winter days...

June has been cold....well 17C is cold for us! And the nights have been 3-5C which is positively frosty! We have had some much needed rain too....and the girls have enjoyed that....it is Morganne first real experience out in the the puddles... Evangeline is very confident on her bike now with out trainer wheels...even on the gravel...Evangeline is learning the read and can sound out and write a lot of 3 letter (CVC) words...considering she has had so many hearing problems she is doing extremely well...We had a play day and lunch at the Gringarts last weekend as both dads were away at work so it was a girly day...Eden & E are like two peas in a pod...E has had fun looking through the scrap booking albums...the best layouts are the ones that tell a story...not just a pretty photo...E wasn't really interested in the pages that had no story...and neither was I...it reaffirmed that I want to continue to record the everyday stories of our lives...And we have had some nice days to be outside too...And this is why I can never sit down to read a magazine or watch TV...And Morganne is enjoying her food....lol...
And I have started a load of scrap book pages...I have all the photos ready and then have put them all onto pages and will then go and add title and journalling to them all...not my usual process as I usually complete one page at a time but it seems to be very quick! I plan to get them done this week sometime as this was a busy weekend...

Michael and Alli and the boys came for dinner last night...it was so nice to see only half of them....lol...they are fading away before our eyes! I am so proud of them...Ben has not seen them for months and was blown away! And today we are off to Eden's birthday party...at an animal farm...Lissy

18 months old...

Yes...Morganne is already 18 months old! And sure is keeping us on our toes....she loves to get outside...digging in pot plants...running around and going for walks...and visiting the dog...And when inside get into things and turn on light switches too...rearranging things on shelves...I affectionately call her "Morganne the Destroyer"...she draws on walls, gets into drawers and things like that that Evangeline (who is no angel...lol..) never did...and sometimes she just chucks things around...Oh and shoes are a big focus of attention...putting hers on and making sure every one else has their shoes too...or wearing everyone else's shoes! She is 12 kg and 80cm tall...So a little hefty which is not surprising as she is a good eater! Cheese and mashed potatoes are still big favourites but she also tucks into eggs, vegemite sandwiches, pear, bananas, pasta, chicken and other meats and occasionally some vegetables other than potatoes! She has a very cheeky personality and sings all the time...She can sing the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and ABC but obviously doesn't know the words...she does some actions too...We go to a Suzuki music session every week and she loves it...And she loves the Montessori playgroup we go to at Evangeline's school...And lots of talking going on and more "words" all the time...common ones now are "ge da" for get down, "bap" for up, "doh doh" for good dog, "sus" for shoes, "sos" for socks, 'es" for yes, "bobble" for bottle, "bumper" for jumper, "mor" for both more and milk...and she points to her mouth if hungry...and we are getting the odd tantrum if she cannot make her self understood or if she doesn't get her own way! He hair is getting quite long with lots of curls...and she likes to "do" her hair in the mornings with Evangeline and to clean her teeth!! She has suddenly gotten a lot more teeth and now has 16...and each one has been torturous! Baths are still very popular...just as well as we tend to get mucky outside and need a couple some days...We are so happy to have her around! Lissy

June already...

We spent the weekend at the farm as it was a long weekend here in Western Australia...it was COLD but we had a good visit...cold is to be expected at this time of year I suppose...I made lots of cakes and muffins and cookies and meals so my sister has a bit of a cooking break! The kids all played and Ben went shooting...we haven't been at the farm since ChristmasWe headed home on Monday...which was also our wedding anniversary...we have been married 6 years...here is our family self portrait for the occasion...not a good one of me but Ben and the girls look great...I may not be looking as flash as I was that day 6 years ago but these two little cherubs are sure worth it!I was four months pregnant with Evangeline at the time...Ben and I were talking today about some of the cookware that we got for wedding presents looking a little worse for wear after 6 years...and I said so are we...lol...I took mum to the airport on Tuesday as she is off to the UK for 3 weeks and then to Italy to stay with my cousin on the Lakes...E has an ear infection which is not supposed to happen now she has grommets...and not much else happening around here...I have been tackling my scrap room again and I am making great progress...we may even get to Ikea and get some overhead cupboards...I want to get organised so Ican start some projects...Ben is off to work on Saturday for a week...I hope your month has started well - Lissy

all is well...

All is well in our house...Ben is here and has repaired the storm damage...and we are all mostly over our colds...and have had a few nice days doing things...we have been to Whiteman Park a couple of times...once for an after school play date and once for a family walk and play...one, two AND three down the slide....lol...We have been to Gymnastics for E and music for M...and playing in the mornings...note E has been doing her own hair lately...lol...it really was quite neat so I did not re do it! E called up papa to chat...And I caught up with Alli and did some shopping...you should see how great she is looking especially in the new dress she bought! And now we are off to the farm for a few days since it is a long weekend...I hope you have nice things planned...Lissy

brrrr....it's been cold....

Well we have had a few cold days and some rain and storms...Our pergola blew down and just missed going through the bedroom window...and the pirate ship sustained some damage...lol...Ben didn't go to Copenhagen so it looks like he may actually be home for the whole 5 weeks...yay!

A nice day again today so we spent a lot of it outside...Evangeline has been doing lots of maths lately...she is learning multiplication, subtraction and addition at school....all with concrete manipulatives...And she is so pleased with herself as she can spell pig all by herself...she can write a few names but this is the first unrelated word she has worked out! And she did this the other day to her bed...lol...maybe she had the Princess and the Pea in mind...And a bit of sibling bonding watching Tinkerbell...well M only sits there a few minutes but E loves it...And we have done some Friday night cooking....And look at these gorgeous brown eyes...And that is about it around here as we are all recovering from colds....I hope you have had a good weekend - Lissy

and more busy days...

It has been days since I have updated this blog and Ben is giving me a few hints to do so!!! So this post will be very long...I have been pretty busy getting things under control on the domestic scene and doing lots of gardening too...

Ben has intermittent telephone reception so we are getting some phone calls...when he was in port we had a few video calls...the girls loved it...He will hopefully be home in ten days...but then heads off very shortly to Copenhagen for two weeks...At the moments he seems to only be home about 3 weeks out of every ten weeks...

Evangeline has had a couple of weeks of school already this term...we have had a play date at Whiteman Park (the biggest park in Australia apparently)She rode her bike around everywhere with no trainer wheels! And Morganne had fun with Diana in the playground...And we had afternoon tea at the Margaret River Chocolate Factory (lots of lawn and sports equipment for the kids there and the free chocolate samples go down well as well!) and a wee tea party on the lawn yesterday at home...but no photos of all these events amazingly!

In the last couple of weeks Morganne has tooth number 9 and 10 appear...so lots of grizzling has been happening...and I think another couple are coming too...so ten more teeth to go! We have been outside doing lots and lots of gardening so both girls are going through several sets of clothes and having lots of baths at the moment as they love to help! Water and dirt is their idea of bliss...
We went to Ben's grandma's 80th birthday lunch...
I sewed up the classes Mother's Day presents...and it came home yesterday beautifully wrapped...ready for Sunday...the children made their own paper and cards and even wrapped the present themselves...I love that about Montessori...it is real authentic work...and all about showing kids how to do things and letting them do it for themselves...Mother's Day was lovely...This is the fabulous present from Evangeline...they decorated the fabric themselves using a process called flower pounding...Morganne potted me a plant at playgroup...Mum stayed over on Saturday night then we went to our favourite brekkie spot...Taylor's...then did some shopping...mum gave me a lovely bracelet and a plant...we also went to the nursery and I bought myself a lot of plants for Mother's Day to try and finish the front garden...
Evangeline is going to start gymnastics but is coming down with a cold or something today so we missed the session tonight...she loved the trial last week so I think it will suit her...she has always been very active and loves to climb...Morganne is loving playgroup...and we are about to sart a music session once a week too...She is drinking more milk in a cup but is still not weaned...And having fun with a box...and I have been trying to squeeze in a few walks a week while the weather is still so perfect and we are outside enjoying it too(about 24-25C days and 8-10C nights...No rain though and that is not good for the farm...or the garden)and I have been painting these bits of furniture I picked up at an auction for the kids...phew...I think that is about it for here...Lissy