Back to tennis

We found out that Sasha hadn't wanted to continue tennis after last term, however that was because she doesn't like to have too many after-school activities. It was pretty overwhelming last term & it wasn't something we'd intentionally done. However we've now got it down to just two activities - dancing/acrobatics on Wednesdays & swimming on Thursdays. Both of which she thoroughly enjoys.

However, after finding out that it wasn't that she didn't want to do tennis, just that she didn't want to do it after school, David suggested we see about a weekend class. So today, she & Nikita went back to Tiny Tots Tennis at 9am. So no sleep-in. But then, we were awake from 4/4.30am when David left anyway. ***yawn*** !!!!

It was so lovely down there at Anning Park this morning. We had a max temp of 28oC today. Unseasonally warm temps all this week & next - fine, fine, fine & between 27-29oC. It seems so strange. However on a Saturday morning at tennis, I sure as heck ain't gonna complain about it!!! The class is HUGE, with lots of smaller kids 3-4 year olds. However, with Sasha being such a shortie, she doesn't really stand out too much. You can tell she's older, just be her overall body shape - she doesn't look like she's just grown out of toddlerhood.

We spent the rest of the day at home, kids playing & me trying to catch up on some neglected housework duties.

It's all silent in the house now, so I'm going to work on some photos before heading off for an earlyish night. Really need to get some of these photo's finished & published & archived and my PC HDD is full!!!

Twiddleybitz comp!

Just thought that any scrappers who might read my blog would be interested to see that Twiddleybitz has a comp on for some freebies. Check out this post & get all the goss!!

ANZAC Day 2009

Lest we forget.

We had planned to go to the Dawn Service at Kings Park, followed by breakfast in the city & then watch the parade. David was supposed to be home on holidays. However that all changed when his work roster got thrown out the window & now he's back to the go when needed, and come home when he's not needed.

So I decided against the Dawn Service at Kings Park. Instead we caught the train to the city & watched the parade. It was HUGE!! So much bigger than the Rockingham one. We got streetside vantage point, albeit a very crowded one. And we only had to wait about 1/2 hour before the parade came past. The girls were a bit antsy waiting, but enjoyed munching out on the home-made ANZAC biscuits that we made yesterday. They thoroughly enjoyed the start of the parade with the horses, the Navy, the bands, the old fire truck & waving their flags & clapping to the Old Diggers who went past. However the parade took almost 2 hours all up, and I think their patience ran out at about 1.5hrs. My hands were so sore from all that clapping. But I am grateful & it's but a small way to say thank you.

We caught the train back home again & it was totally packed out.

I can't upload any photo's as my computer is chocka block on the memory side of things. So my next job for tonight is to try to sort that little problem out!!

7am

At 7am today, I was woken by my radio alarm. How cool is that!!! Well it is kinda cool considering I've been woken lately, earlier & earlier by ***someone*** wanting a cuddle. Just to clarify, David is actually offshore, so it's been the two most gorgeous girls of this house wanting some attention. But at "earlier & earlier", it aint always so gorgeous.

So anyway, to do the right thing by them, because I feel it's reasonable to expect that they stay in their own rooms & quietly entertain themselves until 7am, but it's a bit unreasonable to expect them to stay in there forever so that I can get a sleep in, so I got up & went down to their rooms. Sasha was already awake & playing quietly in her room with her room closed. Nikita was still asleep, cuddling her teddy & sucking her thumb. I climbed into her bed & gave her a cuddle to wake up to instead. :) So sweet. And the first thing she told me was about what she'd been dreaming. She'd dreamt that her finger was a paint brush & she was painting a picture of Daddy with spikey hair. Kinda cool to see her imagination hard at work as she slumbers on.

Had kind of a sucky day with them as they were both pretty whingey, whiney & niggling each other. By 1pm I'd had enough & put them both into bed for an afternoon sleep. They really needed it. At 3pm I went to wake them both up & things were much better in the late afternoon. Somehow I doubt I'll get to sleep until 7am tomorrow though.

AJ came over to mow the lawns late in the day. Both the girls helped me to move the swingset. I love getting them to help me with real things. Sasha paid him his $40 & Nikita went to great lengths to get him a beer and a stubby holder because the glass was cold. LOL She's seen David have a beer with him a couple of times & seems to think that he should get paid a beer every time.

The other bit of cool imaginitive play I saw today was when they sat at their red IKEA table & Nikita loudly pronounced "Let's play Governments" and Sasha replied "I'll be Kevin Rudd because he's my favourite Government" and then they played. Most of which I couldn't make head or tail of - nothing unusual when it comes to Governments anyway. There was a fair bit of dolly smacking, which I found a bit disturbing. And then Kevin Rudd apologised to the dolly. Make of that what you will.

On a side note, I've given up Pepsi Max about 3 weeks ago now. At Sasha's request. My weight's been on the increase. I think this is partly due to the dropping of the Pepsi Max, and also partly due to Easter/Camping and general crap diet. So tonight I'm getting back on the cross trainer & hopefully going to make some changes. Gotta stop the late night snacking for a start - that usually what causes the most problems for my weight I think. So unnecessary.

I just wanted to say....

Hi Belinda!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Feeling guilty for not doing much in here. I seem to have dropped off in my internet activities somewhat over the past 6 months or so. Not too sure why. I tend to just lurk around instead of actually posting something.

Not going to make any unlikely-to-be-fulfilled promises about changing that either. Just gotta say that Bloglines Rules. No more wasting time visiting un-updated blogs. ;)

Sasha's First Day of Year 1

Well the summer holidays have come & gone in the blink of an eye. I'm not even going to attempt to start to outline what we got up to - it was busy & that's all I'm going to say on the matter at this stage. Maybe *sometime* I'll make a little list of what we did.

For now though, I just wanted to celebrate a milestone. It's Sasha's milestone. Today she started her first day of full-time, COMPULSORY schooling in Year 1. Her classroom is LA3 & her Pre-Primary classmates & teacher have all come forward into Year 1 together which is just wonderful. She has a fab class and a great teacher. Methinks she's in for a fun year!

Kindy & Pre-Primary have been fun, and interesting & a great grounding for what will hopefully be a wonderful academic adventure. Last night Sasha was just about jumping out of her skin in excitement to be starting Year 1. It's so cool that's she's excited, rather than negative or even apprehensive.

So today, we as family, took her in to her new classroom & helped her to find her desk. She put all her supplies on her desk & sat down. All the parents hung around the classroom for a bit as if waiting in case Miss Pollini had any news/information for us, but she just dismissed us all & we left her to it.

When I picked Sasha up, she was still full of excitement & enthusiasm. She told me she'd been learning some rules about being in Year 1, and had been to her music lesson just before the end of the day - I'd seen her coming back from the library direction. How exciting!! I hadn't even contemplated that she'd have 'music lessons'.

I'm really looking forward to taking her in in the morning & having her show me her drawer & pencil pot & any other interesting things she wants to let me in on. I love been a school mum. :D

He smiled

Right up to the end.
(Photo taken 23 December, prior to vet trip that I thought would be his last - isn't he just a beautiful dog!!).

Today was the day when we had to put Diggitty to sleep at 4.30pm. I'm oscillating between devastation & denial.

David & I had been out celebrating Christiian's 40th last night & were feeling a bit under par today, so I had a sleep on the couch in the afternoon. David had an afternoon sleep & so did Nikita. Sasha entertained herself with her new Nintendo DS & also played some lego.

I dreamt that I had to put Digs down as his stomach was bloated & had a dark red rash like the blood poisoning thing. Anyway I watched as he tried to do a wee & his back legs got lower & lower & eventually he slumped down right after he'd been to do a wee. He rested for a minute & then tried to get up & did a funny waddle to the swings & tried to wee on the leg of the swings. Then he waddled away over to the shady area of the grass near the patio. And rested again for a minute or two. And again, walking a little better, to the shady grass near the trampoline. He lay there, the upright lying, with his head up & a big grin on his face as if he was pleased with his effort.

But I knew this was it. Next he'd be unable to poo properly. He'd been a bit incontinent (wees) since going on the pain killers. But geez it was hard - he was still so happy. He wouldn't drink any water either. Sasha & I put water on our fingers & he licked them to get some moisture. He gave Sasha a kiss on her cheek too.

He smiled all the way to the vet's & even when David took him for once last pee patrol on the bushes outside the vet's. Even though he couldn't stand up. So amazing. He was happy, despite his pain, because he knew he was loved as much as he loved us.

His appetite had really wained in the last 24 hours though. From eating half a chicken for lunch yesterday to refusing dinner & late supper when we got home last night. Today all he ate was a packet of ham & some bacon which David had cooked for breakfast. The rest of the roast chicken has now been thrown away.

Anyway, at the vet's it was a bit frustrating as they were waiting for us, all ready to go & knock off for the day. The girl at reception wasted all my time that I could have spent with Digs by fluffing around instead of getting the payment organised & the consent form signed. I actually had to ask for the consent form before the vet headed outside without me!

We had him attended to in the back of the car as that was a familiar place for him. The first injection didn't go well - it seemed quite painful for him - his leg tensed up & he tried to pull away & then the vein collapsed. He did get a little anaesthetic in that leg which meant he lay down & rested his head. Then the vet had to shave his other leg & try again, and that was it, he was gone in less than a minute. It was peaceful, and like Angel, he didn't shudder or sigh. He did look a bit more 'dead' than Angel did. But I think that's because I looked for it this time. Angel only looked asleep or unconscious. But still he didn't look different. We all gave him one last kiss & cuddle, to last forever.

The girls, Sasha in particular, were a lot more emotional this time. Clinging to my leg & wanting to be there with him too. And crying all the way home. David was strong & patted my back throughout the procedure

I also cut some fur from his mane & it's here in front of me in a zip lock bag. And that's all I have left of my darling Diggitty. I'll miss him so much. Just his presence. His licks & kisses. His beautiful soft fur. His love. He really was a wonderful fellow. So beautiful, gentle, loving, intelligent & calm. A good natured dog. His only vice was his fear aggression for other dogs, and in that I was his protector. It doesn't give me a sense of relief to wonder where he is now, because if he's surrounded by other dogs, I imagine that he's probably not very happy to be there without me to make him feel safe. I hope he's okay. It was an inevitable situation though, & I'd told him last week he needed to be brave & he would be okay.

I knew this week was it for him. The weather's going to be HOT, unbearably hot - 39oC & then thunderstorms. But it's such a shame as well. His 13th birthday is on Wednesday. At least his last day was a happy one, and a lot more comfortable than it would have been later this week.

So that's it. We're now a dog-less family with a big empty backyard. It's going to take a loooong time to recover from this I fear. I felt I'd finally turned a corner with the loss of Angel just a few weeks ago. It's been a very emotionally draining few weeks, yet also a time filled with give the boy back just a little of what he's given us over the past 13 years.

We are going to have a big clean up over the next few weeks & get rid of our dog things. All the good quality stuff will be donated to Shenton Park Dog Home. When we eventually get another dog, quite a few years down the track, we'll get new things.

RIP Diggitty. I hope you are feeling safe & I know that you know how much we love you. Thank you for being my companion.