Well a mishmash of 'stuff'...

Where to begin!? (pics to come) Well, tonight the Christiania bike will arrive here, being bought around by N as they may need the trailer this weekend - very appreciative we are, and very very excited! Also, Michael's Mum & Dad came with these beautiful yellow roses when they visited last, and they have brightened the kitchen for over a week now, very lovely and a nice surprise!

Kindergarten & Zeke's first day...
Master Zeke started 3/4 Kindergarten this week, just two half days a week. I have pics to come, but he's really enjoying it despite stacking it twice on his first day - tears but cuddles from R, one of the Kindergarten leaders. I was preparing to do the 'prep talk' and this was how it went...
Me: 'Matey... you know you start Kindy soon'...
Zeke: 'I know... and Mum you can't stay... you can't stay at my class you have to go home... and you can come back and pick me up'
Me: (pause lol) 'well yep, that's right, Mummy's not staying, and I'll come pick you up at lunchtime...'
Zeke: 'and bring my lunch? When you come pick me up will you bring my lunch, Mum?'
Me: 'yep... I'll bring your lunch when I come and pick you up' and I have to say, he said it most matter-of-factly and quite nicely... he was just making sure I understood lol
So evidently, the prep talk was almost not required lol and he has been busting to go to 'his class' for some time now, and very excited about his Kindy bag, and being able to do craft and painting in his class. Had to explain he probably wouldn't be doing German (well Brooke and Jake do so that's a fair conclusion lol) just yet, but yes definately craft and painting. He's been walking around after just his second day singing the 'circle song' as well as 'come back Pizza, come back Paul' (the two little di ckie birds song)... ah my Zeke is growing up!

Op Shop Finds
Op Shop finds - four long sleeve shirts for Brooke for winter, and one thick jacket with hood for Zeke for camping, all for thirteen dollars which I thought was quite good. Our Op-Shop ladies are always an interesting bunch too! A couple of bags of clothes from A's boys means Jake is all sorted for clothes and of course, Zeke has Jakes shirts... all sorted for now!

And the Doc said...
I saw two different doctors this week... After several months of increasing symptoms (inculding a numb heel and calf amongst other things), and a conclusion from the doctor I have been seeing for sometime that I really didn't feel was a right conclusion, a second opinion reveals that yes it was more than [what she said], and in my opinion not 'that' at all... especially considering those things were there before Brenna was born.
My TFT results came back too high, the first time in about nine years that my levels have changed - and I was tested not long after Brenna was born and the levels were the same as always.
I have been on 100mcg daily of oroxin, and have been changed now to 50mcg/100mcg alternate days to bring them back to where they should be, which will take about 6-8 weeks. I am glad that got picked up by my new doctor, not just to put things 'right' and hopefully reduce symptoms, but also because either too high or low can impair conception and make the wait to conceive, longer...
Interestingly in my hunt for more information, I re-found this book, leant to me some time ago by a friend A who also has thyroid issues, and lots of things made much more sense. I had forgotten all the 'stuff' that was attributable to hypothyroidism (autoimmune)... most recently including my heel and calf muscle, and tip of tongue going numb, but also several other 'things' that have puzzled me over the years. Found this too, which is just interesting to read. I know internet isn't always reliable, but it's a start for reading up on things, and helps you think of questions to ask next time you have an appointment - even better when you feel comfortable to ask them. I've also found several forums where people are sharing very similar experiences, both with symptoms and medical responses to them. Next on the list is to see a naturopath and see how we can have 'mainstream' and 'not so mainstream' practices work together.

Baking & Michael
Last weekend Michael made a first attempt KFC-style chicken, and mastered his Apple Pie recipe... mmm yummo! The KFC chicken wasn't quite a success so we have a new recipe to try this time round from A (thanks A!) I scored a box of bananas for $5 a couple of days ago, so have been making muffins and today Michael tried a new recipe for banana cake (made it without the icing) and it turned out lovely, very moist. So we are banana-muffin baking all weekend and/or pureeing, to make the most of the banana score. Also keen to get a fruit and veg mini-coop going in the near future.

Cubby House & Garden
And some awesome awesome news... ~THE~ perfect cubby house has become available for Brenna's Garden... I am so very excited and appreciate being given the opportunity... I just need to get the space ready and am trying to find ways to make that happen quicker! LOL. On top of that... AE and R have found the perfect Angel statue to take pride of place in Brenna's garden... oh I so cannot WAIT to have this garden taking shape..! I've been treading water for now, pruning the ever-fast-growing mulberry tree to keep it at easy-picking level, trimming, re-digging garden beds etc. Slowly slowly. Oh and we also had our FIRST proper mandarine off the tree - I accidentally 'pruned' the branch lol and as I did so went 'oh oh!'... but the mandarine tasted GREAT... so we're loving up the tree and hoping for a decent harvest next season!

That's about all for now I guess... off to see what I'll get done tonight, plenty of projects await!