Christmas - Take 3

Today Grandma and Pa arrived in Perth and the girls had yet another session of unwrapping Christmas presents. Brooke received another makeup kit, which she needed. Brooke loves makeup, and she never applies a light coat. Check out the photo page for the final results.



Needless to say the girls were very happy to see Grandma and Pa and they are making the most of having them around (and getting their own way)

Christmas Day - Half Time Report

The girls have had a wonderful morning. Santa and everyone else has been very generous. We started the day, getting presents from under Mum's tree and then on to Nana and Grandad's for more. The girls sit have another session to come when Grandma and Pa arrive later this week. Very spoilt little girls.

Merry Christmas

The Crane girls are sound asleep, waiting for Santa to come and deliver all his presents. Tonight an old shoe box turned up under the christmas tree which Courtney announced was for Brooke. Mum and Dad took a sneeky peak. It contains Courtney's fairy ornaments and some of Mum's hand cream - Sweet really.

Merry Christmas everyone. We are thinking of you all and we hope you have a wonderful day.

An important life lesson

We've all learnt it at some stage and now Brooke knows as well.

"It really hurts when you walk into the tow ball on a car"

Dad thinks it (seems to) hurts a lot less when you get struck in the thigh and not the shin.

Christmas Lights

Dad and the girls went on the hunt for some the best Christmas lights display tonight. The first one we went to was the best. They have over 25,000 lights, Santa displays, elves in the garden - all sorts of things.

Some people really put in a big effort - maybe next year Dad and Pa can combine forces for a half decent showing.

7 More Sleeps

Last night it was back to the greyhounds to catch up with Dad's friends, including Mr Burke - as in "Mr Burke's Farm"

The girls had a great night playing games, drawing, playing with puzzels, getting their face painted, blowing bubbles etc.

We didn't get home until about 11:30pm and the girls slept in until about 11:00am.

This afternoon the girls did something special. Running around the back yard under the sprinklers...

Tongight Aunty Kirstie took Mum and the girls to Christmas Carols and fireworks.

She's a spoon

Okay, so it's the middle of December (almost), it's cold, wet and windy in Perth and because Brooke and Dad have a touch of the cold, we spent most of today, quietly in side watching television and playing on the computer.

Yesterday, the girls suckered Dad into buying them a new Barbie DVD, in which there were pairs of 3D glasses.




Would you believe that one of the rolly bugs that Brooke caught was also issued a set of 3D glasses so he/she could watch the movie.

Last night we went to the greyhounds with Dad's friends for a little bit but the kids activity room was closed and it was too cold outside so we didn't get to stay too long.

HI 5

Courtney took a majority off from her last day from school today because we all went to see Hi 5. It took the girls a little while to get into it but they seemed to enjoy themselves. As always there was no great effort on their behalf to get up and dance or anything, the girls were content to sit back in their seats and watch as if it was a giant television.

A big congratulations to all the Burswood share holders. What a great idea! Close off all the free parking spaces, put up barricades leaving everyone the only option of taking the $5.00 parking area. Sensational.



As mentioned, Today was Courtney's last day as a year one student. School holidays are on! We're still trying to work out if that'll make things easier or harder on Mum.

Forgot to mention

Last night when we all left Sizzler, Brooke forgot to pick up her "nigh-nigh" (blanket). Mum saw it and picked it up but didn't tell Brooke. After a while at home, Brooke noticed it was missing. Apparently there was a huge amount of tears and Brooke even woke Courtney up to help her look for it around the house. A while later Mum gave her nigh nigh back. We think that she might have learnt a little bit about taking care of her possessions.

Sizzler

Tonight the girls, Mum, Dad and the Mundy mob went to Sizzler. Again, with a whole smorgasbord of food to choose from, Brooke only eats a bread roll and a couple of chips.... and ice cream.

Christmas Party

Today Dad's work held a Christmas party which the girls went to and had a great time. It was much like the picnic day earlier in the year with rides, an animal farm, gymnastics gear, etc. Santa Claus came in on a helicopter and he had a present for both of the girls.



Courtney learnt the importance of using tears at the right moment. After letting Brooke go first on the dodge 'em cars, Dad and CJ went to line up for her turn, only to be told that the ride had closed for the day. Courtney burst into tears and tugged enough heart strings to have the man running the ride to let her on. Only time will tell if she continues to use this trick.

Christmas begins

Today the girls put up the Christmas tree. It looks a lot better than last years effort. This year Brooke got to put the angel up on top. The girls already have a present underneath the tree and they have already taken to squeezing, shaking and listening in an effort to guess what is inside.

This week...

Last weekend Courtney went to Nana and Grandad’s house and helped Grandad lay some new pavers. She was a big help carrying them over and playing in the trailer load of sand.

Yesterday, Brooke played quietly in the kitchen while Mum was busy. She went to the pantry and pulled out all the flour, chocolate sauce, sugar etc and had a wonderful time “cooking”

Brooke continues not to eat anything. Has anyone else heard of a three year old that does not like watermelon, rockmelon or any other type of fruit – except banana?

Bugs, snails etc

On Saturday, Dad and the girls went up to see the Mundy family who are busy getting ready to move house. Due to an earlier than expected settlement date, they are going to stay with Dad for a week or so at the end of the month. Both the girls are really looking forward to the visit.

Today was a bit slower. The girls have for some time, taken a great interest in the "Rolly Bugs" that live in the garden. Dad has always known them to be called Slater Bugs but a search of the internet has him no closer to working out their proper name. They are the little black critters in the leaf litter that roll up in a ball as soon as you touch them. They look something like this...

Porcellio Scaber is the closest I can get. For now, Rolly Bug will do just fine. Anyway, the girls have discovered that Rolly Bugs love playing in the dolls house, cubby houses and just about anywhere they can. Today the girls had a great time sending them down a little slide that they made up for them. Needless to say, Dad vacuums up a number of bugs each Sunday night.

Speaking of such things, Brooke is well and truly over her fear of snails, in fact earlier in the week she was somewhat upset to discover that her "pet" snail have escaped from the container in the back yard.

A new game

Brooke found out this morning that if your (at least hers) fist will slide into a toilet roll tube quite easy... it just won't come out again without a great deal of effort. Still she has not learnt and did the same trick again this afternoon.

Today Mum and Dad took the girls to the duck park so they could ride their bike. Courtney gave them both a heart attack by riding so fast she got speed wobbles and Brooke pushed herself really hard to make it all the way up the hill.

CJ

A really full day

Last night, the girls made a list of five things that they wanted to do over the weekend. It came as no surprise that going to Wildkiz was on top of the list. So this morning we went there. One of the first things that the girls wanted to do was get their faces painted. Brooke went for her standard butterfly however Courtney asked to be an alien... Looks like the face painting lady thinks that Shek is an alien. Still, Courtney loved it.

Brooke was really brave. She went all the way to the top and down the big, turning slide...

She even went down the long, dark slide, which is almost pitch black inside... She looks relaxed enough.

Having said that, Brooke again found her nose out of joint. She was not able to go on the bumper cars because she is not 4 years old, nor is she 95cm tall. Dad tried to explain but it was hard not to laugh when she said "I am big, and I know what is best for people."

Poor Brooke she wasn't even allowed to go on the big blow up, bouncing toys.

When we got home, the girls opened the cafe' and Brooke served afternoon tea.

Afterwards, we all headed out the front for a new game that Dad thought off. Boule. Courtney loves it (always has) but Brooke thinks that it is better to be charge and she messures the distance between the balls.

All up, it's been a really big day with some great moments, like Brooke running past Dad, whilst trying to hide the two packets of tic tac that she had just stolen from the kitchen. Cheeky girl.

Ever since the girls went to Mr Burke's farm, they have been playing cafe'. Courtney's new sign announces that we are open. "Cafe. Food and drink"

"Choc or Treat"

This afternoon the Aunty Kirstie took the girls for their first Halloween experience. Mum and Dad have never really been a fan of Halloween, so the girls (although they don't know it) were lucky that Kirstie was so keen. They dressed up in their fairy (real scary) outfits and went up and down the street. They came back with chocolates, lollies and CASH! The girls think that you say "choc or treat" when you get to the front door. I guess they can't lose that way.

Unfortunately, Dad does not have the photos, just yet. Stay tuned.

Also, Chloe (the dog) has taken up lying on the trampoline whilst the girls bounce. She even appears to enjoy it. Isaac was around to play this afternoon as well. The girls are not girls when the he is around, although they do team up to be a quite decent rock-n-roll wrestling partnership.

Another Boring Weekend

Yesterday afternoon, Courtney complained that she had not done anything all day. Of course she forgot to mention making puppets, making cubby houses, picking roses, playing hide-n-seek, making music, painting, playing Playstation etc etc. The day was full of action however because all she wanted to do was ride her bike with Leighton, the day seemed very boring.


Courtney's puppet


Brooke's new smile


Painting

Brooke seemed to have a good time. At one stage she was pretending to be the King "..and you have to do what the King says, and the King says shutup" - Apparently Dad thinks he out ranks the King.

In other news, recently Brooke decided that it was time she finished off her toilet training. Fear not Aunty Jodie and Uncle Scott, it will happen one day - and it's great.

Dad returns

There has been very little (nothing) posted lately because Dad has been up North, visiting James, Cameron and Marcus. He'll put up some photos soon when the work computer starts playing the game.

In news of thecranegirls, Brooke has a new haircut which she is very happy with, although you wouldn't know it from the photograph.

A while ago now, the girls made (painted) Mum some flower pots and on Sunday they planted seeds together, watered them in and then put them out into the sunlight. Let's hope they are more successful than their effort with the vegi garden last year.

Chess

Tonight Courtney beat Dad in chess. Amazing watching her brain ticking over, developing strategies. She knows what each of the different pieces can do (most of the time), and she has invented a couple of new rules but the basics are there.

Courtney's message

Courtney wanted to send a message to her school and everyone

halo courtney heae i have chicken pox today is sunday it is 6 more day's until my chicken pox og away good bi to aii my friend's and teaeher's.

Seeing Spots again.

On Friday, CJ broke out in the first of her chicken pox. Hers are much worse than the mild dose that Brooke had, today we counted 101 (would you believe it) spots on her. She has a few really good/big ones as well, one of which is on her face. So far she has not been too itchy but that might be beacuse of all the creme and lotion that Mum bought.

Courtney's greatest concern is that she will not be going back to school this week. She is very upset, to the point of tears. Dad told her that she would have to miss the first week, he hopes that is the truth otherwise he'll be in trouble. We've had a very quiet weekend, staying indoors and away from other kids.

Leighton's comes to play

Today Leighton came over and played all day. Everyone was worn out, including Mum. He's a great little guy but Dad is worried by the amount of attention the girls pay to him.

Not the Royal Show

Today the girls went to a family picnic day put on by Dad's social club. It was fantastic and the girls had a ball. They had every ride that the girls would have gone on at the Royal Show without the cues (and cost)



They drove go-carts, went on dodge'em cars, bouncey castles, ferris wheels, pony rides etc as well as having face painting, ice creams and fairy floss. A huge day for them (and Mum and Dad) and they are still tucking into the lollies from the show bags.

As always Brooke wanted to do everything that Courtney was... including climbing to the top of a huge blow up slide. As the pictures show, Brookes reaction at the top was a bit different to CJ's and she had to be 'helped' down by one of the older kids.

There are a lot more photos on the other page

Aqua

Tonight Mum and Dad took the girls to AQUA. They both loved it. The girls went into the face painting room, Brooke wanted a horse or a pony but settled for a fish once she was told (several times) that the animal had to live underwater - a sea horse doesn't count, apparently.



The touch pool was a hit, as was the underwater tunnel but, as expected, Nemo (or any fish that looked like him) was the most favioute thing of the visit.

The Crane Shins

It appears that both of the Crane girls have inherited what it commonly known as "the Crane shins". Walk near a tow ball, lean against anything and they bruise. Hopefully for them, this will not continue later in life

BMX girl

This morning, the girls went back to the park to ride their bikes and fly the kite. As there had been a little rain over night, Courtney got to learn to coolest thing about riding a BMX, the rooster tail. She was very upset when Dad pointed out that she had mud flicked up her back from her rear wheel.



CJ did not want to get out of the car at the shops on the way home, she was so embarrassed that people would see the mud on her clothes and she was very relieved after Mum had been told and that, just like Dad said she would, Mum thought it was great.

First BMX session

Today was a big day. First Dad took the girls to buy new bike helmets, there wasn't much to choose from and Brooke insisting that she had the same (different colour) helmet as Courtney meant that hers is a little bigger than it should be.

After lunch we took the bikes down to the local BMX track where Courtney faces her first jumps, bumps and hills. We had a couple of minor stacks but nothing serious. She loved it.

Brooke on the other hand quickly worked out that having training wheels meant that it was impossible to keep the rear/drive wheel on the ground because all the other bikes had worn down the middle of the track and her training wheels were lifting her rear wheel off the ground.



Brooke ended up riding up and down the footpath. She would ride and ride, until she couldn't hear Dad yelling at her to come back anymore. Cheeky girl



We also tried flying the stunt kite again. It worked a lot better this time because there was more wind, maybe too much because we snapped the line each time. Both girls had a really good turn a flying the kite. Now they just have to learn not to chase the kite as it comes crashing to the ground.

Tonight Aunty Ned and Uncle Rob came to visit. The girls were by this time very tired and cranky. For a while, Brooke ended up in Rob's lap telling stories instead of having a bath.

Historical Moment

Today the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, told Australians that they could not ever expect the price of fuel to return below $1.00 per litre. Today the average in Perth is around $1.25.

Sizzler

Tonight we all caught up with Dave, Sharon, Ben and Cassie at Sizzler. The girls had a great night but completely wore themselves out. The girls were asleep in the car a couple of minutes into the trip home.

If, years from now, Courtney believes that all the water comes from angles tears, we'll know who to blame.

The Ballet

Today Grandma took Mum and the girls to the theatre to watch the ballet, Cinderella.

Although the show went for about three hours, the girls were very well behaved and they seem to have had a good time. It's been a long day and the girls are very tired so it might take a little while before we hear if they want to be ballerinas when they grow up.

The girls also enjoyed getting room service for their fish-n-chips for dinner, it looks like they like the concept of hotel rooms.

The long weekend

Grandma is in town and she came and spent the weekend with the girls. We are all starting to wonder about Brooke's chicken pox, after the initial breakout, there has not been too much action at all. She is not itchy, she has no spots on her face, in fact she only has about forty spots on her...



On Saturday, the girls played with Grandma whilst Dad watched the grand final. If history must know, the Syndey Swans defeated the West Coast Eagles by four points and neither of the girls are able to sit through a whole quarter of football.

After dinner on Saturday night, Courtney and Brooke treated Grandma to a special show where the girls sang songs, played the guitar and told stories. We loved the one (that went on and on and on) where Courtney was the narrator and Brooke followed the story with the actions.



Today, Grandma, Dad and the girls went to the markets and we ended up buying Mum some flowers, there really wasn't much to do there. The bonsai man says Dad is looking after his Fathers Day 2004 gift.

This afternoon Dad and the girls went down to the park and tried to fly a kite. There really was not enough wind and the dual hand stunt kite was a little hard for the girls to control, but they loved it. Looks like we'll be getting/making simple kites in the near future.





After the park, Brooke showed Grandma how well she could ballet dance, Grandma is taking Mum and the girls to see the Ballet (Cinderella) on Wednesday. and Mum came over for Chinese dinner. CJ is having a sleep over tonight but Brooke went home with Mum.

Chicken Pox

This site was created to answer, one day, all the questions that the girls might have in the future. Things like when did I? and where was I when?

Today Brooke broke out in Chicken Pox. We are guessing that she caught it a few weeks ago during a visit to the Mundy clan. Courtney is yet to show any signs however we don't think it'll be too long... Shhh, don't tell too many people. We don't want the parents of the thousand odd kids that went to the Wiggles on the weekend to find out.

Only Brooke could start a pandemic incident.

The Wiggles

Today Mum and Dad took the girls to see The Wiggles today. The girls were really pumped up, they couldn't wait, and then when we got there they didn't want to dance, clap hands or anything.

Brooke had a little go, Courtney sparked up every now and then but in general they watch it like it was television. A pretty good show all round. Although we were up near the back, the Wiggles left the stage and came running around the crowd.

Those boys are getting old.

In other news, Brooke has a sore tummy, most likely because she refuses to eat proper food. She is also finishing daycare in a couple of week, choosing to spend some more time with Mum before kindy starts next year. Brooke does not really like daycare.

School Assembly

Today Mum, Dad, Brooke, Nana Grandad all went to watch Courtney’s school assembly because she and her class were singing songs for the whole school and Courtney even got to speak into the microphone, asking the Principle to address the school.

Doesn’t she look sophisticated in her glasses?

Today the girls used MSN Messenger to talk to Cassie over the internet. Having the latest version on MSN and ADSL has made it really clear, both video and sound.



The girls were more interested in pulling faces but they did talk a little as well. We'll have to get all the family and friends onto this so we can keep in touch.

I think that's enough

Thecranegirls new house has a very, very deep bath tub. The other night the girls jumped in as Mum ran the bath. Whilst the bath was filling up, Mum turned her attention to cleaning the bathroom. After a few minutes, Courtney says "I think that's enough water now Mum"

Brooke is found to be silently sitting there with water up under her chin, bubbles up around her face.

Fathers Day

For Fathers Day, Dad got to make the girls pancakes for breakfast. The girls gave him some ties for works, a new coffee cup that Courtney painted at school and a picture Brooke made of her hands.



This morning Brooke came to Dad (after some coaching no doubt). She was holding about $2.00 in silver coins and she asked, "Is this enough money to go to Dino Gym?" Dad didn't have the heart to say no, so we spent the afternoon climbing, jumping, rolling, sliding and paying mini golf.



Today was Courtney asked for the training wheels to be taken off her bike. She has tried Isaac's bike a few times and is full of confidence that she can ride on two wheels. She is doing really well. It'll only be a couple of weeks until she has it mastered. She has already had her first crash, thankfully it ended in laughter.



Over some time, Brooke has developed a cute little habit of going and kneeling on her bed and facing the corner when she gets told off or does not get her way and she wants to sulk about it. She has the stamina to stay there for a long time, long enough that to out last her parents and we'll eventually come in and say sorry and give her the upper hand.

Today Brooke put a new spin on it. After being told she could not have a biscuit before dinner she stormed off to her room, looking back to make sure someone was paying attention. When Dad went in, she was not on her bed as expected.



It appears that she has taken to sulking in the cupboard. Oh yer, she got the biscuit as well.