Happy 21st Birthday Angus!

my gorgeous cherubs! 

My baby is 21 today! 

Happy Birthday Cutie! 
I love you to the end of the universe and back!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Angus is at his TAFE course today. So we took him out for lunch on Tuesday. His choice.

So it's a light tea and cake tonight!

My Gift From Angus

My Mother's day gift from Angus.

He made an amazing Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie!

It's so delicious!! 

My boy is becoming an amazing baker! 

♫♪♫ Happy Birthday Angus ♪♫♪

Happy Birthday Angus!

I can't believe that you have now turned 20.
Boy have the years flown by.

Who said you were allowed to grow up!

Have a wonderful day sweetie!

My Baby Has Severe Sleep Apnoea

Angus participated in a sleep study back in October. I was thinking just a few days ago about how he went with it. I was informed when we made the booking that if it was bad that the Professor's office would contact us and we would get an earlier appointment that the one we have in February.

On Tuesday I received a phone call from our Doctors Clinic. The nurse who I spoke with said that the results came in and that Dr F has seen the report. It's not urgent but please come in to discuss the findings. I had already booked myself an appointment for Thursday (yesterday) was it okay for Angus to come and see him then? Sure no problem. Brodz also had an appointment too.

Yesterday the three of us went in to see our G.P. Brodz went first. I knew that Angus wouldn't want his brother to know what was going on. Not until he was ready to talk about it with him in his own time. Once Brodie left the room it was Angus's turn. It turns our my baby has very severe sleep apnoea. It has been recommended that he lose weight (he is a little tubby but certainly not overweight) and that he needs a c-pap machine.

I knew that he had sleep apnoea. After seeing news items on TV and from attending the Diabetes Support Group when someone came in to talk about it with us. I could tell that he had it. Although Angus being a teenager and being as strong-willed as he is you just cannot force him to do anything.

I asked our doctor if , in any way his adnoids may be part of the problem. They may very well be. Dr F. is sending a referral off to an ENT specialist. We were advised that it may take several months to get in to see one as we don'thave private health insurance. He will mention in the referral that Angus has had the sleep study done and what the results were. We will still bee seeing Prof. Sasse in February as planned.

For now I will continue to worry about my baby when he sleeps. I often listen out for his snoring. I worry when I cannot hear it. I am just surprised that if it was severe that we hadn't heard from the Professors office for an earlier appointment.  I guess now we play the waiting game.

Yesterday was Angus's Birthday!

It was my babies birthday yesterday.

He turned 19!
How is that possible when I am only 29 (~_o) 

He had an amazing day and I cooked some of his favourite things for dinner last night.
Angus wanted roast chicken with roast veg (potatoes, pumpkin, carrots). For the cake he wanted a nutella cheesecake (I used the recipe from The One Pot Chef on youtube)

Happy 18th Birthday Angus!

Happy Birthday to my baby! I cannot believe that you are 18 years old now. It doesn't feel all that long ago when I took you home from the hospital and an almost 10 lb bruiser!

You have turned into an amazing young man! I am so proud of you!

♥♥♥ Mum ♥♥♥

My Chefs

The boys and Mark have been taking turns cooking dinner since I had my operation last week.

I have supervised when the boys cooked and the boys have done a great job.

Brodz cooked tortellini carbonara

Angus cooked rissoles and veggies. He also cooked lamb chops and veggies last night. YUM!!

Work Placement And The Open Cut Mine Fire

photo of the smoke from the fire at the open cut mine, Morwell.  picture is from yahoo news

I drove Angus into Morwell this morning. He started his first day of work placement today. We had to drive past the open cut mine on the way to his work place. The smoke and the smell was horrible. It is no wonder that the people of Morwell are complaining and that some of the schools and child care centres are busing kids out to other towns for the day. It is also no wonder that so many people are having problems with their health as well.

Just driving towards the town itself broke my heart. The damage that the bushfire caused in the area is so awful. The blackened landscape, the road signs were non-existant, the damage on both sides of the freeway. I can totally see why the freeway was closed for a while and that you need to slow down around the township. Luckily visibility was good this morning but I bet when the wind blows just right you wont be able to see across the road at all. Today is day 11 of the fire in the open cut mine. Officials are still unsure as to how much longer it will burn.

I will be thinking of my baby all day and wondering how he is going at work and how he is coping with the smoke and the smell. His work place is only 5 - 10 minutes from the open cut mine. Luckily he finishes work at 1:30 pm and he will be heading to the train station to come home. Sadly the railway track was damaged during the fire so it will be a bus trip for some of the way, although they may have fixed the track by now. I think he'll be able to get the train from Moe to come home. I guess I will find out when he eventually gets home this afternoon.

I am crossing my singers and sending lots or good thoughts and prayers to the people near the fire. I may even do a rain dance and pray it pours over Morwell.

Happy Birthday (Not So) Little Dude!

Happy Birthday Angus! 

I can't believe that you are almost an adult!
Have a wonderful day sweetpea!

Love you heaps

Mum 

xoxo

Lucky Me!

Angus has been in the mood to do some cooking and baking for the last couple of week. Silly me kept forgetting to take photos of what he has made. He's baked cakes, brownies and now a Honey Rice Bubble Slice. It's a bit too sweet for my liking. 

I was a very lucky girl too this week. My niece, Kylie, whom I have never met and who lives in England sent me this lovely necklace. It's so pretty. It's a shame that this photo doesn't show the blue of the pendant very well. It's more of a tardis blue (~_o) Just so I don't confuse you I do have two nieces called Kylie. One is my sisters daughter and the other one is my ex-hubby's niece. It does get confusing sometimes when we talk about either one.

I have another reason why I am lucky. Brodie cooked dinner for us last night. He was so proud of himself. The only thing I did was help with the timing of the dishes and placing everything on the plates. The rest he did himself. He cooked Pies and veg & I had two little hamburger patties and veg. Brodz did a great job too. 

I am so happy that the boys are willing to get into the kitchen now and cook things. I've enjoyed the break and we are reaping the benefits too (~_~) YUM~

Happy 16th Birthday Cutie!

My baby turns 16 today! Where has the time gone?
It feels like yesterday that you were this cute little bubz that I brought home from the hospital.

Sweet 16 and never been kissed. Does that apply to boys?

Happy Birthday Angus!! 

I hope you have a day that is as special as you are!

Love you heaps

Mum 

xoxo

Good Luck Angus

Angus has his first end of year exam today. I dropped him off at school about half an hour ago. Good luck on your English exam cutie! Thank you for studying for this one. It will help believe me.

A Wasted Opportunity

Thankfully there is another chance this time ....
let's hope it isn't wasted!

Yesterday afternoon we found out that Angus didn't pass his Automotives course.The TAFE teacher said that he was busy talking and not doing his work. That he didn't complete enough of the tasks to pass. All the other kids were able to. I just don't understand how this happened.  I feel awful and I know Angus does too.

A whole year has been wasted. Not only did we pay $400 for the course the high school paid around $1600+ for the year. Angus had signed an agreement in order to participate at TAFE in the first place but he has broken that agreement by not doing the work. He may not even be able to continue next year and if he is allowed to he must repeat the first year units again.

I went to Angus's high school yesterday afternoon after school. I was hoping to see the Pathways Advisor who looks after the VCAL*/VET** kids. I wanted to know why Angus failed. I needed to know where we go from here. What are the options for next year because there is no way Angus can do VCE*. He just isn't the type of kid who could cope with the work load that is required. It's not like he has an aide like Brodie did. He just wouldn't be successful and I so desperately want him to be successful.

We were given three options

1. If Angus wants to continue with Automotives next year we will need to pay a retainer (around $500) on top of the fees which I have already paid. He will repeat 1st year. If he completes the course successfully we get the retainer back. If he does not we forfeit the money.
2. He can do a school based apprenticeship to complete his Automotives course. That means we need to find an employer that is willing to take him on for the whole year for two days a week. He would get paid a small wage (possibly $8 per hour) that the government will help the employer pay.
3. Try another course but one that is based at the high school. For example Building Construction. That will allow the school to keep an eye on Angus and his progress.

I have send the Pathways Advisor an email and requested that we have the weekend to think things over. I also asked if there were other courses available at school that may be an option for Angus. I hope I hear from her by the end of the day with that information so that Mark, Angus and I can talk about it over the weekend.

I like the idea of the second option but I don't know if its the best one for Angus. So many things could go wrong and I am worried the boss may tell him to not come back. I know I should be optimistic but that hasn't gotten me very far where Angus's school work is concerned.

* The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) is a hands-on option for students in Years 11 and 12. The VCAL gives you practical work-related experience, as well as literacy and numeracy skills and the opportunity to build personal skills that are important for life and work.

** Vocational Education and Training (VET). VET in the VCE or VCAL allows students to include vocational studies within their senior secondary certificate. Students undertake nationally recognised training from either accredited state curriculum or national training packages which may contribute to their VCE and/or VCAL.

***The Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) is the certificate that the majority of students in Victoria receive on satisfactory completion of their secondary education. The VCE provides diverse pathways to further study or training at university or TAFE and to employment.

Do You Want The Good News Or The Bad News First?

Here's the BAD news ~ Angus failed TAFE this year. How on earth he failed is beyond me. He wasn't the only kid in his Automotives course that failed either. ALL the kids from his school that were in his course failed. What let them down is the fact that they never did all their assignments and handed them in.

Their TAFE teacher said that Angus is to come in on Wednesday of this week so that he can attempt to complete as much work as possible in order to save his butt. That way he might be able to go back to do the second year of his course next year. That is no guarantee that he will be able to do so. Angus will need to write a letter outlining why he should be allowed to continue with his course. He will also need to include steps that he will follow to ensure that this wont happen again.

What annoys me is that whenever I asked Angus if he had assignments for TAFE to work on he said that he had done them all at TAFE and that he didn't need to do them at home. What a silly person I was to take him at his word. I feel so disappointed and hurt over all of this. I feel that I failed as a parent. I know it is not my responsibility to do his school work and that the onus is all on Angus but I still feel I made a mistake somewhere.

Angus didn't want to tell us what happened. His excuse was that he 'forgot' to mention it last Thursday when he got home from school because we had given him his new computer. We only found out because one of the co-ordinators at his high schooled phoned us.

Angus thought that Mark & I would yell at him when we found out. Why would we do that? Yelling at him wont make a difference. Angus will still have to face the consequences of his actions (or rather in this case inaction). Computer time has been severely restricted (2 1/2 hours per day) and his computer signs him out when his time is up. There is NO can I have another 5 minutes. I think it's pretty fair. I am sure that's a lot more than other kids would get in these circumstances. In fact one of Mark's friends said that we should just take the computer away for a while. If there's a next time maybe that's exactly what we will do.

Needless to say I am being a mean Mum making sure that Angus does his work. I will not have him slacking off again. I am tired of getting phone calls, letters or emails from the school stating that he is well below par. Although I am grateful that the school lets me know. I want Angus to pass but if this keeps up he might not get to do the classes he wants next year. Perhaps frightening him by stating he will have to repeat some Yr 10 classes night do the trick...

Time for some GOOD news ~ I ordered the dress that I wanted for my wedding last week. It's being sent from the US. I was given a tracking number so that I could check up on my order. The good news is my dress is now in Australia! Woohoo. So hopefully it will arrive within the next couple of days. I'm still crossing my fingers that it will fit properly. But YAY it is almost here!

Someone Is Camera Shy

Someone in my family is camera shy (well most of us are really) but you take photos wherever and whenever you can. Even when they are trapped in a chair getting their haircut! 

I am such a mean Mum but hey someone has to make the kids squirm a little *evil grin*

A Bucket Of Chocolate

Look at what Angus gave me .....

sadly it was not full of M&M's but he did share a few of them with me (~_~)

I actually wanted the little bucket so that I could use it as a yarn bowl. That way my yarn wont roll all over the floor and get dirty.

I was eyeing off some ceramic yarn bowls on etsy just like this one ...

Denim blue ceramic cat yarn bowl by ClayCrazyPottery

However I am sad to say it is not in my price range as were most of the others. What can I say I have expensive tastes. By the time I factor in the cost of the bowl and postage it would have cost me around a weeks worth of groceries. 

I have looked to see if there was an Australian creator of these wonderful bowls and I am as yet unable to find one. I'll keep looking though. In the meantime I will just use my M&M bucket :D and add the yarn bowl to my wish list.

Playing Photographer

I've been busy playing photographer again (~_~)

How cool dos this look? Almost like a drawing.

C.K. was getting some snuggle time on my lap.

C.K. 

A Win ..

I think I have worked out a way to get around the fact that Angus hates me taking photos of him & sharing them. I take photos and make them look like a cartoon or something not realistic. So far so good, he hasn't complained (yet).

Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews

Angus and I went to his school this morning for Parent/Teacher/Student interviews. I honestly don't know why this kid stresses out so much before we go to these things. The teachers always have something positive to say about him. Things like what a nice polite boy he is and how he can do the work when he focuses on it. The only negative things I hear is that he is a bit of a social butterfly and at times he would rather talk with his mates instead of focusing on the work. He also need to submit all of his work, whether he has finished it or not, so that it can be graded. 

Stress less kiddo and do the work. You'll be fine (~_~)

This mornings floral collection from Rory. 

Look at what I found inside when Angus and I got home. Of course these 'flowers' were not neatly piled together but spread throughout the lounge room. My guess is Rory either missed us and wanted to surprise us when we got home or that he was extra hungry and wanted more food. I'm tending to believe he was extra hungry.

Someone Has A Long Weekend

What is it with schools having school closure days all the time? I don't remember my school ever doing that when I was a student. Maybe they did I just don't remember. Angus has the day off school tomorrow, the lucky duck! He's off at a mates place right now having a sleep over. At least he's getting a break from home.

Now we can have all those yummy foods he doesn't like. Thinks like corn, peas, beans and mushrooms! Yum! Silly boy doesn't know what he's missing!!