Wattle Like A Penguin

I tried to get Alex to sing a little song that he learned at kindy. The video is quite dark and Ella has joined in with her version of the song so it's hard to hear the lyrics, but if you listen carefully you'll hear Alex 'put his hand out flat and wattle like a penguin'.

Another Day At The Beach

Another beautiful day, another day perfect for the beach.This is the fourth time this month that we've gone to Paradise Point. The kids had a great day. We've all come home a little bit sun-kissed and rosy cheeked. I think Alex has had enough of sun and sand, though. Today he declared that next time we go to the beach, he's going to stay at home. He also said to me later when we were at home that he likes his house and he likes his toys. Maybe we've been too busy lately.

A Day With The Nortons

Today our friends came to our house for a sleep over. Braeden gate-crashed the party for the day. The kids played outside for ages and when things started to go a bit haywire we all moved inside to play Wii when things went REALLY haywire. Everyone had a great day.

Real Bowling

I've been promising Alex all week that he could go bowling with Grandad on Sunday. So we did. He wanted to make sure it was real bowling and not Wii bowling. He was winning for the first four or five frames thanks to a spare early in the game, but I soon caught up and beat him - but only just. Ella, on the other hand, was more interested in just rolling the ball down the ramp. Anything after that was above her attention span.

The Entertainers

Yesterday, Saturday, we went to Queens Park in Ipswich with some very good friends Debs (mum) and Gus (3 years old). They have an awsome playground and also a zoo with wombats, emus, kangaroos, bilbys and lots of snakes and lizards. We passed a small and empty stage which practically called out Alex's name and said "come and do a show for us, Alex". So he did. Gus, was breakdancing in the background while Alex sang Hot Potato and then Ella made up her own special song and dance. It was very entertaining. We had a great day. All the kids fell asleep on the way home and Ella didn't wake up again until 3am. Thankfully she went back to sleep - eventually.

I didn't get to post this last night because Alex had comendeered the computer while I watched the football. Today we're going bowling - real bowling, not Wii bowling - so I will post another picture tonight. I promise.

They Call Me Aunty Toni

My brother, Damien, and his girlfriend, Choong, had their first beautiful baby boy on Thursday morning. He is about 7lb 12oz and not a red hair to be seen! As you can see, he's gorgeous. Both mum and bub are doing well.

One, Two, Three, JUMP!

We spent the day with the Nortons. This is a picture of my little boy doing big boy tricks. He idolises his friend, Lachlan, who is 6. Alex and Lachlan were jumping from the big trampoline, onto the little trampoline, and then back to the big trampoline. I couldn't watch.

Charlotte's First Steps

She walks! She took her first step a couple of weeks ago and now she will walk across the room -- when she feels like it. She climbs on everything, too. Today Alex and Ella went to kindy so me and Charlotte hung out together for the day. I had my hair cut, cooked a dinner which the kids ate after lots of encouragement (mostly encouraging in a loud, cranky voice), and watched a movie. God I love Wednesdays!

Wearing Nanna's Glasses

We did nothing today, well, nothing that I took photos of anyay. We chatted to Grandma in Canada, we did a bit of gardening, went grocery shopping and got a new battery in our car. My mum came over for the last time before she heads over to Perth to meet her newest grandson on the weekend. During dinner, Alex asked her why she always wears glasses. The easiest way to explain Nanna's 'failing' eyesight was to let the kids look through Nanna's eyes.

Stickers From Daddy

The kids love getting mail and Bill sent some green dot stickers to them. As you can see, they've arrived! I'll be finding green dots on furniture all over the house for the next couple of weeks. Come to think about it, I don't think I took this one off Charlotte before she went to bed! Ooops.

Got Worms?

We were all getting into the car this morning and Alex comes around to me saying he has a new friend - Slimey. He found him in the garden. Then the stuggle began between mother and son as worms are not allowed in the car and Alex didn't have a suitable container to keep him in until we got home. We put Slimey into a box on the front patio which I am sure he's escaped from by now. Thankfully, all Alex thinks about when he comes home is which Wii game he's going to play. Slimey has been forgotten.

Alex's Girlfriend

We went to lunch to celebrate Ruth's 50th birthday today. There were lots of friends at the party, including Alex's self-appointed girlfriend, Hannah. Apparently they are going to go out together to MacDonalds where they can have chicken nuggets and a drink. Hannah's plan is to eventually get married. I'm not sure Alex has the same idea.

Funny Faces

We went to the park today. Luckily I was in a good mood because this was the third park we drove to before we had total agreement from all parties that this was a good park for a picnic. The kids played for about 15 minutes then decided that it was time for the picnic, which took an hour! Then we peed, and went home. I'm posting my blog early today because tonight I'm getting the grand-babysitters in and I'm going to the pub with some friends to celebrate the passing of another year - aka, someone's birthday. Cheers everyone!

Mum and Bub

One of the girls from playgroup took this photo of Charlotte and me. Not a bad one of the two of us, if I do say so myself.

Our Little Easy Rider

At playgroup today Charlotte just jumped onto this little bike and started pushing herself along (with a little help maybe). She's been taking her first steps over the last week and enjoys playing with anything that accelerates her upright movements. Bugger this crawling gig! And I swear she said 'bottle'. It sounded more like 'bowl' but I knew what she was trying to say.

Yoga When You're Two

This was funny. I've been getting into the Wii Fit and enjoying the yoga part of it lately. I was doing a stretch in the kitchen and Alex started to imitate me, so I showed him another pose, the Warrior. Then he showed me 'The Fighter' and, my favourite, 'The Pillow'. Ella is in the background doing the Tree pose. She's a quick learner.

Road Testing the New Couch

It passed the 'kids jumping on the couch' test. It lasted five minutes before grubby Nutella hands said hello to lovely new leather couch. Hence the choice of leather - it rubs clean with a cloth. I must find a clean cloth to wipe off the Nutella....

Is There A Doctor In The House?

Ella wanted me to play doctors with her this morning but I had chores to do, so we got out a few teddies and surgery began. First cab off the rank was Dora who needed a few needles. Ella brought her out to me later declaring her wellness. Cookie Monster and the Easter Bunny were next in line for their check ups.

Who Stole The Couch?

The transformation of our living room continues. I sold our huge, blue corner lounge suite today. They came this morning and took it away, so now we are using an old foam mattress and a bean bag as our lounging furniture. Ella nearly cried when she came home and the couch was gone. Alex ran to the tv to make sure the Wii was still there. The new couch arrives on Thursday.

A New Cake Book

Alex and Ella had swimming lessons with Nanna today so I didn't get to spend much time with them. After swimming they went to Nannas and are having a sleepover. Alex and Ella are both preparing for the upcoming birthday celebrations by going through the cake books and choosing which cake they would like for the party - one for Alex and one for Charlotte. Alex spotted this snake cake and decided it would be good for his 'Wiggly party'.

Charlotte's First Swim

Today we spent the afternoon at my mum and dad's place having a swim with our friends Darcy, Piper and Lachlan. Charlotte got in the pool for the first time and absolutely loved it. She got so excited as she watched the kids swim and was itching to get into the pool. My mum wouldn't let go of her swim-ring as she was afraid that Charlotte was going to launch herself out of it and into the water. We all had a great, exhausting, day.

Who's That?

Today we're spending the day with the Nortons. Angela took us all to the Ipswich Art Gallery which always has fantastic diplays for the kids. This one was like a Dr Seuss book. Ella got a bit frightened and had to stop pressing buttons because every time she did something would make a noise or lights would flash. Charlotte loved it. There were plenty of things she could crawl around and see and explore at her height. The kids had a great day. Now I'm sitting on the patio having a beer.

The First Of Many

We kissed Bill bye bye today as he heads off to Sydney for a birthday party and then to Melbourne for work. We'll be Bill-less for about 6 weeks, so I am going to endeavour to post a picture each day of something we did that day so that Bill knows what we're up to and that we love and miss him. That's about 42 new posts. Wish me luck.

Happy Fathers Day

Dads rock! We all went to the beach, got wet and sandy, then ate fish and chips. Even this amount of activity can be exhausting for some of us. Happy Fathers Day to all those dads out there.

Peek-a-boo

Charlotte is now 10 months old. This is a picture of her playing peek-a-boo with me around the corner of the kitchen cabinets. She's such a cute little sucky-face baby!