The Finch Family

Declan and his drawing

2007-02-26T15:59:00.000-08:00

Declan has been getting right into drawing and coloring lately. He sits with Matilda for ages just drawing. I have watched him go from squiggles to lines to ircles and now to faces with legs!!. It's so cute to watch them go through the stages of drawing like they read the book on child development lol. Anyway here is one of his first people drawings.

Christmas time!!

2007-02-05T22:13:00.000-08:00

Well christmas time here in the Finch family usually means lots of presents, lots of toys and lots of spoilit kids lol. This year was no different. As I went through all the kids presents before I wrapt them I thought 'wow I have a serious shopping addiction' lol. Anyway all got wrapt and santa added his bits and peices ;) till under the tree was overflowing on christmas morning. Matilda and Declan were so excited in the morning and had jaws wide open when they saw all the goodie under the tree. Unwrapping took a while and then ofcourse there is the million and one ties, staples, plastic bits and sewn in dolls hair to undo, untie and fight with. I think the packaging outweighed the presents by heaps.
The kids both got a bike each, a climbing monkey bar thing, diggers, bratz, clothes and much more. Just as they finished taking all their new stuff in we headed to mums for yet another full tree of gifts and a big lunch. There was mum, dad, Damon, Wendy, Kara, Mitchell and ofcourse us there to celebrate a very cold wet christmas day. The kids had a ball and play so well together, it really was a nice day. The kids raced out in any break in the rain to ride their bikes then back in to play with their new toys.
Alot of food was eaten and by the end of the day I was full and very tired. Another succsesfull christmas day down and a good years break before the next one. Now to find homes for all this new stuff....

Dance concert

2007-02-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

Well this year was Matilda's forst year of doing dance. She did tap and jazz ballet. It was very cute wacthing her in her little dance outfit and shoes. She really loved dancing although only time will tell if this is a permanant activity for her. At the end of the year the school performs a concert. The last term the kids learned and practised their dances. Matilda's class is the youngest at the school and made up of 3 and 4 year olds. They had 2 dances to learn and perform. For their jazz routine they danced to the theme song from Hair the musical, and for their tap the song 'its a small world' was chosen. The costumes were too cute. Hair was a very hippy and bright lycra number and for small world Matilda was an hawaiian girl. Doing her hair and make up was fun as I am not really known around town for my make up skills lol.
Her concert time came and I think the hardest part for me was intrusting her into the care of other mums backstage. The little ones performed 2 shows, 1 on the sunday and the second on the tuesday night which was the last show.I was such a proud mummy watching from the audience. She knew all the moves and sang along to its a small world while tapping away.
She will continue with dancing next year and we will just se how it goes. I know she is already looking forward to performing again!! lol

The end of kinder

2007-02-04T17:23:00.000-08:00

Well 2006 saw the end of matilda's kinders years. Its quite sad to say good bye as we all have made some nice friends and its jsut a loverly year. Matilda was a bit sad at the end as she knew she would not be seeing her frineds as much in the new year.
The final day was a party and play day. We all stood around just amazed at how quick time has gone and how our babies start school next year. We got given a little scrapbook of their year which was so cute and a real keepsake. Also the end of year saw the christmas concert. The kids were so cute doing their little nativity play and singing christmas carols. Matilda was an angel and looked very angelic. I was a very proud mummy.

Matilda is 5!!!

2006-11-13T17:45:00.000-08:00

Well my baby girl has turned 5. It really does just seem like last week she was born or at leaste a toddler. Now she is almost a school girl. We had a party on sunday and lots of friends from kinder and playgroup came. The weather held out for us which was a relief. i didnt fancy having 22 kids indoors lol. We hired a jumping castle which was a hit and ofcourse tha backyard is full of things to do too. They loved our cubby which has recently been put on legs with a big yellow slide attatched. I think it went of well, all the kids seemed to have fun. Matilda definitly got spoilt in the present department. I now have to make room in this house to put all her new toys. I just hope the rest of the year doesnt go to quickly, I am sooo not ready to be a mum of a school kid :(

Time to announce..............

2006-11-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

we are expecting Finch #3. All going well we are due about the 18th May next year. I ahve hesitated blogging just in case ...but all seems well. I am now nearly 14 weeks along. The morning sickness has been a killer this time round but i think its just been hard with 2 kids and so much on each day. Anyway hopefull it wil ease off soon. I have had 2 scans and its nice to see the baby is growing and measuring right for dates. My 12 week scan was such a relief to see a baby in there, heartbeat and all lol. Here is a pic of the profile...........

I cant wait for our next scan as we are going to find out if its a girl or boy. Matilda has already stated she wants a girl and wont settle on another brother lol.

Photos

2006-09-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of the kids. the one together is taken at playgroup and the one of Matilda is at kinder. I have more and when I get a chance will scan them in.

Declan's first haircut

2006-08-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

Well I have been saying for months I have to get Declan a haircut and the other day I finally got the courage up and did it lol. He was looking abit crazy professor/crusty the clown so was in desperate need of a tidy up. He sat very well on my lap in a shocked 'what are they doing to me' kind of way. He was also in undies but thats a whole other blog hehe. The ladies were so nice and whilst it had a bit of length taken off it he has still retained some of his curl.

Here is a before pic......

And an after pic.........

If I find my digital camera I will take better photo but since its currently lost the best I had was my phone.

I've been tagged

2006-08-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

1. How old are you? 31 and proud of it!

2. How many kids do you have if any? 2 Matilda mae (4) and declan (2)

3. Are you married, single, divorced, widow?
Married to Dwayne for nearly 6 years

4. What is your occupation? SAHM but qualified cook (currently working 1 day a week)

5. What are your passions? My kids, my friends, my housework (sad I know) my hawks (although thats fading lol), and food

6. Are you a dreamer or a dream seeker? Probably a dreamer but try to seek out the odd one

7. Are you happy with the way you life has turned out? Ofcourse I have 2 great kids and a wonderful hubby, live in a nice enough house in a nice area. Have great frineds and my family is all close and mostly healthy!!

8. Are you a scrapper and if so how many hours a week do you scrap? I am a scrapper on hold atm. have taken a few years off scrapping but would love to get back into one day.

9. What do you want to do before you die? See my kids grow up and know they are happy and healthy adults with families of their own. Oh and see more of Australia

10. What is your favorite food?
Choclate and chinese but not together lol

11. What is the food you hate the most?
Strawberries and radishes make me gag and vomit ewwww

12. What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you? getting a whole trolley full of groceries and then having my card declined at the check out.

13. What is the happiest day of your life thus far?
Birth of matilda, Declan's birth took a few days to get over then I could appreciate it lol but no the birth of the kids were incredible days. my wedding day is up there too hehe.

14. Are you a neat freak?
Ummm a litle bit and some days it is worse than others. I try not to be but it creeps in lol

Ponies

2006-07-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

One last quick post as i just dont think I can blog anymore lol.

On the week end Matilda had a birthday party to attend. They had hired a pony (and its owner lol) to come for the kids to ride. Matilda was so excited. I wasnt sure she would get on as last year she got close to the ponies at the show and then decided not to ride. But no she was happy enough to get on not once but 3 times!!! She also fed the pony (Oliver) a carrot and brushed his hair. It was abig hit at the party and no guesses as to what Matilda wants for her birthday party lol.

The eye and the uniform

2006-07-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Combining posts here since i am so far behind in blogging lol.
First The eye...

A few weeks ago whilst playing tag with a friend matilda got a scratch in the eye. At first I told her it would get better but after a few hours of her being in lot of pain I realised we might need to get it looked at. I took her to an optomotrist. She was so brave as he put drops in and used that big machine thing to examine her eye. He said it was badly scratched and she would be in considerable pain which I could see she was. Anyway we were sent home with an eye patch for her to wear to discourage her rubbing it. Luckily eyes heal very quickly, unluckily they hurt alot whilst healing. Since it hurt so much to open she spent the rest of the day asleep on the couch. the next day she woke up and the eye was 100 % better...thank goodness it was heartbreaking to see her in so much pain.
Princess had to wear a patch too lol.

The uniform...
yesterday whilst at target I noticed Matilda's school uniform for next year was on sale at less than half price. I decided to grab one despite the feeling of sadness that I would soon be the mum of a school kid. When I got home she wanted to try it on ofcorse. She looked so grown up and so almost 5 lol. We took off and put it away till next year, i am just not ready for it yet lol. She is however very excited about starting prep and being a big school kid. i swear just yesterday she was born, where does the time go.

Trains

2006-07-23T21:58:00.000-07:00

We recently visted the miniture trains in Moorolbark. Declan absoloutly loves trains and we knew both kids would enjoy the morning out riding some miniture trains. declans eyes lit up and his jaw dropped when he saw the trains and his excitment grew as he realised he was going to ride on. Every time he had his ride and had to get off he would sit there and say 'more nain, more nain' so well at $1.50 a ticket we let him have 3 or 4 rides I lost count. Dwayne took him a few times and even I went for a ride. They were quite fun actually. I am guessing next year if he still ikes trains it will be the place to go for his 3rd birthday. Such a fun and inexpensive day. I think Matilda's kinder christmas break up is there too. She will love that as she really did enjoy the trains too.

I have been looking at getting Declan a train table for his train tarcks, they are quite expensive though. So I had the idea of turning an old coffee table into one for him. I sanded it back and with some paint came up with a little scene for his trains to ride on. Looks cute. I liked it so much I made another out of mdf for the kids litttle people stuff.

Update...finally

2006-07-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

Well I thought it was probably about time I updated the old blog spot. Just because i last blogged in may I dont know what the rsuh is lol.
So where do I start. I guess with Declan and I celebrating our birthdays in June. June 1 saw me turn the big 31, ok so 31 is not a big birthday but its definitly old. Declan my baby boy turned 2!! on June 3. I dont know where those 2 years have gone.WE had a party for him at mums house with all his little friends and I made him a Bob the builder cake. He had a great day and got very spoilt. Recived lots of bob toys and other bob items. His eyes just light up when he see's bob the builder on something. We had a pinata and pin the tool on Bob. The weahter held out and the kids played outside which was good.

He had his 2 year check up at the health center and is developing and growing well. Weight was 11.8kilos and height 85.3cm. He wasnt saying alot of words back then but in the last few eeks has really started to talk alot more. He is even attmepting 2 - 3 word sentences. He Knows exactly how to annoy Matilda too but i know she loves him lol. They play well togther alot of the time but like all siblings have their moments.
matilda is doing well. Still loves kinder, dancing and swimming. She attends ready for school program at Manchester primrary once a month to get her ready for next year. I am still in denial i think that she actually starts school next year. i am so relieved thought that we have chosen such a loverly school and matilda is very happy with her kinder friends that will be going with her. She will miss emily and ethan but hopefully this is the start of many new frinedships.

Anyway will add some photos and keep blogging to make up for the months i have missed.

Fire in the...toaster!!

2006-05-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

Cooking breakfast this morning turned into a heart stopping moment i would rather not repeat. I placed my eggs on to boil and my mountain bread in the toaster to cook. Usually I stay close to the bread as its very thin and takes only seconds to crisp up. Something to day however distraced me and I walked away. When I turned back I was greeted with the site of flames pouring out of the toaster. I couldnt beleive my eyes. I quickly turned off power points and grabbed a t towel. I Placed the towel over the toaster which at leaste stopped the fire from getting the notice board, the wood shelf or the microwave cord. It did however catch alight itself so had to put that in the sink and drown with water. I moved the burning toaster away from everything and it eventually burned itself out. I was really quite lucky it didnt catch anything else alight as there was a few things around and above that are quite flamable. Might invest in a fire extinquisher lol.

Even more easter pics

2006-04-24T23:54:00.000-07:00

Kids finding eggs on sunday....

Sleepy car ride home...

Pics from easter

2006-04-24T23:51:00.000-07:00

Some pics of easter in Bendigo.......

Easter

2006-04-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

This easter we decided to go to Bendigo. In Bendigo they have a huge easter fair and procession. there is something to do everyday over the 3 day weekend. When we got to Bendigo we went straight to bec and daves to settle down. Then we all headed inot town to check out the entertainment. the kids checked out the animal nursery, this was a big with Declan (and Dave lol). then we watched the very funny group tripod perform.
Sunday was ofcourse the day easter bunny came. The kids woke early and were delighted with what the big eared bunny had left. He also hid a few around the house and garden!! We then headed back inot town to have a go on some rides and see the awakening of the dragon. Bendigo has the longest chinese dragon outside of china (I think) , his name is sun loong and he is absolutly gorgous. He comes out only for the parade on monday but is awakened at a ceromony on sunday. They have lots of little dragons (known as lions) perform and then the big finarlly is the letting off of 10 000 crackers. It was a big day and declan was very knackered , as predicted he fell asleep in Dwaynes arms 5 mins before the loud crackers were to go off. i took him and just nestled him into my chest with one finger in his exposed ear lol. It worked as he slept through the noise!!! After that we visited Dwaynes mum and dad and then off to tea with Bec and Dave. After tea we went down to the lake for the torchlight procession and fireworks. Naturtally matilda needed to go to the loo at the start of the fireworks grrr, it ended up being o.k as the toilets were actually closer lol. Declan was having an absolute ball watching all the color and lights that we had seen all day. By the end of sunday the kids were sooo tired and went straight to bed when we got back to Bec and Daves.
Monday was the big procession. We had front row seats on the side of the road too which was good. I thknk Declan was most impressed with the floats and horses and ofcourse the dragon.
It was a very big w/e for all and the car trip home was very quiet as the kids slept most of the way. I cant wait to go again but maybe not for a few years. might try camping again next easter!!!

2006-04-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

Matilda started dancing lessons 3 weeks ago and so far i think she is loving it. Parents arent allowed to watch the lessons so I cant wait for the concert at the end of the year to see what she has learnt. She looks so cute in all ballet clobber, right from the leotard to the tap shoes. I was lucky enough to pick up some great tap shoes off ebay for $16.50 but chose to buy he little ballet slipper things...$40!!! Oh well she is loving it and like I said the concert will be gorgous.

Not sure if declan wants to be a dancer to but I got this snap of him the other day in Matilda's dress up tu tu lol.

Harmony day

2006-04-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

Every year Our kinder is invited to whats called Hramony day at one of the local schools. It where they do and learn lots of things about the indonesion culture. this year as Matilda was in 4 yr old she went along with her class. I decided to stay for the day too and was so glad I did. It was a great oppotunity to check ot another possible primary school lol. Anyway more about the day. they started off by having a lady in all her get up showing the kids a dance called the candle or plate dance. All the kids got to have a go too (with plates ofcourse , not candles.) then we moved onto puppets and cutting out and coloring in indonesion 'good' and 'evil' characters. Matilda chose a good lady and then went on to do a little puppet theatre. the kids were them treated to the grade 4's and 5's doing some traditional music with some very interseting musical instruments. The kids got to have a go at a few of the instruments and were shown by such nice students of the school. the finished with some story telling and acting out of the story. matilda loved the day.

I loved the school and the other day went back for a tour. I really think it is a goer for mtailda next year. It has 270 kids and is on such a nice big property. The prep classes are combined which is weird but they say it works. So whilst some of the time there may be 38 kids togtere they have more than enough teachers to cover it. They split up for art, music, p.e etc. The grades after prep all have about 20 kids which seems perfect. i have a few more schools to look at but think soo far this is the one to beat. We loved the private school Billinook but I am afraid of making such a financial commitment at this satge.

Little swimmers!!!

2006-03-26T15:06:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the recent Comm games swimming gave out medals to all the kids. Matilda looked a real natural standing on the podium, I can imagine her on a real podium accepting her gold medal ...olympics..comm games 2016...2018 maybe LOL. She really is a natural in the pool and has gone up to a k4 level (the pool we attend uses K levels to determine skill. ) I beam with pride as I watch her swim and hear the teacher tell me how good she is. She also lucky to have a class all to herself and has her own private lesson!!!
Declan too loves his swimming and tries to dive out of my arms and under water. He has managed to encourage all the kids (the older kids!!) in his class to go under the water too. The 2 of them are like fish in the wtaer!!

MUD!!!!

2006-02-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

The kids were happily playing outside today whilst I was watching Oprah lol. Matilda came to the door and called out for me to see what they were doing. I had my suspisions as earlier I had the hose going. When I went to the door there was Matilda covered in MUD!!! If i was a kid I would think it ace fun to get all muddy and just play in the mud so I was happy for them to be dirty. I naturally got my camera and took some pics. After they were finished I carried them individualy to the shower and washed them off. The bathroom needed a clean but the kids were happy as pigs in ...well mud LOL.

Romi

2006-02-15T20:55:00.000-08:00

Just a short blog about Romi. I always post about the kids but we also have 2 dogs that keep us amused. Romi is a determined Labradore who when not given what she wants will use her initative to get it. We have put the seat cushions up from the outdoor chairs as both romi and max sleep on them. hey are now flat and dirty. Anyway today I looked out to see Romi sleeping happily on the chair cushions which were still on the table!!!!

Dirty Kids!!!

2006-02-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

The kids were playing outside last night and when i went out to check them I was horrified at what i saw LOL. It looked as though they had been rolling around in the dirt. Matilda's explanation was 'we were just playing in the mud'. They just love being outside and at the end of everyday they are filthy. We now have outside a swing set, a cubby house, a climbing thing, bikes and a sandpit. I just hope in the colder months they still get out there to enjoy it. Dwayne and I also love just sitting outside watching them play or joining in.

Kinder Duty

2006-02-13T19:59:00.000-08:00

Well yesterday I did kinder duty. It was my first time for the year and in matilda's new 4 year old class. I was at first worried because i had to take Declan who would usually be asleep at that time but he was fine. he was so good I hardly saw him. He just went off and played while I got on with writing kids names on art work and all the fun things a duty mum is to do!!. Even when the kids went out to play and i remained inside to clean up he tottled off with henny the assistant and waved me a see ya on his way.
Matilda loved having us there to help and even got to do some special jobs as her mum was on duty! It's great to see what they do and an inside look at her as a kinder kid.
it was a great afternoon but declan and I sure were knackered after our duty session lol. Declan was fast asleep in the car well before we got home . I look forward to my next duty session as I am sure does Declan and matilda.

4 year old Kinder

2006-02-01T20:18:00.000-08:00

Well today Matilda started 4 year old kinder. She was so excited and discussed al the paintings and drawings she was going to do and who they were going to be for lol. We were running a little bit late so she missed out on story time but jumped straight into drawing with her freind Emily. Last year she attended 3 year old with emily and ethan whom she has known her whole 4 years of life from our mums group. matilda was ready for me to go after about 5 mins!! I think it realy helped her doing 3 year old kinder and ofcourse haviong her freinds there to play with. She also has one of the same teachers from last year. declan was a little bit lost ithout his big sister at home for all that time, something he will have to get used to. he did though enjoy playing quietly by himself with his toys and ofcourse some one on one time with mummy. We have a busy year a head with kinder, playgroup and swimming but it will be good practise for Matilda who this time next year will be starting SCHOOL!!!

Wonthaggi

2006-01-31T18:09:00.000-08:00

Well we have just recently returned from a few days away at Wonthaggi. I keep reffering to it as camping but Dwayne is quick to jump in and say a cabin in a caravan park is not camping lol. the kids had a ball, swimming, riding bikes, going to the beach and hanging out with their friends. Dwayne and I also had a great time just relaxing. Dwayne did some fishing and ofcourse I squeezed in some shopping. We spent alot of time in the pool which was great for Matilda as she learnt how to swim in deep water!!! We also had some great thunder storms while we down there but followed by some hot muggy days. Hopefully we will make it a regular trip. Dwayne and i are planning on buying a caravan so we can do some more caravaning around victoria.

The Tongue

2006-01-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

Declan gave us a nasty fright just over a week ago when he slipped in the bathroom and bit his tongue. The was lots of blood and a loose bit of tongue. I panicked abit and called 000. they sent an ambulance who thought it wasnt bad enough to go to
hospital and that it would heal on its own...Well, I took him to my own doctor a few days later as it didnt look good. She consulted a surgeon who decided over the phone that that sort of tongue lasceration would need stitching . We headed off to the surgeon who booked him the next day to have that tongued sewd back together. I was ever so scared about him being put to sleep but knew it had to be done. Wednesday morning we went off to a very nice private hospital in KEW where Declan we were very quickly seen to. First they slipped Declana seditive and it was quite funny to watch him go from playing with the toys to unable to sit up. It was good though because ofcourse he was more relaxed when it came time to lie on the operating table. I suited up in my gown,, hat and bootie covers before holdiong his hand as he drifted off to sleep. It was a heartbreaking moment as I ocould see his fear but it was quick. Within 40 mins we were called to recovery to a secreaming Declan. Anyway It is nearly a week since his little advendure and it is healing so well. He has been so brave and we only hope we dont have to go through this again LOL.

2006-01-01T22:02:00.000-08:00

Wow here we are in 2006. We started off the year with a quiet new years mainly spent at home. It was just soo hot at one point in the night I sat outside listening to the different parties going on around us as I couldnt sleep.
OOh just as I get started the kids are home. They have been playing with the kids over the road. Will post more later.