two years until long service!!

Mummy has been a 'stay at home mum' for 8 years so does that mean I am up for my long service leave in two years??   I can hardly believe my baby boy has turned 8 and is growing up way too fast.  Matty had such a great birthday.  It started off with Noonie sleeping over so she was here for the present opening and for a very quick breakfast.  Matthew was very spoilt again this year with lots of books, clothes, nick nacks and all importantly a new scooter.  This present definitely made Matty's day.

Matty opening some presents

some of his books

his scooter

Noonie and the kids

After the special morning it was off to school to share the traditional cupcakes.  For dinner Matty chose his favourite mushroom dinner (beef stroganoff) followed by waffles for dessert.  Matty also wanted his birthday cake to be made out of waffles so it was a very easy cake for Mummy to do.

Matty and his cake

Matty with Mama and Grandad

Happy Birthday Matthew!!

camping tradition

Every May long weekend we head to the farm to go camping.  This has become a tradition which we have now done for three years.  It is such a great time catching up with friends that we usually don't have time to during the year.  This long weekend entails lots of laughter around the campfire at night, a 4wd trip and picnic one of the days, a pub lunch to finish it all off and of course the annual pony ride on Charlotte.  This year Matty was too big  for Charlotte! 

Mummy and Lucy at Queen Mary Falls

BJ waiting very patiently for his turn on Charlotte BUT he is getting cold!

Lucy on Charlotte

Annie's turn

all the kids who were on the farm

We had such a fantastic time catching up with our friends but also it was so lovely making new ones too.  The count down is definitely on for next year!

natural arch

On the long weekend we headed to the Natural Arch with the Ross family.  It was such a beautiful place to visit and such a great little bush walk too.  The kids really enjoyed the adventure of it all too.

everyone!!

Noonie and her boys

the boys plotting there next move as spies in the rain forest

beautiful Annie

our wonderful family

After the walk we all headed down to park to have a picnic lunch and a play on the swings.

Lucy Goosey

scooter at southbank

what a better way to spend a morning than having a scooter at southbank.  This is definitely a family favourite outing.

a very special invitation.....

for the parents to come into the prep classroom was given.  Annie talked about this morning for days and was so excited that Mummy could come and play with her in HER classroom.  The morning started with devotions followed by a special song sang by the class.  After some formalities, it was time to play. 

Annie getting ready to sing

Lucy and Natalie watching devotions

Annie and Lucy playing a counting game using play-doh

After playing with some building blocks, colouring in and playdoh it was time to share in some morning tea.   

Mummy and Annie at the end of the special morning

Thank you Annie for a wonderful morning!

Mama's 70th birthday

Mama turned 70 this year so the family put on a High Tea to celebrate this mementos occasion.  So on the beautiful deck at Aunty Karen and Uncle Steve's house we had some special nibblies and cake.

just some of the photos.

mama's photos

Mama celebrated her 70th birthday this year so to mark this memorable occasion the gift idea was to get a new photo of the grandkids on canvas from each family.  Easier said then done when we are the only family with FOUR children.  So after 150 photos we ended up with ONE photo that I was happy enough to print.

a sample of photos we took

You may notice that BJ was in two different coloured shirts.  This was due to Mummy giving the kids a break from having their photo taken.  So while the kids watched some TV BJ decided to suck on his blue shirt.  Therefore, BJ needed a wardrobe change! Towards the end of the photo shoot Lucy was really starting to lose her patience so she would up and leave.  This really drove the kids nuts!  They knew Mummy was not going to stop until we had a decent photo for Mama's wall.

the chosen one!

birthday girl at school

The day had finally arrived OFFICIALLY!  Annie was so excited to be getting more presents and more cake!! 

Annie and Matthew in the morning

No birthday is complete without the traditional birthday cakes for school.  This year Annie chose to have domino cupcakes. 

Annie with her special birthday crown on made by her wonderful teacher Mrs Smith

Annie with her domino cupcakes

Annie felt very special on her birthday at school.  She was able to have Mummy and Lucy stay for morning tea and share in her very special birthday celebrations.  Annie was also the class helper for the day too.  After school Annie and her friend over for a play to help finish off the birthday celebrations.

Annie's 5th birthday

I can hardly believe that my baby girl is 5 already.  I so clearly remember the day she entered the world and straight into my heart.  Well Annie's birthday was celebrated over two days.  Annie had her birthday dinner on the night before her birthday because Daddy had uni on the night of her birthday which means we do no have enough time to have a proper birthday dinner.  Annie chose to have homemade pizza for dinner followed by a homemade ice cream cake for dessert.

Annie and her birthday cake

Annie and Noonie

four rascals

Annie with some of her presents from Noonie

Annie took a while to get to sleep as she knew it was her actual birthday to next day!