Have a Smiley Kind of Day

Most kids love band-aides.  
They will make-up a "boo boo" just to get one.

Not Sam.

We have bought every kind of band-aid known to man. 
Not one has ever been stuck to his body.

Well......for one brief moment a neon blue band-aid 
was allowed the privilege of covering up a bad scrape.

And then.............it was gone...........just like that!!!

There is one thing that Sam thinks is fun to stick on things.

SMILEY FACES 

Yep, 

SMILEY FACES 

are a big hit in our house.

The more the merrier.

When we go to Costco, the person checking us out the door just has to draw a

SMILEY FACE 

on the back of the receipt.

My day is not complete until I go through my entire day of shopping, running errands, parent/teacher conferences, etc., etc., etc., with a million or so  

SMILEY FACES  

stuck all over my back.  

So.......if you need a little cheer, Sam picked this out just for you!!

Have a happy, SMILEY FACE kind of day!!

Sally-Ann

The last few months of our lives in 1 blog or less........maybe not!!!

Well, it is time to play catch-up on my blog.  I will not get it done with just one post......or two, or three, or even four!!  But, hopefully, at least before the end of the year!  Just joking, it won't take that long.........I hope.

I

I have already written previously about Sam's birthday, but that is where I am going to begin on my epic catch-up.

Sam likes to watch "Blue's Clues", so that is the birthday cake he picked.

After all, turning 4 is a big deal and you should be able to pick out your own birthday cake!

 

Sam thought the candles were pretty cool.....

 

Sam enjoyed blowing out the candles.......well, he does have to work on his blowing skills, not sure if it was wind or spit that snuffed out the flames.

What could you possible get a 4-year-old for his birthday?

 

With this photo you may think........maybe, clothes????

NO!! 

To quote Sam.

 

Here is another hint!  A cage????

Once again,

NO!!!!!

 

A Golden Retriever puppy called Blue???

YES!!!!!!

 

Even as a little puppy, Blue loves, adores, relishes, inhales his food....a true Purdy.

   

Everywhere Sam goes, Blue goes.

 

Every morning you can find Sam in the backyard performing "Sam Tai Chi", Blue will be right by his side.

No bush is left unturned in their exploration.

No plant is left intact

No ground is left unsniffed.

W

Wherever Sam is......there is Blue

Wherever Blue is.....there is Sam

They have many common interests.

Sam likes to browse through the telephone book.....

Blue likes to shred the telephone book.

Jessica even likes Blue.

Though, there are times........

times like the times Sam and Blue explore her bedroom.

We won't even talk about the time Sam locked Blue in Jessica's bedroom.

Let's just say, thank heavens for air freshener!!!!

We can't let Blue sleep in Sam's room because Blue likes to sleep right on top of Sam.

Ask Sam about Blue and Sam will tell you that, "Blue is Sam's dog" and that, "Blue makes Sam happy!"

I'm sure if you asked Blue, he would tell you the same thing about Sam.

Our life sure has changed in the past few months.  We never thought we would have another dog, let alone a big, golden dog that knocks everything to the floor with a wag of his tail.  A dog that loves to chew up toilet paper and tissues.  A dog that digs holes to Australia in our backyard.  A dog that has the stinkiest farts that we have ever had the misfortune to smell.  A dog that has ruined what little backyard we had.  A dog that can eat, and eat, and eat, and eat.......

We also never thought that we would have a big, golden dog that sticks faithfully by the side of his little master if he happens to escape out the front door.  A dog that does not budge from the front door until Samuel comes home.  A dog that brings out the words in a little boy that often cannot give his words a voice.  A dog that is loving, kind, patient and gentle to a little boy that often is not gentle with him.  A dog that will do whatever he can to be by the family he loves......the family that loves him.

Sally-Ann

Can I Get A Halleluia???

Look Into My Eyes

For quite a while now, every morning I give Samuel a big hug.

I ask him to look into Mummy's eyes.

I tell him, "I love you Sam."

Usually, I get a smile.

This morning, I gave Samuel a big hug.

I asked him to look into Mummy's eyes.

Samuel looked into my eyes.

Samuel said, "I lub you."

 

Samuel has only uttered those words three times in the past 4 years.

Some mothers of autistic children never hear those magical words.

Today.......is a good day.

A good day to give thanks for the blessings in my life.

Sally-Ann

Australia Day

Because today is Australia Day.

Because I finally finished blogging about our trip back to Australia.

Because I am proud to be Australian.

Sally-Ann

On the Rocks

Sunday morning we woke-up and wandered down to Paddy's Market.

This was on my "things to do in Sydney" list.

 

We arrived at opening time, and were very glad that we did.

 

It wasn't long before it was filled with people and it was easy to lose small children, big children and even a Mum or Dad if you weren't all clipped together on a rope.

 There was every possible thing for sale there.  Anything that you could imagine.

Fresh fruit and vegetables.

Some items were not for the fainthearted.

I had seen these before, these did not faze me, not in the slightest.

I mentioned before that you could buy any possible thing that you could think of.

Well, you could also purchase things that you wouldn't think of in a thousand million years.

 
 

These fazed me a little.

Kangaroo scrotum bottle openers.......

I will move on

The only thing that we bought involving a kangaroo, was a kangaroo skin for Samuel.

 

I found a really good deal on clip-on koalas.

Joshua's tip of the day........

Don't buy opals at Paddy's Market.

MOVING ON

We hopped on the monorail, then decided that it wasn't going to get us to where we wanted to go, but enjoyed the ride anyway.  We hopped off and had a leisurely walk through the streets of Sydney until we found our way to The Rocks, a very historic part of Sydney.

 

 I love historic buildings, homes, areas.......

Loved the terrace homes

 

They had a market there as well.

 

Susannah Place had a museum that I would have really liked to go and see.

But, Sam was about at the end of his rope for our Australia trip and kept trying to kick the resident cat.  Sooooo, I settled for browsing the little gift shop and bought myself.......

 

I'm not going to tell you what this is, all guesses in the comment box please.  

It bought back memories for me!!!

Also bought some ANZAC biscuits 

for the kids to munch on.

 

We had a very overpriced enjoyable meal at "The Bakers Oven".  There was a little courtyard at the back where you could sit and eat.  The waiters had to keep shooing parrots away, they kept trying to steal everyone's food.  The parrots that is, not the waiters!  Of course, Sam though this was hilarious and fed wanted to feed his sandwich to them.  The parrots that is, not the waiters......

The courtyard opened onto "The Nurses Walk" which paid tribute to......well, nurses of course!

 

One of our favorite things to watch was the street performers.

Sam loved the didgeridoo music.

By this time, Jessie and I were pooped and Sam had definitely had enough of crowds, noise and taking in the sights.  So, we started back to the flat.

We walked through the Royal Botanical Gardens and Hyde Park, this took us straight to our accommodations and kept us away from the busy streets.  Sam could run to his hearts content and the big kids enjoyed it as well.  As for me, there were lots of park benches to sit down on along the way so I could rest my aching feet!

 

No, this tree isn't sprouting huge seed pods, there are fruit bats hanging off it.  I refused to walk underneath.  Jessica and Jim strolled right underneath.  When I told them to look up, their stroll became a little more speedy.

Jessica found a tree she absolutely loved.  She was very sad to leave it.....

Sam may become a botanist, he studied nearly every leaf, plant, and root that we came across.

Back to Jessica and her favorite tree......

 

Jessica was just following directions.  These signs were all over the place.  There was even signs that told us to walk on the grass.  I am just glad that the signs didn't tell us to become friends with the fruit bats.

 

Jessica, Sam and I spent the rest of our afternoon resting our aching feet, packing and maybe, just maybe we had a little nap.

Jim and Joshua on the other hand, went on the great opal hunt of 2009.  They ended up here.....

 

If I had known this was where they were going, I may have been able to gird up enough energy to go, but I was left in the dark and uninformed, therefore, I stayed at the flat.....packing......doing laundry......slaving......working my fingers to the bone.......while Joshua and Jim 

DID THIS!

AND THIS!! 

AND THIS!!!

OK......so I lied about this one.  Couldn't get Jim and Joshua out there with a ten foot pole.  A million dollars probably wouldn't do it either.

Sam and I.......in a heartbeat!!!

We finished our day with the finest cuisine to be found....

 

aka Burger King

Not sure why it is called "Hungry Jack's" in Australia.

Bit of trivia.  The fast food drinks and food portions are smaller in Australia and we didn't miss the missing portions at all!

 

So ends our time in Sydney.

Sally-Ann