Time at home

 

After a day out yesterday, Adam is at work and the children are happy to have some time playing at home. Sophie is very proud of the herb garden she and I planted together before Christmas and often reminds me to water it. Sophie has also been part of the 'soldier' game in the backyard today where they use the pile of crushed rock as their 'base'. Sophie has just 'invited' me to a 'party' in James' room where I have been asked to provide the lollies.

A day at the beach...

Today we visited the Tootgarook beach and enjoyed the sunshine. Sophie found her boogie board this morning and spent some time "surfing". She will sleep well tonight.

Baby William

Baby William and the family visited last night to catch up and help us make some space in our two fridges which were full of Christmas leftovers and lots of beer. The men were happy to help out and drank some beer.

Adam's new hobby

Adam has been cycling regularly for the past six months and now looks like a pro complete with lycra and clip on cycling shoes. He has a regular ride most Sunday mornings with a few friends where they complete a 50km ride from Donvale to Sassafras. Adam's cardiovascular fitness has improved and he averages a 1200 calorie burn per ride! Today's ride was a post Christmas one to pay for all the over indulgence on Christmas day. He should be very proud of his achievements.

Boxing Day

After a long awaited sleep in, we cleaned up from Christmas day, visited Granny and Pa, then the children spent some quiet time playing with their new presents (while I updated the blog).

Patrick has maintained an interest in building lego and

is alson happy to have an ipod.

James is so pleased to finally have an ipod and lots of other games and books to keep him entertained over

the holidays.

Sophie's number one gift was her ipod followed by the animal bead bracelets from Granny and Pa and a princess folding chair from Helen and Jim.

Christmas Day

We had our first Christmas at home this year. The day started with three very excited children in our bedroom at 6.30am, desperate to begin opening Santa's presents. They all received the much anticipated ipod touch and several other gifts. I then began roasting the stuffed turkey and hoping that it would be a success (my first time cooking a whole turkey). Later on, we sat down to our roast turkey, glazed ham and vegetables which was enjoyed by all.

We had a short break in the afternoon before the next celebration where my extended family came for a casual dinner of cold meat, salads and various desserts. We all enjoyed a great night inside due to the stormy weather outside where hail stones the size of golf balls fell in some parts of Melbourne.

Sophie enjoyed cuddling 'baby William' at his first Christmas.

Our pre-Christmas celebration

We spent the 23rd December with Trav, Elina and their children. It was our turn to host dinner this year and I cooked a roast turkey roll with a bacon and sage stuffing followed by pavlova and fruit. The weather had been about 36 degrees that day and felt even hotter in the kitchen after preparing the roast! The children weren't bothered by the hot weather. The boys had a water fight and then continued to run around outside until 10pm (adult males included!) until rounded up by their respective mothers and wives.

Christmas is coming!

There is a lot of excitement in our house this week about the long awaited, much anticipated Christmas day. James, Patrick and Sophie placed their Santa requests weeks ago. Surprisingly, they have all requested the same gift this year - an ipod touch. Each day in December has started with a chocolate from their Christmas calendar and frequent discussion about how many days there are until Christmas. We decorated the tree in the first week of December and the children have all been busy writing Christmas cards to their friends. Sophie has her kinder Christmas party and final 3 year old sesssion today and the boys finish school on the 22nd. We are all looking forward to a relaxing six week break spent at home without the need to 'rush'.

This year, we are spending Christmas eve and Christmas day at home. Travis and family are visiting for a Christmas Eve dinner and we will have Ian, Claire, Jean, Lisa, Justin and kids for Christmas lunch. After lunch, the adults will have some fun with the $20 gift exchange game. We are looking forward to a relaxed lunch and lots of excitement from the six children!

We are also hosting Christmas night with my extended family this year. We will have several visitors including,  my parents, brothers, sister in law, nana, great aunt, uncle, aunt, second cousins and of course 'baby William' (as referred to by Sophie) for his first Christmas. It will be great to catch up with everyone and enjoy our first Christmas at home.

Swimming lessons

Sophie has been attending swimming lessons for one year now and has made amazing progress. In term one,  I was in the pool with her in the beginners class. Since then, she has moved up two levels and can swim independently for a few metres and jumps into the deep end of the pool with confidence. One month ago, she resisted juming into the pool without assistance. Sophie really enjoys swimming and will be continuing the lessons next year.Sophie and the boys are also enrolled into a one week intensive swimming program for a week in January (even though the boys are reluctant when it come to swimming lessons, I'm sure they will have some fun in the water during the heat of January).

Sunday night

Last night, we had a family dinner at our place and enjoyed a spicy fish curry prepared by dad. The curry's aroma filled the house on his arrival and we all braced ourselves for the chilli hit. The curry was very tasty, full of flavour and enjoyed by all.

Party time

Last Saturday, the long awaited day arrived where Sophie attended a kinder friend's dress up party. Sophie decided to dress as a "fairy princess" complete with a mask she created on her own. However, in the car on our way to the party, she decided to discard the mask because she thought it "made her nose look small". I assured her that it looked great, but she was not convinced. Sophie had a great day and her favourite game was "flying paper aeroplanes and playing the feather game".

Kinder Christmas Party

Last weekend, we attended Sophie's kinder Christmas party. Sophie enjoyed having her face painted and then joined in with the dancing with her friend Scarlett. Sophie finishes 3 yo kinder next week and is looking forward to increased hours in the 4 yo group next year.

Meanwhile, the boys enjoyed playing with their sword balloons before we all met again for a lamb roast at granny and pa's.

The chickens have moved in...

Last weekend, Adam spent some time completing the improvements on the chicken coop. He has ensured that it is fox proof (we hope) and it has been painted to match other woodwork around the house. Adam reports that the chickens are now roosting in their nesting box, after a few initial nights where he had to place them in by hand. We have read that it will be about 4-5 months until we have our first egg.

Another hard day at the office...

As the chickens continue to grow quickly, work is underway on their coop. Adam spent some time today renovating the former budgie aviary for the our six chicken (yes, we still have the orginal six!). Soon, we will have plenty of eggs to share around. Hopefully, the coop will be ready over the weekend for the chickens to make the big transition as they have now outgrown their box.

Homer meets Wedding Girl

Patrick and Sophie spent some time after school with the animals enjoying the sunshine. Here you can see Patrick with Homer and Sophie with 'Wedding Girl'. The chickens are growing quickly and renovations are underway for their new and larger accommodation.  As for the guinea pigs, their 'mountain' needs some more time to establish its vegetation.