Hero's Self Portrait

The Art room at Hero's school has been open at lunchtime and Hero as been really enjoying it!

She brought home this self portrait yesterday and there are so many things i love about it.

• Her signature
• The ponytail sticking out the back
• The eyelashes
• The angular nose and the tiny nostril
• The fact that she coloured in the wrong parts of her eyes

She still has a touch of the beautiful naive children's perspective, but is getting more conscious of making things look correct. This is a nice combination. Before long she will get self conscious  of how she draws.

My Dad would have loved to see the kids drawings, and they could have learnt a lot from him.

Iggy turns 2!

It has been a really busy month!

Not only was Roma born, we also had jeremy's birthday, the start of school and  Iggy's 2nd birthday!

It did  pass quietly, but we the family made it pretty special for him.

Iggy loves cake! Almost as much as ice cream and jelly. And would much prefer these sweet treats over big expensive presents, and with Iggy being the 3rd child we have most toy categories covered! So our present to Iggy was a cake and Jelly extravaganza.

Iggy loves to cook, so he helped me make the cupcakes and Hero and i did most of the decorating the night before. I wish i had a picture of his face when he first saw the tiered cup cake stand filled with cup cakes! He could hardly contain his excitement. He had a great dance that he would do every time Banjo said "Birthday Cake"!

But i did get a photo of him blowing out the candle! What a classic! 

Happy 2nd Birthday Iggy! 

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Banjo started school this week, and it was an easy transition, one he absolutely  enjoyed and one we loved watching.

Banjo was ultimately ready for school, and in fact needed to go. I was unable to mentally stimulate him at home anymore, and this was fast becoming an issue at the end of last year with him miss behaving due to boredom.

I did have to fight back some tears, but it was easy to do, due to his excitment and enthusiasm.

I think your child starting school is a Mum's first step to slowly letting go. Letting go of control and testing if your first 5 years of parenting has been successful enough for them to thrive and socially navigate themselves without your guidance.

I must admit i felt a little nervous about this, (remember this post !?) But i have faith that I have done my job, now i need to sit back and watch him learn when to put these attributes in place.

SKATER BOY BANJO!

Banjo loves checking out skating tricks on you tube as well as other exstream sports!

So as an insentive to get him to drop in, i promise i would put him on you tube when he did!

So here you are Banjo! Well done!

Also: Happy Birthday Jem!! We love you!

It's a girl!

It has been a fantastic summer break for the whole family. The weather has been great and we have been lucking to have Jem with us for all of Jan, so lots of family time and beach time.

And then....

On 22nd January  (my actual due date!) Roma Rose was born!
She was born at 7:05am, she weight 3.485 kg (7lbs 11oz), 53 cm long.

The birth was slow to get started and then once it got some momentum there was no going back! She was born within an hour. I am feeling fantastic, and love not having all the physical  restraints that i had with a cesarean.

We are absolutely thrilled with our little girl, especially Banjo! Of all the kids, he is really quite besotted by her, and now forgets he wanted a brother!

It is great to be back. There will be lots to blog about. Banjo starting prep, many photo's and reports of Roma! And how my days will be quite different with 2 little ones under 2 at home.

Note the dark hair! Not sure where that came from!

Lets recap....

Since this time last year we;

• moved down to Barwon Heads. So..
• the kids started new schools and kindergarten, then..
• we decided to expand our family to 6, then decided to..
• cancelled our Brunswick renovation and stay put. Then..
• packed up the brunswick house entirely and rented it out just before we...
• bought a holiday rental and furnished it with only days left before high summer, and
• embark on a smaller reno at Sunnyside to accommodate the new arrival and general growth of the family! 
• There was also the family trip to Byron Bay, mid year family skiing holiday and my very extravagant trip to Europe! 

We all know how fast time goes by but i really feel like we have had to work through some really big life decision and changes, which made this year memorable, and also bonded us as a family unit very tightly. All our decision have been hard ones , but have also felt right. And i can truly say this feels like home.

Jem and I are supper excited about the arrival of bubs, and we cant wait to find out how this little one will shape our family.

As i right this i have 4 weeks till my due date and i am feeling fantastic! Cant believe it really. I think in my post The Third Trimester is was feeling really apprehensive of how i would go towards the end, but i am still really comfortable and relaxed. Lets hope the final stage goes as smoothly!

As for the older kids;

This is Banjo with his mates at his Kinder breakup. Gabe is in the middle and Remy. He is very close to his mates, when i look at this picture i cant help but try to imagine them as teenagers. It is a big step in a little boys life, leaving kinder for school and i am really proud of Banjo and how far he has come socially.

The small town aspect has been great in relation to kinder/school transition. There is only one kinder and one school, so all his friends move on together. There is no goodbyes, and difficult explanations about why you wont get to see your friends much now. This has made him extra confident about starting school.

Hero has also had a big transition with starting a new school, but is thriving now!

This photo was taken today on the last day of school where she received one of only 2 awards given out in her class. She was so excited and proud, and so was I. She is a joy to watch as she guides through school, and i am so grateful that her personality and strength was rewarded for her effort this year.

So after all the year has brought i am looking forward to,

• lazy mornings
• watching the kids frolic in the sea
• some quite dinners with Jem while the kids are being babysat
• eating ice-cream in the hot afternoon sun
• having friends come and visit
• having family bike rides along the river at dusk
• and of course meeting the new addition to the family!

So until a bit later in the New Year, that is what i will be doing. What about you?!

Merry Christmas
xoxox

Fig Tree House

Sorry it has been a while between posts but things have been pretty busy here.

Mostly due to the setting up of Fig Tree House in preparation to the holiday season.

For those that dont know about it, Fig Tree is a house that we bought after we decided to stay here in Barwon Heads insted of renovating Brunswick.

This house will be very handy next year for visitors to use when it's not rented, and for the grandparents to stay when bubs arrives because Sunnyside will be full!

We have been working hard to get it on-line and now it is up! Fig Tree House can now be viewed and booked!

I would love to know your thoughts on how it reads and looks. Should the 1st image be an exterior one or interior?

Does it need more adjectives it it description?

And of course, make sure to let anyone that might be interested in it know what a wonderful place it is to stay!