Saturday - Family Fun Day

I love going out for family days. Tassie's daycare had organised an open day which provided a great opportunity for her to show off her daycare centre to us and Gandy and Auntie Manda. This has been a truly wonderful place for our family, giving Tassie some much needed structured play and chance to mix with other kids on her own (and time Angie and I get to spend together twice a week). The staff are so caring and this place has a very loving and well-run environment. The commercial day care centres have copped a lot of unfair criticism from the media and it's mostly hype. It pays to shop around because centres are obviously not all as special as this place. We're so grateful to them so it was important we come and support them on their open day. If you're looking for a daycare centre, I recommend ABC.













We dashed off to IKEA, our other favourite family place to go, to collect the other part of our kitchen bench and a children's easel we've waited a month for. Ian set it all up in the evening - my ANGEL - so there will be photos soon.

Friday - shopping and photo day

I love Fridays. Angie and I went for a 15 minute walk after dropping Tassie at little play school. It's so great I'm actually walking again. We dropped our photos in for developing (pics for Project 365, all current stuff, plus photos for the 2009 backscrap project). When we were food shopping, Angie was getting increasingly impatient - he seems to be teething at the moment. But at the checkout he got the giggles - I wondered if someone passing by had made a joke with him? It happens sometimes. Lucky I had my mobile handy.

Thursday - photos at Monti

Tassie is so excited on Thursday mornings. She can't get in the car quick enough for Montissori (Monti). Today is an extra special day, being the children's photo day. So naturally I dressed Tassie in the prettiest dress from the recent shopping spree.

She usually starts with some playdo play.



She loves to paint. I was interested to stay a few minutes this morning and watch her sit at the table, dip the brush in some water and paint with watercolour. My!

Outside there is a large deck where the kindy kids play - the Monti kids (Tassie's group) usually go further down the hill where the play area and rabbits are.

It's hard to see in the photo, but the view of the hills is stunning. The parents appreciate this more than the kids who don't seem to notice!

Can't wait to see the official photos.

Wednesday - planting

Since Tasmin was born three years ago I haven't been able to find time for gardening. But now that we're getting outside to play and the babies aren't running off as much, I decided it was a good time to start planting again. I kept the coriander I'd bought which is sold in plastic to use for cooking, but still has the roots attached. I've always wanted to try this and see if it grows. So now it's in the dirt in a pot and we'll see.







I thought Angus looked funny, like the famous pose of the athlete ready to throw the discus.

Tuesday - outside play

It's good to be able to get outside for morning playtime with the babies now it's Spring. They're getting better at staying within the boundaries. Tassie had on her sweet new little cotton top from last week's shopping spree and I love that she's so willing to pose for the camera. The first photo is posed, anyway, while the rest are natural.

Monday - perfectly ordinary

It was a spontaneous kind of day actually. I got up 5.15am, and after we dropped Tasmin off at 9am, Angus and I walked to the park (he in the pram). This is something I intend to do more often. We then went for a special shopping trip for an Ipod I've decided I need. I've gone this long without one I know, but if I'm going to be walking everyday, in the early morning, I'm going to need something to listen to right? The small annoyance was they've changed the 16GB model that Fave has, so you can't watch video on it anymore. I've decided it doesn't matter, since I'm only planning to use it for listening anyway.

Digi Elements by Gina Cabrera, Desginer Digitals

The other thing I bought as soon as I saw it was a slow cooker. I'm going to write more about this soon but I used it tonight for dinner and it is sensational! Plus I found some silicone moulds in the shape of dinosaurs, and some butterflies and ladybugs. Great for my plaster of paris to mould with and keep the kids amused. I also got a number-shaped ice cube tray and letter-shaped cookie cutters for Tassie's amusement. On my travels I noticed this book and look at the author's first name! I'm always surprised to see the name Tasmin or Tasmina since it's unusual.

Sunday - UN Day

Fave had a busy day starting with United Nations Day, to commemorate his operational service in Cyprus and Bosnia. Then he went on to assist with the annual Legacy Widows concert, so we didn't see him again until close to 6pm. A day in the Life! I've decided that my no.1 project in 2011 is going to be his album. It has been started but I am really keen to complete it, as there's so much there to capture.

Saturday - Angie's birthday party

On the morning of the party, Tassie and Angus helped Daddy blow up some balloons. Look at Angie watching his Daddy!

I love how grown up he looked in his new outfit. So handsome, so smart!




I was very proud of the way these little teacups turned out. Everyone loved them.

I asked Fave to get out the video camera so we could record parts of the party. The birthday cupcakes had little dinosaur lollies on them. Ironically, Angie didn't care for the lollies! I was looking forward to the pass-the-parcel game which I wanted everyone to join in with.



We played "The Safety Dance" song - we love that song, can't get enough of it - and each layer that was unwrapped revealed an animal nose! Everyone joined in, including Manda, Mike and Gandy. The only problem was that Angie didn't enjoy the game, and found the noses scary.


Tassie won the prize - such a great idea when you have siblings at a party who don't want to feel left out. My sister and I share the same birthday so we each received presents at the one party as children. Much easier for our parents. Tas looked fab in her new dress.

Tassie got to blow out the candles too.

This is the FIRST time Angie ever had cake. It was a special egg-free cake and - unbelievably - it tasted wonderful! I used a packet cake mix and added egg replacer. Too easy! He loved it. Thank goodness he liked something about the day. This was the closest we got to a smile I think.

Angie loved the Megasketcher I bought with money from Mutti Robin. Tassie loved her little mini sketcher prize from pass-the-parcel.

Aah. Relief. 5pm and everyone's gone home for dinner.

Friday

Another lovely ordinary daylight-savings day. I love this time of year. We took Tas to daycare, got our Project365 photos developed, went food shopping for groceries and Angie's party goodies. Looking forward to the little party.

Thursday

Angie was so pleased with his first birthday present, a lego car from his Nan and Pa. We'll finish building it when Dad gets home. The curtains are closed at 7.30am to keep the bright sun out until we return later in the morning. A 28 degree day today -- LOVE IT!! We took Tassie to Monti then went on to Marion for some birthday present shopping. More on this on Saturday.

Angie wasn't happy about being pulled out of the bath tonight.

Tassie was only too happy to climb up on to the change table to distract him.

DH has had some amazing news - I got to hear the phone call this morning. Hope to reveal soon.

Wednesday 20102010

It was a happy start to 20102010, Angus's second birthday. Tassie loves to squeeze in next to him lately, at every opportunity.



We stopped by the park for some playtime before lunch. I love the knitted wrap on this pole. So New York!

Angie slept through lunch, since it interrupted his nap time, but had his little treat later at home. I'm planning to make some of these for the party on Saturday.