From 21st October

Saturday HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN HULTGREN!!!! And it starts again!!! We were out the door to basketball practice at 10.00am. Got there and organized everyone, there were a couple missing but overall they look like a nice bunch of kids and parents. Met with the parents after the practice to give them all their info for the upcoming weeks, schedules etc. Then we went to supermarket and grabbed some rolls etc for lunch before heading back to the stadium for Conner’s practice at 12.30. Conner’s team is not looking too bad either. There was 3 kids missing so we will see, the ones that were there were all about the same skill wise which is great. Conner did really well and shot really well. Out of there by 1.45 and went to watch John’s soccer game, they were playing Justin and Jeremy’s team. They were up 1-0 when we got there, but ended up losing 2-1. Poor John was upset. They were off fireplace shopping for the afternoon; Alfie is off to Boston tomorrow, so they were spending time with Dad. Got home around 2.45 and tidying up and cleaned. The boys went out to play and cleaned out our wardrobe. All the summer stuff was folded and put at the bottom and all the winter stuff at the top. Yes, all of you just laugh. My neurosis is paying off; Ed (from office) wants to contract me out to organize him and his other offices when I’m done with Paula, so HAHAHA!! I used to do that for nothing for my friends and now I’m getting paid to do it. GBA!!!! – As my husband would say. I let the boys stay outside playing, they came in around dark (7.00pm), and they are really good about that. Bruce had called and was on his way home from across the country. Landing in LA at 9.30. The boys did showers and dinner and sat down and watched a movie until 9.45, when Bruce called to say goodnight as he was changing planes. I put them to bed only to have to wake them up at 11.30 to pick Bruce up from the airport. Poor things, they didn’t know where they were, I couldn’t just pick them up though they are just too big and heavy, especially going down the stairs. NOPE!!! We got to the airport, did a couple of laps while Bruce waited for his bags and he drove home. We emptied the car and all went to bed. He had a very successful trip and I’m sure I will insert HERE!! (Hi everyone – yes Bruce here – the trip was a PE conference in Orlando – got really good feedback about the PE Uniforms – I can now also use these contacts to promote the BUG! Gotta love it. But the way – I have a book recommendation for you – it is called “Why We Want You to be Rich” by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki – it isn’t a rah rah book – it is a very good eye opener of the state of economies and why we all need to not rely on government hand outs and most super plans – very interesting – if it wasn’t good – I wouldn’t be writing this!) Another busy Saturday and late night/ early morning. We have a lot of those coming up with the holiday season approaching. Lots of stuff on which is exciting. I think we have full weekends up until New Year with basketball, day trips with mum, all the holidays, and our trips to LA and Seattle, it’s going to be a lot of fun. FYI – My mum (Ellen) leaves on the 6th November to come over so if there is anything anyone would like to send (pictures) seeing as how none of you can be bothered emailing them. Maybe you’ll do it the old fashioned way. Side Note – Miss Paula (what the boys call her) had this CD in the car and I’ve been listening to it for a while, so I finally grabbed it to copy and it’s Keith Urban – Golden Road (can you believe it, Bruce and I had a laugh) I would highly recommend it. I think it’s an old one, but it’s great. Sunday Well, after the late night we were all up at around 8.30, which wasn’t too bad. I got up and the boys asked for pancakes, it’s becoming something they have frequently. Luckily I make great pancakes. Bruce was up so we went through his suitcase and saw what he bought while away and put pressies away and gave the boys their stuff. He got some really nice runner for like $11.00 and some really ugly Kareem Abdul Jabaar ones, but they were $7.00, so why not. Luckily Conner’s team this season is the Laker’s. He bought Conner a pair of runner, as he has a whacking big hole in his others, which I found, he didn’t tell me about. But they were too small, so Jamieson has now got some new basketball shoes. He stayed in bed and I got up put some washing on and made the boys their pancakes. Jamieson had a birthday party at 1.00pm so they had to go out and buy Mikey a present. They went off to the party around 1.00 and Conner and I had a snack and headed out to get him a new pair of shoes for school tomorrow. We went to a couple of stores and finally found some nice ones at Mervyns 50% off We got back and the boys went out to play and I did some baking and prep for dinner. Bruce called Dylan for his birthday and had a nice catch up. The boys came in, we had some dinner and they went off to bed around 8.00. Early morning tomorrow we have to go to the Charles’s, I’m sitting with Cooper and Dylan while Kristin fills in for what should be Paula’s parent helping (but she is in LA until Wed). Monday It’s Say no to Drugs week, so the kids have got lots of fun stuff on this week. Jamieson’s teacher Mrs Sack dressed up as a Bumble Bee today, for bee smart, live drug free. I dropped the boys off at school and I went to the Charles’s. I was looking after Cooper and Dylan while Kristin did parent helping. Poor little Cooper is teething so it’s wasn’t the best fun, I pretty much walked him around the house for 2 hours. Poor Dylan, we did some drawing but I had to hold Cooper. I drove over as Bruce wasn’t leaving for the office until later. Bruce didn’t have to go in early so he was at home working. He dropped me at work. Beautiful day around 28c, got some of my projects done which was good. I feel like I’m making a dent. Kristin picked me up from work and we went to school to pick up the boys. We did homework; the boys went out to play. I cleaned, and prepped for dinner. There is a walk through the apartment tomorrow, so it has to be clean. I spoke to mum for an hour or so on skype. We went though her list etc for when she comes over. Everyone is very excited, not many sleeps now. We had some dinner, the boys went off to bed, I did some work and so did Bruce. Just another beautiful Monday in Northern California, it’s getting cooler here in the mornings otherwise it’s still around 80F most days. Tuesday Woke up to another beautiful morning, we all got organized and went over to school while Bruce worked at home. This morning the kids were able to bring their slippers, for Give Drugs the slip. Mrs. Sack was dressed in red top and cape & red flannel pants. To top it off she had red fluffy slippers with big googly eyes with glasses, very cool. No parent helping, the kids were off to an assembly so I got some gluing to do at home instead. Bruce dropped me off at work, got stuck into my big job, organizing project binders. It took a lot of the day and I’m still not done yet, big job. Kristin picked me up from work and we went to pick the boys up from school. We went home, had some snacks and did homework, then around 4.00 we walked over the school for my Parent teacher with Mrs Sack. The boys went to the oval to watch the school flag football team. The interview went pretty much as expected, she thinks he’s great and he is doing fantastic, nothing bad to report, the only thing he has to work on is slowing down and not going ahead at times when he shouldn’t. Came home, Bruce got home around 6.00 had chicken for dinner, no cooking, yeah for me. The boys went out and played for a while. They came in did the usual shower and dinner, some reading and then went off to bed around 8.30. I started my gluing for tomorrow and Bruce went into the office and did some Billy Bounce props. The gluing took me an hour or so and then I chilled out in front of the TV before heading off to bed around 10.30pm. A pretty successful day, for all of us. Wednesday Funny hat day at school, so we compromised, I raided the Billy bounce bag and found the wig and ball hat. So Jamieson got the wig and we put a cap on it and Conner took the cut out ball. Jamieson thought he looked great until we got to school and then the kids thought it was really funny, but he got upset, so I had to take the wig home. Mrs Sack was dressed as Twister for ‘Don’t let drugs twist your mind’. Her outfit was fantastic, she had a twister board dress, where she got the twister fabric is beyond me. She also had the actual board as a hat. They just have so much fun, no wonder Jamieson is doing so well. I walked back home, grabbed Paula’s car and drove to the airport to pick up Paula from her conference in LA. We drove back to work, then worked until 2.00 when Kelly dropped me back home. We did homework, I made Halloween cookies, then I went out to do the groceries, Bruce called to let me know that Paula and the boys were grabbing some dinner and coming to have it at our place with us. By the time I got back they were all pretty much finished, they stayed for a little longer and then went off home. Bruce and I did some work on the computer and then off to bed at a reasonable hour, 10.30. Another busy day in Sacramento, it was actually a cool day today; I have to say I’m not sure if I’m ready for it. The apartment was actually cool tonight. Thursday Bruce was up and out of the house early this morning; Jamieson came in and jumped into bed with me for a little while. We were out the door and off to school. I did parent helping in Conner’s grade this morning. He looks like he’s doing really well, thank goodness. I left there around 9.45 and walked home, Paula came and got me. We chatted about the night we’d had and she dropped me off at work and headed off the Plymouth for her usual Thursday. I continued on with my projects until around 2.00 when Bruce came and picked me up. We came home and I got changed and went over to school to pick the boys up and go to running club. Chatted with Kristin, Dylan and Cooper. We went off to running club, Conner took off running Jamieson pitched a tantrum cause he didn’t want to do it. Which is fine, but I was running and Jamieson decided that he didn’t want me to run so he was running beside me grabbing my shirt and arms. You can imagine how happy that made me. Needless to say by the end of the session he was running and playing games with the rest of us. We got home and did homework, Millie and Lexie dropped in for a coffee. After they left, I jumped into the car and did some shopping. I got some great bargains, jackets and skirt with top. I got home and the boys were going off to bed, Jamieson was out like a light 5 mins later. Conner and I chatted with Rael’s and Felix on Skype for a while. After that I sat down to watch Grey’s, repeat – not happy Jan. So here I am, 10.30 and finishing off today’s installment. So that was our day today, lots of fun and tantrums too. Wouldn’t be a day without them I suppose. Coming to the end of another week, the kids have a minimum day tomorrow, so we are off the park at 12.30 after school finishes which should be fun. Weather permitting of course. In case you were wondering, Mrs Sack was dressed as a Tootsie roll today, the theme was ‘Role Model’, not sure how that fits in but she looked fantastic anyway. Good night everyone, I’m off to bed. Friday Another week has come to an end and we are all a little tired. Bruce was off at 6.00am and the boys and I were out the door at 8.00, as usual. I walked to work as it was a minimum day today so the boys were only in school until 12.30. I decided not to take my laptop to work; I had enough stuff to do without it, so why wreck the back even more. It was a beautiful morning for a walk, listening along with Keith Urban, I’m a new fan. Went through the usual routine for a Friday, its admin day so I ploughed through. I left the office just after 11.30 so I could make it home to get all the snacks etc ready to take to school. We are going straight to the park for a play to say goodbye to a family that is moving to Texas. I made it to school; bags loaded up and off we all went to the park. Reports got sent home today – Jamieson, I have already been through with Mrs. Sack at Parent teacher conference, all A’s and a B+ in math, because he rushes sometimes without listening to instructions. Typical Jamieson!!!! Conner we are really proud of, he worked really hard to make up some of the ground he needed to and got all B’s and a C+. Also some really encouraging and proud comments from his teachers, so overall it was a really good report day. Paula and the boys came and Kristin was going home to drop off the groceries and bringing the boys over. The kids all played and the mum’s all chatted until around 2.30, so that filled in a nice amount of time. We decided that we would see them before they go so it wasn’t too sad. We walked home and grabbed Paula’s car dropped her at work and then I took all the boys out so Justin and Jeremy to get Paula a birthday present for Monday. We got back to the office at around 5.00 and grabbed some pizzas for dinner and made our way home. Bruce called and was on his way home from the office, Friday night traffic so it would be a lottery as to how long it would take. (Bruce here again – yes- the lottery was alive because over on the next freeway - #99 – a policeman had been shot in the afternoon – so they had closed the freeway – thankfully the drive home was only 1 hour) We had some dinner and the girls had a nice Bailey’s, which went down very well after a big week. Bruce arrived home after we had just finished, and grabbed some pizza too. We hung out and chatted until around 7.30 when they left to go home and do baths and all that stuff. Our boys did pretty much the same, they were tired and were in bed and out to it at 9.30. Bruce was working in the office as per usual and I’m here typing in the blog. It’s now time for bed; we are all stuffed and have a big weekend ahead. Basketball practice in the morning/afternoon, going to the pumpkins patch and getting pumpkins for carving tomorrow night at the Charles’s. I’m also making a birthday cake for Paula and Alfie’s birthday, it’s on Monday but just in case we don’t see them. (Alfie wanted a cake like Bruce’s). You ask and you shall receive, if possible. I’ve decided on the same cake as Bruce’s (Mud Like Cake) but I am putting Chocolate Mousse as frosting for something different, I’ve done it before for Bruce’s birthday once and it was very yummy Then Sunday Bruce has to go into work and I think Paula and the kids and I are going into our office to put some new desks together. So half a working day on Sunday then I’m sure it will be a sloth for the rest of the day. Time to sign off for another week, I hope everyone is going well and your Christmas shopping has started, or you’re all at least thinking about it. From all of us here in Sunny (still) Northern California, have a great weekend and a really good week. GOOD LUCK TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE STARTING EXAMS, REMEMBER TO TAKE IN THE CADBURY CHOCOLATE FOR THAT EXTRA SPARK YOU MAY NEED, YOU CAN WORK IT OFF LATER. Note to all for webcam and messaging- USA is going off day light savings and Australia is going on so we gain 2 hours. The difference will only be 5 hours after this weekend not 7, YEAY!!!! Mum, turn your Sacramento clock back an hour!!!