruction books which are among his favourites!), but couldn’t find one anywhere, even Ebay let me down. *sigh* So I got my thinking cap on, found some Mario pictures and created his very own storybook, loosely based on the game.  He loves it so much we’ve read it every bedtime since  made it and he’s asked if I can make another one.

Through December we placed a Mario figure in his Advent pocket everyday which he thought was great but he had nothing to play with them on…….. a Marioworld.

 

 

So I took myself off to Bunnings and returned with a sheet of MDF and asked him if he would like to create a Marioworld. Very excited he began bouncing up and down and flapping his arms shouting “ooh yes, can I make it now?”

It’s taken 2 days to create, (we had to wait for paint, clay and glue to dry), but it’s now completed and he loves it………….Ofcourse now we HAVE to play Mario every waking minute but whilst creating his Marioworld, he used messy glue, he used his imagination, he practised his fine motor skills, he used and practised his social skills, he painted and got pretty messy, (needed to have a bath the minute he got paint on him though LOL) and had lots of fun. So whilst I may have admitted defeat and indulged his Mario obsession, I’m really happy with just how much he got out of doing this activity.

J designed the whole thing, I just helped with the painting, gluing, clay and the flags………………………….. what do you think?

Not bad hey?  Pretty darn good for a 4 year old with a limited imagination  ;)

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Wow What A Year It’s Been!

I honestly can’t believe that it’s almost the end of 2010 already, this year has been such a huge year for us!

We started the year desperate to sell our house, the house that we were still desperately trying to finish a complete renovation on. Oh and did I mention that our lovely new fireplace developed a problem and started filling the house with smoke and the new central heating system decided to pack up over Christmas so we started the year with no heating………… it was FREEZING! In fact it was so cold the windows froze on the inside!!!

March arrived and we’d had an offer on the house and were unsure if we would still be in the UK for J’s 4th birthday. He was so excited and desperately wanted a party, his first proper birthday party, so 2 weeks before his birthday we hosted a small party for him. Then during the 2 weeks that followed that party we spent all of our time saying goodbyes to family and friends, hoping that they would keep in touch once we had moved………… some have, some haven’t, that’s a whole other post! The ones that have, (and even some of the ones who haven’t) we miss you all and love you all lots

April arrived and so did the removalists and our moving date. J was an absolute star on the flights over to Australia, the computer games helped too Just a couple of days after arriving hubby started his job so it was up to J and myself to find somewhere for us to live and a playgroup for J to attend. 2 weeks later we were settled into our new home and J was in playgroup 2 days a week. However we soon realised that the house we were renting wasn’t going to be big enough to fit all of our belongings in when they arrived from the UK and J wasn’t happy at daycare. So we moved again, this time to a bigger house but we stuck it out with the daycare for 6 months until it just became too hard for all of us.

Our container arrived in June whilst J was at daycare, he thought it was fantastic when he came home to find all of his toys and his bed etc…….. In July we decided that now we were settled we should try to source out some help with J, we had a feeling that it was Asperger’s but as we’re just his parents and not professionals in this field we needed help, so we spoke with our GP. After J tried to trash his room and was his usual self the GP referred us a Peadiatrician who had seen J when we were previously in Australia.  At the beginning of August we finally got the diagnosis we had been expecting and a whole new adventure began.

Since August J has started an Early Intervention Program at the local school, where he has made progress and more importantly where he has made friends. We have also started going to a Playconnect group which is a parent/child group for families with children on the spectrum, this too has been wonderful and has also enabled us to make great new friends who are also going through similar issues. It was tough going to start with J used to attack everyone and everything but with the help of his charts he has begun to calm down and now enjoys some of his time at the group. And we’ve now made  a couple of friends who I hope will be in our lives for a long time, thanks R and D for becoming a part of our lives

We seem to have had one appointment after another with the Peadiatrician, OT’s, Behaviour Specialists, Speech Pathologists and a Child Psychologist……… and then there’s been the appointments with the school. We’re getting help from the school because J has one or 2 issues with starting Prep…………. he hates the idea!    The past few months just seem to have flown by so quickly!

Last month we decided to go on our first family holiday, once again J was star and coped remarkably well, it was nice to get away and to spend some quality time together as a family. We had great fun

Last month I also decided to do something for me, once J is settled in school I would like to return to work part time. I work in childcare but it would seem that my 16 years experience and my qualifications don’t really count for much in Australia. I have started the ball rolling officially and I’m trying to get my UK qualifications transferred into their Australian equivalent but in order to do that I have to enrol and study 2 modules which apparently are different to the UK ones???  Anyhow I am now enrolled and have a fair bit of study to fit in before May, (when it has to be completed by), I also have to complete a first aid course before my qualifications will be transferred over. It will be a full day so not an easy thing to fit into my life at the moment but hey it has to be done so maybe early next year………..   In addition to this I thought it would be useful to get some Australian work experience so I have put my name down as a volunteer at my local Early Years Centre, (a bit like Children’s Centres for all my UK readers), they been incredibly helpful to us, (they run the playconnect group) so I hope I can now be of help to them.

Now we’re in December and we’ve just had Christmas! J, hubby and I have had such a hectic year but when I watched Father and Son playing and laughing together on Christmas Day I could see that everything that’s happened this year has been worth all the hard work and stress that we’ve all endured just for that moment. J loves the Aussie sunshine and now finally loves playing outside, especially in water, (so long as it doesn’t go near his head LOL), and although we’ve had a very wet Christmas we had a great time………. and we were warm! LOL

To hear J laughing and to watch him playing so happily is simply magical, it was the best Christmas present ever and the very best end to a very busy year.

Now onto next year and the challenges adventures that await us!

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A Letter To Myself

A Letter To Myself.

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Happy Christmas!

We had a very happy Christmas this year, yes we had rain and we’ve had to postpone our BBQ but we had a lovely day. A friend came over for Christmas lunch, which was something new for me, we’ve only ever had my Nan over for Christmas lunch before and he experienced his first ever yorkshire puddings! He loved them

J awoke at around 5.30am and brought his stocking down to our room, as usual he climbed into bed with us whilst we emptied his stocking to discover little gifts that Santa had left  Stocking done he bounced into the living room and began ripping open his presents.  After opening a few he began to get worried, he still hadn’t found his DS and was beginning to think there wasn’t one hiding under the tree so we dug it out and watched his face light up when he opened his favourite gift.

A friend sent him a Power Ranger costume………. the Red Ranger, he loved it and couldn’t wait to put it on, (the material was just like his swim clothes, which he practically lives in), Thanks K

He received so many gifts, another friend sent a Green Goblin Figure, which again he loved. Another friend sent a Sonic top and some Tuc Sandwich biscuits, (J’s favourites), which he loved so much there are only a couple left in the packet! I could list everything but instead I will just say a huge thankyou to everyone who sent gifts, they were all very much appreciated.

J even decided that he wanted a hot Christmas lunch………… ok so he decided to have battered fish, with the batter removed and placed at the side and hash browns but hey he who cares, a roast is so overrated He pulled a whole box of crackers and listened to the terrible jokes that they contained and looked confused as we laughed at them

Then he spent the entire afternoon playing with his new toys. The only meltdown, (and it was only a small one), that we had was at bedtime.

So overall a Very Happy Christmas in our house

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It’s Christmas Time!

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish the world a very Merry Christmas, hope everyone has a great day

We’ll get some ribbon, wrap some gifts                                                                                       Open our hearts and heal some rifts                                                                              Children will giggle with excitement and glee                                                                          As we take out the star to put upon the Christmas tree

You’ll crunch and much on candy canes                                                                                   Whilst peering outside through frosty window panes                                                         Unless ofcourse you live down under                                                                             Where you’ll have sun or maybe thunder!

And Let’s all get fat on Christmas cake                                                                                         Forget the diet for goodness sake                                                                                                 It doesn’t matter how hard you try                                                                                             You just can’t resist the last mince pie

In the sky I see the sleigh                                                                                                       Santa’s left he’s on his way                                                                                                               Ring the bells, hear them chime                                                                                                     It’s finally here, it’s Christmas time!

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A Love So Great

For the year’s final week of The Gallery the lovely Tara over at Sticky Fingers has made the theme Love

So many possibilities popped into my head all at once, but for me one thing really stands out from the rest………………

This is my beautiful Nan, this is the person who when I was growing up showed me more love and understanding  than I could have ever asked for, she was my angel, my protector, my guide……………. MY NAN x

After my Granddad died my Nan’s health issues became more obvious, my Nan had Altziemers and spent her last few years with us living in a nursing home. I used to visit my Nan every week and loved listening to her stories, although at times it would break my heart to see her as she was. My Nan lost her baby when he was just a teenager, my Uncle had Cystic Fibrosis, I was almost 5 when he died and at the time he was my best friend. After he died my relationship with my Grandparents grew stronger, especially with my Nan, growing up she was my best friend. However because of the Altziemers she at times didn’t remember that he and my Granddad had pasted away and so instead of putting her through all that pain again I used to tell her, “I’m sure he’ll be in touch soon, he’s abit busy at the moment” when she told me that they hadn’t been to see her for a while.

In May 2005 whilst out on one of our walks, we made daisy chains, my Nan loved daisies. I made her a crown and placed it on her head telling her that she looked beautiful and that she looked just like an angel. She then looked at me and replied “I’ll always be your angel”, as I think about that moment now it brings tears to my eyes and it means so much to me now but at the time it was just something that she had said. I often wonder if she knew what was coming over the next few weeks…………… a few days after our outing my Nan had a stroke. She fought for a couple of weeks, she fought really hard but living was just too hard, so we told her “it’s ok you can go, we’ll be ok” and she slowly slipped away from us. I was a broken person, I couldn’t function, my world had ended and a part of me had died with her.

Then a couple of months after she had left us I discovered I was pregnant. I had previously had 4 miscarriages so was very cautious about telling people but this time it felt different, it was like something was telling me it’ll be ok. We had a few scary moments and I had a fairly difficult pregnancy but 9 months after we’d said goodbye to my Nan a new love entered our lives………… J x

I can’t put into words the love I felt the first time I saw and held my baby, he was (and is) the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. He’s an amazing little boy who is beautiful on the inside and the outside, he is someone who has shown me just how great love can be and someone who has taught me so much. I feel so lucky that my Nan was my angel and sent me this gorgeous little man who has blessed us in so many ways. J has always had a special relationship with my Nan despite the fact that they never got to meet, he calls her his special Nanny and has been seen talking to her and before leaving the UK loved taking flowers to her grave and talking to her there. He’s also, at times, alot like my Nan.

Thankyou Nan for always being my angel and for watching over J and thankyou for sending me the greatest love I’ve ever known. xx

 

Now please pop over to Sticky Fingers to see some other lovely photos, after leaving a comment of course………….. go on show me the love

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If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them

Today I gave in…………… every conversation, game, toy………whatever has some sort of Mario, Dewy, Sonic or Power Ranger reference, (at the moment mostly Mario) and ofcourse it’s usually the baddies that he’s talking about! To be honest it is driving us a little crazy, sometimes we just don’t want to talk about Mario and we don’t want to play his game but today I said “what the hey, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!”

At 7.30 this morning…………….. yes 7:30am, I had been listening to Mario talk for about an hour and my head was hurting so I came up with a plan, “Why don’t we make our own Mario game?” I asked J.  Immediately he started jumping up and down shouting “OOOH YEAH!”   It took about an hour to make, J had to choose what characters he would like on his board game and then I had to draw them, (unfortunately hubby is the artist in our family), but we were very happy with the finished product and after laminating everything we sat together and played it twice………………….. properly, you know taking it in turns, rolling the dice and then only moving the amount of spaces allowed…………..no big dramas!

Here’s our game

 

 

 

 

 

J’s verdict, “It’s my best game ever!”  So there you have if you can’t beat them, join them

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Unsettled Skies – Silent Sunday

For more Silent Sundays click here

 

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Stormy Skies

It’s been incredibly hot here over the past few days so at some point it had to break…………….. and boy did the weather break!

Yesterday SE Queensland received a huge storm, thunder, lightning, wind, rain and even hail! Luckily most of it missed us and last night we saw a little lightning and heard a few rumbles of thunder but we didn’t receive any hail thankfully

Today we awoke once again to blue skies and boy was it hot! J and I raced to the shop, (I’d promised him a Mario figure if I could cut his hair……… a bribe yes I know but hey it did the trick!).  When we got home the clouds were already forming so I quickly got the mower out and trimmed the front lawn………. it had begun to look like a jungle thanks to all the rain we got last week so needed doing as more rain and storms are due over the next few days!

Grass all done, I had just put the mower away when the skies opened!  I’m sitting here listening to the rumble of thunder and J singing “I Hear Thunder” as he plays with his new Mario figures.

We’ve got abit of a mix of hail and rain and it’s still very hot but the sky looks amazing. There’s something about a stormy sky that’s………………….. well that’s beautiful  I can sometimes get lost in the clouds………….. lol

So I thought I’d share some photographs with you that I’ve taken today

And here one that I took last night, I just caught the lightning flash

 

 

 

 

 

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A Little Bit Of Christmas Sparkle

J doesn’t do a huge amount of art so imagine how delighted I was last week when, at his EI Christmas party, he presented me with a Christmas Angel that he had made whilst at school

As you can see he put lots of sparkles on it but the biggest sparkle was the one in his eyes when he presented it to me

 

This is my entry for this weeks Gallery theme “Sparkle”.

Now please pop over to Sticky Fingers to see some other great Sparkly       photos

 

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