Grandparents return

The travellers have returned from Israel and we are all happy to see them.

It is a drughouse!

We have been hit with the winter colds. Simon and Ben have both had coughs, runny noses and temperatures. Ella has been coughing and sniffling away. The Dimetap and Nurofen have been flowing freely. The DVD player has been working overtime. We kept Simon at home today. hopefully he can return to preschool tomorrow.

After many unpleasant childhood experiences. I have kept the house a VICKS FREE ZONE.

The Boys

I didn't really have anything much to say about these two. Sarah took the two photos on the weekend.
Simon is looking very civilized reading his book in slippers. Yes I know he is on a beanbag.
If you enlarge the picture of Ben you can see his dimples.

That will be four for dinner

Last Friday night we decided to have Thai takeaway for dinner. It had been a long week and neither of us felt like cooking. Thai is the one meal that Simon will always sit down with us at the "big" table and eat. It always feels great to have a real meal with your children. As soon as the delivery guy arrived, Ben was at the door and Simon was shouting "The man is here". Simon refers to Thai as "the dinner the man brings". When the three of us had sat down, Ben showed some interest and before you knew it there were four for dinner. We are progressing.

Ben tried one spring roll, a curry puff and a bit of rice. Obviously worried that the food in the house was going to run out very soon, he managed to get lumps of rice stuck all down the front of his pyjamas. So when the food did run out he could just reach down for a snack

Our Marriage is saved! - Why we have not blogged

Don't worry this entry is not about sex. I would give it a G rating. There is some medical information contained but it is pretty tame with no pictures.

Two weeks ago when I was home on a Tuesday - the power kept going off in the kitchen and also for the TV. This is not good when you are trying to make lunch and keep children entertained. I eventually tracked it down to the dishwasher. We pondered about buying a new one since our last experience with the manufacturer's service department was pretty disappointing. After doing a bit of research and finding out 5 or so of the brands are made by the one manufacturer we decided to try one of the repairmen who advertised in the local paper. Yesterday the repairman came over and identified that the short was in the motor. He replaced it but wasn't happy with the new one, which he said was running too hot. He will be back again today.

So the lack of the dishwasher has meant we have to wash up after dinner instead of blogging. Over four years ago when Simon was born we went to see one of the local doctors because Sarah was worried she was getting mastitis. He misdiagnosed her and she ended up with an abscess. However the patronising twice married quack also decided to give us some marriage advice:
"To keep your marriage healthy, you and your partner should try and do the dishes together at least once a week. This will give you a chance to talk".

Without the dishwasher for two weeks we should last a few more years together.

A late weekend report

It was a very busy weekend. We are still recovering from it. It was the weekend of Grandma's 75th birthday party. On Saturday morning Sarah set off early to do the shopping. then Grandma and Auntie Sheila dropped in for morning tea and a quick Ella fix. In the afternoon Sarah took the kids out to see her friend Karen who is visiting from Hong Kong. Then in the evening we went to the big birthday bash and Angela's house. Megan kindly babysat for us.

Then on Sunday, Sarah took the boys to Nathan Woo's birthday party (Liesel's son). They all had a great time. It was at one of the play centres. Ben and Sarah enjoyed climbing to the top of the "tube thing" and eating a large amount of junk food. They each returned with a balloon and a lolly bag. We just had a quiet sunday afternoon after everyone had a sleep.

A Late Weekly Report.

It was another slow news week. Sorry the report is a bit late.

We didn’t start well with Ben running a temperature last weekend. The only time that Ben likes to cuddle is when he is sick. On Monday Busy Lizzie stepped up to bat with a slight cold. Simon went off to preschool and Ben and Ella had a quiet day,

On Tuesday I was in charge. We had another quiet day. We walked down to the park in the morning. My former work mate Giles came over for lunch and the afternoon. Ella had a long sleep and Ben had an even longer one. Ella was extremely charming when she woke up. She sat on the floor smiling away. It was hard to talk to Giles without looking at Ella. We all went off to fetch Simon from preschool at 4 pm. Ben was having such a long sleep that I had to wake him up to go. Giles left at about 5pm when they all started wanting their dinner. He left with the illusion of the domestic bliss that is the Harris household. Things deteriorated rapidly after he walked out of the door.

Wednesday, I got the phone call from the preschool to say Simon had a temperature and was not himself. As I arrived to pick him I was greeted with cries of “Simon’s dad is here” “Simon your dad is here”. After some TLC and LOTV (lots of TV) he is back to his usual chatty self).

Thursday, Busy Lizzie was back and they all went next door to Megan’s for mother’s group.

On Friday, the cleaners came; it was a very wet rainy cold day. Sarah and the kids didn’t do much.

The weekend was very busy. So busy in fact I’ll put it in another article.

bath time

A record number of baths for the Harris household this week. Three baths in three days for three children.

First ebay sale

Sarah has made her first ebay sale! She sold a baby rocking chair that a friend gave her very cheaply with only one bid. It has been agreed the proceeds of the sale will go to a book for both of them to read. I'm sorry Lisa it won't be a hardback as I only got $25. Maybe I should pay a bit extra for advertising next time...