Birthday celebrations

Time does fly when you have children. Watching them grow, learn and development is a wonderful thing as a parent. It was hard to believe our little babies were turning 2 and 4. Their birthday celebrations started on Saturday with a party with family and friends, and then followed with their actual birth days. For Henry and Milly it may have seemed a little overwhelming, three days of birthday wishes and presents, but what kid doesn't like getting presents.

The Toy Story themed birthday cakes.

The party.

The next day was Sunday - Milly's actual birthday. Henry was a little put out that she was getting all the attention and presents and that he had to wait another day for his.

Milly opening presents while Henry looks on dressed in one of Milly's presents.



Jessie and Bullseye from the movie Toy Story. The kids have been obsessed with this movie for months.

Henry got quite upset that Milly didn't want to share her Toy Story presents with him and that he had to wait another day before getting his presents.

We decided to give Henry his main birthday present a day early. He really couldn't wait another day to get his Buzz Lightyear. Seeing the joy on his face was worth it.

A weekend of celebrating and a full day of playing with Buzz and Woody had taken its toll on our young man.

Finally it was Monday, Henry's birthday. The first thing he said when he woke up was "am I four now?".

More Buzz Lightyear.

Easter

What a great Easter! It started off by winning 1st prize in an Easter Egg raffle, so there was no shortage of chocolate. Nanoo and Peter had just bought a caravan and were going camping at Myall Lakes over Easter and we decided to join them for one night and borrow their tent. It would be the first time in a long time that either Michael and I had camped, and the very first time for Henry and Milly. Henry was very excited about the prospect of sleeping in a tent. Before we had even arrived at the camp site Henry had declared on the drive to Myall Lakes this was "the best holiday ever".

Korsman's Landing jetty at Myall Lakes.

Nanoo and Peter had purchased from Michael's parents this little run about. It was a lot of fun cruising the lake in this.

Having a swim and a paddle with Nanoo.

On Easter Saturday, Nanoo organised a little egg hunt.


The kids were very excited to find tiny Smarties inside their eggs. Milly was so overjoyed she shook her egg and all her Smarties fell out into the dirt. Had this been Henry there may have been tears at the loss of chocolate. As this was Milly, she displayed her usual indifference to making a mess.

There were plenty of goannas crawling about and scavenging.

"The best holiday ever" had taken it's toll - two very exhausted mooches on the drive home.

Steve and Anna Hobson came to visit and dinner on Easter Saturday.

Easter Sunday egg hunt.

March in review

We popped down to Sydney to help Johnny celebrate his birthday. Another memorable evening was had partying with Mr Logan. The kids also got to join in the festivities.

Who doesn't love sparklers?

The kids the morning after. Best we don't post any photos of the adults.

Henry being cornered by Milly and Rosie.

Henry's preschool has been running a number of fundraising events, one of which was an Easter raffle. We were very excited to win first prize.

Making pizzas.

Farmer Tiff's carrot harvest.

Picking out a birthday cake.

Rated R

This blog entry comes with an R rating. Some of the images contain adult themes. Although really no adult would actually produce these images. They are low brow and really for the simple minded. However, it was the simpleton in me that made me take the photos. View on...

Henry doing an Al Bundy impersonation.

"Say cheese". Well everyone except Nanoo.


You can never start your career as a computer nerd too early.



One of my favourite parts of the day - Milly's post-nap afternoon snuggle.



Playground fun.


Gotta love graffiti at a playground.


This graffiti obviously done by a gardener.

The words you wait to hear

On Wednesday, 25 February 2009 at 5.16pm Milly came to me with her arms open wanting a hug. I knelt down and enclosed her in my arms, gave her a kiss on the forehead and told her I loved her. She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said "love you mummy".

Farmer Tiff

I've always wanted to have a vegie and herb garden to pick from. Now that we have our own house I've been able to claim some garden space and make my dream come true. Really, I'm a novice to gardening. Not everything I tried to grow took off or even produced seedlings, but I've had a few successes and they have been yummy. The whole thing is a learning experience and it has been great fun. The kids have enjoyed it too. They help with the watering, sometimes the weeding, and always with the sampling. Henry knows all the herbs we grow and can be sent out at dinner preparation time to clip a few to add to our meal. Milly is only interested in the cherry tomatoes and the strawberries because she can pick them herself and eat them on the spot.

In the herb department we are growing: basil, mint, parsley, coriander, sage, thyme, rosemary, vietnamese mint, tarragon, chives and oregano.

The vegetables we are growing are: cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, lettuce, rocket, zucchini, carrots, green beans, snow peas, and capsicum.

We also have a lemon tree, lime tree and a strawberry patch.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to our readers. After our family-a-thon Christmas in Newcastle we headed south to Kangaroo Valley to bring in the New Year with friends. It was bloody hot, but the night sky was clear of clouds and full of stars - it was perfect for drinking wine and dancing around with sparklers. The kids, as always, had a ball. The adults had a pretty good time too.

After Kangaroo Valley we travelled north to Sydney to help our good friend Mark celebrate his 40th birthday. We had a great time at his party catching up with old work colleagues, then a drunken post-party game of Spicks & Specks to finish the night. We were up early the next morning to take the kids to the Olympic Aquatic centre, where they have opened a fantastic water playground. Lots of fun and great for the hangover.

On the way back to Newcastle we stopped in to visit Johnny and Meg in their new house. A couple of wines later we were persuaded to stay the night, again more wine. There was lots of dancing and the usual tasteless, gutter humour we enjoy with Johnny and Meg.

Then it was home, and so ended our two weeks of gluttony.

Climbing trees at Kangaroo Valley.

Paddling off the hangover on New Years Day.

Dancing by the herb garden with Allegra.

Playing in the Kangaroo Valley cubby house.

All ready to water the chestnut trees.

Milly stomping around.

Happy Birthday Mark!

"Dadda's hangover was this big." At Johnny and Megs.

Henry having a smooch with Rose.

At home it was back to playing tea parties...

... and games of nude peek-a-boo.