School 2012

The girls went back to school this year pretty much without a hitch!

Of course, Lauren was upset about returning to school - she'd much rather be home with Mummy.
I had the same problem with Ashleigh - in fact, Ash was still crying when I dropped her to school throughout Year 2 so hopefully this will be the last year of tears - fingers crossed!

I was a little disorganised this year so I didn't get around to taking a photo of them until their 2nd week back at school.  And of course they had to clown around!!

We were lucky to have had a visit from Poppy Brown last week.  It was lovely having him stay with us and spending time with the girls.

Lauren Turns 8!

On Saturday our baby turned 8.
I can't believe it!
How time flies.
We will be getting her baptised on 3rd March (hopefully).
She was a little apprehensive about getting baptised in the lead up to her 8th birthday so our bishop suggested we have a "wet run" for her.  So last weekend they filled the font and she went dressed in her swimmers to do a practice run.  They had the font filled for another little boy in Lauren's class, Levi McCormack as he is very sick and has only been given a few weeks to live but he really wanted to get baptised (his birthday is the day before Lauren's) but they had to do a practice run for him as he is very frail.
Lauren did so well.  In fact, she enjoyed it and now can't wait to get baptised!
After the practice she didn't walk back to the stairs to get out - she swam!  I hope she doesn't do that on the day - dressed in her white dress and all!

We got some photos taken of Lauren in her baptism dress as a momento of the day.
Here are some of the photos:

We had the family over for lunch on Saturday for her birthday and she had such a good time.
She loves it when the family gets together!  Here are some photos:

Of course she had to taste the icing to see if it was OK!!

Happy Birthday my little angel!

Gerringong

A couple of weeks ago we decided to take some time off our usual busy life and go down to Gerringong for the weekend.  A weekend is never long enough, but we managed to enjoy ourselves regardless.

We stayed with friends who have a family holiday home there!  It's a massive house that sleeps around 10 people so there was plenty of room for everyone!

It was great catching up with friends and discussing everything from life to politics and spiritual experiences we've had over the years!  We're so lucky to have such great friends!  The only problem is we've had about 4 different couples say to us "we need to go organise a weekend away" and we can barely get time to do this on our own let alone with everyone else!  It's nice to be loved!  :)

Here are some photos of our weekend away:

The drive down to Gerringong - such a pretty view!

Walking down to the beach:

One of the many rock pools at the beach!  They are full of fish and crabs!

Pelicans sunning themselves

And of course, no trip to Gerringong is complete without a visit to my favourite shop in Berry:

Christmas 2011

Once again Christmas has snuck up on me this year!
And it doesn't even feel like Christmas!
The weather has been terrible the last few weeks leading upto Christmas.
It has been rainy and cold!  This photo was taken 23rd December:

We had one nice weekend in the second week of December and there quite a few people putting up Christmas lights on their homes but there aren't too many homes decorated this year.  I think it's because the weather has been so miserable!

We managed to get a few outdoor decorations up this year.  I accidentally put outdoor lights on our Christmas tree this year but didn't realise until the tree was completely decorated so we didn't have lights to put up in the conifer trees out the front unfortunately.  I did however manage to buy a rope light tree this year.  I LOVE it - even though Aaron and Ash don't think it matchs the lights on the gutters!

Here's this year's attempt at outdoor decorating:

We kept up the tradition of making a Christmas card tree on our wall.

I much prefer displaying the cards this way!  It doesn't look as cluttered as cards on a table.

Here are some photos of our home at Christmas:

And finally, here's a picture of Lauren's masterpiece.  

I think I'll use it as our Christmas cards next year!

What a Blessing ...

I was driving the girls home from school this afternoon and I went over Ashleigh's line for the Primary Presentation with her which is "The Priesthood is the power of God.  I am blessed by this power when my Father gives me a blessing when I am sick". 

I then took the opportunity to explain to her what this means.
And then at the end I said "That's what happens when Daddy gives you a blessing"

Then a little voice from the back seat said "or Poppy". 
Lauren had obviously remembered when she was really sick with a vomiting bug last year her "Poppy" had come over to give her a blessing as Aaron was away. 

I think of how lucky my kids are to have experienced getting a blessing from their poppy. 
I never had that experience and I am so happy that they got to experience it.

Precious.

I've Never Been Down This Road Before...

We've been so busy the last few weeks.
Ashleigh had her dance school concert last week and it has been weeks of extra rehearsals so we didn't seem to have any spare time up our sleeves.
We can all breathe a sigh of relief now as her classes are finished for the year!
Here's a photo of Ash in her acrobatics outfit striking the pose she had to hold at the end of her performance.

She did so well despite her injuries!
Yes, our little Ash has a tendancy to attract bad luck at the worst possible time!
First, she lost her front tooth the day before Aunty Mandy's wedding and she was flower girl so I had to tell her to smile with her mouth shut!
And then at her rehearsals (the day before the concert) she broke her toe.
She was determined to do her part anyway and didn't want to let her team down so she went on stage and performed to the best she could!
She only started halfway through the year so she was 6 months behind the rest of the girls in her class but she did so well and we were so proud of her going on stage - she was so nervous!
Unfortunately her toe was trodden on a couple of times (backstage) before she went on stage so she was in quite a bit of pain and was unable to do her cartwheels as well as she would have liked.

Both the girls have their school end of year performance in a couple of weeks.
Last year Lauren danced in two dances - one for her class (the support unit) and another with the main stream class she was integrated with.
She absolutely loved being up there on stage!  She was a natural!

Aaron's been working long hours lately.  He seems to enjoy the challenge of his new job.  Everyone seems to love him there (as usual).  He's on a bit of a health kick - exercising more and watching what he eats.  He has lost a few kilos in the process which is great.

And me, I've been busy working 4 days a week from home.  I work school hours (at least I'm supposed to) which is good.  My bosses go away for two months on Wednesday so it's going to be a lot quieter and I can't wait!!

Today, on the way home from church, we had to pull into a side street as we realised Lauren's car door was open so we needed to pull into a quiet street so she could open her door and close it  properly.  Ashleigh said "I've never been down this street before" and then Lauren said "Yes you have, you just did".  Duh!

Anyway, here are some photos I took of the girls today.  They are looking so grown up now.

Bras and all the rest!

So this past weekend I had to have a little girly chat to Ash.

She has already started to morph into a young lady - and she's only 10 and a half!  I don't remember developing boobs until about 12!  Must be all the hormones in food these days! :) 
I presented her with her very first "bralette" (well that's what Bonds call them) and had a chat about the joys of body changes!
It went pretty well.  She listened intently, screwed up her nose a few times whilst contemplating the upcoming changes her body will go through over the next few years!
At the end of our "chat" I gave her a little Puberty Survival Kit in a cute cosmetic case!
She was so excited.  I could see on her face that she was excited about becoming all grown up!
Me ..... not so much.  I am going to miss her childlike qualities as they slowly disappear over the next few years!
And, let's be honest, I'm not really looking forward to the mood swings and temper tantrums!

Here she is with her fave cousin:

On another note .....
My hubby has embarked on a whole new lifestyle change.
Already he has lost 10kg.
This has really motivated me to also lose some weight before summer.
I have stacked on the weight lately and am really noticing that it's stopping me from doing so many things I used to do so easily!
So, less eating and more exercise is on the agenda for me!

Where Have I Been!?!??

So much has been happening lately.
I've neglected this blog ..... again.

So here's what's new:

We have a new addition to our family:

Her name is Coco and she's just adorable.
Ash is such a good Mum to our 'baby'.

Here she is "chillaxing" on the carpet!

Lauren adores her also! Look at the joy in her face!

Her favourite part are the ears - they're sooooo soft!

Don't tell anyone but I think I love her as much as Ash and Lauren!

She's so cuddly! And such an easy pet to have. She doesn't make any noise, I can lock her in her cage when I want to go out. Her poos are teeny tiny! AND she's kitty litter trained! Brilliant!

For the first time EVER we went away for the Easter weekend and had the best time.
We went to Port Stephens with friends of ours Steve and Ruby.

This is a photo of Birubi Beach. It's absolutely gorgeous. Beach as far as the eye an see!

This photo was taken at the Lighthouse in Port Stephens. Amazing view!

The girls got to drive around the golf buggy!

We stayed with Steve's parents who live in a resort on a golf course.

Their backyard has this gorgeous lake alongside it! It's so peaceful.

And of course we went dolphin watching while we were there!
The weather was perfect - sunshine and warm weather the entire weekend.
So visibility was great! And there were about 3 pods of dolphins there that day!

Here's is a photo of Ashleigh and Steve and Ruby on the back of the boat.
Ash is holding on for dear life - in fear that she will fall off the side and become shark bait!

So we've been busy having lots of fun!

Aaron loves his new job and I'm enjoying being a stay at home mum at the moment!