Rough start, smooth end

As a parent you are constantly tested with your kids and as they get older they seem to push those boundaries even further. Some days can be a constant battle to get even the simplest of tasks done through dealing with arguments, tantrums, fighting, timeouts, rudeness, bad behaviour, sulking, the list can go on.

Today was just 'one of those days' for me. It started off on the wrong foot and couldnt seem to find the right one until much later in the day. Just a tough day of being a cross angry dad where I questioned alot of things I do with the kids and stupidly whether I'm a capable father. Of course I know I am, but when your down on things and in a rut its hard to remain positve.

After rest time I finally had some quiet to collect my thoughts and put things in perspective. We finished the day off on a positve note with no shouting, anger or rudeness, which was such a relief.

Getting out to Stromlo for a blissfull night ride definately helped to clear my thoughts and smooth over what turned out to be a pretty rough morning for me.

Remember that song - part 13

We first heard Evanescence back in Bologna when I had a 2 week contract with 'Virtus Bologna' in Italy.

Their first hit 'Bring me to life' always takes me back to when Jem and I were in the hotel room sitting together on the end of the bed watching MTV. Very different for the time and a very powerful song that I still like.

Lone Wolf

Not a bad way to spend a couple of days.

Get it right!

When your kids are young and are for the majority of time at home with you, they are in a happy, content and safe little cacoon. As they should be. When they start to get older and are involved in more things that dont include you, like daycare, kindi, pre-school and school, they are suddenly thrust out into semi-independent life and have to learn how to interact, make friends and deal with alot of things on their own.

As a parent your naturally concerned about them on their first few days and wonder whether they are fitting in and hopefully not as worried as you are. As time goes on and they get used to this new way of life, your worry subsides and you assume everything is going ok and they are happy.

Its really hard then to hear that some things arent going so well and your child is having trouble with some not so nice kids. It makes it even harder that because they are at school without you, to a certain extent its up to them to deal with, learn from it and move forward. As a loving parent all your instincts tell you to get where your child is and fight all their battles for them so that they are then safe and cosy again. Unfortunately thats not how life works, we all have to learn at a young age that things arent always perfect as we want them to be and therefore how to resolve issues away from your parents.

I just wish that some parents would do their bit with their own kids which would sort out alot of the nasty things that happen at school. After all our kids learn a majority of behavioural traits from home life and us as parents then have a massive responsiblity to get our kids off on the right foot in terms of social behaviour. Not all kids will get along and become friends, thats natural, but they should definately all be tought to be respectful, kind and honest. Something that unfortunately isnt on the to do list for some parents. It makes me so angry to see how it has affected my son's school experience, its just not fair.

We will work through this issue and sort it out and learn from it together because as much as they need to learn how to deal with things, they also need to know you will always be there for them and have their back in a crisis.

Lets get it right 'Parents' for goodness sake.

All aboard!

Today we went out to the Canberra miniature railway for the morning. A nice little place with 3 or 4 trains you can ride on with those classic old retired men train enthusiasts driving them. The boys loved it and they even got the Thomas the Tank Engine train set out at home which they havent played with for quite some time. A lovely morning with the crew.

30 Minutes

Its been a while since our last 'Jamie Oliver's - 30 minute meals' night. So tonight we got the kids fed early, cleaned them and set them up to watch a DVD while we got cracking on the meal. It was a spring lamb and vegetable platter, with mint sauce and chianti gravy, Yummmmm! Bewiifool flayfers! (Jems version of Jamies accent)

New toy, new hobby

Well ever since finishing up with basketball, maybe for good, I have really gotten into riding. I love getting on the saddle for fitness but mostly for pleasure.

Riding was initally a meens of staying fit, then developed into a release from the day to day, now its fast becoming a bit of an obsession (much to Jems 'joy'!). Surprisingly I love every aspect of bikes, especially the off road touring type. I want to do some long distance 'epic' rides where your not just riding in a big circle for 2 or 3 hours and returning home, but you are riding off into the unknown. Its a hobby that I can take as serious as I want or need and one I can do prodominantly in my own time.

Since getting my new toy, the '2012 Specialized Camber Comp 29er dual suspension' I have found it hard to pull myself off the saddle. Its just a dream to ride, not only because its a brilliant piece of engineering but it actually fits me! I have had it for a couple of months now and have ridden it on the road, on offroad tracks, double tracks and fast and technical single tracks. It performs better than I could have imagined, my new toy is just amazing.

Getting up early and going to bed late.

When partially unsure of what the future lies with where our family will live and not totally satisified with our current situation, it often leads to a lot of questions and different senerios raised and contemplated.

Some days and weeks seem to breeze by with the comfort of knowing with confidence you are doing the right thing and working towards a distant but worthwhile goal. Other weeks are like a grind with confusion and unsettled feelings seeming to climb up on your back for a ride.

Its a hard call when you start to think of where you want to end up. What is the best place to call home? A larger town that ticks all the boxes when it comes to 'ease' of life, employment, shops, education, sports etc, although earning more money there is more money wasted. On the other hand a place that enables life to become more simple, earning less but spending less, enjoying the outdoors, growing your own food, having more quality time and nurturing your family, but maybe giving up some of the opportunities that come with a larger town.

We often have days when you cant help but look elsewhere for that ideal location that may just be that little bit too far out of reach. We want our kids growing up in a safe and happy environment but if you are unsure of where that is, then frustration generally kicks in.

For Jem and I it all comes down to having more space in our home life. We want land, preferably acres that we can call ours, a place where the kids can roam and have a sense of safe independence. Close enough to a larger town where you have all you need, but living in a small cosy community. A modest house that fits us all with ease, but an outdoor life that makes you want to get up early and go to bed late. One day.

Riding to school day

It was riding to school day today so we loaded up the car, drove to a spot that is safe and an easy distance for Jacob to ride from. William of course would have been happy to ride from home! We rode through Palmerstons bicycle path network, under some tunnels and up to school with Sam and Lucas in tow.

Once they arrived there were a huge amount of kids on all sorts of wheels and 'Onya Bike' shop mechanics there checking over the kids bikes aswell.

Remember that song - part 12

Me and the boys headed off to pick up a new bunk bed this morning after just saying goodbye to Grandad and the Lanes who were heading off for some more camping and house hunting.

I had my Ipod playing in the car on a random playlist and co-incidently just as we left the house John Mayers song 'All we ever do is say goodbye' from his album 'Battle Studies' came on. Freaky.

Im sure we will be saying a lot more hello's aswell now that they will be living within driving distance, awesome!

I think that song is going to remind me of that time this morning whenever I hear it from now on.

Goodbye Lane's

Its been a great week here with everyone, we have had lots of time to hang out and the kids have really enjoyed the extra company. Unfortunately its time for the Lanes to keep going on their journey and leave us for now. We all look forward to seeing them again in the near future, because now they live on the east that is very possible! Grandad is leaving too for a week or two's camping then will come back to Canberra before heading back to Perth on the Easter weekend.

The 6 cousins and Jem hanging out the back having a BBQ dinner.

The kids showing off their sparkly tattoo's

The Lane family at Government house (with some random streaker boy in the back!)

Dad with all his grandkids

Another busy day requires some rest time

Goodbye guys, safe travels and good luck with the house hunting!

Downhill run

When you talk about a nice smooth, sweeping downhill mountain bike run you usually would be lucky to get a few kms at best.

This clip from Idaho in the states shows a part of a downhill single track called 'Hard Guy' that seems to keep going and going and going. It would be quite a hike to get to the top to start with but what a reward this would be! Apparantely this is only one section of the whole length of the track, wow!

When is the next flight to Idaho?

The crew

We dont have many photos of all of us together. Dad took this nice one on our walk up the hill on Sunday morning.

Bowling

We took all the kids Ten Pin Bowling today. They had a great time knocking pins over and then we went to Maccas for lunch and a play.

Rides

Rich and I have been for some lovely rides around the north of Canberra over this past week. Nice trails in the local reserve at dusk, getting lost on single track in Bruce Ridge at night, a 50km night ride and today we took William for a 27km ride to Belconnen and back. He has been wanting to go for another big ride for a while and today was a perfect day for a it, sunny, nice and cool and no wind.

The beard off

Well, after many weeks of attempting to grow susbstantial facial hair I have had enough and need to shave it off. Any longer and I think birds will start looking towards my face for nest building meterials!

Before

After

Full house

We have a wonderfully full house at the moment, Dad (Grandad) came last Saturday for a visit and the 'Lanes' are also on the last little bit of their mammoth journey from W.A. and decided to stay with us for a while.  Its great to see everyone and have the kids hanging out with their Grandad and cousins.

We took a walk up the local reserve trail with Dad and had morning tea at the top of the hill.

        Me and Dad went up Mt Ainslie looking out over The War Memorial, Memorial Drive and out to Parliament House.

Grandad with all his Grandkids. 

 We went out to the War Memorial for a play in the amazing kids learning zone and some lunch.

    Questacon!

 Parliament house.



Jacobs party

We had Jacobs birthday party at our house today. I cant remember the last time we had a birthday party at home but wow its exhausting!! As we have our 4 boys already, the house gets very full very quickly with lots of energy, activity and excitement.

Jacob had 5 of his friends from school come round and they all seemed to have a great time playing party games like 'pin the tail on the donkey' 'treasure hunt' and 'pass the parcel'. Jem was the party planner and did a great job in what was a very high pressure 2 hours!

We are all tired now and I think its going to be a very early night for the boys.

Boys

Boys just hangin, Lucas in prime position with my hat on. Doesnt everyone sit in the middle of the table?!

Postponed

After the consistantly heavy rains of late which lasted a whole week, and the not so good weather that is being forcast, the Capital Punishment MTB Enduro has been postponed until probably late April. What a bummer! I was really looking forward to it coming up. Understandable though as the trails around the whole of NSW and the ACT would have taken a hammering with the amount of water that has fallen recently. Not to mention the increased danger it would add, the major damage to the track and 'most' importantly the damage to our bikes.

I think the first year they had the race it was scheduled for May and apperently bucketed down the entire day, so the riders came away soaked to the core and caked in mud. After the race the organisers sent out a feedback form to see what the riders liked and disliked and what they thought could be done differently the following year. Supposedly a majority of the forms came back just with "My bike is F#*ked" written on it

I think this event from somewhere in Europe may have also been after some heavy rain! Check out the massive face-plant half way through!

6 Years old!

Well little Jacob has now turned 6! Amazing. He had a great day of opening presents in the morning, then taking cupcakes to school (baked by Jem) for his class to share, coming home and playing with his toys, eating pad tai (his favourite take-away), singing Happy Birthday, eating cake (yes once agian baked by Jem!) and then getting to stay up a little later to play the Wii with William.

What a wonderful 6 years you have made it for us little man, Happy Birthday!

The beard

During a team 'no shave' pact on a 16 game winning streak in Townsville back in 2003 was the last time I really let my facial hair run wild. I never really have my face clean shaved but I do regularly trim it. Although recently I have decided to see how I would go trying to grow a beard. At this stage after 2 weeks or so its still very patchy and I look semi homeless if not in decent clothes, but Im planning on hanging with it until it gets too much to bare or bear.

End of the big wet

Well its amazing, the clouds have parted and the sun has come back! It has been exactly a week of pretty consistant rain, at times very heavy. So its a lovely change to feel the warmth of the sun on your back and be able to step outside with the kids and let them play without becoming drenched.

The boys on the laneway here, seeing how fast they can ride through the muddy puddle left after the rains. By the 20th time they had completely covered themselves with mud. I had to hose them and their bikes off.

Pilko's Thoughts - part 4

Its been a while between thoughts of the great Karl Pilkington so I thought I should put in another. This clip is from the reunion part of 'An idiot Abroad 1 the 7 wonders'. I think a little bit of wee came out the first time I saw this. Congress Tart!!!

Hogs for dinner

We all got dressed up and took Jem out for a Hogs Breath dinner tonight to celebrate her getting promoted. We all made pigs of ourselves (or hogs) and the boys looked very handsome.

Lucas talk 4

Changing Lucas's nappy today we got talking about Doodles and Penis's, as you do. Lucas pointed to his and said "Doodle" as we seem to call it that sometimes. So I said "Yes thats right or you can call it a Penis" and Lucas said "Doodle!" a little more emphatically. I replied without trying to make too much of a big deal about it "Yes yes, doodle/penis same thing". So Lucas proceeded to start yelling "Doodlepenis, Doodlepenis!!"

Thankfully a majority of these sorts of chats are at home.

Indoors again

Well the rain is getting very old now. I would love to see some sky again, even just a little bit would be nice! Its been not stop raining for almost a week now, causing some major flooding across NSW and VIC, and apperently its going to continue for at least a few more days. It is really limiting what we can do each day and I havent gone for a ride in a while, which is probably the worst thing for me! Today we took another trip indoors to the shops and had a play on the playground they have there.

Promotion

Jem has been working for Fujitsu in Canberra now for 11 months or so. She has since been rewarded for her continued professionalism, hard work and natural leadership skills with a promotion starting on monday. She will be in charge of managing a small team in a section of the company. Something she is very happy with and very much looking forward to. Pay rise too, boohyahh!

From what she tells me her bosses hold her in very high regard and will be looking for her to take on more and more responsibillity as her time progresses there.

Amazing as she has only been there for such a short amount of time and has no background in I.T., well done Jem, your awesome!!