He's at it again...

Matthew is always in the wars.  If it isn't a broken leg, a broken collar bone, sugery to remove porcelain from his eye, nearly broken fingers then it is something else!!  This time he was riding BJ's new bike down a very steep hill when all of a sudden he hit the breaks and went head first over the handle bars.  Blood was gushing everywhere but luckily it was only his eyebrow and not his skull.  This injury required lots of 'glue' from the doctor and thankfully no stitches.  It did however, leave a big scar in his eyebrow!!

north zone

Last year, Matt was chosen to play for the Under 9's North Zone team.  This is the first age group for representative soccer and a carnival was played at Ipswich with all the surrounding distiricts in South East Queensland.  Matthew's team did very well and came 2nd overall. 

 

Matt was one of only three players who played every minute of every game in his team.  Needless to say that by the end of the carnival we had one very tired boy.

Matt's first BIG carnival

Matt has competed in his first BIG carnival - that is the Yrs 4-6 carnival at school.  Matt was quite nervous at the start of the day but finished off very strong.  He came 5th in high jump and 2nd in long jump!!  therefore Matt was able to go to the CSSA carnival to represent school in the long jump. 

Matty jumping in the high jump

Matty jumping in the long jump

WELL DONE MATTY!!

First X-Courntry

Well this year saw Matty running the x-country for the first time.  He was not too sure what to expect so he did some training on a Friday morning before school for several weeks, but nothing really prepared Matty for what was ahead.  On the day Matty was really nervous but he still ran his best.  Matthew finished 12th out of 40 boys which Mummy was so very proud of him. Matthew gave his all and even overtook some boys on the last home stretch which gave him a real boost.  Matthew is already talking about doing more training for next year as he wants to better his position.  He really enjoyed his morning at cross country.

long hair louts

The boys have NEVER had hair this long before!!  Before the Christmas holidays the boys asked me if they could grow their hair for the WHOLE of the school holidays - and I said YES!!  why oh why did I say yes.  Half way through the holidays they looked like a part of homeless boys.  At the time they did ask their hair was not too bad but after a few weeks they looked like a pair of wooly mammoths.  The boys loved having long hair and have already started asking if they can do it again next Christmas holidays!!

two cuties

Matt and Lucy

This photo was taken when Lucy and I went on an excursion with Matt to a dairy farm.  We all had such a great day. 

soccer stars

At this years Soccer Presentation Night, Matt was awarded his participation trophy for playing with the Chargers!!

Matt with his trophy

BJ was also awarded a participation trophy for playing with the Hornets as well as the Best & Fairest from his team.  BJ was so excited about receiving his Best & Fairest trophy because Matt was given this last year.  You could not wipe the smile off his face for days!!  We are so proud of you boys, you both had a fantastic year of soccer.

BJ with his two trophies and his BIG smile!

gorgeous boy

These photos are taken down at one of our favourite Sunday afternoon spots.  Matthew is definitely an adventure boy and not even cold weather will stop him getting wet and muddy when the tide is out.

two years until long service!!

Mummy has been a 'stay at home mum' for 8 years so does that mean I am up for my long service leave in two years??   I can hardly believe my baby boy has turned 8 and is growing up way too fast.  Matty had such a great birthday.  It started off with Noonie sleeping over so she was here for the present opening and for a very quick breakfast.  Matthew was very spoilt again this year with lots of books, clothes, nick nacks and all importantly a new scooter.  This present definitely made Matty's day.

Matty opening some presents

some of his books

his scooter

Noonie and the kids

After the special morning it was off to school to share the traditional cupcakes.  For dinner Matty chose his favourite mushroom dinner (beef stroganoff) followed by waffles for dessert.  Matty also wanted his birthday cake to be made out of waffles so it was a very easy cake for Mummy to do.

Matty and his cake

Matty with Mama and Grandad

Happy Birthday Matthew!!

Matthew the adventurer

Matthew loves to have an adventure.  So recently he learnt how to burn paper with a magnifying glass.  Matthew has loved to learnt this new skill, Mummy hopes it doesn't get him into too much trouble! 

Also Matthew loves to rock climb.  At our local Anaconda store you can pay only a few dollars to have a turn on the rock climbing wall.  This is one activity he absolutely loves.  Benjamin is counting down the days until he turns 7 so he can have a go.

boys first day back

Benjamin and Matthew

This year Benjamin is in Year 1 and Matthew is in Year 3.  I can hardly believe that I have three out of four children in school.  Where does the time go??  The boys were so excited about starting back at school.  They took such a long time to get to sleep the night before but that did not stop them getting ready in record time the next morning. 

Best Buddies

Matthew and Jack at the church christmas carols

Matthew and Jack have been friends since Prep but Best Buddies since Year 1.  These two are such great friends who act as 'old men' at times with their converstaions and emailling back and forth.  Eventhough they have not been in the same class for two years, they have there meeting point at morning tea and lunch so they can sit together to eat and then go off and play.  These two will be friends for a very long time to come.

goo

Matthew had been to a 'Professor Jellybean' birthday party earlier in the day where he had made three different types of goo.  This was a fantastic birthday party and he had so much fun because Matty is very much into making and inventing stuff.  When he got home BJ and Annie were very excited to play with the goo too so once they all had they bath Matty set up the temporary dining room table as the goo space.  He then proceeded to give them instructions on how to use it then he put the timer on for 5 minutes so they could all have the same amount of time at each area before rotating onto the next area.  Does this sound like he has teachers as parents?!

taking turns playing with the goo

merit bar kid

What a big year it has been for Matty at school.  Not only did he receive a ROC certificate but he also worked hard enough to earn himself a merit bar.  So with Mum and Dad both in attendance at the assembly we proudly watched our boy walk up on stage and receive his special badge.  So Matthew has a blue badge from Year 1 and now a green badge to add to his collection from Year 2

Well Done Matthew, you have worked very hard this year!!

cheeky Lucy waiting at assembly

matthew madness

Matthew always likes to do something at least once.  So when Noonie brought home a night mask from her overseas trip away, Matthew just had to give it a go!  So off to bed he went with his new toy to try out.  Surprisingly enough he slept the whole night with it on! 

not another one

When I picked the boys up from school Matty was complaining of some very sore fingers. He told me that he was pushed over at lunch time and landed on his two fingers and that he had had an ice pack on them for the rest of the afternoon. Tomas, Matt's friend, verified this story with compassion in his voice. When I looked at the fingers, Mummy's heart sank because you could hardly move them, they were completely covered in bruises and you would not let me touch them. We immediately went up to Dad so you could show him your fingers and he too thought you better go straight up to the hospital.

So off you went with Dad for another hospital visit. The nurses took you straight in as they also suspected what Mummy and Daddy thought and that was they were broken. The doctors ordered x-rays immediately so off you went knowing exactly what you were in for as this was definitely NOT your first time. Once the x-rays were back the doctors were very surprised that the fingers were not broken but that you had only badly bruised them and had ligament damage so they decided to put them in a splint for 4 days to help with the swelling and healing of the fingers. When you returned home Mummy was so pleased to hear the news as I did not need to have another child with something wrong with their hand!! You were also excited because the sore fingers were on your left hand so you were still able to write at school. (I think from your experience with your broken collar bone and not being able to write for weeks you were so relieved to know you didn't have to go through that again)

Matthew with his splint on.

You were so glad when the four days were over and we could take off your splint, however they were still tender to touch and still covered in bruises. The bruises too several weeks to disappear and for you to get full movement back in to your fingers.

Book Fair

This year for book fair, the students had an opportunity to dress up as their favourite book character. Seeing as the boys are obsessed with anything 'SPY' at the moment, it was no surprise when they asked to go as Zac Power.

BJ and Matt as Zac Power

The boys had on their camo gear, backpacks with secret gadgets hidden away, special microphones and their GIB identity cards. The boys had a great day at school and really enjoyed playing in character during lunchtime.

soccer carnival

Every year at the end of the soccer season the boys participate in a carnival to mark the end of the season. Both boys were so excited about playing in the carnival due to the fact it was BJ's first year of soccer and Matthew could not participate last year due to his broken collarbone. The days leading up to the carnival the boys could hardly contain their excitement.

The carnival was a such a great day. The team played three games on the record breaking 30 something degree August Saturday. All the boys were absolutely exhausted by the end of the day but they had SO MUCH fun. The coach and manager gave each boys a special certificate at the end to mark such a wonderful season. 'The Chargers' were undefeated all season (until the carnival in which they won one game) so this was definitely an achievement worth celebrating.

We are so proud of you boys!

busy boys

One Saturday afternoon the boys decided to make some scooter jumps. So Daddy got out his scrap wood, nails and power drills and off the went. Firstly the boys came up with a design, then they chose the most suitable scraps of wood and then hammering they went.

BJ, Daddy and Matt putting the design into action

BJ using the power drill to put it altogether

Once it was all constructed there was only one thing left to do.... try it out!!

BJ was quite nervous about the whole thing so it took him several tries to get the hang of it.

BJ's first attempt

Matthew though is a natural when it comes to doing stunts!

Matthew thought this was the 'coolest'.

Lucy is never one to miss out so her big brother was very willing to help her out.

Matt helping Lucy

Annie is just like Matthew so any opportunity to be a 'stunt driver' she is there!

Annie is always one to give things a go

The kids had so much fun doing this and are already thinking up of other things to make.

sports day '09

Sports Day carnival for 2009 was BJ's first ever carnival. His excitement and pure joy was so lovely to watch. The boys could hardly believe THE day had finally arrived after the carnival had been cancelled twice before due to wet weather and the maintenance men leaving the sprinklers on all night the night before!

The cheering squad: Annie, Grandma and Grandad

Due to the fact that BJ is in Prep, he only needed to wear his usually uniform. However, Matt needed to wear his house shirt which is blue for BOOTH. (Booth being named after the great William and Catherine Booth, the founders of the Salvation Army)


The day started off with the usual March Past:

(Matthew in the blue crowd somewhere)

After the march past the Prep start their activities first so they can head back to class as it is a very long day for them.

Matthew watching BJ in the ball games

The first activity for the Preps is the ball game, Over and Under. BJ's team had so much fun doing this game, eventhough they did lose concentration at one point and lost the ball at another but nonetheless they had fun.

BJ lining up in his ball game team

The next activity for BJ was his running race. This was the moment BJ had been waiting for. He had trained for weeks beforehand in class, and had talked non stop about it the night before.

BJ's race

Eventhough BJ did not come first, he just couldn't believe that he had FINALLY ran his race and that he got a sticker for trying!

After the Prep's had finished it was then time to start the rest of the carnival. Which means it was Matt's turn. Matt loves a good race and this was no exception. He put everything into it and came 5th.

Matt's race

After his race it was time for the toddlers race. Annie and Lucy both ran in the race and got a sticker for their efforts (which Lucy was most proud of as she showed it off to all the hospital staff when we went up there for a dressings change after that race).

Annie and Lucy after their race.

So after the toddlers race, Mum had to take Lucy up for a dressings change, so Annie, Grandma and Grandad stayed on to cheer Matty in his ball game, Captain Ball, in which his team came 1st and in his fun run (a lap and a half around the oval) in which all the kids participate in and he came 5th overall for Year 2.

At the end of the day the winning team was announced and it was BOOTH!! the boys were so excited that their team won.

We are so proud of you boys!!