A Visit from Nanny and Poppy

Nanny and Poppy arrived on our doorstep today with the much anticipated rocking horse. When I picked Isabella up from daycare today the first thing she asked was if Nanny and Poppy had arrived with the horse. She has decided to name her horse 'SnowDrop'. Once we got home she almost ran from the car to see Nanny and Poppy. It was just adorable to see. She was a little nervous when she first got on the horse but I know that won't last long. Thank you so much Dad for all your hard work. The rocking horse is just beautiful and will be loved dearly by Isabella and Hamish for many years to come.

I needed to empty the dishwasher and give the kitchen a little tidy before we went out and feed Hamish. I managed to get Poppy to feed Hamish his lovely pumpkin, rice cereal and hot water concoction for dinner while I had both hands free to clean the kitchen. What a great help it was!

We decided to take Nanny and Poppy out to dinner at Ikea and Isabella held onto Poppy's hand all the way around the store. At one stage Poppy hid and Isabella thought that she had lost him. She then held his hand even more tightly. When we got back Poppy and Nanny read Isabella a story and put her to bed. She was just in her element tonight. Tomorrow we're off to the park...

Dining room change

I've been thinking of painting our dining room table for a while and luckily Dave's now come around to the idea. I found this table at Freedom with the exact same shape as ours. Now I just need to find some time to actually do it. I'm still finishing some other furniture make-overs so it will have to wait a little longer.

Finally some kisses!

It's taken a while for me to organise the photos from our Coffs Harbour trip onto picassa so that I can play around with them. I'm trying really hard to make the files and photos easier to find on my computer which of course has taken me extra time, but hopefully will mean less time in the long term. I actually went and wrote a description for each folder of photos all the way back to 2007!! You'll either be extremely impressed or a little sad for me that my life revolves around such mindless organisation. Either way here are the photos of all those seal and dolphin kisses from our time away.

The Porpoise Pool was worth every cent just for these moments! Hamish got kissed by the dolphin, but I think that he thought he was going to be eaten. He had the biggest look of surprise on his face just after the kiss. It was very funny.

Anniversary lunch

Today we left the kids with my mum and dad and escaped!! We had a wonderful lunch at Portico at the Greengate hotel in Linddield. We managed to keep each other entertained without much mention of the kids. And what a wonderful meal. We got to dessert and both struggled to finish what we ordered. Dave had the choc orange pudding and I had the eaton mess. Yummo!

Blue Hike and 6 years of wedded bliss

Josh and Sammy were both supposed to go hiking this weekend for scouts but we had double booked and poor Josh had his braces put on yesterday which meant he has a sore mouth. He probably would've toughed it out except that on top of the sore teeth he also has shingles which from what I've heard is extremely painful. So poor thing is tagging along with us to hang out at granny and pa's house with Bella and Hamish so that we can have a couple of hours of grown-up time to celebrate our anniversary. We've been married for 6 years today and I thank the universe for helping me find the man of my dreams. He's truly one in a million and I'm the luckiest woman around. I love you with all my being my love and look forward to many more years of mad crazy love with you!

Hamish's first footy!

Dave is adamant that his son will be playing AFL when he grows up just like his dad. So Dave bought a huge red leather football from Costco this week that has been lovingly pumped up and then placed carefully back into it's cardboard container. I had to giggle at that. Dave really does love his AFL! Well today Dave bought Hamish a soft red version with a little bell inside. Hamish loved it! I can't wait to see him running around with his own little footy. Perhaps he'll end up like his cousins and sleep with one! Very funny and at the same time so adorable.

Braces on today

Today Josh got his braces on. We had a last meal last night which consisted of pizza, coke and a caramel mars bar and today we took before and after photos. We'll end up paying $7200! A lot of money but luckily it's spread out over 2 years after the initial payment of about $2000.
We're sitting in front of the TV on a Friday night and he's been trying to find things to eat that won't hurt his teeth and that will fill himself up. We've given him dissolvable strawberry flavored panadol and liquid nurofin. The worst part of today has been the added pain of his shingles. So all in all a pretty rough day for our eldest and lankiest child.

First swim of the season

The temperature this weekend was supposed to hit 30. I'm not sure if it did, but the sky was blue, the breeze was warm and it felt almost like summer. The kids were so excited to be able to go for a swim. I asked Sammy if she had felt the water and she said no, she was just going to jump in. I was very impressed when she actually did just that. I even took some video. Josh and Bella chickened out after hearing Sammy tell them how cold it was and saw how quickly she got out of the pool and was asking for a hot bath. I think it will take a lot of warm weather before the pool is warm enough for me to feel like going in.

In East Ryde and ready for a swim in our pool.

Baby Concert

I forgot to get my camera out while we were at the concert today and so there are no photos of Isabella in her outfits or even of Granny and Grandpa who came along to watch! I had of course left it to the last minute to get tickets for the Rhapsody Dance Studio 'Baby Concert' to watch Isabella perform in her first dance concert. I was so upset when they had sold out of tickets and so I had to email back and forth to get some tickets. When we arrived at the venue I was totally sure that we would be right at the back of the room. How wrong was I!! We had the best table in the house amazingly enough.
Isabella was in her element on stage. She could've been dancing up on stage by herself and she would have been as happy as a clam. The first dance that we watched her in was number four on the program and was simply titled 'Dora'. She walked out with the twenty or so other little ones and stood in her little outfit on stage waving maddly at the crowd. Once the stage lights came on she could see us and waved madly at us. It was adorable. At one stage she shouted out 'Look Momma' while pointing to the stage lights. We all had a giggle. She certainly wasn't nervous at all. I was a bit worried that she would end up having stage fright and not be able to perform as we had seen some other littlies do. But not our Isabella.

David, Isabella and Hamish outside the Hornsby RSL.

Easier baths

Isabella is saying 'what a big boy' over and over again while pointing at his chin.

I've started bathing Hamish in the bath with Isabella. It's much easier as she can hold him while I bathe him and he has so much fun staring at her babbling away. I actually sold our baby bath and stand on Ebay for $10 to an English man who was very happy with his purchase! It just got in the way, was such a palaver to fill and then empty and it just didn't make me happy when I looked at it.
Usually I'd use the baby bath when they were new born and then move up to the kitchen sink and then finally into the big bath. Well the kitchen sink here is far too tiny for our big brute of a child, so he went straight from the baby bath to the big bath.
He was having so much fun with Isabella holding him!

Two cutie patooties

Liam is on the left and Hamish is on the right.

Heres Hamish and his friend Liam. Aren't they cute. They're both wearing stripes and have their own crinkly toy. Matching little men. I can't wait until they can start playing properly.

Dress rehearsal

Mackenzie and Isabella in their Dora costume.

Isabella in her Spring ballet costume.

Isabella and her big sister, Sammy.

Isabella is almost at the end of her first year of dance classes in the 'Little Stars' class and is getting ready for her first dance concert with her dance buddy Mackenzie. Here are some photos of them. So cute! And here she is with her big sister Sammy.

Year 6 Concert

Sammy is in her final year of primary school and is doing the last of her primary school activities. As we're sending Bella to a different primary school it's also the end of an era for us as far as being involved in her school goes. So I think we're all a little sad as we count down these last few months. Here she is dressed as a space cowgirl with a friend.

Exploring Sydney

We were planning on going to see a movie, but of course there wasn't anything family friendly on!! So off we went for a drive into the wild west. We ended up in Canley Vale which is like a little Vietnam. It was amazing! We found a little cafe where we were hoping to have afternoon tea. There was a lot of confusion with the waitresses lack of English and our lack of Vietnamese. Here are some photos of our experience.