2011 for me started off quite nicely with my continued leave from work.  I had taken 7 weeks off work when the twins were born in Nov 2010 and it finished in the middle of January.  Those 7 weeks meant so much to Megs & I.  Not only could we enjoy those 7 weeks as a new family of six but it helped developed a routine for when I finally went back to work.  Going back to work was quite hard and it took a while for me to get back into the swing of things.  I think for Megs it was hard and maybe a little bit scary too, being left for the first time with the twins and the big boys, but she took it all in her stride and is a totally awesome mother and wife.  Whilst mothering the four boys, Megs somehow found the time to organise the twins baptism day.  The day was a total hit.

2011 saw my interest in photography take off. I’d always had an interest in photography from taking photos of the family, however 2011 was when I had the chance to do something about it.  It has brought about the introduction of Thompson’s Exposures which isn’t coming along maybe as fast as I would’ve liked, but it’s a work in progress.

Easter was pretty special.  It was the first year that the big boys fully grasped the Easter concept, and of course the Easter bunny.  The kids were able to enjoy the Easter At Werribee Mansion shindig which they thoroughly enjoyed.  We spent Easter morning down at my parents so that they were able to enjoy the boys hunting for Easter eggs.  It truly was a special morning.

Throughout 2011, Oliver & Sebastian’s personalities have shone through.  Oliver is very much the cheeky little troublemaker.  I can see lots of trouble ahead with him which will make life interesting.  I love how he can convey his feelings through facial expressions.  Sebastian is very much the shy teddy bear, who doesn’t like new faces in his life and will cling to his muumy and daddy when he’s unsure of that new someone.  His favourite thing would have to be cuddles.

2011 has seen Jack & Lewis grow up older enough to be able to enjoy things like the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, and other things.  One of those other things has been shell fosicking along the beaches of Phillip Island.  It is something that my grandparents did with my father, something that my father did with me, and now something that I’m now doing with my boys.  It felt like I was stepping back in time and at the same time creating and continuing the tradition with the boys.  It was pretty magical.

Megs and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary in 2011.  We have come so far in those 5 years.  I would be lying if I said that 2011 for us was a cake walk.  2011 was quite tough for Megs & I relationship wise.  And NO the twins or the big boys weren’t the cause of it.  In truth I was the cause of the problems.  I just haven’t been doing enough to help Megs out with the kids, the housework, and discussing issues as they arose.  Kids baptisms, costumes, and birthday parties, have all been done by Megs.  I’ve done nothing to help prepare for these things.  Megs has done it all and done it with style whilst dealing with the twins and the trouble that is the big boys.  Admittedly i’ve been pretty useless in 2011 when it has come to helping out.  There is no reason for it and no excuse.  I’m aiming to make amends in 2012 and show her the ‘old me’ when we married.

All in all, 2011 marked many firsts for the twins.  We survived as a family of 6 and proved many doubters wrong.  I look forward to this new year of 2012 and what it will bring.

After viewing the windows, we go for a walk in the city to soak in the Christmas spirit and just the general beauty of Melbourne:

After our walk we visit the Christmas show that Crown Casino put on each year.  This year was really the first time that Oliver & Sebastian got to see the pretty lights.  At first Oliver was quite taken back by the lights:

Visiting Santa is left for the following week and gives us something to look forward to.  This year we went to the Santa in the city where it was free to see Santa but you had to take your own photo:

Also as part of the family tradition we all get in the car and drive around looking for Christmas lights.  There is one that the kids love.  It is a huge Christmas light display in front of a Christmas light store, however this year they’ve scaled back the days that you can view the lights which was a little disappointing but there’s always plenty of other lights to look at.

I don’t know about you but I get so excited by Christmas.  Doing the above things increases the excitement for both Megs & I, and the kids.  Then there’s the numerous Christmas movies and songs that helps us get to the 25th of December

The thing with my oldest son is that he has an excellent poker face.  You can say to him that if he does something again then the consequence will be this, this, and this, and he’ll see right through you and go right ahead and do it again.  Today was no different.  I wish I had’ve had a good poker face like him.  I remember when I was a small child saying to my mother that I didn’t love her anymore and wanted to leave.  Her response was to get up and help me pack my bags.  I totally flipped and my facade crumbled into tears and apologies.  So when Jack came up to Megs & I and told us that he didn’t love us anymore and wanted to live with his graparents, our response was “off you go.  Go and pack your bags”.  He packed his bags and said goodbye to his brother Lewis, and then waited at the front door for us to take him around to his grandparents.  At this point I was telling Megs not to worry and that give him a day, maybe two, and he’ll be asking to come back home.  We’ve turned around to talk to Jack but he was no longer standing at the front door.  Ah ok he must be at the car waiting for us. Nope.  Not there.  Nah he couldn’t have started walking down the road.  I ran inside whilst Megs ran past me to check down our court.  I yelled and yelled for him inside but no answer.  I quickly ran back to Megs where she said that she spotted him right down the end of our court.  I took off and threw the car keys to Megs so that she could run back and get the car.  I was running down the court and I couldn’t see him.  Immediately the worst thoughts go through your head of him being run over at the main road, or even taken.  I reached the end of the court and stopped.  Looking right I couldn’t see him, so I looked left toward the main road and there he was a few steps away from it.  The memory of a little 4 year old boy walking down the road with his bag in one hand, and his teddy bear in another will forever haunt my memories.  Yelling at the top of my lungs, I got his attention and luckily he came to me.  It could’ve been worse.  Much worse.  I just thank my lucky stars that we got him back before anything bad happened to him.  It just proves the saying that you cannot take your eyes off your kids for a single minute.  It makes me think to myself and ask the question:  How do the Duggars do it?  I mean how is it possible to keep an eye out for so many children?

I will say this, Jack has a damn good poker face !!!

I feel that each goal that I make is just going to end up in failure.  Just recently I pulled up the rotting decking out in the backyard, only to be confronted with a totally massive task.  The decking had to be pulled up as it was getting too dangerous, and the plan is to pave the area to make the backyard that little bit bigger for the kids to play in.

I’ve had enough.  Yes that’s right get out your inlaw punching bag out and get ready for a workout.  Now before you go assuming things, I’ve actually been pretty well behaved.  I’ve forgiven but not forgotten everything that has happened surrounding the twins births.  I’ve even gone back to taking photos at ‘inlaw family events’.  For me the taking photos is a big step.  I view photography as a glimpse into how one sees things, and that you need to be happy taking photos of a subject or else it’s just not going to work, which is why for a while I couldn’t physically bring myself to take photos of the inlaws and their family.  It took awhile but I do believe I am back to taking photos of them.  Or maybe I’ve spoken too soon?

Why the possible reversion back to holding a grudge? Lollies, a lack of respect, and a refusal to leave things in the past.  If there’s one thing that really irks me, that would be the constant lolly giving to Jack & Lewis.  Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind the occassional lolly being given to the boys but only occassionally, and not lolly bags being handed out every single time the boys go around for a visit.  They don’t get lollies at home, and they know that they aren’t allowed but yet they go straight to MIL and ask behind my back, becuase they know that she’ll give them what they want.  This was emphasised at a family birthday party the other week.  Jack hadn’t eaten his tea before the party, and he was told that the consequences were that he wouldn’t be getting any cake or lollies at the party.  Of course we get there and he’s immediately asking for lollies from MIL, in which I put my foot down and say no bloody way.  Her response is that oh come on, let him have one, I can’t stand to see him cry.  Yeah what you mean the crocodile tears.  At this same party Lewis was quite upset because he’d been asleep in the car and had to be woken up to go inside for the party.  He’s a boy that doesn’t like to be woken up and it can take up to an hour of crying and sooking before he’s ok.  This particular time had him upset and searching for some daddy cuddles and reassurances.  I was cuddling him and giving him kisses, and he was calming down to the point where he’d stopped crying.  Next thing I know MIL is ripping him out of my arms, even though I said we’re ok, which upsets him even more for the next half hour.  It’s as if I’m not even there and that I’m not important.

Currently MIL is overseas in NZ, and she rang the other night for the first time in about a week and half.  Not to speak to her own daughter or anything, but to speak to the boys.  Jack is first on the phone and the first thing he asks is if she has lollies for him.  Oh please.  Through it all I feel for my gorgeous wife.  Her mum never rings just to speak to her.  It’s always only about the grandchildren, but yet she can’t seem to get enough of her other daughter.  It pisses me off.  Obviously she still holds a grudge.

Note: Sorry I’ve been a bit neglectful with this blog.  I’ve been a bit busy with the other one, and of course with the family

What a joke the Victorian Judicial System is.  It is a system that virtually rewards the criminals for their crimes.  I’m surprised there’s not a brochure that advertises ‘kill another human being and receive a nice comfortable jail cell with free tv and hot meals, and hey if the law makers need your information and contacts, then they can hook you up with trips out of jail and pamper you.  These times are certainly different compared to the way things were in Victoria back in the early to mid 20th century.

Ronald Ryan was the last person in Victoria to be sentenced to death and have it actually carried out.  That was in 1967.  That’s 44 years that criminals have been getting off easy.  The real people that are being punished by the Victorian Judicial System are the victims and their families.  How is it that a person can climb behind the wheel 3 or 4 times the legal limit, wipe out innocent lives or even a family, and get the softest of penalties?  Or how is it that a sicko that molests children can get a slap on the wrist?  What about a serial killer that kills many a backpacker, and only gets put away in jail for life?  Shouldn’t he be put to death?

In more recent times there has been even more acts of violence that in my opinion is punishable by death.  What about the girl that was thrown off the West Gate Bridge.  She didn’t do anything wrong.  To her it was a normal day, and she was probably delighted to be spending time with her brothers and her dadda on such a nice day.  Her father didn’t seem angry and upset, it was just a normal day until her father stopped the car on top of the bridge.  Still not being overly concerned, she would’ve trusted in her father until the animal actually threw her off the bridge.  She fell to her death not hitting water but solid earth.  A bit upsetting? So will the sentence that this animal receives for his crime, probably life in jail, but this animal so deserves to be put down.  Same goes for the jerk that drowned his kids in a dam just so his ex-wife couldn’t see them again.  If he couldn’t have them, then neither could she is what went through his mind.  Or what about in the past week the babysitter that couldn’t get the 5 month old to calm down, so he yells and yells at the baby to shut up whilst squeezing the baby’s head, causing bruising to the baby’s face and neck, as well as abrasions.  This baby did nothing to this animal yet the baby will suffer life long brain damage, permanent difficulties with walking, and many other problems throughout its life.  This animal got 10 years but could be out in a matter of 6 years.  Sorry in advance for the profanity, but what the fuck’s wrong with this country and state, and its judicial system.  These lawmakers are asking for families and vigilantes to step forward and take matters into their own hands.  There are many many people out there who believe in the old addage of an eye for a eye.  I would say that I’m definately one of these people, in that if somebody did anything to harm my family, then I would take my revenge.  This is what the Victorian Judicial System is doing to people.  People are fed up with the mamby pamby bullshit verdicts.  Families are left hurting from these crimes for decades and its only a matter of time before somebody takes the law into their own hands.  Before you judge me and what I’ve posted, just remember a victim for 10 seconds who plunged to her death.  Where’s her justice?

A New Journey:

thommo99.blogspot.com

Having consecutive bucks nights meant that it was hard not to compare the two, especially when one was more conservative than the other which is not a bad thing.  On the Saturday, my brother had his bucks night which was awesome and it was just up my alley.  His bucks night consisted of close friends enjoying a game of paintball, then a nice tea at the pub across the road, followed by drinking and enjoying each others company around a backyard fire.  The fire may’ve got out of control once or twice but it was all light hearted fun.

On the Sunday night I had my work colleague’s bucks night which started off ok but went down hill as the night went on.  The overall feeling was a lot different than my brother’s.  From the moment I walked in the doors I didn’t really feel comfortable, I can’t really explain it but I felt more at home and the feeling was a lot warmer at my brother’s bucks night.  The work colleague’s bucks night consisted of quite a lot of drinking by others, a poker night, and then a lesbian act.  Yep you read right …… a lesbian act.  This act was performed infront of and on the buck, and he didn’t hold back in getting in on the action.  I always thought there was a look but don’t touch rule but this was just ridiculous and ruined the night in my opinion.  How serious can one be about getting married if he’s feeling other women?  It left me feeling uncomfortable and just wanting to get out and to go home.

It’s interesting looking back on both of the bucks nights to see how differently each night was celebrated.  It goes to show that good company easily beats the typical bucks night with strippers.  I think it’s quite a antiquated ritual.

Last week, I needed to recharge the camera so that it would be ready for my brother’s bucks night as well as a best friend’s 30th birthday.  Do you think I could find it? No.  I looked absolutely everywhere and the only thing that I could find was the power cord for it.

I asked Jack if he knew what had happened to it, and immediately he makes his way to the back door and outside.  Oh crap.  If it’s outside, how long has it been out here and was it out there when we had the recent deluge of rain.  After spending a good hour of searching outside, I resigned to the fact that it was lost, and that I would have to buy another for $100.  I wasn’t very happy as you can imagine.

The days rolled on with no searching, and me with quite a poutty face.  Then one morning Megs yells out from down the hallway that she’s found it.  Yay.  She’d found it thrown into a cupboard by one of the boys.  I didn’t car who did it as I now had my battery charger, ready to catch the moments during my friend’s 30th birthday.  Thank god for my awesome wife