Weekend activities

I've had a wonderful weekend! A perfect one before life is just a blur of study and exams.

Saturday we made a last minute decision to do a cake smash for my lovely little God-daughter, Lucie. Only 2 months overdue, but still a perfect age to get some super cute photos. Lucie had a few diva moments, which can only be described as hilarious. Nicole keeps on saying how much of a handful she is, and talking about the tantrums she is throwing - I don't believe a word of it! Whenever I see her she is so sweet and adorable - full of cheek and cuteness, with a generous helping of fiestiness!

~~Adorable much?~~

Sunday, after a lazy family morning in bed, we headed to the nursery's to stock up on seedlings for the vegie patch. I'd cleared it out a few weeks ago and topped it up with new soil, ready for the next round of vegies to go in. We bought some strawberry plants, lettuce, spring onion, rocket, oregano, basil, cauliflower, broccoli, snow peas and zucchini. I'd already planted some seeds and had a few seedlings ready to go, so they filled in the gaps. We also bought Grace a passionfruit vine to grow in her fairy garden over the arch.

After stocking up on goodies for the garden, I decided to lead us up the garden path and suggested a drive to a playground in the hinterland that I'd heard people raving about. After about 30 mins of driving, and me insisting that it must be close, Duane realised that the fuel gauge was becoming scarily close to empty. We pulled over into a picnic area and interrupted a party to see if anyone knew where the closest petrol station was - Nerang! So we headed back home, with upset children as they didn't get to visit the "cool" playground as promised. Oh well, another time when we have both petrol and directions!

The afternoon was spent planting the crops. Xav and Grace diligently dug all the holes and delicately placed in the seedlings. The chooks paced up and down the fence line, no doubt planning their attack.

Speaking of chooks, I don't think that I've mentioned it before, but we have 2 new additions. After the passing of Dulcie, my clucky (if only it was for the baby variety!) was eagar to add to the flock. So we headed out to our chook lady to find out about introducing some newbies. Grace and Xav chose a chook each: Grace chose a Red Hampshire and called her "Sassy", whilst Xav picked out a gorgeous grey Leghorn and named her "Jet". We've had them for about 4 weeks now and they have both settled in nicely. They spent the first few weeks looked up in the chook house during the day, watching forlornly as Henny, Silkie and Bertha had free range of the front yard. Our chook lady had suggested keeping them separate to avoid any chicken territorial fighting. We let them out to join in on the weekend, and everyone has gotten along perfectly! Hopefully won't be too much longer and they'll both be contributing to our daily egg supply.

The other project we completed on the weekend was the paper mache volcano that has been on the "to do" list for a while now. The kids had a blast ripping up newspaper and getting messy with the glue. We all laughed and giggled whilst layering up the wet, pasty paper. Duane had the fantastic idea of using the left over black crepe paper from Xav's birthday party as the last layer - saved having to wait for it to dry and then paint! It took a few days to dry, so we haven't had a chance to make it explode - but Grace has asked to take it along as show and tell, so we'll save the explosion for then.

Actually, on the subject of school, there is something very exciting happening tomorrow. My little boy is having his very first day at Pre-school!!! I didn't want him to start childcare until he was three and could go along with Grace and low and behold that time is now! He's going to be going every Wednesday, and although I'm so excited for him to be joining in on the fun times that Grace has, I'm sad that my little baby boy is starting the journey to school. The last 3 years have gone so quickly, and now he's growing up and ready to be learning and playing in a structured environment. Xav's over the moon though, and so excited that finally he gets to stay. He loves it up there, and he is going to have a fantastic time. He told me today that "Grace is going to protect me, and if anyone hits me she is going to give me a cuddle" Awwww....sweet little children! I just hope that Grace isn't the one hitting him!! They have been a bit volatile with each other lately, so I hope that having them together will not create any problems. Xav loves playing with all Grace's friends, especially Cassie, so I hope that doesn't create dramas either.

He's been a bit fiesty this week and Duane and I have had many moments where we say to each other "Good luck to them on Wednesday!". He's such a sociable little boy and very confidant, so I'm not expecting too many adjustment issues on his part - not sure about the tranquil envinroment he invade though!!