June 2012

More certificates. We're so proud!

Dressed up for a Ball.

Hamish's first play-doh experience.

Sarah and Isabella playing.

Sammy and Josh giving Hamish tips.

The view from the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Josh trying to work out the ribbon art.

After school we got to play with freshly made play-doh which Hamish loved! I think the others loved it too, even Sarah! Isabella got more certificates. What a beautiful smile on her face! We were invited to a Ball where we got to dress up and boogie the night away. Don't we look smart! During the school holidays we went exploring Sydney. While poor David was working we visited the Museum of Contemporary Art and got to play with some of the installations and even have afternoon tea overlooking the Opera House. I think Sarah and the kids enjoyed the city visit.

The cousins having lunch at Questacon.

Hand prints at Questacon.

We visited Canberra in June with Sarah and caught up with Brenton, Annabella, Lucy and Henry and got to visit Questacon and just got to hang around together. This month my little Sammy became a fully fledged teenager by turning 13! She had a wonderful pampering birthday party with robes and face masks and most importantly of all, a chocolate fountain! She loved every minute!

February 2012

Date night

February saw the settling in to two new schools, new bus trips to navigate for Sammy and a chance to spend quality time with Hamish while everyone else was at school. It also saw the beginning of our weekly date nights as Joshua finally became old enough to babysit for us. Yay for us! Hamish became a little more mobile as he began to crawl and Sammy and Josh hung out with old friends. Isabella made a new and very important friend, Tom, who she is going to marry. We even had a chance to finally swim in our own pool. The Summer hasn't been a warm one, so the pool has been very brisk and shall we say, 'refreshing'. Not my cup of tea at all!!

Play time with just Momma.

Swimming in Summer.

Crawling is just about to begin.

Hanging out with Jaslyn.

Movies at Top Ryde with Emil and Konrad.

Bella and her 'boyfriend', Tom.

Swimming in our pool.

Isabella getting her first certificate at assembly.

Valentine Date Night

Dave and I had our second date night with Josh looking after all the kids. Last Tuesday we went to a restaurant in our street and Hamish and Isabella behaved beautifully and they both slept while we were out. It was wonderful to spend some time together with no kids around! This last Tuesday we weren't quite as lucky. We had just started on our mains when there was a call from 'home' that put us both into high alert mode. Dave answered with, "What's wrong? Is Hamish okay?" (We told Josh if anything happened he should call us, even if it was minor. It didn't stop us from stressing when that phone rang.) Luckily all was well but Hamish had woken up and Josh was unsure of what to do. We told him to hold him and watch TV quietly with him on the couch and the lights down low. We told him that we'd be back shortly. The restaurant was about a 4 minute drive from our house. We then finished our dinner, had a quick dessert and hurried off home. It was a set menu and so we had to pay for dessert anyway so we decided to stay and eat it. We told Josh to call if Hamish started crying. Josh had said he was fine and just lying with Sammy on the couch. When we got back we gave Josh a little extra money for coping with a more stressful situation. I have to mention too that Josh made dinner for the girls and him both last week and this week. Last week was omelettes and this week he cooked cheeseburgers. I'm looking forward to our next date night. Maybe we'll be able to go and watch a movie. If we're brave.