Time for a Taylor: kids

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!

May 2012

Hamish and Liam playing.

A picnic at Putney Park.

Hamish is now 1! Where has that year gone? Sarah moved in and we got ourselves into a routine pretty quickly. Here we are picnicing at Putney Park while overlooking the water.
I started helping out with writing in Isabella's Kindy class every Thursday for 45 minutes. She loved my coming in and helping and I got to know all the kids in her class really well. Isabella received a reading certificate at a Friday assembly standing next to Tom of course.

Tom and Isabella with their reading certificates.

Isabella gets chosen as the Kindy SRC rep.

Hamish and Henry had a belated birthday at my sister's house and all the cousins got to catch up. It's wonderful that they all get to play with each other!

Hamish being kept busy with food at Friday Assembly time.

In May there was time for playdays with our mate Liam. They're almost old enough to play together instead of side by side. It won't be long! At school Isabella was chosen as the Kindergarten SRC representative for her class. She got presented with a badge and got to go along to SRC meetings. What a grown up thing to do in Kindergarten! David had a birthday which we celebrated with a fancy breakfast as a family. It was delicious. Hamish got to have his own baby cino which he loved. So much in fact that when it was taken from his lips he screamed. The first time we've really seen a temper on him. We finally got a new fridge. Nice and silver and shiny! At school the duck eggs came again in the incubator and I got to watch the eggs hatch at school and the little ducklings grow into very cute and fat ducklings. I took the kids and Sarah into my school to have a cuddle outside business hours. We got to play with them without being interrupted. It was lovely. Isabella got another certificate through swimming.

Family!

Our new fridge.

Daddy and his boy!

Look at those good looking boys!

Playing on the swings.

A Hamish and Henry birthday cake!

Sarah and duckling.

Josh and Isabella with a duckling.

Isabella and another swimming certificate.

April 2012

Josh and Hamish at Buffalo Park on the flying fox.

Isabella playing in the sand under the flying fox.

Sammy and Hamish at Buffalo Park.

In April we found our first au pair, Sarah, from Canada who happened to already be in Sydney. It was only for four months and she was a perfect introduction for us to the world of au pairs! This is the photo she sent us! Very nerve wracking meeting at Macquarie centre for the first time. Her first day coincided with my first day at work. A very stressful time all round! My mum was lovely and helped Sarah with the kids for the first two days of the term which was really more for my peace of mind than anything!

Copying the names of classmates off of her class list.

Completed egg parcels.

Sarah and her sister.

In April the weather was perfect to go to Buffalo Park and play on the equipment. Josh took Hamish on the flying fox for the first time and he loved it!

Daddy watching on as Hamish tries the equipment at the beach.

Playing at the beach.

Escaping in the sand towards the pretty legs.

Isabella and I made some lovely chocolate egg parcels to give to her classmates. We used some paint cards from Bunnings which I cut into egg shapes and then Isabella very carefully and conscientiously wrote her class mates names on each label.

Easter decorations.

David's study in the process of being cleaned out.

Looking into the study.

Looking from the window to the door of the study.

The weather was okay to go to the beach. Not warm enough to swim, but certainly a lovely day to play in the sand and check out the play equipment at the beach.

The Easter Bunny did come!

Isabella with new Easter pyjamas and her eggs.

Hamish knows where the chocolate eggs go!

Josh with his chocolate egg haul!

He's almost taller than his mother!

Sammy with her eggs and Easter pyjamas.

A delicious Easter breakfast!

In between Easter, school holidays and getting ready for me to go back to work David was cleaning out his office now that NPS had an office in Chatswood so that we could make room for the arrival of Sarah. What a mess! Luckily it tidied up really nicely and made a nice bedroom. Unfortunately for Sarah we didn't have it totally finished when she arrived. But before she left we had put in a TV, a heater, a wardrobe and a set of draws to finish it off.

Sarah's room is almost ready!

Isabella next to Sarah's bed.

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!!