A day of mixed emotions

Yesterday I attended the funeral of our young friend. Yes, of course it was very sad, and it was extremely hard to see that tiny coffin. However, nothing can change the fact that he is no longer with us, and I guess that whilst we must allow oursleves to grieve over the tragic loss of someone so young, we must also move on and be grateful that he came into our lives.

As I mentioned on another website recently, because of Tom's age, he will not remember all of this upset. Beyond the first few swimming lessons when he will no doubt ask where Rueben is, I doubt very much whether he will even give it all another thought. But I will. And I will try to use the whole experience to make me a better person....a better mum. At times, I am too quick to chastise Tom, I sometimes forget that he is in fact only 3yo and cannot be expected to remember everything I say and all the rules we impose. If I've learnt anything from Rueben's death, it is that life is so very precious and it really can be taken away in an instant.

So I am going to enjoy my kids. Be more accepting of their faults. Sure, I'm not going to let them run rings around me and rest assured, there will be a measure of discipline in our house, but I am going to get off his back a bit more. I'm positive that there will come a time in his life when I will find myself chastising him on a regular basis (ie teenage years)........I don't need to be doing it now.

On a brighter note, this week we were judged in the Semex-Holstein Australia on farm challenge. This is where you nominate a number of cows to be judged based on conformation and other physical traits. We submitted 2 cows per class (2yo, 3yo, 4yo, 5yo & mature class). One of our 3yo cows - Craiglands Luckystrike 3111 - came third in her class. This is a great acheivement as the 2 and 3yo classes were very competitive.

When we selected her, and then on the day of judging, she was looking to be a standout cow - one that we would potentially be able to take to the show. This made me inwardly groan as she is a predominately white cow. Lordy.....the washing that is in front of me!!!

Craiglands Luckystrike 3111

A huge thanks goes to Mike Huth of BOS Trading who spent a couple of days with us selecting cows for the on farm challenge. The bugger of it all (for him), is that it was an ABS cow that got up on the day, rather than a BOS one!! We'll see how we go in the Colac on farm challenge in a few weeks time with a BOS PT daughter!

Also this week, Bridie had another trip to the maternal & child health nurse for a weighing. Again, she has put on weight - 210gms - which is great. She now weighs a whopping (not) 7.1kg at 9 months of age. LOL. Yes, she is going to be a petite little thing.

Tragedy and heartbreak

It is with an extremely heavy heart and great sadness that I write this post. Yesterday we received some terrible news - news that no parent wants to get.

A young friend of Thomas' - a kid in our swimming class - died on Saturday afternoon. And it was in the most tragic of circumstances. His mum put him down for a nap in the afternoon and instead of going to sleep, he got himself into a chest that was being used as a toy box in his room. The lid closed and he couldn't get out. He suffocated. He was 3.5yo.

I am trying my best not to think about it, but as a mother of a similar aged boy, it is damn hard not to. I look at Thomas and I just want to hold him close. I have to say, that my sharp tongue retorts towards him and my often short fuse have been held in check over the past 24 hours.

Tom and Rueben spent almost every Tuesday morning together for more than the past 2 years, initially getting used to the water and in latter months, enjoying the beginnings of actual swimming. I have watched this little boy develop from a baby into an active toddler, and I simply cannot fathom that he will no longer be there.

I cannot imagine what the family must be going through and my most deepest sympathies go to his mum and dad and their extended families.

RIP Rueben and may the angels always watch out for you and keep you in their care.

I am now off to hug my kids and tell them how much I love them. Once again, I am reminded of how precious life is.

The milestones continue

At just over 8.5 months of age, Bridie has decided to roll over from back to front! This means that assertion of her independance has been taken to another level and my life with her has changed once again. In the next few days, I imagine that she will become more and more proficient at rolling around and no longer will she remain where I place her. Of course, the frustration that she has encountered in recent months will also largely alleviate as she is able to move herself to where she wants to go, so that is a good thing in my books. And the other benefit is that she will be more mobile to escape her brother who still finds her the ideal target of his often rough affections!

Colac, Colac hear us roar.......

Colac Braves - B Grade Premiers 2008

After a nailbiting and at times sloppy game, the Colac Braves pulled off the clincher of the season by winning the baseball grand final 13 runs to 12 against Ballarat Mounties on Saturday. At the bottom of the 1st dig, the score was 6 to 4 (Ballarat's way)...amazing score seeing as some of the games throughout the season didn't total that much in NINE innings!!! The Braves trailed the whole game and then deep in the 7th innings, when down by 1 run, they managed to bring it all together and score 2 runs to take the lead. I am also happy to say that it was Mark who crossed the plate to take them to the lead.

Unfortunately the seconds did not have such a great outing and they lost their grand final game by 1 run against Corio (11 runs to 10), so there are mixed feelings at the club about the weekend.

Mark however, had a fabulous weekend. Not only did his side win the grand final, but he was also presented with life membership for the Colac Braves. He has been playing with the Braves since their inception and prior to that, with the Colac Demons (which merged with Colac Tigers to become the Braves). This year he also enjoyed his 300th game with the Braves (more games played if you count the Demons' games), so this capped off a great season for him. He didn't however, fair too well on the injury count for the weekend. A bad back due to being cleaned up at home plate while attempting to tag a player out, a badly bruised knee and a large purple/black bruise on his side courtesy of some dodgy pitching, and the usual miriad of scrapes and cuts that go with playing baseball. But to be honest, he doesn't really feel them. He is still just so happy.

Colac Braves' newest life member

"Colac, Colac hear us roar

Colac, Colac watch us
score

We love our women

And we love our beer

Colac, Colac. It's our
year!"