Grace's 6th birthday celebrations

 Grace's 6th birthday celebrations were spread over Saturday, Sunday and Monday!  The day before her actual birthday, she invited 3 of her bestest school friends along ice skating.  She's been wanting to ice skate for a while now, so when we were going through the birthday ideas she knew exactly where she wanted to go. I was a bit worried about how they would go as none of them had been before, or even roller skated.  Duane and I were going to be playing hostesses on the ice, and although I had visions of us whirling the girls around, I probably shouldn't have dreamt so big as I havent' skated for over 10 years!

All ready to hit the ice!

The very excited birthday girl

The first lap we were all very tentative, and it felt like a very, very long time making it back to the start.  All the girls clutched onto the side rail and jaggedly made their way around.  I really though then that it would be a "one lap wonder" and we'd chalk it up to an "experience" and go back to the table and eat all the yummy food.  However, the girls were all just warming up and after gaining a bit more confidence and balance, were eager for another lap.  This time only clutching onto the rail with one hand.  It was only another few rounds like this before they were even more adventurous and started letting go and actually skating!!!  It was only a few slow laps for me too before I was back into the skating groove, then I ditched the kids for a few fast laps.  I'd forgotten how much fun it is to be zooming around the ice.  My only problem is I'd forgotten how to stop, and so after once quick lap, I slammed straight into the side barrier and did a very dramatic slide down.  Apparently looked very hilarious for the mums standing on the sidelines!

Grace skating up a storm

I'd opted not to take the birthday party food provided by the skate rink, I wasn't overly fussed with the options of party pies, sausage rolls and soft drinks!  So, instead I made up special little boxes for each of the guests.  Grace chose what she wanted in them, with each one having a chocolate milk, avocado sushi, chocolate cupcake, packet of chips, plain popcorn and a scattering of lollies.  The girls adored them, and were very excited that at the end they got to take their special little personalised boxes home.

Grace's hand-picked selection of treats!

All the girls loved it and are wanting to arrange another skating session over the holidays.  The hardest part was dragging them off the ice at the end, as by that stage they were all off by them self and didn't want to finish!

The next morning, on her actual birthday, Grace snuck into our bed bright and early for a cuddle.  After birthday hugs all round, we handed over the very much anticipated birthday gift - a camera.  Now, there is a bit of a back story to how this came about.  Grace has been wanting a camera for ages, but mostly over the last year.  She has had small turns of mine, but as my cameras are some of my most prized possessions, I've only let her use them under strict supervision.  When she asked for one last year, I was unsure whether she was ready for the responsibility and so we had a little test.  I gave her one of my old cameras, that had completely stopped working - so basically it looked good, but there was nothing she could do with it.  I told her that she had to prove to me she could look after it by always making sure it was put away safely and to never leave it lying around.  If she could do this, I was happy to buy her one for her 6th birthday.  She diligently looked after it all year.  She took it out places (even though it didn't work) and always made sure it was in a safe spot.  I was amazed at how serious she took upon the responsibility.  Although she knew that a camera might be in the pipeline for a present, she never nagged or asked about it - so when she did open it up and see that it was in fact a camera, she was over the moon.  It's a fancy schmancy water proof, drop proof, dust proof and most things proof camera.  It takes pretty decent photos and video and she is loving having the freedom to play photographer whenever she wants.  I do have to go through the footage every now and then, as she's managed to get some very unflattering photos and even video of Duane and I arguing about discussing something.  She's also got some great photos, and it's lovely to see her view of the world through the lens!

Grace VERY excited about getting her camera

Probably the only photograph I'll get of her now!

Sunday afternoon was spent down having a relaxing BBQ down at the beautiful Broadwater Rockpools.  It was a glorious day and such a perfect way to spend it surrounded by our favourite people.  Grace was extremely spoilt with presents, and so was I.  Apparently, I needed a present too (I guess I did do all the work 6 years ago!) and the very generous Pengs gave me an Ipad - an absolute top of the range one too!  I'm loving it too.  It's so ridiculously easy to be instantly on the Internet now, instead of starting up the old clanking laptop.  They also loaded Grace up with a massive box full of Country Road clothes and Xav

The kids danced, ran and played on the oval in the beautiful late afternoon sun - a perfect photo opportunity for me to take advantage of the golden light.  Grandma had also made up a pinata - which although took a bit to smash, was enjoyed by all.

 ~~ My beautiful girl and I ~~

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~~ Happy 6th birthday my sweetheart ~~

The celebrations were also extended into the following week as Grace had her birthday celebration at school.  She has been patiently waiting for her school celebration right from the beginning of the year.  Grace is one of the youngest in her class, as at her school the children have to have turned 5 before they start their prep year.  So she has sat through all her class mates birthday celebrations, with the anticipation building for her own and finally the day came.   Duane wasn't able to get the morning off work, so Wendy came along with Xav and I.  All her friends went into class when the bell was rung, except Grace stayed outside with us.  After a few minutes, her teacher came out singing "Somebody is having a birthday today, I wonder who's birthday it is today?".  Miss Pam put the special rainbow birthday cape on Grace as well as her crown that I'd slipped to her earlier.

We then headed into the classroom where we found all the children on the floor in a circle.  Grace had a special seat that had been decorated in gold material.  We all sat down and then Miss Pam told a beautiful story about a little girl called Grace and the birthday angel.  Grace was then asked to light the 6 birthday candles whilst all her class mates sung the school "birthday song". 

  

After the song, the children put their hand up and Grace called out their name one by one.  Each child said a birthday wish for Grace, which had me in tears.  Listening to each of the children articulate so thoughtfully things that they loved about Grace and why she is so special.  Most of them said how good a friend she is, and how they love playing with her.  Own of the boys said that he loves Grace as she always makes him feel happier when he is sad.  Another said that when no-one else will play with him, he always knows that Grace will.  The teachers then said their wishes for Grace.  Miss Pam told her she was one of the kindest and gentlest people that  she knows and how wonderful it has having her in the class this year.  She talked about a few special moments she'd had with Grace over the year - once again, tears from me!  I was then asked if I'd like to share something, and so I told her how amazing and wonderful I thought she was.  I also told her that that I love her kind and gentle nature and that she will always be my sunny little girl.  Miss Pam then presented Grace with a little yellow doll in a walnut shell that she had made especially for her. 

The rest of the day Grace wore her special cape and crown, sat in her decorated chair and got first pick of everything.  Although she's not fond of being the centre of attention, she loved her day being the birthday queen. 

~~ Heading up to the library after her birthday celebration ~~

Free!! (nearly!)

Uni is nearly finished for the year and it couldn't be more welcomed - not just from me, but my whole family!  All my exams and assignments are done and dusted, now it's just the nervous wait for results.  I'm 99.9% confident that I passed, it's just whether my gpa is going to remain a healthy high 6 or take a dive - which will most likely be from damn research! I should find out results in a few weeks, and whatever I get I'll be proud!  This semester has been very busy and I am just grateful to be coming out the other end.

I've still got 5 shifts to finish at the hospital, and I'm hoping to get them finished this week - yes, I'll be busy and tired.  I just want to get them over and done with though, as I've got big plans for the summer break!  I've still got one lovely little baby to welcome into the world - little stinker is 8 days over today!  It will be a beautiful birth centre birth, which is always very special to me as that's where I birthed and met my little boy.  I've got my fingers crossed that tonight's the night, as I think poor mum is over being pregnant and just wanting to meet her little baby.  I'm very excited about this birth as it's one of my friends, so this baby will be in my life for many years to come!   I do get very attached the babies that I welcome, especially the ones where I've cared for the mum all through her pregnancy.  It feels like a break-up at the 6 week appointment, when have to say our goodbyes and that's why this one will be extra special. I'll get to watch the baby grow up from a slippery, slick newborn into a little person.   

I've got so many things I want to get done over the break.  I want to de-clutter and clean every room in the house, which is going to be a big, but very satisfying job (just have to sneak things out when Xav the hoarder is not around).  I have new curtains to sew and hang in the lounge room and lots of little craft projects to start and finish.  Grace's birthday is in 2 weeks, so I have her party to organise as well as her school celebration.  We have multiple Christmas carols to attend, as well as the schools summer festival and Grace's graduation ceremony from prep to year 1.  Then there are lots of bbq's, beach and picnic outings to have!  I'm so excited to actually have lots of time to do these things, all without thinking that I should be studying!  I'm free!!!  I can't wait for Grace to finish up at school and we can go back to the good old days of me being at home with the 2 kids, and doing as we please every day!  I'm very nostalgic for those days, although I do love what I'm doing now too. 

Anyway, I'm off to get a few hours sleep as I'm hoping (every things crossed!) that I get a call in the middle of the night to say a little baby is ready to join us xx

Pottering and the park

Today was a lovely, lazy Saturday - a perfect way to wind down after a very busy week.  I've been crazy busy this week, fitting in appointments all over town and trying to study for these damn exams I have coming up.  I'd decided to take today off school work, which was much needed.  Duane worked this morning, so unfortunately no sleep-ins for me, unless you consider the 6am wake-up that my little cherubs decided was wake time!

We spent the morning pottering around the house in our Pj's, something I relish now that our weekday mornings are so rushed and hurried.  I scrubbed out the oven with some Norwex cloths that I bought at a party-play thingy - I'm so in love with this product, they actually make cleaning fun!  The kids amused them self washing dolls in a plastic tub of water and then making playdough farm animals.

Then this afternoon we met up with the usual gang at the beautiful botanical gardens.  Trude wanted some photos of Jasper, so we spent quite a lot of time chasing the poor kid around poking a camera in his face!  He was the perfect little baby model though, although played very hard to get sometimes - such a quick little boy!
We got some very cute photos (not hard with such a cutie though!)

 

 ~~Cute Miss Lucie~~

June 4th - Green

 

The photo challenge today was of something green.  This beautiful tree, at one of our favourite parks, looked absolutely glorious is the setting afternoon sun.  It's not a perfectly composed shot, but as I can't bear to take of my 50mm lens, there are limitations with how much I can fit in the frame!  

12th January

The rain was still bucketing down last night and today, which meant that the bridge to Duane's work went under water - Yay!  Daddy has the day off!!!

We spent the morning at Robina mall, escaping the rain and buying the last few school supplies for Grace (Eeek - only 3 and a bit weeks to go!)  Whilst we were there I ran into a playgroup Mum who is an optometrist, and she just happened to also have an opening within the hour.  I'd been wanting to get Grace's eyes tested before school, so this was a perfect opportunity.

Grace has a few friends now that have glasses, so she was actually hoping that she could get some too.  She was a bit shy with Kate at first, but did all the tests wonderfully (Kate even commented that she was doing things that most 5 y/o's can't normally do).  She is mostly fine, but is a bit long-sighted (like me), but it could just be something that she grows out of or she will need glasses for in the future.  We are just going to keep an eye on her, watching our for eye strain headaches or bringing things very close to read, then reassess.

We made it home in just in time for Malia to come over for a play.  Chelsea and Noah were off to get a haircut, and my 2 love playing with Malia, so it made sense to drop her over.  The kids played dress-ups, games, chased each other, played in the sand and pretty much went from room to room wreaking havoc!  Here they are having a picnic and watching "The great lawnmower race", with the only participant being Duane.  

Another sleeping child photo, but I just adore blissed out sleepy photos of my kids.  Xav doesn't generally sleep during the day, but if he is really tired he will just lay on the lounge room floor and have a nap.  The thing I love most about this photo, are his little fingernails full of boy-dirt.  The thing I dislike the most, is the lack of toddler chubb - he's thinning out and growing up way too fast.

11th January

Cassie came over for a play date today.  She doesn't start school until next week, so Jen needed somewhere for her to hang out whilst she worked.  The 3 kids played well together, leaving me to watch the flood disaster unfold on a Tv in the bedroom.  I was so drawn to watching it, and although I didn't let the kids see anything - I spent nearly all day glued to the screen. 

It's always fine by me to have Cass, she's such a wonderful friend to both Grace and Xav.  Grace and Cass are born a day apart and have known each other since they were a few months old.  They have very similar personalities, and were always drawn to each other when we met for Mothers Group.  As they have grown, their friendship has blossomed beautifully.  They both went to the same pre-school together, which was the security blanket they both needed as they gained confidence.  They have spent lots of time with each other over the last 5 years - playgroup, dancing, mothers group, camping, picnics and playing.  I doubt there has been a few days passed that they haven't seen each other.  Grace is sad that they are not going to the same school now, but she knows that we will still catch up.

Cass and Xav have a special relationship too, just like he does with all Grace's friends.  They all seem to accept him as one of the group, the only 3 y/o always hanging out and getting birthday invites from the 5 y.o girls.  Xav loves Cass, and is tossing up whether to marry her, Leah or Saraiyah. 

I hope that they all can continue their beautiful friendships for a long time yet, even with all the changes about to happen, and different friends that will be made.



8th January

A very busy day today, with barely a rest in between exciting adventures!

The morning started off with adding our new worms to the worm farm.  A lot of our worms died off last summer in the heat, so this year we have put them in more shade and will keep an extra eye on them.  The kids love playing in the worm farm, naming them all and working out who is the "Mum" worm and then finding babies for her.

Next up, was our first family walk/ride leaving from our house.  The kids have been nagging to take their bikes for a ride from our house ever since they got them.  Now, considering we live on a hill, it's not the easiest of things to be doing.  We decided to give it a go, and take the dogs, cause we like the challenge!  The kids walked their bikes up the hill, and we had a few wobbly incidences when they got speed up going  down the hill, but for the most part they were perfect and loved it.  We went for about an hour, and we all came home covered in sweat.

We came home, had a shower and then headed of the the next activity.  I met up with some of my friends and their kids, and we took them all to see Tangled, the Rapunzel movie.  The 5 kids were lined up in their seats, my kids enjoying their home-cooked popcorn (to avoid both the crap in movie popcorn and the $$).  They were all wonderful and barely took their eyes of the screen for a second.  Xav was getting a bit tired towards the end and asked a few times when it would be over.  It was a really good movie though, plenty of excitement for the kids, yet still entertaining for the parents.

Then tonight, the kids were exhausted and in bed at 6pm, so Duane and I decided to call up our babysitter (the wonderful Mil) and see if she'd come watch them.  Lucky us then got to double date (and crash their anniversary date!) with The Dews.  We headed to Anand Sagar first, which is our absolute favourite Indian restaurant, then we had a little hiccup before heading to see the new Fockers movie.  The hiccup was that we had Duane's parents car (Wendy didn't want to leave it out the front of our house, so said we should take it), and when we parked for Indian, Duane decided to put the steering lock on.  So, then when we tried to leave, we couldn't get it off.  Anyway, after a very funny and frustrating half hour it was finally worked out that we were using the wrong key and then it came off.  All the non-drivers had enjoyed a few beverages over dinner and so some smart alec comments were being made, which combined with the a frustrated "driver" made him mention some "F" words, something that very rarely comes out of my husbands mouth.  This just made us laugh and giggle even more.

All was good though, we made it to the movie with plenty of time to spare.  Could have quite easily missed it though, it certainly wasn't anything to rave about.  I think all the laughs had been used up in the first movie.  It was still a good night out with great friends though!

I just want to end on this photo I took of Xav today.  I was trying very hard to get his profile in focus, but being the non-cooperative child that he his, wouldn't stand still. I really love it though, not because of anything technically "correct", just because it captures his sweet little profile.  Ski-jump nose, lovely lashes and he has yet to loose his toddler cheeks.  But, the thing I love the most is his little half-smile/smirk - it's just so him.

4th January

~~Summery, water fun!~~

Today was a lazy day at home, except with an extra little person joining us.  Jasper was hanging out with us for the day, however he wasn't his usual cruisy self.  Trude said when she dropped him off that he had a bit of nappy rash, I then checked his hands and feet (as I had my suspicions about a rash on Ruby the night before) and was 99% sure that he had hand, foot and mouth.  His little hands and feet were beginning to develop the tell tale blisters.  I figured my kids had already been exposed over the last week (it's mostly contagious before the blisters appear) so didn't mind looking after him still.  Trude had insisted that I call her if he was too upset and she'd take the day off, but I remembered from Xav's first day of having the spots that he'd slept a fair bit so was hoping Jasper would do the same.  He did end up sleeping for a good while, but the times he was up were a little "challenging".  He constantly wanted to be on my hip, and if he wasn't he was very grizzly.  He also struggled to eat anything, which is understandable considering he would of had a mouth full of ulcers, but enjoyed some ice and banana smoothies that we made. 

My kids were fantastic and helped out so much with Jasper.  They spent the whole day playing together and not getting up to too much mischief.  There was a fair bit of body painting happening though when they were left unsupervised with the paints whilst I was attending to a sad little baby.  After the main heat of the day had left, I set up their outdoor sink and lots of water fun was had.  There was also sprinkler play as well as a hose/dish washing liquid set-up on the slide, which proved to be a hit although it did turn the grass at the bottom into a giant mud puddle!

3rd January

Long, hot summer afternoons and water fun in the backyard with friends  - could it get any better for the kids?

Apparently yes.  Slurping on delicious rainbow Paddle Pops, makes the day practically perfect.

Today we had a pot luck patio party at the Dews, first just for the sake of it and secondly to celebrate and ohh and ahh over their newly built patio.  The kids had so much fun frolicking in the backyard, taking turns being squirted and the squirtee with a squeezey bottle.  They played tag (tiggy?), kicked balls, dressed up and did parades (Malia & Grace) and then all took turns in the bath.  I got a bit of time to take some gorgeous pics of the youngest member of the clan, Miss Ruby. This little sweetheart has the most stunning blue, sapphire eyes that are such a pleasure to photograph.  They look so amazing from any angle, very photogenic little girl.  It was a little hard getting a smile out of her though, which the reason became obvious the following day when she came down with Hand, foot and Mouth disease - poor little thing.  Jasper also came down with it, and Xav got ulcers in his mouth which I don't doubt is related.  Now just the wait to see if any of the other kids succumb.

I also managed to snap a nice shot of this cheeky little boy - Noah.  He's a very hard little person to take a photo of as he barely stops still for more than a second.  This is such a "typical" Noey look, so I'm rather pleased I managed to capture it. 

Grace's 5th Birthday Party

Grace's 5th birthday party was always going to be big and hectic.  Being that next year she is starting Prep, I was encouraging of her inviting along her kindy friends that will be in her class next year.  She also had all her mothers group kids that she wanted to come along, plus all the family friends.  Add on to that siblings and it wasn't long before the amount of kids invited was 26!  Jen and I decided that seen as how they were inviting the same people (bar a few), and Grace and Cass's actual birthdays are a day apart, we'd kill 2 birthdays with 1 party - so to speak.

With this amount of people, there was no way I was having it at my house.  Jen and I spent one day a few weeks ago park hopping, trying to find the best location suitable for a variety of ages.  We found some nice ones near the beach, but they were either too close to the road or too big, which would have made it difficult for those with younger ones.  We did want to be close to water though, as typically on the girls birthdays it's hot, however this year has been unseasonally cold.  After much toing and froing, we decided on a lovely park and swimming area behind the Arts Centre. 

The day before the party was spent baking, preparing and organising.  We kept it quite simple, but knowing that we had 26 hungry kids and about 20 parents coming along, there needed to be plenty.  Grace had already decided on the menu, and we stuck fairly close to her requests.  There were egg and mayo sandwiches, cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, vegetarian sausage rolls, plain chips, carrot and celery, lots of dips, all different cheeses, fruit sticks, crackers and the favourite - scones with jam and cream, all 150 of them!  Not one of the scones were left over either, a particular favourite of the fathers that brought their kids along!

We set the kids up making "bliss ball's" for the party bags, and they all had fun mixing, stirring and rolling.   The bags were made up with the bliss balls, stickers and some gold chocolate coins - very simple!

Grace and Cass had wanted some party games, but they were all forgotten about on the day.  The kids were all too busy swimming in the lake and playing at the park.  It was hectic, but all the kids were perfect and had a wonderful time.  Grace was a little upset in the car on the way home, as she had been practicing skipping and was looking forward to doing it with her friends.

A few months ago, Grace had asked for a Wizard of Oz party.  I couldn't work out how to do that, but I did keep the rainbow theme in the cake.  I'd spent the day before the party baking all 6 layers, the oven was going non-stop for 6 hours!!!  Each layer was coloured naturally, as I was trying to avoid the dreaded artificial food dye.  Red was done with raspberries, orange was turmeric and orange peel/juice, yellow was lemon peel and juice, green was kiwi fruit, blue was blueberries and purple was beetroot.  The outside was iced with cream cheese, lemon juice and pureed raspberries.  It was initially double this height, but that was a bit ridiculous, so I cut each layer in half and that is in my freezer for another occasion.  Grace was so happy with how it turned out, and told me it was delicious! 

Grace was spoilt completely with lots of beautiful, thoughtful presents.  She has lots of new summer clothes, some fantastic stories to read, lots of crafty activities and many more wonderful gifts. 

After most people had left, I set my good camera up and let the kids take some pics.  I was so amazed that they actually could get the shot in frame and focus (something their father still struggles with!)  Finally, I have some nice photos of me and the kids.

I don't normally like doing the kids parties on their actual birthday, it can make the day seem so hurried and too busy.  However, this year her birthday fell on a Saturday, so it turned out that way.  We had the party late in the afternoon so that we could spend some time together in the morning and to not rush the present handovers.  Grace woke up at 4am and asked if she could get up yet, she was so excited about turning 5!  She was a little disappointed that she still couldn't whistle though, she was under the impression that as soon as you turned 5 you could magically do it as her good friend Sairayah learnt to whistle the day she turned 5!  When we eventually got up, at a much decent hour, I gave her the present Nanny  had sent up.  She got a beautiful white and coral peasant top, some lip glosses and a hair brush and comb set.  She loved them all.  Grandma and Poppy came up later and gave her their present, which was a dress-up felt set and a hand-bag money box - both things that Grace had seen and loved on shopping trips.

 She had asked me a year or so ago for a dolly like the one she has up at her pre-school, she loved her long hair and dressing her up.  So, I borrowed her for a week and went to work making one similar.  It took a week of late nights and lots of re-doing, but eventually she was created.  I wanted to give her similar colours to Grace, so she has blue eyes, different shades of blonde hair and creamy skin tones.  The excited smile on her face as she unwrapped her was worth every stitch.  She loved her instantly.  A few hours later she whispered to me that she loves playing with the dolly like her at pre-school, but never gets a turn as there are so many other people that want to play with her.  She has named her "Marabella Lavinia Chandelier", after the doll in her favourite Fancy Nancy books.  Marabella has been beside her ever since, and often accompanies us to outings!

We all had a wonderful day celebrating 5 years of having the gorgeous Grace in our lives. 

Happy Birthday Grace!