Does it ever go away??!!

I imagine it will never go away, this feeling of 'who said I could have kids and be responsible for them - 3 of them!', or 'will I seriously always be their mother like my mother was my mother??' (yes, that makes sense, if you think about it!)

I know the answers to those questions. Sometimes it just still blows my mind. Especially when I see pictures like this.

Proud, caring older brother who takes seriously the 'job' of looking after his brother and sister, is learning to read and asks questions like 'what does compassion mean?' Smiley sister who just loves being 4, is all girl and can still wrestle and make up stories about dragons and bad guys. Younger brother who is old enough for whatever it is, and will do exactly what the others are doing, including sitting in a normal chair at the table, drinking out of a normal cup, etc, etc, thank you very much. You'd think he had an independently-minded older sister as an example or something...

Kicking Nick

Nick and his obsession with balls... only for the last 10 months or so... So now he's 20 months old (in this video), and he can step forward with the correct footing and kick an oncoming ball. Pretty darn accurately for an under 2-year old I reckon! I should try to video him drop-kicking it too...

(I'm adding this YouTube link to compare quality - blogger quality seemed pretty low)

Welcomed visitors

7 kids here for 4 days, and 4 adults just wanting to hang out... you would think we'd lose our mind trying. But we saw so little of them, except for feeding time of course. Busy playing school for almost the entire time! The big girls, of course, were the teachers, giving merit awards for good behaviour and taking the class on 'excursions'. So cute. Okay, they made mess, I won't lie. But with 7 kids and virtually no fighting, I'll take the mess. Thanks Dan and Kath for returning the favour since we so often crash and destroy your house. We loved having you.

"Mum, I'm really happy to be 4"

What she said kinda sums it up.

Months ago Laura asked if her birthday cake could be chocolate with pink icing and strawberries on top, and never changed her request. 

Easy!

She seemed pleased to have a Bruny birthday with family, and friends who came down for the day. The party was the day before her actual birthday, and so when I said happy birthday, she said, "I'm not 4 yet!!" I expected her to say it wasn't the real day, so I asked her when she was going to be 4. She said, "When I have my cake!!"

We had fun giving her a bit of a girly birthday, including giving her a dollhouse...

The birthday tattoo that stayed on for nearly 4 weeks!

Happy birthday Laura!!

Miss him

We're at Bruny, which is a place surrounded my memories of Rudie. 

He is the one who wanted 2 long tables to be able to seat heaps of people. Great idea.

He's the one who put most of the photos on the wall throughout the years. Priceless.

He's the one who put the thick clear plastic covering on those tables which we are constantly telling the kids to keep flat and not put their hands under. Thanks Rudie.

He's the one who decided to put the extension on the deck, perhaps without technically being permitted by council to do so. Shhh...

He's the one who used to be up early on a Saturday morning mowing and chainsawing... Can't say I miss that noise!

Can't help but miss him here...

At Bruny - Rudie holding Laura, Daniel in the background - Dec 2006

The girl's got moves

Too funny... Found these photos on the camera. Looks like they put on their own concert! Gotta love the lighting in the first picture that gives an 80's hairdo look.

Blondes

Hey Daniel, who's the blond chick in your backseat?

4 blondes... (ps. lose the bubble wrap Daniel, it's kinda weird :)

Thanks Ella for coming and spending the weekend with us, your mum and I had a great time! Oh yeah, I'm sure you kids had a ball too... 

School Holidays!!

School holidays = good times

Had I known that the walk to the shop [didn't know it was closed] would be 2+ hours round trip, along the beach, road and rocks, with kids laughing and exploring and being silly and playing in the water, but also tripping, falling, whining... well maybe I would have cut my losses and gone for reading books on the couch. Who knows. But we were feeling relaxed and apparently pretty game, so off we went. So good to make the choice without prior knowledge.

Lead the way Nick

What's a long walk without a good stick?

Swagger Wagon

This goes out to all my SUV-driving friends, yeah...

"And it's true if I were you, I'd be jealous of me"




(credit goes to those who have posted before!)

Boys

Boy #1 on the toilet reading.
Boy #2 learning what boys do at the same time as going to the toilet.
Really, wouldn't you rather read on a comfy couch than the toilet?!!