How funny is this kid!

I just had to write a little more about West...this kid is hilarious!!!! He has so many quirky little idiosyncrasies...so so funny!

So, the latest in the West files are...

• he collects anything that resembles money and stashes it
• he keeps his money in any handy container, even socks!!!
• he regularly changes his 'container' 5 times a day
• he hates wearing shoes, socks, pants, undies
• his biggest phobia is for BUTTONS!!!! He HATES BUTTONS!!!! Will throw the biggest stink any time I try to force him to wear clothes with buttons - every Sunday morning is a fight between West and Mum as we're getting dressed for church - his first question when I bring out his clothes to get him dressed is 'no buttons?' in the most hopeful little voice! Its so funny when its not completely frustrating!!!
• his favourite 'outfit' at the moment is his Spiderman costume - he's gone to the shops, kindy, park EVERYWHERE in this outfit. He has now worn through the feet, there is a rip in the crutch, and the fingers are forever stained with who knows what (interesting fact: I HATE this outfit for the simple reason that it has fingered hands, which means I have to try and force West's 10 little fingers into their individual little finger pockets which is SOOOO hard. If I only had to do it once it would be ok, but then Westie needs to go to the toilet, or eat something, or he wriggles the wrong way and I have to fix them again and again and again and its FRUSTRATING!!!!
• he and Madson like the opposite of EVERYTHING! If West wants the light off to go to sleep, Madson wants it on; if West wants to walk Madson wants a trolley, if West wants ice cream Madson wants chocolate, West wants to sing Popcorn but Madson wants to sing Snowman!!! I should have learned by now not to ask for their opinion but to give them limited choices but I don't - it does my head in!!
• he loves to sleep in our bed. He'll wake up and do this little wimper for FOREVER until I respond to him
• he gets achey legs and says the cutest things like - 'sore peoples get to sleep in your bed don't they mummy'. It just made me melt to hear him say that tonight - he still had to sleep in his bed though
• he has mastered potty training all on his own and SOOO quick! He no longer wears a nappy to bed and goes to the toilet on his own - I LOVE HIM FOR THIS!!!!
• he has the cutest, cheekiest grin and pulls the best faces in photos
• i  love to kiss him and tickle him and make him laugh
• he is either happy or sad - no in between
• i love him more than he'll ever know!!!

Isn't he such a funny little guy!!! These are some of my favourite photo's of my favourite little guy - LOVE YOU WESTIE!!!

The Vomits

So we've had a little sickness in our family the past week or so - West was down with a vomiting bug for 4 days last week...he threw up in the toilet, in his bed, at the dinner table (before we realised he really WAS sick), in the pram at the shops, some more at home and then finally at the front gate at kindy when we were picking Madson up!??! I guess I just didn't want to believe that he really had a serious bug and just thought it was more of a 'I've eaten too much bad stuff' kind of bug, so I have to admit to not being the best parent with keeping him down and out. Not that we did too much, but it seemed any time we moved it was too much. sigh.

Well, anyway, Madson came down with it yesterday. A whole week since West had it. Boom. We walk in the door yesterday after picking Ystyn up from school and there it goes, all over the loungeroom floor. Thank goodness I had to teach piano and didn't have to clean it up - after all the cleaning I did last week I was more than happy to reliquesh the task to Ystyn (thanks honey - you are awesome!!!). So my big little man is lying around lethargically, wanting to eat stuff he shouldn't (like the gourmet yoghurt Ystyn got on sale), and enjoying the 'sick people's juice' - lemonade. Last week when West was sick Sister Guy brought over a whole heap of 'gastro supplies' including paper towels, tissues, disinfectant, wipes, gatorade, lemonade and banana's. She had even printed out all this information from the internet on how to treat gastro in kids (THANKS SISTER GUY!!!!!) - there was this one section that talked about vomitting being a by-product of an unhealthy diet - something Ystyn and I both need to address not only for ourselves but for our kids. We've been rather relaxed, always making sure they have plenty of fruit but not forcing down the vegetables just yet, hoping that by the time they get a little older all the gentle pursuasion and encouragement might somehow sink in. Madson is great - he will quite happily eat all of his dinner now including all the green and orange and yellow stuff on his plate. West - you can forget it!!! West doesn't like to eat anything that doesn't come in the form of a sandwich. Often he will go to bed without dinner because he DOES NOT want what is being served and I refuse to let him select what else he wants. Occassionally he's allowed to have a piece of fruit if he is really hungry, but that's it. It is such a struggle trying to get him to eat anything he doesn't want to. And McKinley, precious McKinley - depends on her mood. Sometimes she'll watch Madson and eat everything on her plate. But if she's sitting next to West and watching him refuse his dinner she'll take a bite and push it away.

The point - up till now I've been pretty relaxed with letting them decide what they will or wont eat at dinner, but perhaps its time to take a firmer stance??? I'm not sure... we will have to see where we go with that one. One thing is for sure - we need a menu and a balanced diet - hopefully that way we'll all be less prone to the  dreaded vomits!!! hehehehe

World Cup Fever

So Ystyn is sure to post on this himself at some stage, but the Soccer World Cup is currently being played in South Africa. It started on Saturday night and Australia played its first game at 4.30am Monday morning. Thank goodness it was a public holiday (Queen's Birthday) so Ystyn had the day at home, because we all got up to watch it (we even had a few guys come and watch it at our place too) - all the kids woke up and watched most of it too, which was fun to begin with but quickly lost its fun-ness when all they wanted to do was eat and go to the toilet!!! :) Anyway, it was great EXCEPT for the fact that we crashed and burned, and our best player got a red card which means he's out for at least one more game. Suck-ey to say the least!!!!

Anyway, so after Mutual tonight Ystyn came home and picked me up and we went to Park Road to watch New Zealand vs Slovakia at Arrivederci's Pizza Place. I lasted till about the 70th minute and then fell asleep at our tablebut it was fun to be out, different that is was so late, and great to be watching the World Cup together. Who would have thought I would EVER enjoy sport in any form, but I have to say I LOVE soccer. Not to an obssessed level of love (like Ystyn hehehe) but I enjoy the skill of the game and promise that Ystyn and I will go to a World Cup some day. I loved it - being out with Ystyn while our kids were safely tucked into bed (being watched over by Aunty Trefyn), and doing something we can enjoy together!

So don't feel like playing for my own soccer team this weekend though...:)

Dinner Antics

So my little munchkins are being their adorable selves again. After whinging all afternoon West finally fell asleep while Madson and McKinley were in the bath, which was a blessed relief truthfully... I'm not sure if he's still sick (he had a vomiting bug through most of last week) or just residual tiredness, but he was being painful!!! So - he konks out which just leaves me with 2 ratbags to deal with instead of 3! So, I serve up Madson and McKinley the chicken and vegetable soup I'd made and while I was in the kitchen serving my own McKinley eats like, 4 pieces of bread (the little monkey!!!). But the cutest thing of all was when Madson started to feed McKinley - she didn't want to eat her dinner so Madson offered to feed her - 'do you want a train, or a car, or a helicopter?'!!! Sooo cute - especially the sound effects! He is so kind and loving most of the time...I love it!

Procrastination...

...is my middle name!!!! So today, instead of the piles and PILES and PILES of laundery that I should have been washing, and folding, and putting away, I have LABOURED for a LONG TIME to get this blog up and running! Nothing has gone right, and I'm not totally happy with how this blog looks, but for now it is enough. Enough to actually start recording the daily activites of our family so that in the future they will have some record of what's gone on in their lives.

Its been a good day (apart from the mounds of washing). The kids have played really well, and apart from going through a whole loaf and bread and wanting more, haven't complained too much. The sun is shining brilliantly outside, though its still very cool inside the house. They have played outside much of the day which is something Ystyn and I are really trying to encourage - anything to get them away from the tv. Poppy Jones dropped over some paper this week (thanks Poppy!!!) so the kids are making short work of that, painting and drawing on it.

And one of their favourite FAVOURITE things to do is to dress up. As superheroes. They love it. West is normally Spiderman and Madson has Batman and McKinley is whatever we can lay our hands on...

They just make me laugh so much running around in these little outfits. They have so much fun and enthusiasm and love to act out how they think superheoes should act! Its adorable and I love it! Just like I love them. The little ratbags! xxx

Lets Start At the Very Beginning

So - our love story. Where it all began.

Ystyn and I actually met on a Laurel/Priest Convention on the Sunshine Coast when he was 18 and I was 16. I don't actually remember him much from that activity but do know that he was always around at stake activities and was someone that it was always AWESOME to catch up with. He had this HUGE lopsided grin and the quirkiest personality that instantly made everyone feel comfortable in their own skin. He was awesome and positive and a strong church member - that was obvious - and SO MUCH FUN! I did deign to write him 2 letters while he was away on his mission and then got scared off by an over-zealous friend and never wrote again, but once Ystyn returned home from his mission he became my best friend and it kind of went from there...

Our very first date was pretty cool - I was actually really scared at what kind of outrageous thing he was going to subject me to (I had reason to be scared - only a couple of months before I had been taken on a date by my 'dream' guy to a suprise location where we played laser tag in this great big forest (yes it was dark and yes, I'm afraid of the dark) and ended up eating our snacks parked on an traffic island in the middle of a main road right near where I lived - I was PANICKING!!!). Ystyn seemed just like the type to do something equally crazy!!! But it was actually quite fun and tame thank goodness. He had prepared a kind of questionaire with questions about the other person that we had to guess the answers to, which we completed while sipping on milkshakes in the Indroopilly food court, and then we went up to the library and found a favourite childrens book from our childhood and read that to each other (the english teacher in him coming out). So he did pretty good, except for committing the awful crime of showing up dressed in daggy t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. But it didn't take long for me to look past such a horror and realise he was the best, kindest, happiest, most accepting person I had ever and would ever know, and the rest is history. I feel so so blessed to be able to be sealed to him for forever...

A pity we couldn't stay looking like that for forever too hey...hehehhe. Love you more than anything Ystyn...

Kid No. 1

Mr Madson Eli. What a little sweetheart you are (most of the time). Its so hard to believe that you are almost 5 years old!!! You'll be off to school next year and then what will I do - my baby will be 'all growed up'!

I know its repetitious but you are such a JOY to have in our family Madson. You shoulder the 'older brother' burden fantastically, and almost always do the right thing and help your brother and sister. You love to read, say your prayers, and you love love love to help out around the house. You were pestering me all last week to let you help me clean the car. Of course mummy was always too tired to want to clean the car, but there you were every day asking me to help you clean the car. We did finally get to it on Saturday and you helped for a little bit didn't you...:)

You LOVE to ride you bike. You would ride your bike everywhere if I let you (we are off to get a bike lock this week so you CAN ride your bike everywhere!!!). You ride it on your day's at Pre-Prep and we leave it just inside Sister Guy's fence (she lives right next door to kindy which is just so handy)! You will spend hours out in the back yard riding it up and down the driveway and you LOVE to go as fast as your little legs will go. Interestingly though - you have your own bike that mummy and daddy bought you for your 4th birthday last year. You loved (yes, that is in the past tense) to rider that bike all the time. Then West had his birthday in February of this year and once again, mummy and daddy decided to get him a bike too, so that the two of you could ride together, but no no no, West isn't interested in riding his bike, and even if he was he wouldn't be able to because YOU have claimed his bike as your own!!!! No one gets a chance at riding that bike, it is yours and no one elses! We are just thankful that West currently has no interest in it!

You love to be active too and do all things boyish. You have started climbing a little tree in our backyard most mornings. You've taught your little brother to climb it too and the two of you have such fun together. I love that you two are such good friends, and you really do care for and watch out for McKinley. You are an awesome big brother.

You too absolutley LOVED our day at the beach...

Look at that tall, athletic looking body. You DID NOT inherit that from your father or I!

Speaking of athletics, you are a natural little sports man (now that you possibly DO get from your dad). You love to give everything a go, but from the very beginning you have been a natural at kicking a soccer ball. Not sure whether we can attribute this to the fact that the first toy you owned as a new born baby was a tiny soccer ball, or just the fact that it is your dad's number one passion, but you sure do know what your feet are for...we can't wait to be able to start you on your way to finding out all your brilliant talents.

We love you Mr Madson, more than anything else in this world and are so GRATEFUL for the priveledge of being your parents.

Kid No. 2

Mr Lorys West  - called West! You are my little rascal, my cheeky monkey, my ratbag, my giggler, my Mr Mischief! You can make me laugh till my insides hurt and make me so cranky that I turn into a monster. But you are adorable to me and I love to bits!!!! There is no one quite like West...ever!

How adorable is this photo!!! I love it to bits, but then again I love most of the photo's of you. There just seems to be something so infectious in your grin and cheeky scrunched up nose. This photo was taken at Burleigh Beach on the Gold Coast when we ventured down on our annual (annual in that we only seem to make it once a year) beach trip with Brother and Sister Guy and you kids had a BLAST!!! You loved the

water and being buried in the sand and running around having a glorious time. It was such a wonderful, perfect day and it was such a joy watching you kids ENJOY yourselves, ENJOY the wonderful world around you, and ENJOY each other.

You truly are such a cheeky moneky West. You have such a zest for life and most of the time you are crazy happy - jumping around, running around, doing everything at the fastest possible speed you can. Its hard to keep up with you sometimes and I often forget just how little and young you still are. You are currently 3.4ish and sometimes love to be independent, but most of the time you still love to be mummy's little boy, and be cuddled and carried around. You love to play outside with your brother. You love to craft. You LOVE to bake and claim the wooden spoon as yours ever time, though you are kind and let Madson lick the bowl.

Something that is uniquely West is the fact the you HATE BUTTONS!!!! You LOATHE BUTTONS!!! With a PASSION!!!! It is such a trial getting you into ANYTHING that has button's on it ANYWHERE. For a very very long time we have struggled to actually keep you clothed - you were always and forever running around butt naked, but you have slowly grasped the fact that you at least HAVE to have underwear on. Its getting very cold so we're getting much more successful and keeping a t-shirt on too. Shoes are a little hit and miss, but when it comes to button's you have one sure and strong answer - NO WAY!  You've been like this for a long time now and I'm not sure what started it, but it is uniquely your own oddity which now and again causes your mother some grief, especially if its trying to get ready for church...

Another 'West Only' is the fact that you have a bald patch on the right side of your head. People are always aasking mummy with a grin what did I do to your hair, but the truth is, you've never had hair grow here. I'm not sure if its from the forceps that were used to pull you out during labour - they were pretty vicious looking instruments, but whatever caused it, this is truly a West Only! I can only hope that as you get older you wont be teased for your own little individuality - we'll just have to keep your hair a little longer on that side if it troubles you - but for now it just adds to your cuteness!

Your favourite phrase to say at the moment is 'I'm not your friend', most often directed at me, your mother, when I've said something you don't really like, like - 'please don't crush up your crackers all over the freshly swept floor', or - 'West, please put your shoes away', or anything along that vein. Most of the time I just respond with a 'that's ok Westie, you don't have to be my friend', but occassionally mummy's feelings get a little hurt too and I respond with a 'I don't really care if you're not my friend at the moment'. Isn't that HORRIBLE!!!! I don't know where this phrase originated from, but its probably one that we should work hard at 'beating' out of you!! hehehe only joking! xxx

Kid No. 3

Miss McKinley Jane! What a little cherub you are! With those rosy chubby cheeks, that cute button nose and rosebud mouth you are decidedly scrumptious!!!! And eat you I do...I cannot resist getting a mouthful of those cheeks or those legs...hehheehe. You are such a joy to have around the house - a girl for mummy to hug and cuddle and snuggle. You have such a lovely disposition and most of the time you are such a treasure. We ARE beginning to see the 'strong' side of your nature these days - you are currently very partial to the word 'NO' and love to use it, never loudly, just strongly and firmly and CONSISTENTLY!!! hehehe You certainly try to keep your brothers in line, and as you are almost bigger than West, you succeed very well in this...:). It has been so exciting to watch you grow over the past two and a bit years, and we are all so excited to see what the coming years will bring. You have a smile that lights up a room. You talk non-stop, and if you're a little tired of talking you SING! At night when you are all in bed you yell from your cot at the boys in the next room to 'stop talking - go to sleep' - such a little mother hen hey?!?

What other funny things do you do?

You love to chorister the hymns in church. You sit on 'Shisha Guy's' knee and wave your arm around. You won't do it with mummy - just Shisha Guy (Sister Guy, just in Kinley language).

You love peanut butter sandwiches. You love all things pretty and girly - like your pink bowl, or pretty hair clips, or dresses, skirts and shoes. But then you love to play with the boys cars, or jump around with your brothers like crazy people. And you LOVE to stick out your tongue, kind of like this photo...

I love this photo of you! It is such a classic and has me in stitches every time I see it. You had actually just told me you were 'pwetty' with the cute as new hair clips our friend Sarah had just made you, and I went to take a photo of this 'pwetty' little girl and out came that tongue! Crazy little munchkin.  Love you 'Kinley...

New Beginnings!

A first post!!!! The thought of doing this family blog has been swimming around my head for a little while now - there are so many things that happen through every day that I just wish I had the time to write down and document but never do. I could always keep a scrapbook, but I am a little bit of an 'all or nothing' kind of girl which means if I can't do a scrapbook properly and as prettily as possible then its not something that gets done.I have scrapbooked a few favourite pictures of each of the kids and find great joy in doing that, but as a long term, sustainable activity - I think not. And then there's always the family history angle of things - doing your family history is something that we haven't quite grasped yet, but keeping a journal (or blog) seems like a pretty easy way of ticking off that box...so HERE WE ARE! A Francis Family blog! Potentially only interesting to us, which is totally fine as its a record of our lives and the lives of our children. I can't wait to actually write down all the funny, crazy, irritating, crazy, hilarious things that our three kids do - they have me in tears (happy and sad) many many times in a week and then once the emotions are spent, the memories only last for so long...I like the thought of preserving all of these wonderful, annoying, trying times for these precious children of ours to read, and keep, for forever...