Winter uniform

 

Henry and Milly's school is a public school that thinks it's a private school.  Come Term 2 of the year the school rules that the winter uniform must be worn.  So out come the school ties, long pants, box-pleated tunic and stockings, peter pan collared shirts for girls, and standard collars for boys.  Have to admit they look pretty smart.

 

 

 

 

The second haircut

When we gave Buster his first haircut (you can read about it here) we fully expected when we cut out his curls that they would never grow back, and the blonde hair he had as a baby would grow brown.  But it's been almost one year since that haircut, and thankfully his hair did grow back retaining those gorgeous blonde curls.  So cue time for his second haircut and we were a little less nervous about our baby losing his baby face.  Just like the first time, it was Michael who took to the scissors and snipped away.

Heel and toe

Henry has been learning some bush dances at school.  It brings back all the memories I have of learning the same dances when I was in primary school.  He has taken it upon himself to pass on this valuable life skill to Buster. 



I'm sure I've already mentioned how much Buster admires and loves his big brother.  His love for Henry is almost matched by his love for Lego men.

School holiday fun

Sorry for the lack of blog posts.  I misplaced the cord to download photos from the camera.  I looked for it everywhere and of course it turned out to be in the one place I always put it away in and had searched through three times but couldn't see it.  Go figure.  So I've got lots of photos and little snippets of our life over the past month to share.  Here's the first one.

 

During the school holidays we managed to enjoy a little family day out.  We made good use of a free bowling voucher we got when we held Henry's birthday party at a bowling centre.  The kids were very keen to go bowling again, so we thought we'd make an afternoon of it.  Bowling, followed by lunch, followed by some chocolate.

 



 

Buster, with the aid of a ramp to bowl his ball down, turned out to be the star bowler of the day.
 

Mmm, which pink ball will she choose?
 

My little Mister.
 

Brotherly love.  These boys just grew closer during the school holidays.
 

Lunch time.
 

The kids were really excited to go the Max Brenner chocolate cafe.  This was a rare treat for them and it was nice to surprise them with something special. 
 

My hot chocolate.  Truthfully it was more like a bowl of chocolate soup.  It was aptly called the Thick Italian.
 

Things Milly says #6

This story has happened just now.  It is so disturbing I feel compelled to report it straight away.  Here's how it went down.

Milly and I are having a cuddle on my bed.  She is gently stroking my jumper then very sweetly says, "I can't wait to wear this when you're dead.  It feels so warm and snuggly."

The End.

Milly's milestone

 

It's official.  Milly has lost her first tooth.  It has been very wobbly for a while now but she has been a bit frightened to wobble it out herself and would always firmly press it back in place if it fell out of line with the rest of her teeth. 

 

It all happened over breakfast when she bit into her piece of toast and felt something strange in her mouth.  Hello tooth.  We could see the sense of relief on her face that it was a painless experience and she wasn't too freaked out about the blood.  Of course once the tooth was out all she talked about for the day was the tooth fairy and getting money.  She wrote a lovely little card for the fairy explaining that it was her first tooth to come out and the fairy was very generous having left $2 under the pillow when Milly woke up the next morning.

 

 

Turning 6 and turning 8



You could be forgiven for thinking it's Christmas at our house.  There is wrapping paper everywhere, partially opened presents, and toys now looking for homes on the shelves and in the toy boxes.  That's right, it's birthday time again.  Milly has turned six, Henry has turned eight, and poor Buster doesn't understand why it's not his birthday too.

 

 

Happy Birthday Poppet.  Yes, you can open your presents now.

Making birthday breakfast pancakes in present from Toowoomba cousins.
 

We held a little party for Milly and some of her school friends.  Originally it was to be a picnic morning tea at a local playground and park, but cold winds and grey clouds had us relocate the party to our house.

Michael making some fairy dust potions with the birthday girl.
 

Birthday cuddles.
 

We decided to outsource Henry's birthday party.  Neither of us fancied trying to entertain a group of 7-8 year old boys, especially in our own home.  So we organised some laser tag and bowling, and they threw in some karaoke as well.  I love karaoke, but I love it when I've had a few drinks and I'm with my friends and it's night time.  I don't love it when it is played so loudly I can't hear myself think, when it's the middle of the day, when I'm sober or when I'm listening to boys singing "I'm sexy and I know it".  It all just seems a bit wrong.  Nevermind, the boys loved it.  They were gangnam styling and shuffling up a storm.   

Karaoke king.

Birthday bowling.

Learning to skate.

Reading groups

One of the joys of being a stay-at-home mum is being able to help out at school. When Henry started kindergarten I would show up to assist with reading groups and it was a great way to get to know all the kids in his class, be a part of his learning, and watch him grow. I also know Henry enjoyed having me visit his classroom and was disappointed that I wasn't able to help with his Year 1 class last year due to Buster being a too much of a distraction.

This year my time has freed up a bit more. Buster is able to sit still and entertain himself for longer periods of time, plus he is at preschool two days a week, making it all the more able for me to help out not only with Henry's class but with Milly's class too.

So three days a week I help out at school with reading groups and on one of those days Buster joins me. We arrive at school with his morning snack, a sketch pad and pens, and a couple of small toys. He's been very good at not running around and distracting everyone. In fact, it would be fair to say he has found a new way of keeping himself busy while I help out.

 

Our Easter hippety hop

Corin, Yin and Casper arrived on Saturday for a weekend visit.  The kids were all excited to see each other (except for Buster who took some time to warm up) and were all looking forward to Easter Sunday and hunting for eggs.
 

Al fresco dining while the weather is still good and the mozzies at a minimum.
 

Easter Sunday. 
I think Henry and Milly were a little over optimistic with the size of their "Easter baskets".  Buster had made his own at preschool.

Let the hunt commence.
 

Buster's bounty.
 

Casper left no leaf unturned in his quest to find the most eggs.  He was a little man on a mission.
 

For Easter breakfast we had Nanoo and Peter join us.
 

There was a little competition between Casper and Buster for who got the most attention from Nanoo.  Casper loves to sing and the two of them sang songs with Nanoo.  The photo was taken when they were singing Hickory Dickory Dock.  Buster's mouse was running up Nanoo's clock.
 

Nanoo is off on an overseas adventure soon so we tried to get her a photo with the grandchildren.  Not everyone was happy to pose for the photo.
 



We then all headed off to Nanoo and Peter's new place where there was another egg hunt in their vegetable garden.

 

Nanoo keeps a set of bikes in her shed for the kids so they can ride around when they visit.  A good way to use up all that energy after downing all those Easter eggs.
 

Buster was more interested in throwing stones and sticks in the creek across the road.  Soon enough we were all doing it.
 

Then it was time to say goodbye to Corin, Yin and Casper who headed home to Sydney.  Little Casper was sad and didn't want to go home, he was having too much fun with his cousins.