I'd hate to be a school teacher

I've just had the worst experience at school!

I was helping out with Kenzie's class, and we were all in little groups (and i had 6 kids, Kenz was one of them) and about 3/4's the way through I had one little boy jump up and shout at me that he "hated people trying to help him" and everyone just stopped and looked at us.

I know he was getting frustrated as he was a bit behind the others, it's really hard as the kids are all calling out and arguing about what the right answer is etc, but the little bugger refused to apologise to me and he ended up being taken to the office (by another teacher / someone from the office). I think it's a regular occurrance.

And it was hard too as Dom was with me, and hanging off me, and he finally settled down and drew, but it wasn't much fun.

Then one of the girls tipped him backwards on his chair and he fell back onto his head. OMG it was horrible - thank god I said I can't do it next week, so I don't have to do it again until early September!!!! Not looking forward to it - stupid thing is the teacher only had 4 kids in her group!!! I'd hate to be a teacher!!!!

Then Dom and I came home and had a piece of chocolate cake, and then we went out grocery shopping where Dominic mucked up big time and I wasn't happy with him!

Came home, had lunch, and then had to get Kenz from school at 3pm and then take her to Numberworks. Thankfully Dom was good playing with the toys at Numberworks for an hour.

I packed our clothes for Maleny tomorrow and cooked a quiche for the kids to have for dinner Friday night.

I'm totally exhausted tonight!

Mon - Wed

The high tea was really nice yesterday, only thing is you would think being a high tea that you would be able to drink more than 1 pot of tea - that's my only complaint - but it seems to be the same everywhere.

Monday - Wednesday work. Monday was freezing! Tuesday and Wednesday were cold, but not as bad as Monday.

McKenzie has started back at her kids sports program on Monday afternoons, and they're also practicing for her sports day.

I didn't make it to the gym either. :o(

My 1st High Tea!!

I woke up this morning at 8.30am as I had a migraine - not happy Jan. Thank god for Nurofen.

Again we didn't do much this morning, the kids were happy to watch a movie or a kids show (or 10). We seem to be pretty lazy on the weekends if we don't have anything on. It's midday and Dom is still in his pjs - actually so is Kenz and Ben!!

Kenz thought it was funny that I put a Care Bear quilt on Dom's bed - I had to wash his safari animal quilt and that was the only one I had (that wasn't totally pink!).

This afternoon I'm going to my 1st High Tea at High Societea at Clayfield and I can't wait. I'm going with Selina, Trina and Georgie. Pam couldn't make it due to work commitments, which is a shame.

I'll let you know how it goes later,

Saturday

We didn't do much this morning except for yell at McKenzie for mucking up and being cheeky and backchatting and sending her to her room. In the afternoon we went down to Sandgate for a bike ride, but Kenz wasn't allowed to ride her bike because she was so naughty, so we just took down Dom's bike and McKenzie walked Oscar.


Oscar really loved it down there and had a little dip (only half of his body got wet).


Then we went around to Shorncliffe and walked up the jetty and the kids had a quick play on the swings, before we went home. We also bumped into Trudy & Dean from Studio Con Brio shooting a wedding.


All worn out...


I cooked a lovely roast chook and roast veges for dinner - very Yummy!!!!

Friday

Just the usual, took Kenz to school and then I raced to Target at Brookside to pick up a Christmas present for Gabriele (as Bronny had tried getting it up in Townsville but they had totally sold old and the only place in Brisbane was Brookside and they only had one! Then Dom and I finished off our grocery shopping.

Kate came over and did our BAS / group certificates, so Dommy had a great time running around with Abbey.

Picked Kenz up from school and then didn't do much.

Ben went out to a party at Todd & Alyda's place at Stafford, but I decided to stay home with the kids as it was so wet and cold and miserable. Ben was home by midnight.

5 months to Christmas - I need to start thinking about what we will be doing as I have both sides of the family over for Christmas day and then we're off to Rainbow on boxing day, so it would have been nice if we could go out, but that's not going to happen! Maybe everyone will just have to bring a plate of food to our place. It's just so hard to work out what to do.............

I hate Thursdays

Thursdays always seem to be so busy.. Started off well (not) as we were running late because it was raining.

We took Kenz to school and went into her class and all her class mates gathered around to look at her glasses. Everyone loved them.

Then I did some reading with the kids and then Dom and I went home. didn't make it to the gym unfortunately. Did some housework etc and then next thing you know we're picking Kenz up from school and then I'm racing over to Numberworks and Aldi to do a quick shop. Dom was pretty well behaved.

All the days seems to be a blur at the moment - can't remember one from the next!

New Glasses

Just another boring day at work but McKenzie picked up her new glasses for school this afternoon and they look fantastic!! Actually she didn't get Barbie ones' she got Hush Puppy ones and the case for her glasses is in the shape of a bone - very cute. Kenz actually wanted to read at night and she read me 3 books (which is unheard of) and she said the glasses make it easier for her to read - which is great!!!

Behavioural Optometrist

Today we had McKenzie's appointment with a behavioural optometrist. Penny was really good and made Kenz feel comfortable whilst checking her eyes out. She said her eyes are practically perfect - no sight problems, but she has problems with adjusting and needs glasses to help her with reading, writing and computers.

She said it should hopefully correct itself with the help of these glasses and Kenz should only need them for 2-3 years.

Kenz was ok about getting them, actually she's quite excited and she picked a really cute pinky purple coloured pair of glasses (Barbie brand). She gets them tomorrow afternoon, so she can't wait!!

I got to work about 2 hours late, and just spent all day trying to catch up.

Work again

Had a terrible case on Mondayitus today - just did not want to be at work - and of course I was flat out!

Went to the gym and did a Body Balance class - which I SO needed.

Mt Mee Photo Shoot

I took the kids to Brookside to buy Kenz some new black boots. Dominic was just terrible, he just wants to go on all the $2 rides in the shopping centre and he was whinging and crying and wouldn't walk or hop in the trolley - which drove me mad!

We came home, got ready for a photo shoot, headed over to Mike and Kate's place, had lunch there and then headed out to Mt Mee. Luckily Dom slept for about 1 and half hours and woke up a totally different child!

We were lucky enough to have access to the Thorn's cattle property and we got some great photos! We didn't get home until 8pm, but it was worth it!!

Birthday party

This morning we went to Deklan's 4th birthday party - Dom had a great time running around with the boys and Kenz had a lovely time with Shaelie and MJ.

Came home and then just relaxed.

Ben's birthday!

Happy Birthday Hon!!

We didn't have much time to spend at home as we had to leave at 7.30am to meet up with Toni S to pick up a camera (as Ben's back up camera which is the camera I used) broke Thursday night!!

We met Toni at the BP at Blacksoil and then went to Minden to take the kids to stay with Rod and Mary.

We left just after 10am and then headed out to Peppers Hidden Vale at Grandchester which was only about 30 minutes from Minden and caught up with the bridal party.

I was actually using the back up camera and able to take whatever photos I wanted - only thing was I only had a small CF card, so I couldn't go overboard as I only had the capacity to take about 100 odd photos. I ended up with some really good location shots which I'm pretty pleased about.

Then Ben had to prepare a DVD Slideshow for the wedding reception which turned out really well considering it's quite high pressure to get it done whilst everyone is eating their dinner. We were also provided with a lovely dinner and the bridal party were a lot of fun.

We got back to Minden at 9pm (Dom was asleep and Kenz was close to it) but Kenz and Mary had made a birthday cake for Ben, so we had cake and coffee and then we got home just before 11pm - it was a loooooooooooooooong day.

Ok Thursdays HAVE to be the BUSIEST DAY of the week

I took Kenz to school and Dom and I stayed in her class room for about half an hour as I helped the kids with their reader books (they just had to read a book to me and I just listened or helped out if needed). Then the class sang a lovely song and then Dom and I left.

We then raced off to child care to take Dom for his class portrait (since he doesn't go to child care on Thursdays) as I didn't want him to miss out (and then I wouldn't be able to scrapbook it!

Then we met up with Lise, Meaghan and Henry at the Everton Park Hotel and we had a wonderful time. I was there for 3 hours and felt really really relaxed (except for when Dom decided he wanted to drink my hot coffee with a strawer - that didn't go down too well - he ended up spitting it out everywhere!

After lunch, we quickly went grocery shopping and came home. I then picked up Kenz from school and then took her to Numberworks (maths tutors) and I also raced to Aldi's to get some other groceries. Then pick up Kenz and back home again.

Thursday night we had to get everything ready for the wedding we're going to on Friday.

The working week

Well I've just survived another 3 days at work.

I'm still not sure what to do - look for a new job (which I applied for one on the weekend) or just stay there for now so I can concentrate on my photography.

We had a 2 hour meeting on Tuesday about the Secretaries Function and I had a lady called Roushini come in who does Bollywood dancing and she seems to be really accommodating, which is great!

Wednesday I had a secretaries lunch on - nothing exciting.

Today is Deklan's birthday - he turned 4.

Portraits Postponed

We were meant to go to Mt Mee to take photo of some people and Mike and Kate and the kids as well, but the people who own the property we were going to were sick, so we've postponed it for another week.

I went and did a quick grocery shop.

In the afternoon Kenz wanted to ride her bike on the front footpath for a while. We dragged out her little bike (for 3-5 year olds) with training wheels on and we put Dom on it and he could ride it!! (obviously the training wheels helped). Not bad, since Dom is 2 and 7 months old! And the good thing is her bike was purple and blue (with a tiny bit of pink) so Dom loved it. Now I don't need to buy him a new bike for his birthday - but instead I have to think of something else to get him!!

Birthday shopping for Ben

Today we went to Chermside to try find Ben a leather jacket for his birthday, especially since he doesn't have any jackets!

It wasn't llong before McKenzie complained about her sore toe (which she kicked yesterday and I know what that is like!), so I had to buy her some little Crocs (Hippos) so her shoes wouldn't hurt.

All Dominic wanted to do was go on all the little Bob the Builder toy rides etc, so it wasn't a good start to shopping!

Anyway we finally found a really nice black leather jacket for Ben in Myers (of all places) and he ended up with a XXXL because he has such broad shoulders.

Then we had a quick bite to eat because Kenz was whinging about her toe and Ben had to carry her on his shoulders and because she was being carried, I had to carry Dom - so it was a bit of a nightmare. Next time I'll put them into the child minding section I think!!

Came home and didn't do much else for the afternoon.

Another split head incident :O(

This morning McKenzie's little friend (Alex) from school came over for the day. Within 1 hour they had done ALL of the arts and crafts that I had organised for the DAY!!! Luckily they played on the trampoline and swings, and watched a bit of Nims Island.

But unfortunately poor Dominic fell off the retaining wall - he was climbing from the wall, through the missing paling on the steps and fell down and cut his head open!! I could not believe it!! Especially after McKenzie has had 2 lots of stitches in her head (and one was from falling off another retaining wall!). His head didn't look too bad except there was a little puncture wound, so I raced him off to the medical centre, just to make sure he was ok. Thankfully he was!
I think this picture says it all.....

The kids rode their bikes and then we took Oscar for a big walk before Alex came home.

Then Rowan from child care came over to mind the kids for us so we could go out with Trudy and Dean from Studio Con Brio and Todd and Alyda from Todd McGaw Photographer. We went to Fuse at Wilston and had a great night - excellent company and great food guys!!! A busy day!

http://www.studiocb.com.au/

http://www.mcgawphoto.com.au/index.asp

My 1st Photographers Lunch

We had a terrible night with Dom last night - we had just gone to bed (about 11.30pm) when he started barking like a dog and I finally got back into my bed at 2.30am.

Then he woke up at 6.30am so needless to say I had 4 hours sleep and unfortunately I don't operate too well on that little sleep!!!

We drove the kids down the coast to Mum and Dad's place and then we went to the photographers lunch at Hope Island..geez it was a good lunch - considering I didn't know anyone except for Ben and Juanita B, everyone was really nice and friendly, and talked about how they did things (but they didn't go overboard and carry on like they were the best out there). Everyone was really nice. I think all up there were 11 of us and the 2 Ben's were the only males - so you could imagine what it was like with a lunch of 9 women - a LOT of fun!!!

Then we went to Sanctuary Cove as a couple of the girls wanted to get their photos taken for their profiles, so it was fun snapping at everyone - except I didn't take too many photos - neither did Ben.

Then they did my photo shoot and it was so embarrassing, especially since there were about 3 or 4 of them (and they are all well known Brisbane or Gold Coast photographers). I just didn't know how to stand or pose or whatever - I guess that's how a lot of their clients' feel when they're having their photos taken.

Don't get me wrong, i felt comfortable with them taking my photos, just I felt awkward. Oh well, I did see a couple of good photos so hopefully I can use one of them!!

Then we went back to Mum and Dad's to pick up the kids and then got home about 6.30pm. The kids slept in the car and Kenz went to her bed straight away. Dom stayed awake until 9pm and just when I got him to sleep, Kenz woke up as she was hungry.

It's 9.30pm now so she's going to bed and so am I since I had practically no sleep last night!!!!

Photographers who attended and their websites:-

Debbie and Micaela from Bliss on the Gold Coast - www.blissphotography.com.au
Toni Snell - www.tonisnell.com.au
Ben and Justine Rugers - www.infinitystudios.com.au
Juanita - Broderick Photography - www.broderickphotography.com.au
Anna from Ferretography - www.ferrettography.com
Kym from Kym Berry Photography - www.kymberryphotography.com.au
Yohti from New Life Photographics - www.nlphotos.com.au

Tuesday / Wednesday

So busy at work at the moment, yesterday and Tuesday I had to stay back longer than my usual finishing time.

Tuesday McKenzie went to vacation care.

Wednesday Ben took McKenzie roller skating. Poor Dom has been coughing with his croupy cough, which isn't good, but he was ok to go to child care today.

Job interview

Funnily enough I wasn't nervous today or at my interview. Anyway the job I was originally interested in paying terribly (that's government for you), so they'll just keep me on their records until something else comes up - she only had 2 part time jobs and I had already said no to the other job at another temp agency.

Went and did Body Balance at the gym tonight.

Catch up day

We met Kristy and Adrian and little Taya and Kaden at the Everton Park hotel - tell you what we weren't happy with the EP! We got there at 10.30am for coffee and cake, and the hotel told us that we could only stay until 11am because we weren't having lunch!!! So we said we'd book at table at 10.45am, which was fine, but they turned around to say we couldn't order lunch until midday - so we thought stuff this, and we went to McDonalds at Newmarket and had out Coffee and Cakes and the kids played in the play area!! How stupid are those rules at the EP!!??

Then we went over to Mike and Kate's place to see them and their new car (Landcruiser). Got home and just got ready for the week.

I have a job interview at a temp agency tomorrow.

Toy Sale

Went to Big W by myself today and bought some toys and put on lay by. Also bought Abbey and Deklan their birthday presents.

Horrible wet weather, so we just stayed home all day and the kids didn't even get out of their pj's until they went for a bath at 5pm (how bad is that!).

Chermside

Went to Chermside (for half an hour) to get a voucher (I didn't want to be there because I thought it would have been packed because of school holidays). Amazingly at 10am it was quiet!

Did a grocery shop at Aldi, came home and had lunch, Ben left for a wedding, and then we hate to go back to the shops to get some other things. Not very exciting, but it all had to be done.

Spoke to Selina, Liz and Kate - I must have been on the phone for about 5 hours all up!!

Caught up with Angela

Went up to Ipswich to visit Angela (my cousin) and the kids (Dallas & Lexie). Got some good photos of them and also a photo of Jane's little boy Jake.