beach holiday

While Daddy is away, the rest of us shall play!!  With great thanks to my Mum, the kids and I with Noonie had a beach holiday while Daddy was away.  It was a fantastic week and we all had so much fun.  There was so much swimming, boogie boarding, playing on the playground, eating icecream and some more swimming to be had.  One of the other highlights of the holiday was playing musical beds.  Every one had a turn sleeping with Mummy in the BIG bed and a turn sleeping in the same room as Noonie.  It was tricky keeping up with who sleeps with whom for which night!

Annie

Benjamin

Lucy

Matthew

There are so many things to remember to tell Daddy when he gets home.

the kids colouring in their new books everyday

Annie and Matty posing on the rocks

Annie and BJ searching for shells in the water

Lucy, BJ, Matty and Annie climbing the rocks

candy canes

Lucy and Benjamin having fun with their first candy cane for the season!!

christmas put on hold!!

Christmas has been put on hold for a very special reason....Benjamin's 6th birthday.  Mummy can hardly believe that it has been 6 years since my beautiful boy was born.  The weekend before BJ's actual birthday we had a little family get-together to celebrate the occasion and of course to eat cake!!

Matt helping BJ read his card.

BJ with his favourite card

BJ blowing out the candles

Lucy helping BJ blow out the candles!!

On BJ's actual birthday he woke up very, very, early but he informed Mum and Dad that he had been awake for a very long time before he came to wake us up.  (who knows what time he really woke up!)  As per tradition the birthday boy sat on the lounge so Matt, Annie and Lucy could bring him his presents.  He got some great gifts from Mum and Dad and Noonie but his favourite was his razor scooter.

BJ on his scooter straight after receiving it

A boys birthday is not complete until he takes the mandatory cup cakes to school.  BJ asked for a racing track but this is the best Mum could do....

school cupcakes

On this very special day, the boys got picked up at lunchtime from school to go and have lunch at Sizzler!  The only reason this happened was because Daddy was leaving for his missions trip to Uganda on the night of BJ's birthday!  Because we had to be at the airport for 5pm Daddy decided to give the boys a special treat and take them out of school so we could have a family lunch together before he set off for 3 weeks. 

Happy Birthday Benjamin!! 

We love you !!

It's beginning to look alot like christmas..

I know it is earlier than usual but we had to put the tree up before Daddy went on his missions trip as he is only returning a week before Christmas Day (far too late to put up a tree!)  So with the christmas music playing, christmas cheer in the house we all embarked on putting up the Christmas tree.  This year it was basically all up to the kids to put the decoratrions on.  It trully looks like a kids tree!!

all the kids putting up the little decorative tree

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Daddy and his two girls

BJ

Lucy

Matthew

goo

Matthew had been to a 'Professor Jellybean' birthday party earlier in the day where he had made three different types of goo.  This was a fantastic birthday party and he had so much fun because Matty is very much into making and inventing stuff.  When he got home BJ and Annie were very excited to play with the goo too so once they all had they bath Matty set up the temporary dining room table as the goo space.  He then proceeded to give them instructions on how to use it then he put the timer on for 5 minutes so they could all have the same amount of time at each area before rotating onto the next area.  Does this sound like he has teachers as parents?!

taking turns playing with the goo

project tiger

BJ practicing his talk and Matthew being his helper

Benjamin's first ever oral project was on tigers.  BJ had to make a poster and it had to include what the animal looked like, what they ate, where they lived and an interesting fact and them present it to the class.  BJ really enjoyed this project because he can talk under wet cement about anything!  I don't know how many times he practiced his talk but it was always different everytime he said it!  Benjamin did a fantastic job and his teacher was very proud of him and his confidence.

merit bar kid

What a big year it has been for Matty at school.  Not only did he receive a ROC certificate but he also worked hard enough to earn himself a merit bar.  So with Mum and Dad both in attendance at the assembly we proudly watched our boy walk up on stage and receive his special badge.  So Matthew has a blue badge from Year 1 and now a green badge to add to his collection from Year 2

Well Done Matthew, you have worked very hard this year!!

cheeky Lucy waiting at assembly

first tooth...

BJ has finally lost his first tooth!!  He has been waiting for this day for quite a while and could hardly contain his excitment when it finally came out while he was wiggling it in bed one night.  Daddy had put the kids to bed, prayed with them and kissed them good night and came down to the lounge to sit with Mummy.  Even before he reached the lounge, BJ came screaming out of his room shouting something both Mummy and Daddy couldn't understand, only to realise that he was screaming with excitment about his tooth.  BJ put his tooth in a cup in his room for the toothfairy to come and take it away leaving something shiny behind.  However, when he woke up in the morning he come straight into Mum & Dad's bedroom to say that the toothfairy did not come so Mummy told BJ to go back to bed as it was far too early for him to wake up.  So when it was time to wake up BJ then found a note and some money in the kitchen because the toothfairy had such a busy night that she did not have time to go into his room and take the tooth!!!  Poor toothfairy she has too much to remember and too much to do in such little time!

matthew madness

Matthew always likes to do something at least once.  So when Noonie brought home a night mask from her overseas trip away, Matthew just had to give it a go!  So off to bed he went with his new toy to try out.  Surprisingly enough he slept the whole night with it on! 

a decision has been made

Annie decided one afternoon it was time for her to ride her bike with only two wheels.  Seeing as her bike still has training wheels on and Daddy was still at work, Mummy got out the boys small bike for Annie to use instead.  So off we went over the road to the path to give it a go.  To Mummy's surprise Annie was up and riding on her very first go!  She did not need much help at all and in 30 mins she could even start herself off without needing to be held or pushed.  This girl is growing up too fast!!!

isn't she beautiful

Annie and Mummy went out one morning for a shop to find her a new summer dress. Annie loves dresses and skirts so when she saw this one she absolutely feel in love with it. So when it came for her prep orientation morning Annie chose to wear her new dress. Prep orientation morning was so much fun for Annie. It is a time for the kids to look through their new classroom, do some activities that they will do next year and meet some children who will be in their class. Mummy and Daddy can hardly believe that the time has nearly come for their next baby to head off to school. (Mummy has tried very hard to convince the kids to do homeschooling but no one wants to take me up on the offer. The boys absolutely love school and Annie can hardly wait to join them!)

Annie 4 1/2 years old

Well Done Benjamin

Benjamin has achieved his first 'Certificate of Commendation". This is such an achievement. BJ has worked very hard in class which has resulted in 5 ROC awards. Once he achieved his 5 ROC awards he is then presented with his certificate at assembly. This is such a big deal at school and Benjamin has had a fantastic first year of schooling and he has loved every minute of it.

BJ with his special certificate

Commendation Certificate

awarded for

an excellent attitude in all areas of school life

We are all so very proud of you BJ!!!

more holiday camping!!

After coming home from a week of camping at the beach, we decided to head off again with some school friends so therefore we only had enough time to clean the clothes, restock the food boxed and head off for a couple of nights to go camping in the bush. The kids were so excited about going camping AGAIN, Mum though, not so much!! BUT we all had a great time and Mummy is glad we went after all - sort of! The location was gorgeous, the company - well you couldn't fault it, the weather - COLD. We have never been this cold EVER camping before. Mummy, Daddy and baby Matthew had been camping with Uncle G and Aunty Cath to Girraween years ago and we ALL thought that was cold but nothing compares to what we experienced these holidays. The days were beautiful. We all went for some lovely bushwalks, the kids played in the little streams, we saw a gorgeous koala and some kangaroos, we played some cricket, football, soccer..... and did lots of chatting. Again the days were beautiful. Once the sun started to go down everything changed. The cold set in!! The nights were so cold and because there were fire bans everywhere we could not heat up around the fire before bed. Usually when we go camping we all sit around the fire getting toastie and warm and then we head off to bed so tired because we have had full days and talked too much. Well this holiday we all headed off to bed because it was too too too cold to sit outside and talk. Being inside the tent was not much better even when you wear your thermal top and pants, your long sleeve shirt with your tracksuit pants and jumper THEN your all-in-one pj's and your beanie. Nothing we did kept us warm. After the first night we all laughed and joked about it in the morning and tried to come up with some new strategies for the next night - for example putting on some socks on, wearing two shirts instead of one, drinking something warm right before bed. BUT disaster struck the second night.....Mummy forgot to put the girls nappies on -ARGH. How did Mummy find out??? Well Lucy decided to climb up to Mummy and Daddy to help get warm and as Mummy was pulling Lucy up I realised her PJ's were wet - again ARGH!! That is when it dawned on me that I forgot to put the girls nappies on. I did try to blame Daddy but he quickly reminded me that I dressed the girls and put them to bed so it was not his fault. Well what did Mummy do now that she realised that BOTH girls were completely wet - sleeping bags and clothes - what all good mothers do - the girls had to sleep in their wet clothes. Why you ask?? Remember our new strategy for the second night? sleep with all your clothes on except the outfit for the next day!! Mummy really did not have any other choice. So Lucy slept right next to Mummy to keep warm and Annie did not even realise she was wet so I was not going to wake her to let her know. This night was the second most longest night of Mummy's life (the first being another camping holiday where BJ was teething, Daddy was snoring VERY loud and Mummy was very cold trying to comfort a 6 month old who wanted to breastfeed ALL night!) Anyway Mummy was very glad to see the sun the next morning so Daddy got up, dressed the girls in their last outfit, put them in the morning sun to try and keep them warm while Mummy tried to get a little sleep. Needless to say we were very eager to pack up and go home.

BJ on a suspension bridge

gorgeous koala

BJ, Jack and Matthew at a rest spot on our walk

Lucy trying to keep warm after the second disaster night

Annie trying to keep warm too!!

BJ exploring on our walk

BJ, Daddy and Lucy

holiday fun

Holidays come and go by so quickly. We all love camping so of course what else would we do other than camping.... These holidays we went with four other families, including the Ross's and the P-B's. Our days were filled with lots of beach activities, some 4wd, the Double Island Open Totem tennis tournament, kite flying, soccer games and lots of relaxing. One of the highlights was the massive sand dune behind the tents that all the kids loved boogie boarding down!! A fond memory for the adults was playing scumbag and warlords at night once all 16 kids went to bed!! We had such a great time and we definitely came away with some great memories. Some memories include watching the whales and dolphins playing in the water, the big boys seeing a shark, helping Mr Ross to get out of the sand when he got bogged, climbing red canyon and watching all the kids play so well together.

One of Matt's favourite things to do is flying his kite first thing in the morning. It is such a beautiful time of day to pull out the kite and have a go on his stunt kite.

Matt and his kite

Camping at the beach always means lots of surfing, boogie boarding, sandcastle making and of course lots of jumping the waves. The girls loved jumping waves with Katie, it was definitely a highlight of the holidays.

Lucy playing in the sand

Annie

BJ and his drip drop castle

Matt jumping of sand dunes

Matt and Nick relaxing looking at the view