7th Birthday

Just realised I haven't uploaded photos from the wee dude's 7th birthday party so here we are. We started with a family tea on the Saturday night which included a pirate-themed ice-cream cake. Rebecca went all camera-shy in this one:

Of course this was the weekend that the 'unprecedented polar blast' started sweeping over the country so there was some concern given the regular snow showers and gale force winds that his party might end up being postponed but luckily the weather held out. He had 3 girls and 6 boys over and we played some typical party games such as Charades, Pass the Parcel and so on. Here are some of the boys hanging out in the lounge and the girls with Tyler (contrary to the look on his face he was enjoying their company!):

I thought the 3 girls might get a bit side-lined with the boisterous boys, but no, they were right in the thick of things including a game that I will call 'How many kids can we pile up?'

The party was of the typical kids' birthday party variety i.e. containing copious amounts of sugar and fat and virtually nothing of nutrional value. Cheerios, fairy bread, fizzy, lollies, chips etc.

Here's Tyler ready to blow out the candles on his Bakugan cake

Amongst other things, we gave Tyler a watch.

All in all a happy but very tiring weekend for all of us.

In other news, Chris has the middle finger of his left hand in a splint after tearing the tendons off the bone at netball and I have just found out today that I have made it into the local Rugby World Cup choir and will be singing (from memory) the anthems of Scotland, Romania and Argentina. Very excited!!

Seven sleeps

Only 7 sleeps till the wee dude is 7. The excitement is building and his first waking thoughts are centred on his upcoming party. It's going to be a big weekend for him - on Saturday he has a school-friend's party to go to plus his we're having a family tea here, then Sunday is his own party. I think it will be early to bed on Sunday night, assuming he has come down from the sugar-high. Fairy bread does that to a boy.

His current fav toys are Bakugans (hence the style of the invitation) and Beyblades. The house frequently echoes with cries of 'Ability activate!' and 'Let it rip!'

Apart from that, we are all just ticking along. Singing is about to amp up again with a concert in Alex at the end of the month and then preparation for Competitions at the beginning of October. I have a regime of steam inhalations and tablets for various sorts to follow in an effort to get my throat problems sorted once and for all.

Assuming I remember to charge the camera batteries there should be plenty of photos to upload in a week or so.

Faffing about

As you can see, I'm trying a few things with the layout of the blog. I need to sort out the HTML so I can make the photo at the top a tad smaller (not that I don't love it, but it's a little in-your-face).

We've had a nice lazy weekend, the first of the school holidays. The weather played ball and was sunny for both days. Chris had a big night with the boys last night and so T-man and I dragged ourselves out of bed at 5am to pick him up. Fortunately this only occurs approximately twice a year, so for T it is an adventure and for me, a way to bargain for something I want :) To clear his head this afternoon, we took Pedro and headed out to Daffodil Bay and ran, walked, jogged and skipped our way around, managing in the main to avoid tripping over Pedro's lead.

I'm back to work tomorrow and the boys are planning a trip to the movies to see Kung Fu Panda 2. The next day T goes to the OSCAR holiday programme and the following day he's going to Kidzone with his schoolmate.

I'm finalising my repertoire for the Senior Vocal competitions at the end of the 3rd term. I'm going all out to win the Scholarship this year. I reckon I would have won last year if it wasn't for the dreadful test piece for sopranos which was twice as difficult as the tests set for altos, tenors and basses. Fortunately this year's is very straightforward - Music, When Soft Voices Die by Quilter. I have yet to decide what my contrasting piece will be. So far I'm doing Mahler for the Lieder, Handel for Oratorio, Duparc for French Art and Bach for the duet with my friend Ruth. Now if I can just figure out how to reliably get into my whistle register.....

Games

Tyler has really taken to board games and strategy games lately. We have been having endless sessions of Connect 4 and the little dude embarasses both his mother and father on a regular basis. He'll sit there, little yellow disc (he's always yellow) in hand muttering "What are you up to you? What were you thinking doing that?" And more often than not he figures us out and with a triumphant grin sends his disc sailing into the slot that prevents our line of four. He also likes card games such as Fish and Snap. He's mostly grown out of sulking when he doesn't win :)

Intense concentration

And just because I've always loved this photo and because I'm feeling sentimental as my little baby is turning 7 - seven! - next month....

No I haven't gone to Siberia......

....although with a heavy snow warning currently in force it may yet feel like that. Yes yes I know I've been a slack blogger again! I do have a few photos to download but it's so cold in the computer/music room that I tend not to spend to much time in there. But I shall try and gird my loins and get some loaded.

I'm hoping to get some of Tyler in his costume from his recent school production (he was a mad scientist) but I haven't seen any as yet. Apparently the school is creating a DVD which we can buy. (Tyler asked me if I wanted to 'buy the production').

Back soon - promise!

War wounds

Both my boys have recently received injuries in almost exactly the same place. First Chris at rugby from a random sprig at a ruck which dug a deep hole beside his left eye and then Tyler got a nice split at the corner of his left eye while playing at the pool with his wee mate.

Felix the cat has changed from being a mistrustful outside cat to an inside snugglepuss.

The kids are allowed to have a pair of slippers at school to change into in the classroom. Here's Tyler's choice. Note that he still has shorts on!

Tyler is really starting to get into his reading now and has discovered that he can read a book by himself. He came home from school on Friday and told me that he had read the first four chapters of his Zac Power book. He finished reading the book out loud to me at bedtime.

Random pretty picture :) Taken from the our house one morning.

Tyler is still obsessed with Bakugans and our lounge floor is constantly scattered with the little round toys and their cards. This makes for an interesting crossing from one side of the lounge to the other if one is not paying attention!

Winter has set in and we have the fire cranked up most days. Fortunately a lot of the days while being cold, are also sunny and calm so not unpleasant. Chris has had another couple of moles removed as a precaution - one on his back and another on his calf. I'm off to the doctor tomorrow to get my throat checked out. It hasn't been right since I lost it at the last opera performance. It's very frustrating especially because I have discovered an absolutely gorgeous piece by Mozart that I want to learn - Ora Pro Nobis from the Regina Coelis K108 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx2pnPI18yI (start at 6:40)

When I grow up I want to be....

A fireman! Tyler's class is working through the Firewise programme so he was very excited

when they had a visit from some firemen with their fire engine.