The little apprentice

There is a great little relationship between Buster and Milly.  With Henry at school he gets lots of time with his sister and he really gets the best of her.  When it's just the two of them she includes him in her play and games and he loves, as well as often plays up to, the attention.  He learns so much from her, good and bad.  He has her playfullness and cheekiness.  He also has her determination, strong will and stubborness.  While Milly has pretty much grown out of her tantrums, he has taken up the baton and when he "puts on his parts" as my Nan used to say, he really puts on a show.

Buster is also quite the chatterbox.  Something else we attribute to spending time with Milly.  That's not to say he hasn't learnt things from big brother Henry also.  He picks up a lot of his language from his older siblings and it's when he starts calling people "poo head" or using the words "hate" or "bum" that we shake our heads.

Playing fairies on the windowsill.

Playing dinosaur families in Buster's cot.

He's also growing up.  He no longer wants to sit in his high chair when we sit down to eat at the dining table.  He sits in a dining chair like the rest of us.  Well, he kneels on the chair really, he is so little, but refuses to do it any other way.  He is also refusing to have his midday nap in his cot.  He will only have it in Henry's bed.  We guess this is an ok thing, as it gets him used to a bigger bed for when the time comes.  Until then he is still our Buster Boo and Henry and Milly's little apprentice.

Birthday festival Part 3 of 3 - Cupcakes and more

Don't you just love it when your birthday lasts more than one day?  I know I do.  Spreading out the celebrations over a couple of days really makes it feel special.  So our little tribe kept the party going with the promised trip to the cupcake shop.

First car trip in only a seatbelt.  Now that he is seven he is no longer required by law to sit in a child restraint. 

Cupcake shop.  Henry chose a Turkish Delight cupcake.

Milly's choice was a Triple Chocolate.

We had never been to the cupcake shop Cupcake Espresso before.  Why would we?  I love to bake and always make sure my muffins etc are healthy versions of otherwise sweet cakes.  This really was a special treat.  It was a cute little galley-style cafe with mouthwatering cupcake flavours on offer.  The kids tucked into their cupcakes but after a few mouthfuls they had had enough and wanted to go home.  The cupcakes were yummy but very rich for them and they wanted to save them for later in the day.  Michael and I took some home for later too (a Lemon Meringue, a Salted Caramel, and a Peanut Butter Chocolate).  I have to say these cupcakes were the best I've ever eaten.

Once home it was time to get Buster to bed so the play could begin.  Milly was keen for me to play Barbies with her because Barbie was going to get married.  Henry was keen for me to help him build his Lego Star Wars spaceship, but when he realised Michael wasn't working and he was free he wanted his Dadda to partner with him.      

The Lego build marathon about to begin - 679 pieces to assemble.

Three hours and 15 minutes later - an exhausted and relieved Michael and an excited Henry.



Posing in the new birthday clothes.

The three kidlets.

Done and dusted until next year, with Boo turning three in November.  Happy Birthday H&M.

Birthday festival Part 2 of 3 - Mister

Henry's birthday started very early.  Too early.  It was still dark and when he was standing by the side of our bed and I looked at the clock, it wasn't even five am yet.  I wished him a happy birthday and told him it was still night time and to go back to bed.  He shuffled back to his bedroom but all the subtle noises had woken Buster, who is a light sleeper.  I got up and put Buster in the bed between me and Michael and hoped he would go back to sleep.  I don't think he did, nor Henry, but I must have.  The next thing I remember is Henry standing by the bed again with a desperate look on his face wanting to open his presents, and daylight poking through the blinds.  Don't know where Buster had gotten to.  I looked at the clock and it was 7:20am.  Milly was still asleep, so knowing how anxious Henry was to get his birthday celebration moving I gave him permission to wake up Milly.  Poor Henry.  I know for him it felt like he had waited a century for his special day.
 

With everybody up it was time for the present opening ceremony.  Blink and you would have missed it.  Henry ripped through every present and parcel only pausing when I asked him to so I could take a photo.  It was all over within a few minutes.  Henry's special birthday breakfast request was for a bacon wrap with BBQ sauce. 

Love Lego.

So rare I get one-on-one time with Mister.  With Buster asleep and Milly busy with her Barbies, we can build some Lego together.  I love his smile in this photo.  I hope it's because he's as happy as me.

Henry's special birthday lunch request - cut up apple and pear.  I love how simple my children can be.

A blank face = playing the wii.

Henry's special birthday dinner - Macdonalds.

Birthday festival Part 1 of 3 - Poppet

April always feels a lot like Christmas in our house.  With two birthdays in succession to celebrate, everytime there is a knock on the door and it's the postman with a parcel, the excitement and anticipation from the kids builds just like it does in December. 

We had decided early on that this year we wouldn't do big birthday parties with all their friends.  Last years effort was enough to put us off and take a break for a year.  Instead we told the kids on their birthday it would be a special day all about them and they could do and eat whatever they wanted for their day.  As their birthdays this year fell on weekdays, we also said on the weekend we'd take them to a cupcake cafe and they could pick a birthday cupcake of any flavour and have a milkshake.

Milly's special birthday breakfast request - butter on toast.

Milly's birthday morning started, naturally, with opening her presents.  This is a tricky part of the day.  While we are all excited for Milly and she is excited too, poor Henry gets teary and pouts through the present opening ceremony, upset that he has to wait a day for his presents.  Milly was really sweet and considerate and asked him if he'd like to open one of her presents.  She even let Buster open a present too.  Milly likes to take her time opening her presents and carefully looks at each one and talks about it before moving onto the next.

After compiling a birthday list of almost 20 items (mainly all different Barbie dolls), the night before her birthday she said "what I really want for my birthday is a pink unicorn".  Glad we got that right.

A postal delivery brings more presents.  I think the smile says it all.

The special request of nori rolls for her birthday dinner...

 

... and a chocolate bavarian cake for her birthday dessert.

Football season

With the change of season comes the change of sporting activities.  This year there will be three of us playing soccer during the autumn/winter months.  Henry, Michael and me.  Michael will be playing on Friday nights, Henry will be playing on Saturday mornings, and I'll be playing on Sunday mornings.  Our weekends will be taken up with sweaty shirts, stinky shin pads, muddy socks, and in mine and Michael's cases, aching bones, sore muscles and plenty of bruises.

Henry's team trains once a week, my team trains twice a week, and Michael's team.....well let's just say they at least warm up before each match.





Cold mornings here we come.

The only time Buster stops running around or onto the field is when the oranges come out at half time.

Easter

Good Friday morning and it's hot cross buns for everyone.

Easter Sunday.  Come and find me!

Someone's found some eggs.

Someone else has found some too.

The hunters and gatherers show off their loot.

Eggs for breakfasts - hold the soliders.

Henry and his doppelganger.  You pick - the egg or Michael?

Happy Easter.

You know

I know you are waiting on a blog posting of our Easter weekend, but until I've got a spare hour to put it together, here is something else.

It's school holiday time and Michael has taken some annual leave to spend time with me and the kids.  When I was out shopping I saw a pack of Uno cards, and with such fond memories of playing it as a kid I popped it in the trolley thinking it would make a great game to play as a family.

I wasn't sure if the kids would grasp all the different action cards and rules but they proved me wrong, and I really must learn not to underestimate their abilities.  Milly is quite strategic when she plays and quietly goes about getting rid of her cards.  Before you know it she's calling "Uno" and the game is over.  Henry loves all the action cards, especially the Wild Cards.  He gets disappointed if the hand he is dealt doesn't have at least two action cards in it.

This card game has given us some great family time together.  The kids are really enjoying it and want to play everyday.  We've had lots of laughs (some tears when we don't win) and plenty of fun.

i-not

Here is me and Boo on our laptops.  Henry is in the background watching a movie on his DVD player.  Add to this a wii (which we only got at Christmas) and that is about as technologically advanced as we get in our household.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti technology.  I love being able to access the internet, connect with family and friends via email, make use of software applications, and even publish this blog.  It has certainly made aspects of my life easier.  But I haven't been drawn in to having a smart phone, an ipod, an ipad or whatever is the latest gadget doing big business.  In fact the more advances made with technology the more I feel we are losing touch with our humanity.  I'd really like to see the world slow down a bit and get back to basics.  While we now have the immediacy in communicating with each other, it no longer seems personal.  For example, when was the last time you received a birthday card in the mail?  These days most people just send a text message or birthday wishes on Facebook.  So, let me ask another question.  When was the last time you wrote a letter or a card and posted it?  While I realise my children will grow up in a world bursting with new technology and gadgets, one thing I always have them do is make their own birthday cards for family and friends.  They write in the cards, draw pictures or paste pictures on the front, do all the decorating themselves.  It helps them to learn about celebrating other people's lifes and creates something personal for the recipient.  It's getting back to basics.