Stuff With Thing

Pictures taken by Annie and Nephew M.

On the 11th of Feb 2008 my girls height and weights were:

Heidi 3yo
Height - 102.50cm (= 3.36 feet)
Weight - 17.10kg (= 37.69 lb, lbs)

Annie 4y9mo
Height - 110.20cm (= 3.61 feet)
Weight - 19.60kg (= 43.21 lb, lbs)

Had a check up with the paediatrician today.

Annies blood test results came back with low iron but not too low and low white cell count which we have to get checked again in a couple of months. Her platelets were good and clotting tests came back normal. Negative for gluten intolerance. When we get the white cells checked again we will do more obscure clotting tests. We are now doing a stool test for H.Pylori to see if that is causing the reflux.

Annie 5yrs 1mth
Height - 117cm
Weight - 20.1kg

Heidi 3yrs 4.5mth
Height - 109.5cm
Weight 18kg

Annie is on the 98th percentile for height and weight, Heidi is as usual off the chart

Paed was happy with what we are doing with both girls. Just have to keep an eye on Annie’s bruises in odd places (upper thighs, lower back).

This afternoon I attempted to clean the kitchen. The girls went outside and Annie got into the garage. She dragged out the shovel, rake and broom and cleaned the backyard. All unprompted as ‘a special surprise for you Mummy’.

Raked up the autumn leaves, swept up the sand, used the shovel to attack weeds (which was so funny because it is bigger than her). Then she put the rake, shovel and broom away again. Did an impressively good job. Annie even collected all their outdoor toys into tubs and put them in the garage. Then she cleaned out the inside of the now empty sandpit, got a little container and filled it with the weeds she had dug up and positioned her ‘vase’ in the centre of the sandpit.

She’s only 5! Must be a genetic thing from her Omi who was amazing like that also.

At 3pm I realised I’d forgotten to feed the girls lunch so they had a yogurt and jelly/jello picnic outside while I continued to clean the kitchen.

4pm I put some water on to boil to make pasta for dinner. A bit later I put the pasta on and started mopping the kitchen floor. The water boiled over so I took the lid off the saucepan. Good half hour later I thought I’d better check why the timer hadn’t beeped to say pasta was ready. I forgot to set it.

Also, the kitchen reeked of gas, when the water boiled over it put the flame out but the gas continued to pump through. My first instinct was to relight the stove which I thankfully didn’t follow through on.

Sent the girls out the front door, raced around opening windows - is a very chilly autumn day and the house was closed up with the heating on so no ventilation. Windows open, gas switched off, fans on and we got in the car and left.

Went to SIL L’s place where I promptly spent 10 minutes throwing up. Stayed for an hour then came home to a very cold but thankfully gas free home.

So to sum up my afternoon.

Annie rocks at cleaning.
Mummy is not allowed to play with gas or fire for the next few weeks. All cooking is to be done in the microwave or slow cooker.

Geez I’m an idiot, that could have gone so badly and I was right there in the room and didn’t even notice.

On this day 4 years ago the world lost a wonderful woman, my husband lost his mother, Annie and Heidi (she was in utero) lost their Omi, I lost an amazing mother-in-law.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith
2 Timothy 4:7

Annie and her Omi asleep March 2004

Surrounded by some of her grandchildren

Tuesday

The catalogue arrives.

Spend 2 hours going over catalogue, writing lists of who you are getting what for and comparing lists with in-laws and noting joint purchases.

Transfer your list and everyone else’s into one big excel spreadsheet – include catalogue page numbers, sale price and every other detail you can think of.

Break spreadsheet down by family so you know exactly how much $’s each family is putting in.

Wednesday

Go to K-Mart with your spreadsheet.

Work out where each item on the list is location. Draw a mud map of the store to help you remember.

Check out the trolleys and find out what sort of coin you need to release them.

Go home, rearrange your spreadsheet in order of toy location – those closest to the door at the top of the list etc.

Redraw mud map and scan.

Print 4 copies of map and revised spreadsheet.

Clean house, prepare snack bags for children, layout next mornings clothing, put travel cup beside kettle – add instant coffee, make up sippy cups of milk for children and sandwiches in lunchboxes ready to go in morning.

9.30pm bed.

Thursday

5am wake up
5.30am get out of bed
Boil kettle, wake children, give children milk drinks, make coffee, shower, dress, drink coffee, dress children, put children in car with sandwiches to eat. Call SIL and husband to remind them to meet you at Kmart at 7am.
6.30am pick up long suffering friend Thylacine to help with toddler wrangling.
6.45am arrive at Kmart, park car, get trolleys join long line of people waiting to get in.
7am store opens, following list and map get all toys (except for Baby Born Grr).
7.30am join lay by queue with 4 trolleys full of toys. Long suffering husband arrives to help.
8.01am walk out of Kmart laughing at people at end of now 2 hour long lay by queue.
8.10am McBreakfast – we deserve it.

Total spend - $1165.81
Paid upfront - $108
Amount remaining on lay by - $1057.81
Total Toys Purchased – 54
Avg. Cost per Toy - $21.59
Total Amount Saved - $574.02 (not inc. credit card interest as 6 month lay by is interest free)
Familys toys purchased on behalf of – 3
Children toys purchased for – 16
Joy of not having to go birthday or Christmas shopping until March 2008 – Priceless.