Birthday Boys

This year Josh turned 11 on the 8th of October and Ben turned 7 on the 25th of October. Gosh the years have flown by.

This year was Josh's year to have a party, and it had to be at his favourite place-Scitech. He had a great time with several of his friends from school and some cousins. Unfortuneately I didn't take very many photos. I am not such a wizz with the camera like Tia Sabrina :)

Below is a photo of Josh lighting his own birthday cake. One of the highlights of the day. He is quite the pyro-maniac, just look at the concentration on his face.

Ben did not get to have a party this year. Next year he will be eight so we will be sure to make a huge fuss of him, being his baptism year. For now he just had some time with the family enjoying some birthday cake. Although the enjoying part was cut short when he tried to light his own candles like Josh and ended up burning his fingers.

Here Ben is holding a 'peas and corn' ice pack on his fingers. Ouma is safely holding the cake to avoid any more accidents with flames.

Ben tries to put on a brave face and something resembling a smile for his birthday photo. Poor kid.

School Carnival 2010

This was the first year in a long time that the School Carnival has been full of smiles. The last 2 years Josh has come dead last. So last in fact that the kids have finished the race and he is still only half way. Poor little soul is trying his very best but his legs just won't go as fast as he wills them. Races have previously ended in tears with comments like "I'm broken" and "I'm a loser". Well this year was a whole different story. Josh was allowed a head start. The gun went off twice, once for him then the rest of the boys. He has such a great class. Some of the boys said they wanted to let him win any way. Even though he was given a 50m head start in a 100m race he tied for second with his good mate Ken. Ken let him have all the glory though and he got to stand triumphant on the stand.

What really touched my heart was not only the good sportsmanship of the other boys racing him but the wonderful support from all the parents watching. This race was well past the middle of the day and parents were really just chatting between themselves by this stage and making sure they payed attention when their child was racing. But when Josh started running, at first all was silent. I was at the end of the lane yelling out and jumping up and down. But as he ran down that race track, all on his own, people began to notice. Probably at first because it was so unusual, but then, as they realised it was Josh, everyone started to cheer. The excitement and commeraderee was palpable, and this year I wanted to cry for joy and not sadness. Josh not only won the race but has won the hearts of so many people during his time at Wilson Primary. After he stepped down from the stand, beaming from ear to ear, parents yelled out welldone and gave him high fives and hugs as he made his way back to his seat. It was a momentous occasion.








Miss Elisabeth also did a great job in her 100m race. She won by a good 3m or so. Of course being so tall means one of her steps is equal to about three steps to another. She was so thrilled with herself as the shot below shows.








Liz also came 4th in the 400m race. That was a tough one and took its toll on her. I recorded this race at the end. Her face says it all.












I am afraid Ben is not much of an athlete at the moment. However his good natured spirit and sportsman ship enabled him to have a great day. For a boy that is fiercely competitive on computer games he is rather layed back when it comes to physical sports. He came last in his 80m race, but arrived at the finish line all smiles and telling me "it was fun, but can we go home now?"





Later in the day he was in a team sport and his team came first. In the picture below he is sitting proudly with his first ribbon with his best friend Gerald.





All in all it was an exhausting but great day. My babies made me so proud.

Puppy Playtime

This is so cute. Millie and her puppy (aka Meatball. Poppet and Muttley) often play together. We thought you might like to check out their antics.

Book Week at School

Last week was Book Week and so the kids got to dress up as their favourite Book Character. Abby of course chose Tinkerbell. She made a lovely fairy as well.



Abby's friends at Kindy

Lizzie, Josh and Ben dressed up on a different day because Kindy is only 2 days a week. Ben wanted to dress up as the Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride. Josh wanted to be a pirate too, not for any particular reason. Lizzie wanted to dress up as the White Queen from Alice in Wonderland

Josh stays in Character and thinks I have come to arrest the evil villain.

Lizzie is disappointed she got a crappy bookmark as a reward for dressing up. She even has to colour it in herself, talk about cheapskates.

Family Photo. My older sister Tanya and her 3 children with Liz and Josh.

Too many pets

So our family of pets seems to be growing and growing. We recently adopted a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel who we names Charlie. He is quite a cute and a sook. He has settled easily into the family, dispite the fact the he likes to pee on everything.

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Why did we get another dog? Well Charlie is an unsterilised pedigree Cavalier and would make a perfect mate for our Beagle Millie. The Stud dog that we have used in the past for Millie was not so successful the last 2 times, as she firstly did not fall pregnant and then when she did she only had 1 pup. So here's hoping Charlie will reduce stud fees and give a better return on our investment. If not, then oh well, he is still a lovely dog and pet.

Here are some pics of the pup Millie had. He has had a few names but the one that has seemed to stick is Meatball. When he eats he turns into this little round ball, and one day Lizzie said he looks like a meatball and the name just stuck. We can't really be too serious about names as we will sell him soon and must try and not get too attached.

Millie is exhausted after a long labour.

Meatball at about 3 and a half weeks

He quickly worms his way into your heart

Down at the beach

Last Summer it was at first a joke and then became a bit of a sore point when ever I suggested we should go to the dog beach. If we were ever pressed for things to do on a lovely hot day I of course would suggest the dog beach. Blair would roll his eyes and curse at me saying 'Not the dog beach again. You and the bloody dog beach,' and so we never went as a family and months went by and I dare not to mention it.

Then out of the blue, on a lovely summers day I said without thinking that we should try out the dog beach. To my surprise Blair said yes and off we went. Since then we have not looked back and now I sigh when Blair suggests we go to the dog beach, as it became our regular weekend outing on a hot sunny day.

The dog beach is a lovely family and dog friendly environment. The water is crystal clear and very calm. The kids and the dog have a great time and Mum and Dad don't mind it either.

There is water in my eye. Help!

This is about the closest Josh will get to the water.

My little sandgropers.

Hey Mummy, Do you like mud pie?

And this is all that is left of Ben

Just kidding!

Now some pics of the dog.

She never finds it hard to make friends.

Easter Hat Parade

Welcome to Wilson Primary School's Easter Hat Parade 2010. Starting first in our range of Campbell Easter hats is Abigail Campbell wearing a home and school mix. Unable to decide which one to wear, Abigail decided to go out on a limb and wear both to express her individuality and obscure her visual field and depth perception.



Next we have Benjamin Campbell, sporting butterflies and love hearts on a red band with a feather. Quite unusual for a boy who loves spiderman and super heros in general. This hat is obviously an expression of his gentler side.






Here we have Elisabeth Campbell trying to add flair to her hat by acting like a dog. This photo was actually taken by her brother Joshua who was later seen running away from her screaming. Lizzie made her hat using a hot glue gun and managed to only burn one of her fingers this time. It had a bit of a mad hatter/swagman hat feel to it. Very bright and fun.



Below is Joshua Campbell wearing his hat made by Mum. Joshua could not have cared less about making an Easter hat and so Mummy tried to make something that expressed Joshua's mischievious nature. He has a picture of the Road runner with a basket of Easter eggs running away from Cyote. He seemed to enjoy the idea and looked happier wearing this hat rather than the gigantic fluffy bunny head he wore last year.



Later that day for the Easter Hat after party we can spot Abigail Campbell claiming she does not know wear her Easter Egg went.



After some thought she realises it is in her mouth. I think she might need to lay off the chocolate.



Here Lizzie is spotted with her best friend Terrina. Although there is constant friction in the tabloids you hardly ever see them a part.



Last but not least, we see Ben chilling out and taking it easy. Never a sad face to be seen.